Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Colonial Adventures => Topic started by: Smokeyrone on January 04, 2010, 02:56:53 PM
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Belgians vs Mahdists in the border between the Belgian Congo and the nile, 1897. Looks very promising.
Street fighting, jungle fighting, desert fighting, Lots of Askaris, and Mahdists.
Looks like you can use all your Darkest Africa goodies for terrain, too. (I have to research it more, but it does seem like thick jungle, scrubby desert/steppe, jungle villages and .......Mahdists)
What do you think?
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I think that it sounds like a lot of fun!
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I'd love to. I'm finishing off my Force Publique army for Triumph and Tragedy as we speak. The only thing stopping me are a lack of 1890s Mahdists that I like the look of. I've been spoiled by the Perrys' 1880s range, and I really don't want to use anything less. But apart from a few leaders, nobody wears the Mark II Jibbah. I don't mind having some in the old style, but not the entire army.
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Looking into it I like it even more, the Belgians had 500 Azande along for the ride: Azande vs. Mahdists - It's like celebrity deathmatch for Darkest Africa.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/Plynkes/rejaf.jpg)
If you look carefully you can see the Azande spearmen in the background by that little hill.
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I'd like to see someone do that!
Later Mahdists and earlier non-uniformed Sudanese slavers offer great possibilites for fighting Belgians, Azande etc. Apparently one of the Azande chiefs even considered sending a rescue party to Khartoum to try and save Gordon's command, as they hated the Mahdists so much.
That would also make a splendid game :D
I wish the Perrys would bring out a range of be-jibbahed Mahdists. They do have the Mahdi's attendants and those lovely Emirs in patched jibbahs, so hopefully they will do.
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I have been trying to find information out about this recently. My Force Publique are just awaiting for the bases to be done and although Azande are next into bat on the painting table if the Perrys had done the right type of figures they would have sneeked in.
There seems to be a dearth of info on the net about these conflicts, apart from http://www.trenchfighter.com/188001/226822.html I have found very little. I am trying to track down 2 old issue of Miniature Wargaming which had a article in each. Anyone else had any joy?
Mors
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Read the account of the battle at Trenchfighter, and it described the Belgians fighting through a "labryinth" of village buildings, walls, etc. COOL!
Nice pic of Jibbas with that article:
http://www.trenchfighter.com/188001/226822.html
It may not be as "Jungley" as I thought (is that a word?), may be more desert scrub.
Anyhoo, looks very promising.
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Looking into it I like it even more, the Belgians had 500 Azande along for the ride: Azande vs. Mahdists - It's like celebrity deathmatch for Darkest Africa.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/Plynkes/rejaf.jpg)
If you look carefully you can see the Azande spearmen in the background by that little hill.
Plan a trip to Royal Museum for Central Africa at Tervuren outside Brussels, Plynkes. It is an extraordinary place of inspiration for this war and all things Congo. Horrid and inspiring, both.
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This Trenchfighter site is a magnificent source of not so well known african colonial conflicts - thanks for providing that link. I just read the "Mafia Island" report which is THE scenario for a T&T-ruled small colonial game.
And the Royal Museum for Central Africa at Tervuren is on my agenda for February, when my wife is going to visit a girlfriend from school in Brussels; I didn't want to accompany her for that purpose, but now I have a reason ... :D
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It is a good site. Before we even started this talk of Mahdists and Belgians it had already inspired me to start a force of Central Africa Rifles for T&T, so they can take on my Ngoni and do some games based on the Angoniland revolt.
I feel a bit of a heel for not telling the LAFers about it earlier now. That kind of thing is supposed to be my job around here.
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This Trenchfighter site is a magnificent source of not so well known african colonial conflicts - thanks for providing that link. I just read the "Mafia Island" report which is THE scenario for a T&T-ruled small colonial game.
And the Royal Museum for Central Africa at Tervuren is on my agenda for February, when my wife is going to visit a girlfriend from school in Brussels; I didn't want to accompany her for that purpose, but now I have a reason ... :D
I hope I am not ruining for you by saying it is bloody brilliant.
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I hope I am not ruining for you by saying it is bloody brilliant.
No way, and now I know they have another very nice military museum in Brussels as well ... ;D
And those belgian chips ..., and the beer ...
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Reminds me, the Mahdists also had some scraps with the Ethiopians (Don't know if the Italians or French did).
As I recall, Ethiopia lost one of it's top commanders from Adowa in a victory over some Dervish.
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Both the Italians and French did indeed fight with the Mahdists. Marchand (him of the Fashoda Crisis) had a bit of a dust-up with them prior to the arrival of the Brits at Fashoda.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/4/163_06_01_10_9_56_04.jpg)
Thomas Pakenham's book "The Scramble for Africa" has a cool illustration of French fighting with Dervish gunboats, if you fancy that kind of thing. 1500 Dervishes in two of Gordon's old steamers (with cannon) vs. 100 black Tirailleurs with no artillery. Sounds like fun, but I think that is the entire extent of the French war with the Khalifa. Still, you could go the "what if" route if you fancy more.
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New York Times report from 1894 on the battle of Kassala (Italians vs. Mahdists):
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9905E5DF143EEF33A25753C2A9619C94659ED7CF (http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9905E5DF143EEF33A25753C2A9619C94659ED7CF)
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The action around Kassala is interesting, but not much written about. Kassala is one of the most important centres for Sufism in Sudan. The ruling Khatmiya brotherhood had close religious links with Egypt, and was garrisoned by Egyptian troops - the city fell to the Mahdists in July 1885, six months after the fall of Khartoum. Apparently the siege of Kassala, nearby Sennar (on the Blue Nile), and Gallabat (on the Ethiopian border) and Egyptian retreat with refugees to Massawa (Eritrea) were all quite dramatic, but I can't find out much about them except a reference to an Egyptian officer called Saad Rifat who organised the fighting retreat and rescue with much heroism.
The Italians occupied Kassala again in 1940, but that's another story...
As for Mahdists against Ethiopians, there was plenty of action because the Sudanese were pursuing an active policy of jihad to expand their borders. Lots of action and border raids around Gallabat. At one point in 1887, the Mahdist army even turned on itself, when the local commander claimed to be Jesus (also a prophet in Islam), whose second coming was meant to follow the earthly return of the Mahdi!
Control of the border ebbed and flowed - there was a big Mahdist push into Ethiopian in 1888 - but things were finally settled at the Battle of Gallabat in March 1889. The Ethiopian king Johannes (John) IV personally took control of his army and was killed, along with an estimated 15,000 others. The Mahdists held the day, and took so many captives back to Khartoum that they caused the prices in the slave markets to collapse. Unfortunately for the Mahdists however, the battle also broke the cream of their army, and effectively put paid to any expansionist plans. From that point on, all their military activities concentrated on defending territory, not trying to expand it.
Got to be some games potential there, especially with all those lovely Abyssian 28s you can get these days!
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Im sure there was a great article from Savage and Soldier some years back on the siege and relief and Kassala, (wouldnt this be in the Mahdists Wars Sourcebook?) Pretty comprehensive account of the campaign.
Anyway, I think the Italians vs the Mahdists is one of those 'sideshows' that make Colonial such a great period to game, plus its one of those where youre armies double up as it were, always a bonus as far as Im concerned!
Also I found an interesting small comic about Kassala on an Italian site about the Bersagilieri, it had Brits, Italians and Mahdists but as my Italian is non-existent I cant really elaborate any more. Ill see if I can dig up the site.
Great pic of Marchand thanks Plynkes
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(http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af130/gunnermax2/fumetto1.jpg)
(http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af130/gunnermax2/fumetto2.jpg)
(http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af130/gunnermax2/fumetto3.jpg)
(http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af130/gunnermax2/fumetto4.jpg)
(http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af130/gunnermax2/fumetto5.jpg)
(http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af130/gunnermax2/fum6.jpg)
(http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af130/gunnermax2/fumetto7.jpg)
(http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af130/gunnermax2/fumetto8.jpg)
(http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af130/gunnermax2/fumetto9.jpg)
(http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af130/gunnermax2/fumetto10.jpg)
(http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af130/gunnermax2/fumetto11.jpg)
(http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af130/gunnermax2/fumetto12.jpg)
(http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af130/gunnermax2/fumetto13.jpg)
(http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af130/gunnermax2/fumetto15.jpg)
If anyone could shed any light on these Id love to hear
Max