Fist Full of Lead up the Khyber Pass

And now for something completely different. Over the last few weeks we have been cracking through a number of games using the Fist Full of Lead rules. These have all been based on the not so heroic adventures of a certain Richard Sharpe in the Peninsular war. If you haven’t had a chance of playing these rules I would strongly urge you to do so – they are great fun, deliver a wonderful narrative and can work across so many periods.

A couple of weeks ago one of my regular gamers, Alastair , mentioned that he would like to run a FFOL game using his Afghans and British forces. The significant difference being that these were 54mm figures. Indeed when my father passed away he left behind a number of these figures which I duly passed on to Alastair – this would be a fitting moment.  I have to say that Alastair had done a fantastic job in bringing these little plastic me to life and the jewel in the crown being the Gun carriage complete with six horses, limber and gun. The last time I had seen it was in a dusty cabinet in my father’s study. I am pretty sure he would be very chuffed to see this unit grace our table.

Anticipating six players Alastair had provided five men for each player. Both sides had a mounted unit. In the end two of our number failed to materialize so the table saw a solus infantry game.

The objective simple – the British forces had to escort the gun time up the Khyber Pass and off the table at the other end. Standing in their way would be the local tribesmen hiding in the rocks and a rather nifty airfix 54mm strongpoint building. This game was full of nostalgia !

The terrain of the table was my desert boards including cliffs, outcrops and a scattering of dried lichen. It scaled really well with the figures and looked pretty good.

The game itself was played in around two hours – I suspect that if our other two players had been with us it might have lasted a little longer.

Apologies for the lack of a full AAR – just so much to do these days but hopefully the pictures tell the story….


Its all very quiet in the Khyber Pass

A lone Vulture awaits for his supper...not long low

The pass stretches on into the distance (subtle use of mirror ;-)

The locals prepare their ambush

Using the cover of the rocky hills....

The old building at the end of the pass becomes their headquarters

Stalwart Gordon Highlanders edge their way forwards

The local tribesmen prepare to fire on the advancing British infidels

The Gun Carriage crashes forward over the bumpy ground

Flanked by infantry the gun presses forward

Soon the valley erupts in gunfire - the carriage presses on.

Seeking cover the Highlanders return fire with their Martin Henry's

The Gun Carriage heads to the edge of the valley all but one of its crew lost

Fierce hand to hand fighting across the valley

A lone afghan takes control of the horses having disposed of the last gunner

The British wrestle back control but swiftly lose to an onslaught of tribesmen bullets

With the gun lost the survivors make a run for cover

A big thank you to Alastair for a great game...

More soon