Last night's game wasn't good-it was AWESOME!!
Because Dave and Graham couldn't make it,it fell to Paul,Brian and myself to get to grips with an exciting scenario,which proved tricky(to say the least!) to both sides.
Because this was originally made as a 5 hander game,we had to mess about a bit,but as usual,we solved the problem!-Paul commanded the British square and the compound,Brian commanded the Zariba troops,and I had to command both the Haddendowah and Dervish troops!!
On move one,Paul "flashed" a message to Brian to come out of the Zariba,and join the British in rescuing Kitchener.What Paul didn't know was that Brian's troops only had 2 shots left and their morale was "rock-bottom"-however!!!!!!! for some strange reason(known only to Brian) the Zariba troops left the safety of the defensive position,and moved to join the British...............
Here they come-with their morale lower than a snake's goolies,and hardly any ammo.Where do you think the Dervish hordes are??-in the best tradition of pantomime-They're behind you!!!!
It's just as well that we don't have a swear box in the garage!!!-Brian was not a happy bunny!
As a prelude to attacking the square with my Haddendowah infantry,I unleashed my camel units against Paul's Lancers-this tussle went on for a few moves,until I killed his Brigadier,and he lost the melee-hurrah!!
As my dervish hordes swoop down on Brian,and the camel/lancer melee continues,Paul is shooting into the flank of the Dervish back line infantry-this would greatly tell later on in the game!-It's about time I set loose my Haddendowah infantry(I had quite a few of them!)
Here they come!-Brian had now turned his troops around to face the threat to his rear,but now had a new threat to his new rear!!!-thrilling stuff(if only we had a swear box!!) But what of the compound and Kitchener??
Well,it was under attack from rifles and artillery fire,plus a couple of warbands "lurking" in the sand dunes,just waiting for the right moment to attack!!
My infantry attack against the square is being shot to pieces,but the Dervish hordes are making "mince-meat" of Brian's Egyptians.
Paul's Naval brigade are using their Gardiner and Gatling guns to very good effect-if only they would jam...........................................
They did!!-allowing my black tsunami of hairy warriors to get into hand-to-hand combat!
The square is broken,and I am sending my other infantry(by now they have mopped up Brian's whole command!) to attack the other sides of the square-another loud hurrah!!
Brian's command!!!
With a "gulp" Paul prepares his square for one last effort-to no avail!!!
But what of the compound I hear you ask???
Well,top photo shows the Black Watch being soundly beaten in a furious melee,and the bottom photo shows the Haddendowah warriors doing a sort of "Hokey-Cokey" around Kitchener!!
You put your left spear in,you put your left spear out..................................
This was another great game full of good humour,banter and foul and abusive language!! what more could you ask for??
Roll on next Sunday-I will be encouraging the boys to come up with a game!!
Last night we had the closest run Colonial game I can remember,for a long,long time!
The basis for the game was that Brian and Graham were sitting in my kitchen,with a map of the table(minus the village!) and being "fed" information from a Heliograph team,which was plotting a safe passage for the main square,whilst trying to locate the village!!-meanwhile the Dervish hordes,being controlled by myself,Paul and Dave,were moving to surround the square and,hopefully, wipe it out!!
Top photo is the scenario,second is the list of messages,given to Brian and Graham,move by move,and last is the list of troops they had to form their square.
This is the map,of the table(remember that Brian and Graham had this map,minus the village!)
The heliograph team moved from hill "A" to the oasis,then onto hill "B"(and subsequently got wiped out!!!!)
Top photo is the table at the start of the game,bottom is the square's composition as decided by Brian and Graham(I think that if they'd operated the cavalry outside of the square,and maintained the rest of their troops in this formation,they would have won!)
The storm clouds gather!-top is Paul's command,bottom is Dave's-my troops were moving out of the village and onto hill"B"-the British were worried!!!,can you tell?????
Concentration! but the square is looking good-if it only maintains that formation,they should be okay(my troops are leaving the village in the foreground).
Oh no!!-the British have broken their square,for the sake of fire-power,and are putting the cavalry in the gap-fatal mistake-Brian's Naval Brigade look good though!
Dave has launched a superb attack on the rear face of the square,in the top photo you can see that he has also attacked the cavalry, making up the right face-he won the melee with the cavalry and drove them back into the middle,leaving a gaping hole!!!-hurrah!
These two photo's show both my attack on the corner of the square and Paul's attack on the left face-spectacular,or what???
The British were now panicking,moving troops around,facing first this way,then that way-no cohesion,flanks up in the air-all is lost-another hurrah!!
This overhead view captures the spirit of this game,but to give the British commanders their deserved due,they didn't give up too easily,and fought on!!
The end-the square is no more!! only one thing left to do...........................
Hang the war correspondents!!(on my scratch-built gallows!) starting with Melton Prior!!
This was a great game,and actually very closely fought-at one point the Dervish commanders thought that they were beaten!!
Well done to us all,and roll on next Sunday!
Last night we had the most amazing game of tactical blunders,and it was FANTASTIC!!!
Top photo is scenario,bottom photo is the table before any movement.
Paul was in charge of the square,I was in charge of the Naval Brigade,Graham was in charge of the "native troops" and Brian and Dave were in charge of the Egyptians.A plan was decided on by both sides,orders written,and then the tactical blunders commenced!!!!!
Because I had written the scenario,and knew where the Native troops were(outside the fort) as well as three units of Egyptians(hidden in the terrain to the right of the square,I couldn't advise Paul as to what direction his square should be taking!-he decided to advance towards the terrain where there were quite a few Native cavalry as well as the Egyptians-oh dear!!
Paul's Bengal cavalry have been attacked by Graham's native horse,and he is sending his other cavalry on an out-flanking move-oh double dear!!!
Whilst the cavalry melee was developing,Paul decided to break his square,form line and attack the terrain(whose Egyptian occupiers hadn't shown themselves yet)
Now it was my turn to blunder!-just because I drink a lot of rum doesn't mean I'm a sailor,consequently I got my Port and Starboard mixed up,and ordered two units of the Naval Brigade to land on the wrong side of the Nile-putting them out of the game effectively!!!!-oh bugger!!!!
Boo!! Brian's hidden troops now commenced firing on the advancing British,and he gave them hell!!-however,it was later revealed that the plan was for them to give a volley,and then retire(it's good being retired!) back to the town-he obviously lost his head in the heat of battle,forgot about retiring(it's......) and started a fire-fight against the cream of the British army!!-he wouldn't stand a chance,would he????-oh yes he would,and did!! giving the British a good old fashioned "bashing!"-things are not going according to plan!
Part of my remit was that,if I could get up a good head of steam,I could "ram" the bridge over the Nile-this I did!-I was expecting Graham to have moved his Fort troops out of the fort by now,but true to this tactical blunder game,he didn't-the bridge was destroyed(along with the Steamer) and all of his troops were now couped up inside the fort and out of the game!!!!-what else could go wrong????
Lots of "natives" inside the fort-oh dear,how sad,never mind!!
These two photo's show Paul's attempt at retrieving the situation,by marching and counter-marching his remaining British into a formation ready to advance on the town and Dave's position outside of the town...............................HOWEVER.......................
Dave,against orders,and amidst some terrible language from Brian,left his defensive position,and advanced against the British,even though he was out-numbered,out-gunned and out cavalried(is there such a word?) -the result was never in doubt!!!
Brian,now red-faced and almost hysterical,had to also abandon his town position to support Dave's reckless move-this is all going "swimmingly well"
A general(god knows we need a one!) view of the table-the terrain where the hidden troops were has now been "vacated",and the British lines are moving forward to take on Dave's Heroes.
Surely this was the biggest blunder of the game-Dave put his meagre unit of Egyptian lancers against the Dragoon Guards -result in doubt????-YES,he bloody well won the ensuing melee!!
However Paul was giving the infantry a good old hiding,and with me supplying my remaining unit of the Naval Brigade into the line,the Egyptians were in real bother.
In this shot,Paul is moving his lancers onto Dave's flank,and all is lost for the Egyptians!
Brian took the defeat like a gentleman,and blamed Dave and Graham!!
This was an hilarious game,full of rude banter,and good gamesmanship-well done to us all.
Roll on next week,our mate Chris is bringing his Ethiopians and Italians up for another Colonial bash.
I have planned a colonial game around Brian's newly painted Egyptians and Naval Brigade,so thought I would give a game preview,just to get us in the mood.
Top photo is the scenario,bottom is the table as the "boys" will see it when they arrive on Sunday night-I will pick sides before they arrive!!
The British square-consisting of Infantry,cavalry and guns,with Bengal cavalry on the outside!
The "scratch-built" gun boat-I know,I know,you would swear blind it was a bought model!!
It had to be called "Venus" didn't it??-this will be pulling three nuggars(flat bottomed boats) containing the Naval Brigade.
Two photo's of the "Venus" reception committee!!
The Egyptian-held town of Tel-El Kabish.
Well placed Egyptians outside the town.
Hmmm, an interesting piece of terrain-surely there won't be any hidden troops there!!
Roll on next Sunday!
Nothing to do with wargaming,but I took this photo on Monday night.....................
Two questions need to be answered,Why is the Moon red? and how did I get it to balance on the telephone wire??
