AAR: The Zareba at Handoub

At the last club night at Wyvern Wargamers, I put on a further game in my ongoing Sudan campaign. Bob and new Wyverner Furphy of ('Furphy's Brush with History' - check it out) took a British brigade each, while Dane took the Mahdists. It was a slightly smaller game than usual to fit in over a shorter evening, on e again using the ubiquitous Black Powder rules with my own modifications. 

The British briefing took up the story of the Anglo-Egyptisn expeditionary force after the games last October (wow, almost six months ago):

Your Anglo-Egyptian expeditionary force is to bolster its position at a Handoub throughout the construction of a zareba around a farmstead on the Eastern approaches to the town. This zareba form a staging post for future operations towards Berber on the Nile. The local Bija tribes have retreated to the foothills in recent days offering a chance for your troops to rest and recover from recent engagements. Mahdist incidents have been limited to night-time sniping from positions overlooking the town, the perpetrators melting away before pursuit

The British deployed around a central farmstead and half-constructed zareba, with two units out cutting the nearby acacia bushes to finish the work. The Mahdists had a choice of two of three entry points. 

As Beja skirmishers emerged from the low hills to the West, the outlying British units returned to for a defensive ring. 

The first wing of Mahdists arrives and Dane, typically direct, sends them surging towards the British lines. Dane had rightly marked the Bazingers in the zareba as the weak point (on their first outing no less! They come on, despite the murderous fire against them thinning their ranks. 

One group made it to the zareba itself and swept aside the doughty Bazingers, before crashing into the Indian troops alongside. With a second Mahdist wing entering, things looked decidedly precarious for the British defensive line!

More Mahdist fanatics plough on, with the British unable to bring heavy fire to bear because of the swirly melee. The KRRC that have garrisoned the farmhouse itself, find themselves trading fire with Mahdist skirmishers rather than the much more dangerous warbands. Despite repeated attempts to order them out to bolster the line to the east, they flatly refuse to budge. The shame! 

The KRRC are no help, but in the nick of time, the Naval Brigade troopers (who else?!) help the Indians push back the Mahdists that managed to storm the zareba and regain the defensive position. 

The second Mahdist wing hits the line and a second melee ensues. 

But the line holds. The last charge is stopped and with remnants and the overdue Baggara cavalry, the day is done for the Mahdists. The British position is held, a solid victory. 

Once again, Black Powder seemed to put on an entertaining game. The scenarios was a bit defensive for the British, which they should excel at but perhaps makes for a less interesting fame but after the first wave hit and the second arrived, I thought they were in real trouble. But calmly bringing fresh troops up in support ensured the compact position held in the initial melee and won the second rounds. 

I gather that Furphy enjoyed his (first ever) tabletop wargame - he's just been a painter to date but got chatting to the Wvyerners hosting a demo game at WMMS the previous week. Welcome the to club!

I've volunteered to out on a game at the annual Wyvern 'Day of Lard', where gamers from far and wide are invited to play too Fat Lardies games over a pleasant summer afternoon.  I'll switch to Sharp Practice for that - any suggestions on rules changes from anyone that's tried it with a later era would be warmly welcomed. 

AAR: 6mm Sudan and Blood on the Nile First Impressions

A fortnight ago I got the opportunity to play the Sudan conflict in a whole new scale, using Paul and Dane's burgeoning 6mm collection. It certainly gave the games a whole new sense of scale. We played the first scenario from the new Blood on the Nile supplement to Black Powder: the Battle of Shaikan. Also known as the Battle of El Obeid, the historical battle it saw Hicks Pasha's Egyptian army utterly annihilated by Mohammed Ahmed's Ansar. 

This put an Egyptian column being ambushed from all directions by the Mahdists. Things started badly for Hicks, with command issues meaning his force struggled onto the table into  disparate lines. 

Aren't they small! 

Meanwhile, the hordes descended...

The leftmost Egyptian brigade is wiped out by the impact and the central brigade enveloped.

They hold out for one turn...

...before also being swept away. This leaves a desperate last stand of the third brigade - a crushing defeat for the demoralised Egyptian army, just like history.

Thanks to Paul and Dane for letting me join in, your collection is looking great and groaning quickly, apparently.

History doesn't reflect well on a Hicks Pasha, who led thousands of men to their deaths with over-stretched supply lines, morale issues and poor intelligence, overambitious objectives and ultimately serving only to fuel the uprising. Mike Snook, Sudan expert and author of 'Go Strong into the Desert' wrote a damning indictment on the ever-informative Victorian Wars forum.

I had chance to flick through Paul's copy of Blood on the Nile. Thoughts? I've not seen the Warlord campaign books before, so I was surprised it was soft back rather than hardback, despite its £20 price tag. Within was a lot of wonderful eye candy, as one would expect, which I imagine is one of the reasons people pick the book up.

A hearty caveat: I didn't have chance to read it through properly, but a good flick through suggested it had a series of engagements of varying size across all of the campaigns, including a neat partial section of the huge 1898 battle of Omdurman. The stat lines seemed to be pretty similar to those given in the original Black Powder book. There were a few special rules to give an era flavour, but I thought these were surprisingly light touch and something that an imaginative player could bolt on easily enough. One could be more imaginative while still using the core BP rules, for example I reckon my amendments, last played in the Autumn, went further.

I was disappointed in the scenario we played, as it was so utterly one-sided: poor quality troops arriving turn by turn in column surrounded on all sides by superior warriors. Two of my units didn't make it near the fight due to repeated failed orders, and we decided our tailing brigade didn't need to turn up as the Egyptians were destroyed before they were available. So about 2/3rds of our force still wiped our Hicks' force with he loss of only one unit. While that is historically accurate, I'd have hoped for a scenario book that offered a more interesting to game for the Egyptian player.




All in all, I wouldn't say I was inspired to pick up my own copy as it doesn't do what I'd be looking for: enrich the games themselves. That's unfortunate as I fancy the Perry version of Colonel Fred Burnaby above. For someone new to the conflict, it's an accessible front door to game it: I'm sure it will suit some people's purposes just fine. But in my opinion, at that price point, I'd say  Go Strong into the Desert is a much better source book, while it only details the Red Sea campaign, it has detailed OOBs, much richer and more insightful background, loads more uniform detail and excellent plates. Mike Snook's Beyond the Reach of Empire that covers the desert and rivercolumns receives   similar praise, though I don't have a copy myself yet.

Perhaps I'm being unfair on Blood on the Nile, having not read it through fully. I'd be interested in what others think, particularly those who have.

AAR: Wyvern Wargamers All Dayer

Late September brought a prime opportunity to get the Sudan collection onto the table for a few games: a Wyvern Wargamers all-dayer. So, after a hectic post-holiday week of painting miniatures and finishing off some missing movement trays, I rolled up bright and early on Saturday.

The British commanders Stu, Ian and Jon were given the following briefing following follows on from the last game:

10 March 1884

General Graham's defeat of Osman Digna at El Teb in late February avenged the Hicks expedition, but the British expeditionary force in Sudan faces near-Herculean tasks. While Suakin itself and the vital Suez Canal route to British India has been secured by the British troops, the Suakin region continues to simmer with tribal tensions and must be secured more permanently. The truculent tribes must be suppressed and loyalties to Egypt restored. Graham marches against Osman Digna once more.

Further, Major-General 'Chinese' Gordon is in Khartoum and has begun to evacuate the city in the face if the Mahdi's strength. To support Major-General Gordon, routes to central Sudan should be opened, one option being the old caravan route from Suakin to Berber, which offers a staging post on the Nile between Cairo and Khartoum.

While your performance at Hashin was not exemplary, you have field experience against the Mahdists. You are to march to Handoub with a bolstered force, including Egyptian regiments recovered from the remnants of those defeated at the first battle of El Teb. While they of questionable quality and experience, they must be blooded as the long-term safety of a Suakin depends on the Egyptians.

March northwest to Handoub, seize and hold the town and water supplies. Firmly suppress Mahdist resistance.

Commander-in-Chief: Colonel Sir C. Ashburnham (Stu)

1^st Brigade:

• The King's Royal Rifle Corps (Steady)
• 28^th Bengal Infantry (Steady)
• Screw Gun of the Royal Artillery (Steady)
• 10^th Hussars

2^nd Brigade: M. Greenham (Jon)

• Royal Marine Light Infantry (Steady)
• Naval Brigade (Steady)
• Naval Brigade Gardner Gun 
• Mounted Infantry

3rd Brigade: A. Cathcart (Ian)

• Egyptian Infantry (Wavering)
• Egyptian Infantry (Wavering)
• Irregular Egyptian Infantry (Wavering)
• Irregular Egyptian Horse (Wavering)
• Hales Rocket Trough (Steady)

The Mahdist commander (me, also umpiring) was to stop the British advance and deny them the water at Handoub.

As the players were less familiar with Black Powder and my tweaks, I kicked off with a quick ambush scenario to show them the mechanics. The Anglo-Egyptian force, marching in two columns, spies movement on their flanks.

With admirable precision, the Egyptians wheel into a firing line and Stu's British form up to fend the ambush off the other flank. The cavalry screen sees off marksmen in the scrub then a few tight volleys cause the threatening tribesmen waver, then are seen off.

Well, its almost a square...

Throughout, Jon's Naval Brigade barely move from their start positions - not boding well for precise maneuvers!

The second game brings us to Handoub. The British entry, on the top left (vaguely southwest), sees the town and a ridge ahead. The primary objectives are the vital water source and town itself. The three hills forming the ridge are secondary objectives.

The British marched swiftly across the front of the ridge, in good order. Once again, Jon has trouble bringing the Royal Marines and Naval Brigade to order. 

Mahdist scouts in the scrub

Stu's vanguard - KRRC and Bengal infantry in their sharpest formation.

While captured Egyptian gunners and their Krupp gun open the score from the ridgeline under a watchful overseer

More Mahdists emerge to contest the central ridge

Note the Naval Brigade lagging behind - damn sailors!

Stu sounds the advance while the second and third brigades form up behind

In a fit of jingoistic fervour, the vanguard surges forward to assault the ridge on the far northeastern/left flank. While overenthusiastic (*ahem*blunder*), it was pretty much as intended.

Cold steel to the fore, the stalwart British throw the Mahdists of the ridge in disarray. But many hundreds more surge behind them.

Can the line hold?

....apparently not! The fresh units behind the ridge catch the British line exposed and unprepared. A vicious melee ensues and the line disintegrates. The British overextended itself and may be in trouble.

Her Majesty's hussars, in all their parade-ground finery, spur their mounts down the hill to take  revenge on the Mahdist horde, a risky move by Stu with the horsemen of the Baggara tribes finally making an appearance.

While the melee swirls, the enthusiastic tribesmen face down another British line. Finally - the Naval contingent arrives!

Hussars ride down the celebrating Mahdists.

While the furious fire of the plodding Naval troops sees off the threatening tribesmen.

British artillery sees off the captured Egyptian gunners, but the rocket team suffers a dramatic malfunction as a rocket detonates in the trough.

Suffering 'first outing syndrome'

With that, the Mahdist forces pushed off the ridge, there is a lull in the fighting, The battered Anglo-Egyptian force consolidates its gains, able to build makeshift defensive positions. But the day is not done - while a number of objectives have been met, the town is not secure.

The British, having reformed their battered troops, take an audacious tack once again (all Stu's fault, I suspect) - surging into the town before the fresh wave of Mahdists can threaten. But they immediately take a withering fire from captured remingtons and krupps before they can reach the relative safety of the buildings.

The mauled KRRC, reformed after the previous charge, once again take the brunt of the Mahdists' religious fury. 

But while they are flung back, they hold their nerve. Egyptian troops, unscathed until now, are able to start garrisoning the town.

The Royal Marines see off an initial Mahdist charge.

Another lull, but more Mahdists form up to throw the British out of their town.

While a flanking force threatens from the western flank.

A second assault reaches the town and the Marines are caught up in another melee on the rooftop.

Nowhere to escape to

The British are pressed on all sides - as one side of the town is cleared, the Mahdists threaten from another. Can they hold out?

Even the mounted scouts are called upon to charge into the fray to prevent the Hussars being overwhelmed. 

Casualties mount on both sides

It looks desperate, but have the last resrves been seen? Will the foothold in the buildings hold and the day be carried on pluck and the heat of battle?

The day draws to a close - Mahdists mill in the streets, under a steady fire from the buildings, each of which remains in British hands. Managing to displace so many disciplined, well-armed troops is not likely. The Mahdist forces withdraw. A reasonable, but not comprehensive victory for the British!

A fine day's gaming with the chaps: thanks to the three of them for going at it with gusto and thanks to Wyvern for hosting another great all-dayer. This was a milestone game for me, I've put on a few games before but this had everything completely finished: a pleasing moment given how long I've been painting the whole collection. I also got lots of great compliments on the collection, which were very much appreciated.

I controlled the Mahdists, with the dust clouds serving as spawn points, which would be the deployment for 2-3 fresh Mahdist units before I moved them to another point to represent the next wave or flanking force. This mechanic worked well - I could make best units of my limited numbers of units, keep rotating them onto the table and the British could see something was coming and prepare, but not be sure what was threatening.

As the series of games follow one another, I ran them with a very basic campaign system: the morale of infantry and cavalry moved up and down a sliding scale of morale states: Black Powder special rules 'Steady', 'No rule' or 'Wavering'. Troops will lose or gain these states based on good or poor performance. Steady would be normal for British troops and Wavering for Egyptian.

I also ran out sub-plots to add tensions between the players and think these went down really well. We changed them between the two main games. Stu managed to pull two of the most fun: 'Glory Hunter' ("Have one of your units be the first to seize or complete a major objective") and Personality Clash ("Prevent your nemesis from Routing more units than any other allied commander"). Black Powder, in its simplicity, takes such modifications rather well and they evoke the era of adventuring characters looking after their fame/careers rather well!

Black Powder is good for a day's gaming, allowing a fast flowing game on a large board without anyone having played before. No doubt I missed some rules, but that doesn't really get noticed. One niggle was the at-times dramatic shift from a relatively fresh to a routed unit removed from play, particularly if Mahdists managed to charge while relatively fresh. While I see the benefit for ease of play, it doesn't quite evoke the furious but short melees of the period and difficulties in actually breaking a line/square totally. The Bengal infantry and KRRC both being smashed in one round is a prime example, though poor luck on the first two morale checks played a part. I'd be tempted to have another state ("shattered"?), where the unit still exists. It is also off that a battered Mahdist unit is almost as effective as a fresh one: perhaps another thing to tweak given the immense numbers of casualties wreaked by volley fire of the Martini-Henry rifles. I accept that all this fiddling could break what is means as a smooth, process-free game - perhaps starting with a period-specific ruleset would remove the need.

Having said that, the Mahdists still need to have a chance: they have a tough job as it is.
this is why I like GMing them - it is more about presenting a challenge to the British and having some fun rolling the dice than a 'fair fight'. Having read around the period a little and noting the overwhelming advantage of firepower, I'd count routing a British unit as a Mahdist victory (well, a moral victory at least). The British won fairly comfortably and achieved most of their objectives, but in my view, such losses would be unsustainable over a campaign. They would have been well above the proportions registered in the major engagements, with the mauling of the KRRC and Bengal infantry, plus most other regiments having received charges or fire. Perhaps the Mahdists could lose every battle yet win the war through attrition?

Well, that was a long post, thanks for reading if you made it to the end!

Black Powder Sudan AAR: Scouting Hashin

Last weekend I have the opportunity and pleasure to put on the first game of what will hopefully be short Sudan campaign at Wyvern Wargamers. Dane took command of the Mahdists against two British commanders in a small engagement of scouting forces. The initial briefing was:

Spring 1884: Egyptian-ruled Sudan is in turmoil. El Mahdi has emerged and gathered his 'Ansar' around him: the tribes Korfodan, Beja and Arabs. Egypt maintains isolated garrisons across the Sudan, but two European-officered field forces have been destroyed by the rebels, at Kashgil November 1883 and most recently, El Teb on 4 February. Britain rushes to support its protectorate and secure Suakin, a port on the Red Sea to secure shipping to the far reaches of the Empire.

One cavalry and two infantry brigades are hastily landed at Suakin, commanded by Major-General Sir Gerald Graham. As they are assembled, Graham orders a small force to reconnoitre towards the town of Hashin in the west, to ensure the security of Suakin and sufficient water supplies. The bulk rest of the British force assembles to face Osman Digna's main body, still believed to be to the south west.

Colonel Ashburnham leads four companies of infantry, plus scouts and support elements. As no large bodies of Mahdists are expected so close to Suakin, engage any Mahdist scouts at your discretion.

The British command was:
1st Brigade: Major M Greenham
-King's Royal Rifle Corps
-28th Bengal infantry
-Screw gun
-10th Hussars
-Irregular horse

2nd Brigade: Major A Cathcart
-Royal Marine Light Infantry
-Naval Brigade
-Gardner gun
-Mounted infantry

With no Mahdists immediately in sight, the British commanders advanced cautiously, sending out cavalry scouts to identify and draw out any Mahdists. Looping ahead of the main force, the British Hussar troop round an escarpment and loop back towards the infantry square.



The British square advances steadily, with the Royal Marine Light Infantry on the leading face. The scouts fail to identify any Mahdists forces, with the irregular horse heading off on a wild goose chase on the British right flank.

Before the British cavalry make it back to the square, the Mahdists spring a trap - charging at full pelt to engage the exposed Hussars*. The British wheel about to receive the charge and a swirling melee ensues with no clear winner.



As the cavalry break apart, the Beja camelry engage, routing the beleaguered Hussars: the shame of Her Majesty's cavalry! The British mounted infantry take a sporadic fire from nearby shrub and mill in confusion, re-mounting and surging to front of the square.**

Meanwhile, the battered baggara cavalry plough into the locally-recruited irregular scouts. Seeing the proud British cavalry routed, they too turn tail and flee. The British cavalry are no more, though the Mahdists cavalry are weary and spent.

As the cavalry engagement peters out, the square opens up on the remaining Mahdist cavalry. Under a hail of rounds, they are similarly routed from the field. Meanwhile, the Mahdist infantry emerge, throwing up great clouds of dust as they surge towards the British square.

Realising the need to bring firepower to bear, the British form a line with speed and precision. The guns sit centrally, the line anchored by the Bombay infantry and KRRC.

The British open up on the horde of Beja, who stall under the steady fire**.

The scrub is finally cleared of Beja skirmishers by bayonets of the brave lads from Bombay.
As the Emirs of the Arab infantry wing finally rouse their troops for battle,**** the Beja surge forwards into the a British fire once again. Slowed by the rough ground of the dry riverbed, the charge falters without contact.

The British line prepares to fire once again. With the day slipping towards evening and many brave warriors strewn across the field, the Mahdist force melts away to fight again another day. The British scouting force claims a minor victory, having repelled the Mahdist scouting force without significant loss. But they did not have it all their own way, they didn't reach the ridge to scout Hashin, the British were cavalry battered and shamed and the square didn't receive and repel anything like a full charge. They turn back for the short march to Suakin before night falls.

*I allowed a rather ambitious attempt to spring a trap and charge from off-table, for which Dane rather fortunately rolled a triple move to make it in one turn with the Baggara horse. The poor Hussars, charged from the rear, could only wheel to face.
**Second British blunder.
***All three units disrupted - most unfortunate for the Beja as the charge falters!
****The second Mahdist infantry wing twice failed its command roll to advance on the square. Third time lucky they got moving, but too late to threaten the square wig a coordinated charge. Having said that, the Mahdists had the better command rolls for most of the game, with the British blundering three times throughout the game!

Conclusions 

All in all, quite a close and tense game - the British definitely didn't have it all their own way and for a while it looked like they might actually struggle. Black powder gives a satisfying game in 3 hours or so, and is easy to both pick up and run. A nudge more period flavour needed perhaps - the random events table ended up only being used once.

I think it works well to present the British commanders with the challenge of a bare field so they don't quite know what to expect. A British defensive game should be good too, 'recycling' the Mahdist units to wear the square down and target it's weak points.

I was keen to confirm the stats of each unit were suitable, I'd modes away from those in the Black Powder rules and upped the British firepower to 5 but also the stamina of most units. This made the Mahdists harder to drive off in one turn, but easier disrupt with a '6' from the 5 firepower dice. I think I'll add a limited ability to 'shrug off' disruption using a 'Follow me' order, to allow the Mahdists an unexpected way of delivering a charge to the British line - even once they get it it should be a close fight 1-on-1 so I'm not concerned about it unbalancing things.

The Beja skirmishers were overpowered, intended to be more of an irritant. They need to lose a point of stamina and I think I'll deduct the benefits of skirmishing to it harder for them to hit and make them easier for the Brits to hit with shooting.

While I've put on a couple of games with Sam last summer, this is they first with everything on the field painted and all the movement trays finished. Looking good! This isn't quite the whole collection, but from here I can just add bits and pieces to bolster each force and change the compositions.

Thanks to the players for an enjoyable evening and to Paul for the loan of a desert mat - just the right colour it turns out.