Better late than never,our battle last Sunday was based in the Sudan.
This is the scenario,Brian was in charge of the Naval Brigade(on board the train at the start of the game) he had options of where to place his troops-he chose hill"B". Graham was in charge of the Egyptians inside the "Junction", and I was in charge(?) of the Egyptians inside the "Fort" and a brigade of British troops coming onto the board behind the "Fort".
Dave was in command of the Dervish hordes,whilst Paul commanded the Haddendowah troops, of which he had 4 more warbands coming onto the board from point "X" on the map(move 4).
Top photo shows Dave's initial attack on the fort,bottom shows Paul's troops heading towards the "Junction"
The Naval Brigade is leaving the train and heading towards hill "B"-why didn't Brian get the train nearer the hill??
These two photo's show my troops under severe pressure from Dave's Dervish!!
However at one point,to stop one of his units from retiring(it's good being retired!) he put his CinC into the fray,got him killed,and the whole of his force had to take morale-some failed,and some held-just!!-oh how we laughed(except Dave!)
Graham is doing a grand job of defending his position,against overwhelming odds!!
Isn't this a nice view from Brian's hill?-the whole battle is unfolding in the plain below,and Graham is screaming for help and fire support!!!
Graham's defence is collapsing,and the Haddendowah are in!!-Brian was cajoled into helping Graham by firing into a warband that was attacking the side wall-however,and it's a big however-it was deemed that Graham would also have to take casualties from Brian's fire-he was NOT a happy pussycat!!!
Over on my flank,I have got my lancers into all sorts of bother,but my infantry are standing firm,but the "Fort" has fallen-oh dear,how sad,never mind!!
Oh look,let's give them a big cheer,here come the Naval Brigade!!-too bloody late-both positions have fallen,and the Dervish/Haddendowah have been declared the winners!!!
One final shot of the "Junction"
As usual this colonial game was fast and furious,and good fun.
No-one came up with an idea for next week,so am I to suppose we won't be playing??
It would be nice to see some WW2 action,15mm or 28mm,or Napoleonics or ACW!! come on boys,give me some help.
Last night we had a "rip-roaring,rollicking" Colonial game,which lacked nothing of excitement,colour,banter and a bit of bad language!!
This is the scenario,Paul and I were in charge of the Dervish/Haddendowah troops,whilst Brian commanded the British and Graham commanded the Egyptians.
A look-out on top of the hill could alert Paul and I when the enemy crossed the river,with a throw of 3 or 4 for Paul,and a 5 for me!!!-needless to say,I didn't move until move number 4,which allowed Brian to get most of his troops into position!!!
Under the ever watchful eye of Brian,the British are lining up to give Paul's advancing Dervish contingent a volley in the flank,as well as waiting for my inevitable attack(eventually??)
Paul's advance against the Egyptians-Graham managed to get half of his troops across the river to meet the attack frontally,and half onto the hill on Paul's right flank!!-I need to move and give assistance!!
As Graham looks on (top photo) Brian opens up with volleys galore on Poor,old Paul's troops-but we all know of Paul's dice throwing,and we all know that he will survive(Gloria Gaynor!) and give those Egyptians a right old "pasting"
Hurrah!! I have eventually charged into Brian's Lancers,and despite him having the advantage of the lance,I beat them and forced them to retire(it's good being retired!),my infantry are also making moves towards the British line-another hurrah!-but what of the Egyptians??
Well,due to some "in league with the devil" dice throwing,Paul has managed to get into hand-to-hand combat,and is giving them hell!!!
Look at Brian's body language!!-I am attacking his whole line,in over-whelming numbers,and he has no reply-caught in line,and a flank attack on his far left hill,leave the issue in no doubt!
One final shot(!!) showing the demise of the British-the Egyptians had long since been sent running for Cairo-so the Dervish/Haddendowah were declared the obvious winners-Brian didn't even ask for a draw!!
A good game,nothing more can be said!
Roll on next Sunday,a Greek game has been requested by Brian-we'll see!
Last night 6 (yes,6!!) of us did a rehearsal of the game we are putting on at "Battleground" next week-end(28th) just in case there were any anomalies,nuances or tweaks we needed to do.
The game went well,and we are confident that our demo game will attract a bit of attention.
This shows the Allied left flank being attacked by a mass of Hadendowah warriors-we slowed out normal movement down to show the effect of massed fire-power-it worked,as can be seen by the "dead" figures!!
This is the central cavalry battle in full swing-British and Egyptian lancers,and dragoons against Dervish cavalry and camels-spectacular!!
Part of the "spirited" attack on the town of Ginnis itself-a close run thing,as it happens!!!
A colourful view of the left and centre of the table,ful of action and movement!!-if you're coming along to the show,please come and introduce yourself and have a chat.
My son is now out of hospital,after an horrendous time,so hopefully we can get back to normal as far as wargaming is concerned,so roll on Thursday!
One final photo,and many thanks to everyone who wished my son well..........
He's making slow but steady progress!
Last night,Brian Paul and I had a fantastic,fast and fun Colonial game.
Brian was in charge of the Anglo-Egyptian troops ordered to take the outer defences of the Fort/Town of Atbarra,whilst Paul was in charge of the mainly British reserve.
This shows the general layout of the table,and the scenario,both Paul and Brian were also given other bits of information on movement,commands etc.
You know I put a lot of effort into planning these games,to make them exciting,I set up the terrain,balance the forces,put the figures on the board,get the order sheets prepared,pens and measuring sticks etc etc, and then something like this happens....................
I pop out of the garage for a cup of coffee,the wife decided she will play a joke,and this is the result!!!!-not funny (or is it??)
This is the table(with Duck removed!) before any movement-Brian could decide if he wanted a Gatling Gun or a 6pdr Gun on the "Venus",which is to the right,but out of shot-he chose a 6pdr Gun!!-although Paul didn't know it,the Haddendowah were coming onto the table at point "B"exactly where Brian is standing in this photo.
Brian's attack on the defences was little short of magnificent!-after a slight setback(he lost 3 melees out of 4 in the first contact) he pushed the defenders back-however by that time,as you can see in the background,the Haddendowah had made an appearance-hurrah!!-Game on!!
What a magnificent sight(unless you're facing it!!)-Paul had started to move his troops into the Zariba on move number one,but still had a firing line and some cavalry awaiting my attack-I drove the Lancers away with just one melee,but that firing line is going to cause me some grief!!
Casualties are mounting as I advance,but weight of numbers should tell,if I can get close enough-in the background Brian is mopping up the defenders in Atbarra,and is preparing to turn his artillery and gatling against my flank-by this time the "Venus" had lost it's Captain to rifle fire from the walls,and half the crew were dead,so he reversed the boat,and decided to cut his losses-hurrah!!
Despite Brian's flank fire,and Paul's devastating close range shooting,I have managed to make contact with his infantry,both inside and outside the Zariba-I could win this with a bit of luck and some good dice throws!!
Paul has deftly moved most of his remaining troops onto my exposed flank,and although I am doing ok at the Zariba,my position is untenable,and I had to admit defeat!!
This was a great game,well played to both Brian and Paul.
Whilst I was "surfing" the net the other day,I came across a wargames club that have their own Scenario Designer-I told the boys about this and they said they would give me a Grander title than that-from now on ,they said,I could be the Architect Responsible for Scenario Evolvement,and I could have the letters A.R.S.E. after my name-I think this is brillia..............
HOLD ON,I've just realised,the rotten sods,the lousy bunch of lowlifes!!-just wait 'till Thursday!!!
Last night Brian,Paul and I had a strange colonial game,based around Rorke's Drift,but set in the Sudan-the game provided a lot of laughs,and was as fast flowing as this morning's game.
This is the general scenario and troop dispositions-the outlying picket were meant to be the sacrificial lambs of the game-they had other ideas!!
The British position with,quite accidentally,a fitting backdrop!!
Timetable of events-
0600 hours Reveille.
0630 hours Breakfast
0700 hours Strange humming noise from desert
0730 hours Shit hits fan!!!
The Haddendowah appear,from all directions,at this point,Paul who was in charge of the British,was visibly shaken!!
The attack begins-Brian was in charge of the Haddendowah,and I took charge of the Dervish "Ansar" troops in the foreground.My task was to occupy both hills and then attack the position,Brian's task was just to take the the supply dump position-this was an easy task for a man,who,this morning,destroyed a whole Roman Legion with a few Elephants!!
This shows Brian's first attack going in,but the "dead" figures are not a good sign,and he "bounced" off the walls-it's a good job he has loads of other troops-surely they would get in(??)
Although Paul's Gatling gun jammed a couple of times,he put up a stout defence, and the casualties were mounting up on Brian's side,and not much headway was being made.
On my side of the board,the "flying pickets" were making mincemeat of my Ansars,through cannister fire and well controlled volley fire!!
As if things weren't bad enough for the Dervish forces,Paul's reinforcements have arrived,in the form of Cavalry,Artillery and some Camel-mounted troops-however,you can just see my Ansars that have come down off their left hand hill,and have made contact with the wall,being defended by the Berks company.Inside the position,Brian has managed to get over the walls,has destroyed a company of Seaforths and a company of Northumberlands,and is pressing on to complete our victory-or is he??
I am about to be driven away in this photo,and Brian's troops are beaten in all sectors-what went wrong?Well I blame Brian!!
Seriously,this was a good game,played for laughs,lots of excitement,certainly very colouful,and Paul was a gallant winner.
We will be playing this Sunday,and should have a full house of 6-probably horse and musket,but which period,as yet,i don't know-roll on Sunday
