Thrilling,colourful,exciting,tense!-just how many words can you use to describe the game we had last night?
Colonial games are always fast and furious,but last night's re-fight of this battle was beyond that,and it was down to the approach we all had to the game,well done lads!
Top photo is the scenario,as presented to the lads,and bottom photo shows the table before any moves.Dave and Brian were the British commanders,with me in control(though not moving any figures or throwing any dice) whilst Graham and Paul commanded the Ansars and Haddendowah-all was set for a great game.
A detail of the square-I had ordered that the rear face was to face the threat posed by a unit of Camels,drive them away,then advance on the Dervish gun position,and the left face of the square was to form up facing the ridge,clear it of riflemen,then advance onto the ridge.
Meanwhile the front face was to swing outwards(like an opening door!) forming on the right of the left face,advance when completed,and take the ridge.The right face was to also swing outwards,forming a complete line and attack the Town and village of huts-I thought that the plan was sound,and,although it would take a few moves to complete,would win us the game in a few moves!!
A detail of the Dervish positions-they had riflemen and artillery(manned by Chained-to-the-guns Egyptian troops!!) and of course the thousands of tribesmen behind the ridge.In the information given to Paul and Graham,I had stipulated that they couldn't attack with the tribesmen until any British troops touched the base of the ridge-trying to keep it historically correct(!!)
In this shot Paul is charging down onto Brian's Front-face troops,who had used their full move to advance on the ridge,which was unfortunate,because Dave was only moving half his move,to keep his troops in a nice clean line!-this caused two things to happen-one,Brian reached the base of the ridge very quickly(hence the charge!) and two,a massive gap appeared between Dave's face of the square and Brian's front face-oh dear!!!!!!
At the same time,Graham charged his cavalry against the British Hussars(disguised as Lancers!) and completely routed them,causing Brian to put his right face troops into a static and defensive formation-things are not going according to plan!
This shows Dave's position,and the perilous gap,through which,at any time,the Haddendowah could charge!! However,Dave managed to get up onto the ridge,and fired on the waiting Tribesmen,before engaging in hand-to hand melee!!-come on the Brits!!!!
Brian,using well-aimed volleys,is driving away the Dervish cavalry-now he can advance on the Town and village-hurrah!!!-or can he?????
NO!!!-Graham has unleashed his screaming Ansars,and an engrossing melee ensued!With his front face fighting for their lives,and the right face fighting for their lives,this was wargaming at its best.If you look closely,there is a unit of Paul's Haddendowah behind the British lines-oh double dear!!!
Charge after charge is hitting Brian's troops,but,true to form, he is not losing faith,and finally,against all the odds,he beat Graham's troops,and sent them packing-another hurrah!!-In the background you can see Dave's troops taking the ridge-are things turning in the British favour??
Go on,Dave,give 'em hell!!-with a lot of flair,and a certain amount of audacity(!) Dave ordered his troops to charge the Tribesmen facing him,and beat them,much to Paul's dismay-war is hell!
This photo is taken from behind the British "position" with individual regiments fighting,hacking and slashing,as the Dervish hordes push them back,but,as always, the British are at their best fighting against the odds,and gradually,as the game ground to a halt,the British seemed to have won,but honestly,I couldn't tell who had won-maybe it was our great hobby of Wargaming,that won at the end of this great game.
An exhausted Dave looks on what is left of the troops,and ponders on the result!
Roll on next Sunday,probably Ancients,maybe Macedonians vs Persians!
As part of our on-going campaign,Brian and I fought our second battle,situated around the town of Tamai. I set my troops up first and allowed Brian to see me in all my glory,he then set up his troops(Egyptian and British) and away we went!!
This is a rough sketch of the initial positions,we were just about to start the game,when our old mate,Charlie Wesencraft,"popped in" to watch.
Here's Charlie weighing up the chances of the Anglo-Egyptians against the masses of Haddendowah and Dervish infantry,Camels and cavalry!!
My first wave is beginning to advance,Charlie looks pleased,Brian looks sick,why? well it had something to do with his gatling gun jamming!!!
Brian has got over his sickness,and looks rather pleased with the way things are going-his fire-power was taking a dreadful toll on my first line,and has stopped my right flank attack,however my Haddendowah are undeterred and are keeping up a steady pace towards the British lines-hurrah!!
Is Brian looking for more troops in the town?-he's going to need them!!-My far left flank,consisting of rifles and a gun battery,has been wiped out,and Brian could now win the game if his right flank troops(camels and rifles) can swing round and take me in the flank-it's all about timing you know!!
This shot shows my central units advancing to contact,I was fairly lucky here,because Brian had placed an Egyptian unit in among his British,and these gave way,leaving a gaping hole for me to pour through-hurrah!!
My second line is advancing to take advantage of the disaray in the British lines,with Brian's centre in all kinds of trouble,it looked like the end for the Anglo/Brits!!-double hurrah!!
The final shot-Haddendowah victorious!!-So that's one game each,Brian has to loose a unit-he'll probably choose an Egyptian one I guess!
This was a great game-very tense,colourful and exciting.We'll be playing tonight,probably an Ancients game,vs Paul.
