Fighting the Mahdi in the Desert

Back to the Sudan this evening with a British force being ambushed by some Dervishes. This scenario was from Osprey's 'Men Who Would Be Kings' rules. In both games the Britsh held out and annihalated the waves of Mahdist ambushers

Don’t Fire ‘Til You See The Whites of Their Eyes! - Sudan, 1884

Some Colonial fun this evening. A British force attempts to investigate an abandonded village where Mahdist activity has been reported. In fact, they stumbled upon a hornets nest of Ansar fanaticism. Despite taking some casualties, the British line held, delivering punishing volley fire into the masses of screaming Dervish fanatics. In end the battlefield was littered with piles of Mahdist corpses. All the 'mad' Mahdi could do was look on as his army was decimated, although with a bit less luck (and pluck) on the British side, it could all have ended very differently indeed.....

Rules used were Osprey's 'The Men Who Would be Kings', which work very well for these sorts of games.

Zulu War - Zulu Dusk

The brave British infantry just about manage to gun down sufficient waves of attacking natives to avoid being overwhelmed by the Zulu warriors.

Taiping Rebellion - Imperials Triumph over the Heavenly Kingdom

Another fun game set in the Taiping Rebellion. This time, in the face of heavy artillery fire, the Imperial forces managed to successfully and frontally assault Taiping positions putting the 'God Worshipers' to flight.

Indian Mutiny - Gentlemen Volunteers' 'Daring-Do'

A British force consisting of the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Foot, the 1st Punjabis and 2nd Gurkhas, along with some irregular cavalry, supporting artillery and an unusual unit of 'Gentlemen Volunteers', was given the task of clearing an area of marauding Mutineers.

On the left flank the Gurkhas and Punjabis met with stiff resistance and accurate musketry from some Mutineers ensconced on top of a ridge line, which checked their advance. On the right flank, Probyn's Horse managed to overcome some angry Sowars, despite losing quite a number of their own horsemen.

Eventually the Mutineers' morale started to crack and a few units left the firing line, leading to a general disorganised retreat. In the closing minutes of the drama, a group of religiously inspired Ghazis sallied out form the village; the Gentlemen Volunteers were given the task of dispersing them. This, they embarrassingly failed to do as their charge bounced off the swirling swarm of fanatical swordsmen. That said, the Gentlemen thoroughly enjoyed their afternoon of 'daring-do'. The task of removing the Ghazis from the field of play fell to the artillery which, by this time was really starting to make every shot count.

All in all a successful action, although casualties amongst the 52nd Foot and the Gurkhas was worryingly high.