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

   

     

Khartoum - Turn 3

 

Desert Colum - the watering hole

The Desert Column was once again short of water so sent troops ahead to secure a local watering hole that they would use. Mahdist forces moved to attack them so a race ensued between them and the relieving troops moving to support the troops at the watering hole.

The Imperial forces placed their Egyptians and the Gatling forward with mounted troops looking to relive them. The numerous Mahdists, mostly Beja, pushed forward at the water hole whilst their mounted forces raced ahead.   

Camel Corps advance 

The British Lancers intercepted the Beja mounted, and then went on to cause further damage before they were inevitably destroyed themselves.  

Lancers take on the Beja cavalry

Egyptians lead the defence

The defenders held firm as a tidal wave of Mahdists approached. They poured fired into the approaching hordes but were not able to slow them much. The Mahdists swept over the Egyptians and took the watering hole.    

The approaching storm

British losses were light but the game was lost. Mahdist Win.

Watering hole falls

Nile Column - Kirbekan

The Nile Column found it's way blocked by a Mahdist force occupying high ground in their way. This game was somewhat based on the real battle of Kirbekan but tweaked for the figures we had available.  

The Mahdists placed riflemen on the two hills and also a capture Krupp gun with pressed crew. The Imperial forces split with the British attacking close to the Nile and the Egyptians looking to outflank the hills.      

Mahdists positioned on the hills

The British engaged in a shooting duel with the Mahdists and were able to eventually eliminate them and advance up to the hills. On the other flank the Egyptians attacked more vigorously in the hopes of drawing Mahdists reinforcements away from the centre, which worked fairly well.      

British take the heights

The final turn was very tense - the British had a unit on the low hill that was the objective, and a second within a move. Three dice rolls proved decisive - the Mahdists threw six "6's" to push back the British on the objective, the second British unit threw "3" to move and so failed, and finally the Mahdists got another "6" enabling a unit to double onto the objective. So a last-gasp Mahdist Win.

British take the objective...briefly

The Campaign Position 

After 3 turns both columns have expended their current supplies. The Nile Column will have to halt and be resupplied. The Desert column are further advanced and have the chance to capture some Mahdists supplies and get supplies from a handy supply dump.

     

General Wolseley is worried by the speed to the advance so both Columns will get an additional 6 next  points turn.    
 

5 Parsecs - Operation Crysalis

We're deep into the current campaign which has mostly been set on the prison moon of Tybos. In turn 17 the Hermes crew receive a tip-off from their long term patrons The Pale Accord that their nemesis the Ossian Veil are conducting experiments on prisoners to develop adaptive biotech armour. A source reports there may be secret underground labs on Tybos where the work is being done.

Turn 17 - search the camp 

Their first break comes when a warden hires them to investigate a remote work camp where prisoners have been disappearing - something that matches the alleged MO. So the team set-off to search the camp but encounter a large group of Tech Zealots holding the facility.  

Tech Zealots tooled-up and ready 

With time essence, and a stand storm restricting visibility, the team decide to attack through the front door and hope to surprise the defenders.   

Let battle commence

Resistance proves very stiff as they fight their way into the compound and begin a rapid search. Shots ping in from all directions felling three of the crew. Having found a clue to the next possible location they beat a hasty retreat before more Zealots arrive.  Ivarr is wounded but will be back in action soon.

 

Clue found - time to leg it 

Turn 18 - search the other camp 

The clue from the previous mission pointed to a second camp in the same region as the first, so the next day the team set off to push through that and look for further evidence of Project Chrysalis. This camp was slightly larger and defended a Corporate Security team. They had also hired a Merc to beef-up the defences.   

Hired Merc supports security staff

The defenders were on the alert following the earlier attack and so were ready when the team arrived. Luckily they had not defended the perimeter itself so the team were able to force an entry under heavy fire.   

Behind you

Moving cautiously they used classic fire-and-manoeuvre tactics to sweep through the complex engaging targets as they went. Trusty bot PDP-11 was damaged before the Corp Security were driven off and a proper search undertaken.        

Compound secure

There was evidence of research activity on the site but the rooms used had been cleared out recently. Careful cross-referencing of flight data and timing material indicated a ship had headed into the asteroid belt in the last few days, likely carrying the unfortunate victim's of the experiments, so next stop the belt...  

          

Khartoum - turn 2 part 2

This report finishes off the action from Turn 2 by looking at the Nile Columns second battle. Fearing attacks on their supply lines the column sent troops a little way from the river to scout the country and supress Mahdist activities. As (bad) luck would have it they ran into a Mahdist force heading in the opposite direction looking to make it through to the Nile. 

In this scenario the forces start in opposite corners and are looking to exit the table through the opposite corner. Points are awarded for getting units off, killing the enemy and being the first to get a unit above half strength off the table. The game would last 15 turns. 

The Nile Column deployed with the British on the left and the Egyptians on the left. They set off in broadly those directions with the Egyptian cavalry looking to skirt around the Mahdists or delay them through skirmishing.  

British forces

The numerically larger Mahdist force deployed with riflemen in the centre and melee troops on the flanks. The hope was to pin the British with the rifles and sneak around the flanks with the fast-moving melee troops, picking off targets of opportunity.   

Mahdist forces

The British advanced cautiously through a building and surrounding scrub land. They quickly spotted some advancing Mahdists who they pinned and then pushed-back.  

British centre advances 

The terrain on the Egyptian's side was much closer, allowing the Mahdists to get closer and launch a series of attacks against them. There was a too-and-fro that left all the Egyptian units routed. The artillery was lost in counter battery fire with Mahdist artillery, who also succumbed.   

Egyptian cavalry attacked 

The last few turns saw the Mahdists able to sneak some infantry of the table in the area occupied by the now routed  Egyptians. The British also got off but being slower were unable to get the first unit off the table.  

British march off the table 

The game ended with a 10-7 win for the Mahdists. With 4 points for getting the first unit off that proved the difference. Notably the British Infantry only lost a single figure.   

 

Shoguns and Jarls

A busy time this week, with two midweek games in addition to the Sudan campaign on regular club nights.  

Never Mind The Billhooks - Samurai style

A trip over to Fishponds saw us playing NMTB using Samurai forces rather than the Wars of the Roses troops it was originally written for. A version of the oft converted NMTB for Japanese warfare is due out later year, so this was really a chance to try the basic mechanics and use the figures.   

I (literally) blew the dust off my 30 year old Dixon Miniatures to bulk out the forces and provide decent number of units per side. The armies are structured into commands (Wards) which activate in turn as decided by cards. Commanders can order units to act based on their quality but you never have enough  to do all you want, creating some friction.     

Fireforge plastic samurai

Classic Dixon samurai

Its a fairly simple game and our main takeaways from the first go were; big Pike (Yari) units are nasty doing lots of hits, the very limited ammo (6 shots / unit) means you need to not waste shots at long range, and the morale is pretty brutal with dice a big factor as a 4 or less (on 2D6) is always a rout.     

 

I've dug out the ECW version (Never Mind the Matchlocks) as that could work well for larger games.  So one to work on as a background project as I've not found a decent set of ECW rules.  

Pillage

I also managed a game of Pillage dark ages skirmish. In our third game we threw in several new elements; fire, javelins, war horns, banners, war hounds and Irish troops. The Irish are very cheap as they lack armour or the best weapons, so do get about a third more figures then the Anglo Saxons or Vikings.    

Viking leader and his body guards 

Anglo Saxon attackers

We played the St Brice's day massacre scenario with Anglo Saxons and Irish attacking Viking defenders, the aim being to set fire to the church. Sheer numbers gave the attackers an edge as the Vikings could nt plug every hole in the perimeter and so the Irish were able to get troops to the church in round 4. We played the fire starting slightly wrong but I suspect attackers would still have managed to set the fires in turn 5.  

War hounds are a mixed blessing as they can attack your own troops if things go wrong - so hit and miss but potentially quite funny. 

  

Irish war hounds run riot

 

Khartoum - turn 2, part 1

Sickness in the Nile Column camp meant we just did the Desert Column's second battle this week, a gamer inspired by the battle of Abu Klea.

A British force has marched-out of their camp towards the wells at Abu Keal when they are surrounded and attacked by a Mahdist force. The game lasts 10 turns with the British looking to survive and maximise Mahdist casualties.  

Beja cavalry ready to attack

More Mahdists advance

In the early part of the game the British had good success with pinning the Mahdists and chipping away. The Lancers charged and destroyed a unit but inevitably got attacked and succumbed themselves.   

   

The British form a hollow square

Mid-game the pressure grew on the British as there were too many targets and some of the charges started going home, causing damage to the Camel Corps. Eventually it became too much, and after losing most of the infantry, the survivors tried to run but were cut down by chasing Mahdists.       

Mahdists attack

So a Mahdist win on turn 8. The Column advances but is now on 6 supplies.