Sudan questions

[Prof.Witchheimer]

some questions

- Square or round bases?

- are the african allies permitted?

[dominic]

TSATF uses square bases 20x20mm for formed troops.
For the Mahdists, you can use round bases.
Unit size is 20 figures.

African allies - I'm not so sure, but normally I see only Ansars (white robe with white turban), Fuzzies and Nile Arabs (see Perry pic below):

[Plynkes]

Depends on the period. Many Sudanese Askaris fought for the British in the 1890s. They were good troops, too.

British had native scouts as well. There were tribes of "friendlies" in the 1890s that looked just like "Fuzzy Wuzzies." Not sure if they did any fighting though.

Not sure what you mean by the African allies. Could you clarify? The Ansar seemed to be on bad terms with just about everyone. They fought against the Abyssinians and the tribal peoples such as the Bari in the far south of Sudan (who they raided for slaves.)

[Prof.Witchheimer]

Yes, i meant tribal peoples, thought maybe to use some foundry africa tribal ones if possible. Minis like that:

http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/DA/8/index.asp

or the musketmen:
http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/DA/13/index.asp

[Driscoles]

I use only round bases. For English and for the Sudanese.
Björn

[dominic]

@Prof - Unfortunately, I think the DA tribals do not have the correct look for Sudan

[Plynkes]

They'd be okay for the tribes of the Southern Sudan, such as the Bari.

Especially the Foundry naked ones with feathers in their hair. They weren't allies of anyone,  but they'd make a different enemy for your Mahdists when you fancy a change. As I said, the Mahdists raided them for slaves. I think they did a good job wiping them out, but Sam Baker said they were fierce warriors and they gave him quite a hard time.

Found a picture on the web (Warning: Naked Man Alert!) :
http://southernsudan.prm.ox.ac.uk/details/1998.203.1.15.2/

But they were enemies, rather than allies.

They fought with quite long spears and bows, didn't use shields, and never bothered with clothes (apart from feather headdresses).

[Prof.Witchheimer]

thanks for link, they look dangerous :-) Maybe a nice option for a scenario, a double attack of british and Bari against Mahdists from two directions. Will think about.

[Plynkes]

Unfortunately the Bari were hundreds of miles from where the British fought (though the Brits did send a gunboat detachment somewhere down that way in 1898, and almost came to blows with the French!).

They were down in the far south, where the terrain is not so desert-like.

But of course, don't let something like that get in the way of a good game idea!

[dominic]

@Prof - I just re-read a book on Sudan.  Some of the defenders of Khartoum (with Gordon) are described as wearing fez's, assorted robes and carrying muskets.

In this case, I think some of the DA Askaris (the more ragged-looking ones) can also be used.

I think you can also use these guys.  Your leader is a Fuzzy!
Just to remind that for TSATF, the unit size is 20 figures.

[Mike D. Mc Brice]

20 figs single based in a unit?

[dominic]

Hi Tom - yes, the rules state that 20 figures, singly based, make up a unit or a tribe.
For irregular units (Tribe), use round 20 or 25mm bases.
For regular units, use square 20mm bases. (Though I don't see why you cannot use round 20mm bases).

However, for convenience of movement, I have seen people basing 2-3 figures on a larger base.  For example, I played one TSATF game in the US where the Fuzzies were based 3 figures on a 60mm hexagonal base.  It worked quite well in the game and the movement was much easier!

Cheers!

[dominic]

@Prof - for the Bari, I think we can game a scenario where the Fuzzies attack a Bari village on a slave-raiding expedition.  Then possibly the Bari could be rescued by a British cavalry unit that happens to be on patrol in the deep south of Sudan.  Unhistorical, but it might be an interesting game! :wink:

[Mike D. Mc Brice]

Multibases might be very usefull for this amount of models.

[Driscoles]

Iam also thinking of basing some of the Sudanese on Multibases. But not the whole Unit.
Björn