Khartoum - Turn 7

Turn 7 began with the news that Khartoum was now cut off and supplies were dwindling, so both columns needed to keep up the pace. The Nile Column had to  take the fortified town of Abu Hamed and the Desert Column had to cross the Nile at Gubrat. 

Desert Column - Gubrat Crossing

The game begins with the British having got about half their troops across the  river when a Mahdist force arrives to attack them. They must hold the bridgehead, land the remaining troops and then survive for 12 turns in total.    

British well set in their beachhead  

The British formed a hollow square against the Nile with the Gatling in one corner. The mounted troops and Egyptians began on the boats.  

Mahdists advance 

The Mahdists focused their main attacks against the left and front of the square with only the Beja camels against the right side. The first half of the game was smooth sailing for the British with multiple Mahdist units pinned and the Egyptians and some Camel Corps safely landed.  

The attack closes in but is contained

Disaster struck though with two British units breaking in successive moves and a large hole opening up in the square which led to the loss of the Gatling. The timely intervention of the Lancers and some recently arrive Camel Corps stabilised the position, allowing a narrow British Win.  

The Gatling is lost but the day is saved 

Nile Column - Abu Hamed

The Mahdists have made Abu Hamed a bastion to defend the Nile, with defences in place and artillery stationed in towers. The British are reinforced by their Gunboat. The British have 12 turns to take the town.

The British massed most of their troops near the Nile with a small force demonstrating in to the left of the town to keep the Mahdists honest. They commenced with a bombardment as they slowly advanced on the town. Losses were not heavy on the defenders but their morale was a bit shaky and several units withdrew from the front line.   

British approaching the town

As the British approached the town, time was running out for them and a Mahdist win looked likely, so they threw some cavalry into the fight. It met with some success but at heavy cost.   

Egyptian Gendarmes charge 

The final two turns were tense - the British had a single unit that managed to reach the objective in the town centre but the Mahdists had a unit that might be able to challenge them and stop the win. Sadly for the Mahdists it became pinned and was unable to to move, leading to another narrow British Win.        

The British grab the objective 

Campaign Situation

As we head into turn 8 both columns are short on supplies and time. The Desert Column is ahead as it attacks the outer defences of Khartoum currently in Mahdist hands. The Nile column is behind and must move its troops across the Nile to begin its final advance.

    

Khartoum - Turn 6

This week saw grave news as communication was lost with Khartoum as the siege tightened around the city. Both columns were in action as they look to break through to relieve them.

Nile Column - night attack

With the column encamped for the night the Mahdists launched a sneak attack under cover of darkness. The scenario involves some hidden movement through the use of "blinds" until the attackers are spotted. 

British camp

The early action saw the Egyptian cavalry on picket duty decide to try and clear-out the Mahdist rifles they had detected approaching the camp. They charged boldly but became cut-off and were wiped out.  

Egyptian horse attack

Mahdists reach the zareba

Around the Nile the Mahdists managed to get to the zareba but were pinned down by rifle fire and pushed back. With loses mounting they decide to withdraw leaving a British Win.   

Desert Column - the wells at Abu Kru

This game was based on the real action at Abu Kru - once again the Desert Column are in need of water and are trying to get to the wells. Dug-in Mahdists oppose them and have prepared some rifle pits on high ground.   

Camel Corps move forward

The British advanced as quickly as possible with the gatling being position to give covering fire. With speed needed they attacked with the camel corps, which damaged the Mahdists but at some cost. 

Struggle around the wells

The British made a series of assaults against the defenders and forced them back from the wells and captured the Mahdists supplies there. The Mahdists counterattacked and in turned pushed the British back. It was a Mahdist Win the British had captured enough supplies to keep advancing.    

Impressive British mounded forces.

Campaign situation

Despite their loss this week the Desert Columns capture of the Mahdists supplies enables them to keep lead over the Nile Column. Next week the Desert Column must cross the Nile while the Nile Column must force passage past a fortified town on the river banks.   

  

Weekly round-up

As well as the regular Monday night campaign (Sudan) I've played a few other games in the last 10 days.

Dark ages 

Firstly some dark ages skirmish using Victrix "Pillage" rules. This time a classic encounter with Vikings raiding a coastal community with local Danish and (hired) Irish defenders.

A sleepy village

The Vikings attack

A close result with the Vikings just failing to get enough loot back to the boats within the time limit.   

Release the hounds - Irish join the fight

Napoleonic I

Secondly a game of Lassalle to team the game to the Fishponds crew, with me selecting Quatre Bras from the rule book as a good intro scenario.  

French attack Quatre Bras

Hanoverian militia - 28mm from Warlord Games 

The French had the better of the fighting as half the Allied force was low quality Hanoverian militia but were unable to capture Quatre Bras with the 8 turns allocated. An enjoyable game and the Fishponds crew were enthused by the innovative turn system.     

Napoleonic II

Finally a game of Blucher, this time we fought Mockern from the 1809 Leipzig campaign. We reset it so that the original Prussian/Russian troops were replaced with Austrians. The battle involves a two pronged attack by the Austrians as they seek to break through Marmont's forces guarding the flank of Napoleons army. 

French await the Austrian attacks

The smaller French force pushed out from its defences and succeeded in bottling-up the Austrians as they sought to deploy onto the table, with some conscripts valiantly clinging to a low ridge for most of the game, and slowing the Austrian attack. After the allotted 24 turns neither had achieved its victory conditions so a draw, but with the French feeling happier.      

 

Khartoum - Turn 5

This week both Columns had advanced to the next encounter on their maps. The battles themselves were pretty much the same battles as last week but with the forces flipped. 

Desert Column - Night Attack

In this game we used hidden movement and limited visibility to model the darkness. Shooting and charging was limited to 12" and blinds were used (with 50% blanks) for the Mahdist forces. The British also only had 2 units awake plus 1 unit on picket duty outside the camp.  

Desert Column camp 

The Mahdist main attack focused on the western side of the camp and made good initial progress as they swarmed over an unguarded section of the zareba, only to be pushed back by the Camel Corps.  

Mahdists breach the camp

Beja advancing

More attacks came in against the front of the camp and were also held off. After a few hours action the fighting subsided as the Mahdists withdrew their remaining units. British Win. 

Nile Column

In this game the Nile Column's route was blocked by a fortified village that had to be taken before the advance could continue.  The mission was simple - destroy the village with points scored for buildings blown-up. 

The village stands ready

The Mahdists deployed their rifles in the village, with a gun deployed on a nearby hill. The spear armed troops were deployed further back waiting to attack.     

Ansar attack

Calvary looking good before meeting a sticky end

The British largely stood  back seeking to rely on their artillery to do the damage. Early game this did nt work too well as the gun's fire was on intermittent. A limited incursion was made with the Egyptian horse , who met a sticky end.   

Late game the gun's finally managed to do some damage and in the end 3 of the 5 buildings were destroyed for a British Win. 

Campaign position. 

With the British both wining they advance next turn and both remain with 2 supplies. Both have a chance to capture some Mahdist supplies, which they will need if they are not to need to pause for resupply.   

  

Khartoum - Turn 4

In this turn the Desert Column has pulled slightly ahead and are attacking a village containing some Mahdist supplies as well as collecting some supplies from a near-by dump. The Nile Column is out of supplies so halted to await resupply. 

Desert Column - village attack

The Mahdists began with half their forces in the village and the rest pushing up to join then, The British placed a gun on their right, protected by a machine gun and some infantry. The Camel Corps deployed on the left, looking to advance into the village. The British aim was to destroy the village and take the supplies.

The artillery proved effective and was able to demolish a building while the MG kept the Mahdists at bay. Meanwhile the Camel Corps advanced up the left side to the village.

Camel Corps advance with Egyptian fire support

The Mahdists attacked the Camel Corps but the Lancers and accurate artillery fire were able to push them back, albeit with the loss of the Lancers. The final turns were tense as British losses mounted but they continued to take out buildings and hold off the Mahdists flanking manoeuvre against the gun. 

In the end the Mahdists simply ran put of troops and it was a British Win by a few points. The effectiveness of the artillery and loss of a key Mahdist proved pivotal. 

Nile Column - attack on the camp

In this game the British are dug-in behind a zareba awaiting resupply when a large Mahdist force arrived intent on wiping them out. The British began with half their troops on guard and the rest needing to active to join the battle.    

The Mahdists deployed all around the zareba and advanced cautiously towards the waiting British. The Mahdists rifles proved slow to advance and so could nt provide the hoped-for fire support. Despite this the Mahdists did manage to penetrate the camp on its western edge but the attack was not exploited and was quickly mopped-up.  

As the game progressed the British re-established their front line and hold off the Mahdists piece meal attacks. In the end the Mahdists quit the field once it was clear they could not make more progress. British Win.

Campaign Situation

With both Columns winning they advanced to their next objectives but with the Desert maintaining their lead