The Battle of the River Tinki, 1882

[answer_is_42]

On the border between the colonies of French and British Onkoland lies the great Tinki River. Although completely devoid of any natural resources whatsoever, the area has served as a flashpoint for rivalry between the two empires for the last decade. The situation is often made even worse by the local Onkolese warlords, whose actions have accounted for the loss of many European lives in recent months. Now, with war between the two great powers nearing ever closer, these promise to be the first colonial outposts to be affected.

The board. British are in the top left, Natives at the right and bottom, and French in the Fort;


Adid the fruit merchant bumbles (very) slowly down the river;


The game begins with the natives attempting to storm the Fort Josephine, only to be repelled with heavy losses;


Meanwhile their guns attempt to provide support;



The Scots secure the Village (a position from which the British refused to move all game);



Things continue to look desperate for the French, as more Natives attack the walls;


The Onkolese warriors commit a War Crime, in torching the village (meanwhile, the Highlanders manage to gun down a mother and her child in a botched volley. No non-combatants here by Jove!);


The British are hard pressed in the village, but the Hussars arrive in the nick of time;




Meanwhile, news of war between the two Great Powers arrives, and with it more troops;



The French attempt to cross the river, but are hurt badly by British fire. Here, the Scots (finally) more beyond the village walls;


Needless to say, Adid is not amused;


Objectives and a slightly more detailed report to follow shortly.

Apologies in advance to Plynkes...
As we all know what he thinks of such alternative histories.  

[answer_is_42]

British 
You are Colonel Fortherington-Smythe, commander of the local British garrison. Having received a desperate message from a team of archaeologists beset by natives on the banks of the Tinki River, you have despatched a small force to rescue them, and protect the local inhabitants. Naturally, as an officer and a gentleman, you are personally commanding the expedition. However, just before leaving you received a telegram direct from Cairo, warning you that a war with France may be mere hours away. Therefore, you have left orders for your one ironclad gunboat, as well as a significant land force, to be prepared to move out in your support if hostilities commence in your absence. These are to be signalled by heliograph if and when they are needed. You secretly hope for the War, as if will allow you to demonstrate your military prowess by taking the nearby Fort Josephine.

Objectives;
 Rescue archaeologists – 5 points each, 40 points for whole group (6 in total), minus 3 points for each killed
Defend villagers – minus 2 points for each villager killed/captured.
The following only apply if war is declared;
Signal Ironclad – 3 points (minus 10 points if sunk).
Cross river and establish a bridgehead – 10 points.
Storm Fort Josephine – 50 points.

French
You are Commandant Lassan, commander of the garrison of Fort Josephine, a command you despise. You have been called from your afternoon nap by your second in command, who points out a group of Europeans beset by natives across the river in British Onkoland. Whilst you would like to sally forth and rescue them, you are under strict orders not to cross the river unless a state of war is known to exist between France and Britain. Anyway, a British force has arrived, apparently intent on the rescue. This is the least of your worries, however, as a breathless scout arrives with news of hordes of Onkolese warriors about to descend upon your command. If things become really hairy, you have the option of signalling reinforcements from upriver, via the newly installed telegraph in the fort.

Objectives;
Defend Fort Josephine–minus 30 points if fort lost for a turn or more.
Destroy 3 or more native units – 20 points, then a further 10 points per unit after this
The following only apply if war is declared;
Cross river and take and hold white building atop the hill – 20 points
Sink British Ironclad – 20 points (10 points for severe damage)
Prevent the British from landing on French side of river – 30 points

Natives
You are Wahib the Warlord, self proclaimed leader of the “Onkolese Liberation Army”, an organisation devoted entirely to the liberation of property from the less deserving (in the name of Allah, naturally). You have become aware of a group of Europeans on the banks of the Tinki River, digging up old Onkolese holy relics for themselves. In this act of vandalism they have been aided by the inhabitants of a local village, who have been won over by promises of great reward. How dare they treat our heritage in such a way? We must sweep across the plains and purge the infidels from our lands in a demonstration of power that they won’t soon forget!
Only Glory Awaits! Allah Akbar!

Objectives:
Torch village – 10 points for each building burned
Capture villagers – 3 points for each villager
Capture European troops – 5 points for each soldier
Kill archaeologists – 5 points each, 40 point for whole group (6 in total)
Storm Fort Josephine – 50 points

These modifiers apply to all forces:
Gain 10 points if capture enemy leader.
Lose 15 points if leader killed, 5 points if captured (or surrendered).
Lose 25 points if force drops to below 50% of starting units.

[answer_is_42]

British Order of Battle
Colonel Fortherington-Smythe, Captain Redgrave
On table:
2nd Platoon, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders – 21 figures (Lieutenant McCandles)
4th Section, Royal Calcutta Sappers – 8 figures (Sergeant Singh)
Gun no. 3, ‘E’ Battery, 8th RA – One light gun, 4 figures (Captain Smith)
Heliograph  - 4 figures (Major Charles-Cornwall-Asquith)
Off Table:
5th Platoon, Royal Borkshires – 21 figures (Lieutenant Cartwright)
1st Squadron, 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales’ Own) – 9 figures (Captain Curruthers)
Naval Brigade – 14 figures (Captain Higgins-Smith, Overall Naval Command)
Nordenfelt Gun – Machine Gun, 4 figures (Lieutenant James)
HMS Mahratta (Ironclad Gunboat)

French Order Of Battle
Commandant Lassan, Capitaine Ducos
On Table ;
HQ Unité – 5 figures (Commandant Lassan)
Section 2e, 6e Bataillon, Légion étrangère – 14 figures (Lieutenant Bernard)
Turcos Zouaves – 11 figures (CapitaineAndré)
n ° 6 de la batterie – one Medium Gun, 4 figures (Capitaine Moreau)
Off Table :
3e Troupes de Marine – 9 figures (Lieutenant Laurent)
Senegalese Tirailleurs – 14 figures (CapitaineDupont)
n ° 9 de la batterie – one Light Gun, 2 figures (Lieutenant Girard)
Algiers – Steam Launch

Native Order of Battle
Wahib the Warlord, Imam Hassan
On table :
‘Blue’ - 20 figures (Wiraj)
‘Red’ - 20 figures (Samir)
2 Gun teams - 2 light guns, 4 crew each (Pubudu)
Off table:
‘Orange’ - 20 figures (Nijam)
‘Black’ - 20 figures (Tahir)
‘Yellow’ - 20 figures (Kevin)
Horsemen – 12 figures (Amsalu)


The Natives gained a victory points wise, with the French in close second, but both lost vast amounts of troops. The British, who spent the entire game sitting in the village, ended on minus 15 points.

[Chairface]

Oy, beautiful battle! Thanks!

[Hammers]

As we all know what he thinks of such alternative histories.  

I don't think you need to  worry. The man has committed revisionist crimes himself in the past.

[rob_the_robgoblin]

Excellent stuff, very well put out and considered.

Where are the Brit cavalry from? I'm looking for some good cavalry for my VSF games. 

[Hammers]

Excellent stuff, very well put out and considered.

Where are the Brit cavalry from? I'm looking for some good cavalry for my VSF games. 

Oh, please... 

[answer_is_42]

Excellent stuff, very well put out and considered.

Where are the Brit cavalry from? I'm looking for some good cavalry for my VSF games. 

Thanks for the comments! The Hussars are Perry (as are all the Brits bar the Sikhs, which are Eureka).

Oh, please... 

VSF is taking over the world!

[former user]

cool stuff and everything
the classic felt cloth over books approach is still worth it I must say

and all these 1:1 head covers that appear in the background 

[answer_is_42]

and all these 1:1 head covers that appear in the background 

Well, now, you can't have a proper wargame without a silly hat, can you?
And before you ask: two pith helmets, a fez and a bath towel turban.

[former user]

of course You can't 

my own repertoire incudes pith helmet and a sombrero (but a very colourful one  )

[Plynkes]

VSF is taking over the world!

...From my cold, dead hands!  


Why did the Brit player sit on his hands? Natural caution? (We have some players like that in our games, in fact I can have that tendency sometimes.)

[former user]

Why did the Brit player sit on his hands? Natural caution? (We have some players like that in our games, in fact I can have that tendency sometimes.)

isn't this rather typical for British troops? I mean in colonial times? 

In our Riga game, almost all players used their vehicles with pedestrian speed....
Happens sometimes...
I tend to game rather reckless 

[answer_is_42]

...From my cold, dead hands!  

To be honest, the majority of games I play these days are 'historical' (native bashing etc), I just forget to take photographs of them. I am in broad agreement with you that history can be just as enjoyable, if not more so, than alternative/science fiction, it's just that sometimes the odd steam tank can be a good thing...

Why did the Brit player sit on his hands? Natural caution? (We have some players like that in our games, in fact I can have that tendency sometimes.)

At the start of the game the British player had two objectives; protect the village, and save the archaeologists. However, in order to achieve the latter all he sent was the 8 strong unit of Sikhs, who got halfway, watched their target ripped to pieces by howling natives, then retired. After this he had no further objectives until war was declared (on turn 5 - the game lasted for 12 turns) he was then tied up for a couple of turns by a unit of natives appearing behind the village (Native units appeared at random table edges), and so by the time he felt secure enough to do any moving the game was almost up.

I suppose it was natural caution, but he did vastly outnumber the French and Natives in terms of numbers and firepower respectively, so there was really no excuse. The British only lost about 15 figures during the whole game, but gained nothing, whereas the other two went hell-for-leather, lost the majority of their forces, but achieved most of their objectives.

Oh, and the rules used were The Sword and the Flame, a set I was rather adverse to at first, but after figuring out a few of the more confusing bits is in fact throughly enjoyable.

[rob_the_robgoblin]

Oh, please... 

Hahaha!!!!

Mr. Flintloque's my name, alternative history's my game!