Sudan Revolt Part 2- A Damn Disgrace

Rules: Colonial Adventures
Figures: 1/72 (20mm) Italeri, Waterloo 1815 and HaT plastics.

No communication has been received as to what is happening across the Sudan. Major Wilford T. Wilmington IV does not know if his problem is local or if the entire Sudan is engaged. He sent two native runners north over the last 3 days but has heard no response. Major Wilmington thinks awhile and says to himself, "Surely the fantacism has been localized, our presence is too strong along the Nile and coastal areas...what the hell is going on?".  He tries to comfort himself,"Your in it now old boy, you wanted the responsibility of command and now you're in it alone. All the training and a high morale will surely keep things from getting out of control.These are tough men and we'll get through alright."

A week after the first contact with the dervish madhists Major Wilmington decides its time to find out if the enemy are still in the area. He spends most of the night contemplating his plan as sentries call out sightings of movement through the night. The Sgt. Ahmed and the camel corps barely escaped the last encounter as they lacked the firepower to deal effectively with the rabble of fanatics; only speed saved them from certain death. It appears this Madhi fellow is not taking prisoners as the wounded were slaughtered in the first engagement. "Yes indeed" he says to himself, "the firepower and cold steel of a highland platoon is exactly what we need here". The decision is made to reconnoiter, another patrol and this time it will be in force.Time to share the plan with the staff.

 The plan is to send a platoon of highlanders to aggressively scout the area.
There are 3 points to investigate and clear if possible.The platoon only needs to spot each PEF "Possible Enemy Force" and report back and engage if it is reasonable to do so.

Major Wilmington shares the plan with Captain Addison and Sgt. Major Cunningham over a glass of sherry, which the Sgt Major politely refuses."Gotta keep a clear head sir", Cunningham says stoicly. They work out the details and assign 2nd platoon to the mission. Soon Lt. George Cavendish is called in for the assignment. "Remember Georgy old boy, you only need to reconnoiter and report. You only engage if you have too" states the Major.



The sightings are much closer to the outpost than the previous week and the sentries are on alert. "These dervish fellows are quite bold in their choice of proximity" says Capt. Addison, "At least you won't have far to walk". The young Lt. acknowledges the order in typical fashion and parades out of the office and informs his platoon of the mission.
On turn 1 - The platoon leaves the outpost in the morning and the men have the ominous feeling that they are being watched from the hills nearby. (The PEF's in the hills do not move as the column leaves the outpost). The column leaves the gate and turns to a nearby hill which is the first area to inspect. Sgt. Remmington is too busy advising the squad to notice the young and inexperienced Cavendish has forgotten to send out scouts ahead of the platoon. ( I didn't realize until after the game that I really hamstrung the Brits by forgetting to use scouts).



Turn 2 deployment

On turn 2 - The highlanders gain the initiative and deploy in open order. Sgt Remington leads a squad to the right with Cpl. Williams and Cpl. Willaby takes a squad to the left under the watchful eye of Lt. Cavendish. (The open order will allow for faster movement. I thought the troops would need to stay mobile). The men disperse and move freely but are vulnerable if engaged in melee. Cavendish tries to keep up the spitis of his men saying, "Damn fine day for sport eh Willaby? Let's get today's fox!". Willaby looks back unsurely at the arrogant officer, "What an arse" he mumbles.



On turn 3 (the dervish gain the initiative and one of the PEF's splits into 2 PEF's). It seems likely that a large body of fanatics on on a nearby hill as movement can be seen. On this turn Sgt Remington moves his squad closer to the PEF. The second squad during turn 3 moves closer to hill where multiple PEF's are seen. They are just out of range but they know something is up there. They approach in open order to maintain maneuverability.



On turn 4 the British keep the initiative so the Sgt and his men approach. They are startled by a shephard and his goats. Everyone jumps as the peasant narrowly escapes being shot by a nervous private. A roll randomly determines that the PEF is a goat herder tending to a flock. The movement was nothing serious thank goodness. The men of the squad laugh nervously to relieve the tension.



The second squad moves toward the hill and makes their spotting roll. "CONTACT!", yells Cpl. Willaby.  The 10 man squad are confronted by 20 screaming Ansar who are running out of the hills. The Test of wills check by the dervish results in a charge. Lt. Cavendish is caught by suprise as half of his platoon are out of position and facing away from the enemy. The order is given, "Present...Fire!" and the squad releases a volley into the howling dervish.

The result was a low ammo marker and no hits.....that's right...not a single hit! the Ansar shrug off the volley and close in on the British. I check the Being Charged Table and the roll result was Pass 0d6 as a result of 5's and 6's appear on all of the dice. 1 of 3 figures runs and the rest stand to receive the charge. The Ansar are fierce, have shields andoutnumber the squad 3:1 in combat. Cpl Willaby fell (result of 11 on 2d6) as did another private. The squad begins to melt away and runs past Cavendish who is trying to keep order, but it is hopeless. Cavendish was not attached to any squad.



The last stand of Lt. Cavendish


     The natives now take their move and sucessfully charge the second squad in the flank while others charge to Cavendish. Only one man from the squad gets off a shot and drops one of the heathen rabble but the rest close in a fanatical charge. Cavendish fires twice and misses, he has no choice but to receive the charge alone. He can not run, the Major and the men at the outpost are watching and the family's honor is at stake. In the melee Sgt. Remmington is cut down and the leaderless squad runs for their lives back into the outpost. The end for Cavendish is quick as he disappears beneath the on rush of wild tribesmen. A victorious yell erupts from the desrt hills as the last of the highland infantry scampers into the fortification.The Sgt Major is at the gate to meet routed men. He berates them for their behavior and in a fit of fury grabs Cpl. Williams by the scruff of the neck. "Damned disgraceful Williams, you should have took charge ya coward....you're a damn disgrace...damn disgraceful indeed" yells Cunningham.

The result of the second patrol :
Second Platoon
Lt. Cavendish - KIA
Sgt Remmington - KIA
Cpl Williams
Cpl Willaby - KIA
15 Men plus 2 KIA
Peering through the binoculars Major Wilimgton's heart sank at the gruesome sight. Captain Addison stared at the rout in complete disbelief knowing full well the fate of the young officer, his inexperience cost him dearly. "There has to be another way, help has to be coming", the Major thought as he glanced blankly into the hills to the north. His thoughts drifted as the desert sun set turning the hot brutal day into a cold and uncertain night.
The game ended after 4 turns...2 Hour Wargames indeed! The British got crushed because I rolled complete crap. Even though I was tempted to fudge the rolls and the results I chose not to and let the game play on. The British really need to win one but this is it how it goes in the Sudan.
At this point the dervish are building up a sizable lead on the Brits. The next mission will be determined by a roll on the Mission Table.

Major Morale
British 2
Dervish 5

Sudan Revolt - Mini Campaign

Rules: Colonial Adventures
Figures: HaT, Italeri, Waterloo 1815
Scale 1/72

First of all I am using a terrain board instead of cloth. While I was at the Berlin NJ flea market I found some floor mats that fit together. I bought 24 sections for $17 and each section is 2' x 2' and has a jigsaw type edge that helps the mats fit together. When I got them home I scrubbed them clean. Using some excess paint from previous home improvement projects I was able to keep the costs down.

I am using Colonial Adventures to play my solo campaign. The idea is to drive the opponents major morale level to 0. If the Anglo/Egyptians reach 0 first the fort commander is disgraced and sent packing and the outpost is soon abandon forcing the survivors to make a dangerous trek across the desert.. If the Dervish forces reach 0 first then they lose heart and abandon the area helping the Anglo/Egyptian forces subdue the area and hurting the revolt. The allies can get reinforcements but they need to perform well and keep their Major Morale high.

Anglo/Egyptian Major Morale: 4

Dervish Major Morale: 4

Assignment: Anglo/Egyptian Patrol

In a small obscure out post in Sudan there lies an outpost somewhere between the 3rd and 5th cataract. It is 1881 and the out post is led by Major Wilford T. Wilmington IV (REP 5). The outpost is assigned a company of Cameron Highlanders and a platoon of Egyptian Camel Corps. The outpost is in a desolate area and supplies are shipped south from Alexandria Egypt. The unit has just traded in their red coats for the dull grey uniforms. The rest of the Cameron Highlanders in Egypt still retain theier red coats.  Across the Sudan the believers of the true prophet rise up....

In the early morning hours a sentry calls out that there is movement in the distance. It's unusual as there has never been any trouble before but there have been rumors from caravans that religious fervor is overtaking the region. The sentries have been told to be alert and report any activity. The sentry calls out and a patrol is quickly assembled. The patrol leaves the fort to investigate the sighting by the sentry.

The sentries remain ever watchful as the patrol is formed up in column formation to investigate the recent sightings in the nearby oasis. Major Wilmington sees off Sgt Ahmed Urikar and relays the order to investigate three areas of terrain capable of concealing a sizable number of Ansar and Ole' Fuzzy. As the patrol moves out into the pre-dawn darkness they see nothing obvious. All seems quiet as they move towrd the oasis where the sentries spotted movement in the darkness.

The patrol approaches an oasis that contains a PEF (possible enemy force). The Egyptians remember their training by the Anglo forces and change form column to line. They slowly advance as all seems too quiet. They are thankful not to be patroling under the desert sun but remain vigilant in the darkness. They then dismount and prepare to send a scout ahead of the patrol. The silence is deafening as Sgt Ahmed can feel something is out of place.  

The spotting result is a unit of Ansar who charge out of the brush to attack the Egyptians. The charge reaction by Sgt Ahmed's men is to fire as they pass 2D6 on the reaction table. 2 Dervish are killed in the first volley; one of them is the leader of the group. The Ansar charge is stalled and they lose heart. The wide eyed natives run back into the brush and disapprear into the darkness.

The Sgt decides not to pursue and checks on his men; that all happened very fast and they need to remain cautious as that was too easy. All are accounted for and their confidence grows, damn good luck taking out the leader in the opening shots. The feeling among the troopers is that these jackals run at the first volley and show themselves as the real cowards they are. This religious fervor seems to have no teeth and will be easily stamped out in a week.

Feeling confident and assertive the troopers mount up and continue to patrol the perimeter. They remember their orders to check all points of possible trouble and they only investigated one area so far. On the following turn another PEF is encountered. The random result yields a shepherd and his family tending to their flock. Sgt Ahmed continues the patrol but wonders if those people are spies.

Keep in open order...dismount and fire!

His thoughts are soon interupted as on the next turn the patrol encounters another unit of Ansar. They handled the last group of Mahdis quickly  and they remain confident so they dismount then fire. They believe one good volley will send these troublemakers scattering into the night. The dervish are unphased by the loss of a single unamed believer and charge the infidels. The troopers react to the charge by firing a second time. They miss and get a low ammo result but are able to retire.

The next initiative roll result is doubles and that gives the Dervish reinforcements on the left flank of the camel Corps.The random result is more Ansar that enter on the table edge.

On the following turn the Dervish side wins the initiative. The Ansar are able to close the charge this turn. The Egyptians lose 3 troopers and the Ansar lose 2. The troopers are outnumbered and in danger of being flanked. Sgt Ahmed takes notice of the situation and orders a withdraw. The troopers mount up and ride off. There are just too many Madhist forces for the patrol to hold off.

The Egyptians win the initiative the next turn and continue to ride for their lives. The Ansar are close the heels of the troopers but can not keep pace with camels. The Camel Corps beat the Ansar to the fort and a squad of Highlanders close ranks behind the troopers. The soldiers in the fort have heard the running battle for the last half hour and were alerted. Major Wilford T. Wilmington



Most of the troopers make it back



The Ansar halt their pursuit and melt away into the early morning darkness. As the sun rises the enemy is not seen.Perhaps they ran into the hills or blended in withthe locals, either way Major Wilmington knows the outpost is being watched. Sgt Ahmed makes his report, 3 KIA and the enemy have the field. The feeling throughout the outpost is that the main force was not encountered.

Result:

Dervish Victory

Anglo/Egyptian Major Morale: 3

Dervish Major Morale: 5

Current Roster

Cameron Highlanders:

Major Wilford T. Wilmington IV (REP 5) Commander

Captain Reginald Addison Executive Officer

Sgt. Major Donald Cunningham (REP 5)

Platoon 1 (REP 4 Unit)

Lt. Geoffrey Edwards (REP 4)

Sgt. Charles McCraken

Cpl. Frederick Hicks

Cpl. Brian Smythe

17 Enlisted

Platoon 2 (REP 4 Unit)

Lt. George Cavendish Jr.(REP 4)

Sgt. William Remington

Cpl. Enoch Willaby

Cpl. Trevor Williams

17 Enlisted

Egyptian Camel Corps

First squad (REP 4 Unit)

Sgt Ahmed Urikar

7 Troopers (3 KIA)

Second Squad (REP 4 Unit)

Sgt  Amarna al-Douar

7 Troopers

Battle of Peitsang

Rules: Colonial Adventures
Scale: 28mm
Figures: Old Glory, Copplestone
Rules Modifications: 
Western trained Chinese will react better than Boxer Peasants
1/2 Fire power dice to shoot at entrenched units
Volley Fire always creates a tight ammo result for the firing unit
-1 Fire power die for open order and Gun Crew target is cumulative
 Kansu are Ferocious
Rolling a received casualty per occurrence (once) rather than per figure(multiple times)...we did this on purpose to make the game play longer for sake of the convention.

We are play testing a game for Cold Wars and it is based on a scenario from a skirmish campaign book.

ALLIES
A combined force of British, Americans, Austrians, Japanese, Germans, Russians and French are advancing to an armory. The force is being lead by a charismatic Italian general (might as well include another country) and the attacking force is split on opposite side of a river. The attacking forces are starting 24" from the edge. All units are REP 4 except US Marines, Italian General, and British Artillery who are REP5.

CHINESE
The Chinese forces include 4 units of Kansu braves, Imperial Rifles, 4 artillery pieces, and a cavalry units which will not be included in the future OOB. We are contemplating the use of 2-3 mobs of peasants for cannon fodder and suicidal charges to get things started. Kansu are REP4 and all other units are REP3.

The goals for the Allies is to seize the gun battery on the west side of the river and take the two buildings on the east side of the river. The Chinese must stop the Allies and kill as many of the foreigners as possible in the process. The Players are Cliff, Tom, Leo, Jack, Kyle while Jim and I were the umpires.

The Allied Powers deploy for the attack.

 The Allies got off to a slow start an on turn 1 blew the initiative roll with a 6, so none of there units moved. The Chinese rolled a 5 so the General (Rep 5) moved to the cannon to activate it and fire. The allies took some casualties early but they continued to advance in open order to get the benefit of the 12" movement and a defensive bonus.  A few French and British troops are lost in the opening moves to the Chinese artillery. Acceptable losses in order to seize the objectives. The range for rifles is 24 inches and artillery range is up to 36 inches.

Kansu and Imperial Rifles entrenched and ready

On turn 2 and 3 the Allies cautiously advanced and the British received most of the attention from the Chinese rifle units. The British and French fired in the opening salvo and took out a gun crew which really helped their cause. The Chinese players thought the crew was killed too easily and suggested that entrenchments should offer more cover. Some of the Kansu Braves are hit and a failed casualty roll means 1 in 6 braves leaves the field. On a second received casualty roll the unit stands.

Rules Note: We are going to add a defensive bonus for units in prepared defenses. Fire power dice against entrenched units will be reduced by half.

British, French and Germans advance in the center toward the ford.

On the Chinese left flank the cavalry keep a unit of Austrians in check. The Austrians slowly advance in open order and begin to fire.  The cavalry lose one of their number but carry on. The Kansu Braves in the center begin to become thinned out by accurate rifle fire. The Kansu fire also hits on target as the British and French infantry lose several men. The Germans are moved in support through the woods but are slowed to a half move.

The Kansu have artillery to help repel the onslaught

The Kansu braves on the front line take several more hits and receive a tight ammo result which means they lose a die in their fire power rolls. The Imperial Rifles are moved to plug the gap that is developing.
The Chinese do not waver as their numbers thin. The captured Krupp guns are used to support the defensive positions but they also receive low ammo results. The Mules are brought forward to resupply the units.

Chinese Artillery and Infantry have tight ammo....and the allies keep advancing.

Rather than close the allied stop to exchange fire and soften the defenders before the inevitable assault. The only way to cross the ford is in open order so the allies decide to keep dispersed. The woods slowed the Germans to a 6 inch movement. The French marines were leading the way with the German Seebattalion in support.

The Allies stop to exchange fire avoiding a melee

The Kansu in the entrenchments take several Received Casualty checks through the game and stay in cover. Eventually the Allies artillery fires and causes no casualties which generates a Received Fire check. The Received Fire check causes the Kansu braves to charge as they feel invincible and want to kill people up close and personal. The Chinese players groaned at the result of having troops in good defensive positions charge mindlessly into the open. Thats the fun of the game as you really can't control every action or reaction of your units...people do crazy things in combat. The Kansu did survive the advance and ended up in the flank of the British unit. On the next Chinese activation the British were shot at and charged from the flank. So the result of having to advance worked out very well for the Chinese.

Imperial rifles advance...the French take a test of Wills check...they fire and miss with volley fire!

 The British rolled very well and never broke, there may even be a Victoria Cross for some of the Brits for being so resolute. In melee you only count the figures in contact. Being in open order is great for movement and fire but when you have a unit close in for melee you are at a disadvantage. The 1" gap between figures in open order means a single figure can be attacked by multiple figures. The British figures in contact are out number 3 to 1 by the Chinese who had no problem ganging up on them. The Chinese did win the melee but did not inflict as much damage as hoped for allowing the British to retire 12 inches away in the following turn.

The Kansu react to being shot at and advance from the entrenchments then on their turn they charge!

On turn 4  at the opposite side of the river the Russians and Japanese advance to seize the gun battery. The entry of these units, according to the scenario, is random. I think we will bring them in on turn 2 for the convention. A few Russians become casualties from the long range shooting of the artillery. Moving 12 inches in open order means the Allies can close in 3 turns and can fire in 2 turns.

Russians and Japanese advance under fire

The Russians and Japanese have a long open field ahead. On this turn the Austrians have won their combat against the Chinese cavalry. We assigned the cavalry a reputation of 3 to reflect their unpredictable nature as they are bandits and thieves looking for an opportunity to loot the bodies of the fallen.  They flee the field but were successful in stalling the Austrians for most of the game.

There is a long way to go...hurry up!

 On turn 6 the Chinese commander, who was attached to the artillery unit in the center,  is killed. The battery took casualties and the Chinese player rolled an 11! A Leader Loss result meant that 1 in 3 figures from each unit runs away. We then called the game as the Chinese units were melting away from continuous Received Casualty rolls.


Summary 

The game lasted over 3 hours. I did forget to add the leader die and +1 die for cover to the rolls on the crisis table. I should have known better and need to do a better job preparing for the game, but that's why we play test. The Chinese would have lasted longer than they did in some of the Crisis results, the only way to improve is to play more which is fine with me. What I really like about these rules is the reaction of your units. Most rules cover the negative actions and reactions of an army. Units in many rules sets rout, surrender, become disordered, etc. These rules are unique because they not only cover the negative reactions of routing but also cover successful reactions that include charging, advancing, and firing. The rules were well received by the new players with a few tweaks suggested. Everyone likes the fact that you can finish a game in a reasonable amount of time.

Joe from DAWGS....adios amigos

Boxer Rebellion

We played a Boxer Rebellion game using the rules from 2 hour wargames called Colonial Adventures. The formations are 20 figure units and the game is based on rolling D6.

The game had Colonial forces consisting of 2 units of French Marines, 2 Units of Italian Bersaglieri, 1 unit of American marines with a Colt machine gun, 1 unit of Russian sailors and a unit of Russian Cavalry.

The Chinese had 2 units of Chinese Imperial infantry, 2 units of Kansu Braves, 1 unit of Tiger men, 1 Unit of Cavalry, 2 Artillery pieces, 2 Jingal crews and 3 units of peasant mobs.

The goal of the Chinese forces was to destroy the rail line running to a major port being used to shuttle supplies and forces into China.

The Chinese and Allied players rolled for initiative and the Chinese activated while the Allies stalled. Seizing the initiative the Chinese began to quick move towards the rail line and get a jump on the Allies.

The Allies begin to move into position and the Chinese commanders ponder their next move. Initiative is very different as you may not be able to activate all of your units. If you roll poorly you may not be able to move any of your units. units with higher reputations have a better chance of activating.



A unit of Tiger men reach the rail spur but a unit of US marines and Russian cavalry try to halt them on the Allied left flank. The Tiger men are a ferocious unit and are very difficult to beat in hand to hand combat.


The Italians (shown below) on the right flank deploy in open order as Kansu braves decide to meet them shot for shot before closing in.


The Italians are holding their own but a unit of cavalry are trying to flank them. Flank attacks can cause an entire unit to run away if the reaction roll result is too low.


The Italians begin to run low on ammunition, and lose a D6 in their fire combat dice roll. The pack mule with the ammunition has not made it to the from line yet. It takes and action to resupply. Each fire combat may continue result in multiple low ammunition. The more low ammo results the more fire dice you lose so supply is very important.

Mean while the French marines (below) are holding the center line as 2 units of screaming Chinese rush toward them. Their fire proves ineffective as the mobs move towards them for close fighting. Volley fire can cause units to break more easily.


The French marines begin to be pushed back as the hordes of peasants hit them. The Chinese believe they are impervious to the rifle fire and close for the kill. The French decide not to withdraw and hold the line.



Meanwhile on the Allied left the US Marines are locked in combat for survival as the Tiger men try to rid their country of the foreign devils. The Tiger men closed and gave the Marines a very close call; they were in need of help.

The Americans are fighting for survival and may be overrun. Soon the hear the Russian infantry advance behind them. The Russians have a Rep. 4 and their approach has been slower then the Marines (Rep. 5). They are also escorting an ammunition train as the pack mule represents a chance to resupply.

A close up of Old Glory as the Americans get a chance to reform. Imperial rifles are in the distance with the yellow flag.

The center is being held by the French but just barely. A lot of French have fallen in the defense of the rail line.


Eventually a unit of Chinese did make it to the rail line anf did destroy a section of track. Delays in supplies and reinforcements caused the Allied Powers to pause in their pursuit of the Boxer menace.

The players enjoyed the pace and some of the mechanics of the game. These rules challenge you abilities as they do not follow the same mechanics of more traditional rules sets, like the Sword and the Flame. Units react to opposing forces moving within 12 inches of their position or if they are charged. After the first couple turns we were all comfortable with the mechanics of the system. We did make some mistakes, especially involving melee, and movement of troops. The more you play the rules the easier the system becomes.