One of the most famous actions was the defence by Sikh troops of a signalling tower separated from the main Malakand fort, At one point the tower was cut off and so a rescue mission had to be mounted to relieve the defenders. This is based on Scenario H – A sigh if relief.
The defending Brits begin with 1/3 of their troops in and around the signal tower. The balance of their troops start in the fort ready to march out, with cover from some artillery.
The Pathans have half their troops besieging the tower and the rest moving on from the east end of the table.
Fearing they could not hold out very long the defenders decided to abandon the tower and try to move towards the advancing relief column. As this involved moving across some open ground they took some significant casualties from Pathan and Russian shooting. This left the locals free to advance quickly and capture the tower from the few defenders left behind.
Seeing their comrades fleeing towards them the relief column become overcome by pessimism and so their advanced slowed to a crawl as they focused on not being attacked more than mounting a rescue. Eventually they did mange to get a few units into a shooting position and take a few pot shots.
Sadly not all the Brits were able to escape and two units of the towers original defenders were destroyed as they tried to escape. So a clear win for the Pathans - the first of the rising on the main table.
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