Battle of Abu Klea (game 1)

Good Afternoon All

Following on from last weeks double header of Napoleonic games I have the same issue this week. I have had more requests from wannabee players than I can allow in the shed so the same game has to be hosted on two different days.

Now that my desert battle mat is finished (along with a repaint of all my desert rocky escarpments) it seemed only right that we returned to the late 19th century and the Colonial campaign in the Sudan.

I decided that we would fight one of the scenarios laid out in Warlord Games's Blood on the Nile supplement. This glossy soft back book is well worth a purchase if interested in this piece of Colonial warfare. It is full of the history of the campaigns fought in the Sudan between the British, Egyptians and Mahdists. Most of the major engagements have scenarios written for them, with plenty of beautiful pictures, orders of battle and write ups.

The book 'supposedly' supports the Black Powder rule set (favoured in the Shed), but I cannot help thinking that some of the write ups of the scenarios may have been fought with alternatives or it is just badly edited. I will explain further shortly.

The scenario we chose to fight was based on the Battle of Abu Klea.

In a nutshell the column sent to retrieve Gordon at Khartoum has got bogged down crossing the desert and so the force's commander, Sir Herbert Stewart fortifies a small camp and then sets off with the bulk of his force and a large number of camels to collect water at the wells of Abu Klea. Whilst marching (in brigade square) towards the well they are beset upon by a sizeable force of Dervish.

Historical accounts of the battle tell us that the square made short work of this attack. In less than 10 minutes over a 1000 tribal warriers lay dead with only a palty loss to the British forces.

Such a game would not be considered sporting in the shed and as such the scenario outlined in the book offers the real opportunity for the Mahdists to win.

The battlefield was set up with the British Square in the far distance - they need to march to the wells escorting a  Camel Convoy.

Crossing the valley floor is a low ridge of hill atop which are perched five units of rifle/musket armed Dervish. These chaps are using ground cover to good effect and get +1 morale saves.

Beyond these hills closer to the Wells is a large body of Dervish (five large units) and on either flank three more units (each side) lie in hiding, waiting patiently to spring their trap.






The Camel Convoy moves independently of the square and each turn the player controlling the camels rolls a d6 = on a one they do not move, 2-5 they move once, and on 6 they go forward 2 moves. The body is quite large and should be seen as a moving barrier - either to hide behind or get run over !

Before I get onto how our games played I want to return to the book and the question whether it is truly supporting Black Powder.

Three points to consider.

1. The orders of battle give some of the Mahdist infantry breech loading rifles, yet the write up refers to muskets armed dervish. For our game we elected that the Dervish would be armed with said rifles but these proved particularly deadly at range. In hindsight the Dervish were probably armed with muskets and as such their firepower will diminish. Lets put this point down to bad editing.

2. The write up states that these musket armed dervish were supported by units of spear men and yet the orders of battle recognise these units as just rifle armed warriors. Specifically this brigade consists of only five units.

3. In the orders of battle they give the number of figures per unit fielded on both sides but do not state the size of the unit. Black Powder is not really about number of figures although this can be used as a rough guide to unit size. In the end I elected to make the warrior units over 40 figures large units (thereby benefiting from greater hitting power and stamina). The consequences of this were felt in our first engagement.


In summary our first game gave the Dervish breech loading rifles, and several large units with the fanatic trait. This was a disaster for the British  - despite inflicting serious casualties on the Dervish forces the square was complete overrun in about 15 turns. The sheer weight of numbers on the Dervish side along with their ability to absorb several hits made a significant difference.

In game two the Dervish will all become regular sized units (still with the fanatic trait) and will no longer be armed with the breech loading rifles.

The first set of pictures is a short resume of game 1 fought on Monday - Stephen & John played the British, Colin and myself the Dervish

Game 1

Began with the square advancing - oops no camels these were quickly added (see shot below)

As soon as the Brits got into range of the Mahdist snipers they came under heavy fire - the first round saw the Heavy Guards Camel regiment at the front of the square shaken and disordered.

Returning fire little effect was made on the dug in tribals - and the machine gun jammed !

Under heavy fire the square opened up and increased the number of rifles it could bring to bear on the enemy. The cavalry screen was continuously disorders at this point.

The following turn the camels decided they were thirsty and bolted two moves forward.

Seizing the initiative the British line advanced and blew away the first Dervish contingent (three units out of five were shaken forcing a withdrawal. By now the British could see the main body of Dervish warriors approaching at a very rapid pace.

The Dervish were keen to reach the ridge line before the British and take advantage of the cover available.

It was at this point the trap was sprung and further units of Dervish appeared on either side of the British forces.

Fearing they would be over run the Square hastily tried to reform itself.

By now the British hussars were beginning to make a nuisance of themselves and quickly two units of Dervish warriors were routed from attacks in the flanks

Once again the Camels bolted forward - a gift from Allah were the cries from the Dervish troops awaiting their charge orders.

The British were then subjected to an assault from all angles and very quickly the first battalion succumbed to spears of the Mahdi.

The Hussars got caught in the open by the Berber cavalry and routed from the field.

Sadly there is no last picture as the war correspondent got caught in the final Dervish charge - this broke the remaining British troops and a famous victory was won.

In conclusion.

It wasn't until the large units of the Dervish closed with the British that it became a lopsided event. Until then the Brits were doing what they do best. Move fire a lot and then move again. Once the numbers started to tell the firepower could not hold the Mahdi back.

I somehow suspect that it might be very different when we re-fight this with the changes on Weds night

more soon...

Game 2 can be found HERE