Conflict in the Desert

As followers to this blog know that once a year I help organize a wargames event called BLAM. This is a small get together of around thirty like minded souls who have met through the Lead Adventure Forum. The event has now been running for 11 years and for the last five I have had the pleasure of hosting this in my local Pub in south west London. As the event draws closer the organisers ask for the attendees to consider whether they will be able to host and run games. For my sins I have agreed to run an adventure for Sharpe in the Peninsular war on the Friday and on the Sunday I am running a rather large Colonial game set in the Sudan. A full description on the event will follow in a future post as will my Sharpe game but this post is going to focus on last night’s playtest of the Sudan game in the shed.

The scene is set

First up you will notice that the table used is somewhat smaller than my full set up and that my usual desert boards are not in operation. This is because the space available in the venue is limited (I’ll be using a 12ft x 4ft table) and the reason for the substitute cloth is for the simple reason that I don’t want to haul the very heavy desert board down to the pub. The cloth itself is a cotton twill decorators dust sheet. This was bought on eBay and came in a pack of three for £17. The sheets themselves are 9ft x 12ft. The fabric is relatively light but one placed over another cloth (and hills placed underneath it does a reasonable temporary job of passing for the southern lands of the Sudan. I am thinking that I might use one of these cloths to actually make a custom battle mat but that’s another project 😉

Onto the game itself. This was going to be a straightforward simple affair. The British and allied forces have been instructed to clear the Mahdists from the small village of El Gabbas, arrayed in front of them is a sizeable Dervish host.

We used the Black Powder ruleset (version 2) – All British commanders had a rating of 9+, Egyptians and Mahdists 8+

The British Forces consisted of

1 x troop of British Hussars (8 figures) + officer

1 x troop of Sikh Lancers (8 figures) + officer

3 x companies of standard British infantry (each 16 figures)

1 x company of Scots Highlanders >  the four companies of British infantry had 2 officers between them (16 figures)

3 x companies of local Egyptian infantry + officer (each 16 figures)

1 x Naval Maxim Gun

1 X Egyptian Field Gun

1 X British light field gun

Plus an overall commander

This gave the Allied forces a total unit count of 12 units

The Mahdists Forces consisted of

2 x units of Arab Cavalry

1 X unit of Arab camelry (the Arab cavalry was grouped under one command)

16 warbands ( 4 warbands made a brigade with one chieftain(each warband 16 figures)

4 rifle armed warbands (plus command) – 16 figures

2 x captured Egyptian field guns

A total of 25 units (including artillery)

The game objectives were simple for one side to break the other (the losing side would need to lose 50% plus of its forces – either driven from the table or in a shaken state at the end of the turn. Any unit forced off the table in retreat could not re-enter.

This was very much a playtest to see if the forces deployed were a match for each other – after all there is no point in hosting a game if one side has little or no chance of defeating the other. Mark elected to play the Dervish and I would play the Brits. Certainly from my perspective the hordes of natives looked very imposing and I was seriously thinking that thinking that I was going to get spanked big time.

The Mahdist forces kicked off proceedings and elected to advance on both flanks – this they achieved with some success on their right flank with the cavalry but their left refused to budge. 

BY the end of the Dervish turn a few forces had edged forward but remained out of range. Time for the British. With my Lancers out of position in the centre I elected to swing thee towards my right flank. The rest of the force would hold awaiting the Dervish to advance onto my nice neat lines of infantry. The Lancers rolled their command and blundered. It got worse as the horse charged through my ranks and straight up the table finishing their turn a few inches from the defended village.

A rather poor start for the British – the sense of foreboding got worse when the Dervish left flank advanced on mass behind the dunes and their cavalry positioned themselves for a charge into my flank. Meanwhile it was all quiet on the other end of the field. Somewhat nervously the horde advanced forward slowly. It was now time for the Dervish village defenders (armed with rifles) to pour fire into the lost lancers, a rather neat enfilade fire adding to the Indian woes. Rifles spat the lead bullets and several horse were dropped – the resulting fire driving the Sikhs back shaken and disordered. These brave but gallant fellows were able to retreat back to their lines in the coming turns and were rallied to play a part later in the game. So although first blood was drawn the natives couldn’t capitalize.

The steadfast British troops waited patiently. A few rounds of artillery fire found targets but inflicted minor damage.

Once more the natives took their turn and rushed the British and Allied lines on the right flank. Cavalry and Fanatic tribesmen crashed towards the British lines – closing fire was given shattering the charge. Two warbands disordered yet still potent hit the British lines. The melee was furious with the terrifying charge bonus awarded to the Dervish utmost in my mind (not only do these fanatics cause their opponents to take an immediate break test but they also get to reroll all their missed combat dice. Both sides fought bravely but only by dint of the shock inflicted by the closing fire did the British hold off this first wave.

By now the Mahdist right flank had moved forward, now threatening the British left. It was time to unleash the British cavalry. Sweeping down off the hill they charged into the massed native horde. Nine attacks needing 3’s to hit. I rolled the dice – every one missed. The Dervish didn’t. Their numbers counted and swiftly put the Hussars into flight and off the table. Things were looking desperate on the left for the British – 12 warbands heading their way and only two companies and a maxim gun in their way. The Maxim opened up dropping several of the fellows in front of them – then the gun jammed ! The stalwart Scots opened up sending a crashing volley into the nearest horde – driving the fuzzies into oblivion. The second company opened fire dropping a few more but could not stop the advance.

Time for a breather and a cup of tea..

My British forces were in a dreadful state on the left but my right flank was secure. My centre remained untouched. The Dervishes had suffered plenty and were well on their way to losing almost a third of their forces. This was going to be tight.

The Right flank of the British quickly sorted out the remaining dervishes in front of them – scattering the last few tribesmen into the dunes in a state of despair and confusion. The British left was another matter – the Maxim and artillery gun were steamrollered by the advancing horde and a British infantry company fell to the spears. Only the stalwart scots held the left – but this didn’t last long. By now the Mahdists believing victory in their grasp launched an all-out assault from the village. 

The defenders running forward to take on the British centre – the line held and supported by the rallied Lancers pushed back the desert horde. This final assault tipped the balance in favour of the Allies over 50% causalities inflicted on the forces of Allah – it had been a close run thing.

So what did we learn from the game given this was a playtest –firstly the forces were almost balanced if anything the British forces are slightly too strong so we will remove on of the Egyptian Rifle companies. Aside from that I’ll allow each of the teams to reposition three units on the table. Mark felt that the Sudanese were too weak on the left and had a more balanced approach been in play he might have done better. Equally my cavalry were in the wrong position and should have arguably been used better.

The same game is going to be played at BLAM on the Sunday (assuming I have any takers) and I’ll post up a short summary afterwards for comparative purposes.

Ambush on the Nile Part 2

So last week we played a big Sudan Colonial game using the Men Who Would Be Kings ruleset – If you haven’t read that one can I suggest that you head there first and read that one before this post. Don’t worry there will be a link at the end of that post to bring you back here.

Ambush on the Nile part 1

Last week’s game was a massive win for the locals – the sight of Dervishes pouring over the dunes and butchering the plucky Brits was somewhat out of keeping with the period but made for a fantastic game. So how did the same game play with a completely different set of rules?

This time we were going to use our trusty favourite Black Powder and I think it is fair to say they delivered an equally fascinating and exciting game.

Scene of some of the heaviest fighting - horses, camels, guns, natives whats not to like

The orders of battle, the set up and the terrain were exactly as before. The only difference being the assignment of commanders – each player received two Commanders with the British being given better ratings. Even the players who fought out last Mondays encounter fought in exactly the same position using the same troops.

Unfortunately there is no battle report but rather a delve into some of the variations of the games. I have chucked in a few photos

In the first game we saw the British slaughtered by a more numerous native horde and perhaps this justifies the points system in play for TMWWBK ruleset. Had the forces been evenly matched on points the result might have been different. The second game saw the result reversed and arguably a better result for historical accuracy. Again the battle was fought in about 2 hours – a rapid game of highs and low points for both sides and certainly some very tense moments. Last week it was evident that the British were going to seriously struggle but this week my forces held their own and delivered their own killer blows to the Mahdist forces. Perhaps most importantly in the first game it was quite evident that the British were going to come off second best quite early on, the second game was a much more tense affair and had die rolls been different the Mahdists could have inflicted some serious damage.

The rear of the column held up well through out the game

Throughout the second game virtually all the British troops suffered casualties and many hit shaken status but there commanders were able to withdraw these units and keep them in the field through rallying orders. Both sides played with no break points.

Why did the same game play out so differently? There was clearly a combination of factors here which I have explained in the past when we tried a comparable exercise with a Zulu game.

Dressing the lines - command rolls much more effective

Firstly the command activations are so very different. In the TMWWBK every unit has an activation value – fail that and the unit doesn’t move/fight/fire but you move onto the next one. The activation levels for both sides were fairly comparable – ie the British Infantry were as likely to move as the natives. In BP the units are commanded by designated commanders who give orders to their troops. Depending upon the success roll could move once, twice or three times in a turn. We certainly had more movement , flanking attacks and positioning in the Black Powder game and given the that command ratings of the British were better than their opponents they were the more likely to carry out the commands.

British Infantry taking continuous fire from the locals

The Black Powder game certainly delivered a more dynamic narrative with cavalry sweeping forward. Guns being overrun in the flanks and regularly watching your troops not wanting to move forward (both sides)

Clearly command actions had a part to play but so did shooting – unlike TMMWBK where you have to order your units to shoot everybody who can shoot /fling spears can do so after their moves. This automatic firing coupled with the fact that you only roll a few dice for fire effect with BP units significantly changes the dynamic. Both sides had rifle fire but for the Dervishes to win they had to get their fanatical spearmen into charge range too inflict damage. On several occasions the mad fuzzies not only suffered casualties on their approach but were literally blown away by closing fire as they launched their assaults. The vast majority of British casualties came from the Dervish rifle units who although not as effective as a British line were able to both disorder and inflict losses. Arguably greater coordination between the Sudanese rifle units and their spear wielding colleagues might have delivered better results.

Cavalry charging - as they should

Another key difference were the saving throws of each unit and the punishment a unit could take. In TMWWBK each time a casualty is taken a figure is removed and by default the fighting prowess of the unit is diminished. This clearly worked in the Dervishes favour in the first game as there are no saving throws but for the BP game not only did the Brits more often than not have better morale (save) they also benefited from their stalwart nature( in BP British Infantry typically get to reroll one failed save and automatically pass their first break). Ultimately this meant the British units had a better battlefield staying power and this was reflected in the final result – every unit had suffered casualties but only one had been wiped out.

At the height of the battle the British were in serious danger of defeat

In summary a combination of greater firepower, better commanders and more disciplined units albeit numerically smaller won the day in our Black Powder game and yet got slaughtered to a man in TMWWBK rules. Clearly for big battles the Black Powder rules are going to give a more historical result but in defence of TMWWBK they were never designed for big battles.

Some of the fiercest fighting was along the river bank

Following the conclusion of our games we sat around and chatted about the two versions. Both games had been equally fun and so very different but I believe there was a concensus that the second of the two games had proved the better and more playable (not having to remove individual figures from the field of play) might have had something to do with it. Furthermore we all agreed that the scenario is crucial in any colonial game. Had the British been in their defensive lines from the start it would have just been a slaughter and not a great deal of fun for either side. The Ambush scenario provided the Mahdist side with an opportunity to win and that all you need for a Colonial game to succeed.

What these games also provided was a wonderful spectacle on the table top and hopefully these games (and others in the future) vindicated the many hours it took to paint the units. Indeed there are still several units I want to add to the collection and once I have completed my Khartoum build I have a mind to turn my attention to these.

Ambush on the Nile

On a very hot Monday night the Shed reconvened for a game in the Sudan – rather apt given the weather we have been experiencing here in southern England. This time we opted to use The Men Who Would Be Kings ruleset.

The British Column snaking towards the river in the distance 

The scenario was quite simple a British Column stretched across the table marching towards the Nile at the far end. Mixed into the column were several wagons and a camel train. The British objective to escort the wagons to the shoreline. Of course nothing is that simple the column is going to get attacked by the Mahdist forces. These would enter from along the long edge and the short edge furthest away from the river.

The rear of the Column

The Forces

6 Regular Infantry Units (each 12 men strong)

1 Regular Infantry Unit (Naval shore Party (12)

1 Naval Gatling Gun

1 British Artillery field piece

3 units of regular cavalry (8 strong)

The centre

Mahdists

6 irregular infantry armed with obsolete rifles (12)

9 tribal spear waving warrior units (16)

2 crew served guns (captured)

5 units of tribal cavalry

View from the enemy lines 

Mark, John & Callum commanded the desert warriors and Alastair and myself the British.

We made a few minor tweaks to the rules which we believe speeden up play. Most noticeably we did not create individual leaders for each unit but instead gave each player a commander for their forces. These commanders provided a +2 boost to leadership scores and any orders/rallying roles etc. The leader would be attached to the unit he wanted to confer his bonus to. The figure gave no bonuses to combat but if the unit was destroyed so would the leader.

As you see from the pictures below the British forces were completely spread along the table with little or no cover. The natives could take fiull advantage of the hills and close quite quickly with the enemy. There was not a great deal of long range firing.

Charge - the Tribal Cavalry launch the first attack against the rear

In sizeable numbers

Crashing into the thin khaki line

A full assault across the length of the column

The plucky Brits exchange fire and seem to be holding their own

Steady volleys keep the locals pinned down

But not all the locals - waves of angry natives crash into the rear

Carnage ensues

More natives pour over the dunes

By now the head of the column is under sustained attack

Across the field the locals sweep to victory

So how did it play out – it was brutal the numbers of Mahdists (close to 2 to 1) swamped the defending Brits and it was a complete massacre. Unlike black powder where whole units remain on table until routed, TMWWBK rules remove figures once destroyed. It was rather nervy watching the British units just evaporate in the Sudanese waves of attacks.

It was great fun and despite have significant numbers of figures on the table the game played out quickly in about 2 hours. One of the main themes of shed gaming is to keep the pace going – it not only means we get games fought to a conclusion in one night but also adds a frenetic sense to the battle. No deliberating moves, measuring in advance etc

We are going to fight the same action again next week using Black Powder – forces and deployments will be the same – will we get the same outcome? Well you can read it now ...

Ambush on the Nile part 2

Khartoum Continues - Markets, Mosques & Minarets

Good Morning All

Latest update for my Khartoum build...

previous post here
http://shedwars.blogspot.com/2018/06/more-progress-on-khartoum.html

I have now finished the ground work for 16 tiles - thats a lot flagstones ! But it is starting to look good - the palm trees have just been plonked down on these photos - going to need some attention

Up next will be to finish up these buildings - add a few bits and bobs and some more colour

Of course if you are going to build an islamic city you are going to need some Minarets and to be frank I was looking for inspiration and an idea popped into my head - those moroccan tea lamps would be perfect...

Off to the poundshop  and ebay

Add the lamp to a tower, remove the glass, and cover up all the fancy stars.. leaving you something like this

.

The thinner minaret is also a lamp and needs nmore work before completion & painting

I think they look suitably Arabic

Finally I made the plunge and bought three kits from Sarissa last week - their two souk buildings and the Embassy building. These were dead easy to assemble and will be the final buildings to complete in this project.

Hopefully the next few days we see these move forward...

Until next time