Battle of Tel-El-Kabish 1882.Sudan.

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.