The Sword and the Flame in Kandahar

[Will Bailie]

It has taken a few months, but my mates and I are finally gaming in Kandahar.  Naturally enough, the forces consist of the British and the Pathans (ca 1880).  After a couple of trial games to get the rules down, we had a nice little scenario, with a platoon of the 66th Regiment sent to rescue a troop of the Guides who were entrenched on a hilltop, surrounded by Pathans.

No proper terrain yet, so we simply piled dirt from the garden on the ping pong table to form hills.  They ended up looking very much like the hills surrounding Kandahar - just the thing for easy to make battlefields!


The Pathans had a field piece provided by thier government.  As I have no idea what Afghan artillery uniforms looked like in 1880, I simply took some Perry Egyptians and decided that green looks like a nice colour for the uniforms!  Any information on more accurate uniforms is welcome.
 

Game started with the Guides dug in on their hilltop:

Pathan jezzail men moved in to begin sniping at the defenders:


Pathan horsemen hoped to block the advance of the 66th, but were caught between two forces, and shot down mercilessly:


The tribesmen the rushed the hilltop, but without the horsemen to stop them the Indians were able to evacuate their position and hook up with the rescue force.  At this point, the Pathans decided to preserve their strength for the next encounter.



Gaming here has its challenges.  No gaming shops nearby, so everything must come by mail order.  Dice were a bit of a challenge.  I managed to "borrow" some d6 from a Risk game, but for d20 we depend on a random number generator on a laptop.  Basing certainly leaves a bit to be desired, but there is an unlimited amount of sand here, so I'll be able to improve that.  The biggest benefit is that painting provides a good low stress activity to help unwind after a stressful day in the office.

Best wishes to all,

Will

[Hammers]

That terraain is not bad looking. Simple and effective but I guess a bit messy.

[chicklewis]

Thanks for the great story and the photos. 

I passed through Kandahar in '75, riding in the luggage box on top of the cab of one of those colorful Afghan trucks.  Nobody was shooting then.

Chick

[dodge]

Nice report, and an effective board, did you just spade a few shovel fulls of earth on the board? whatever you did it worked well.

dodge

[Etranger]

Effective terrain & no-one can accuse you of getting the colours wrong.  Looks like a fun game.

[DalyDR]

"Gaming here has its challenges.  No gaming shops nearby, so everything must come by mail order.  Dice were a bit of a challenge.  I managed to "borrow" some d6 from a Risk game, but for d20 we depend on a random number generator on a laptop."


Will, if you want PM an address, I'll mail you a set of dice.

And the dirt hills look pretty danged good.  I haven't been to Kandahar, but I've been relatively close (on pleasure some years ago, not "business"), and the terrain in real life does not look all that different.


Dave

[Galman]

Awesome job on overcoming and adapting to your situation at hand.  I was getting kinda sad thinking there would be no way to play when i head out in that direction sometime in the future again.  You sir have inspired hope within me.  Also, Yes, it does look like the real deal 

[HerbyF]

Reminds me of when I was a kid. I spent a lot of time playing with my plastic toy soldiers in the dirt in the garden.

[Captain Blood]

Wow. I'm giving up on terrain boards 
A couple of shovelfuls of rocky soil makes infinitely more realistic NW Frontier terrain than anything I've seen before.

Must have fair ruined your table tennis table though 

[Michi]

Good to see that no odd conditions can keep a gamer from gaming! The ping pong table is at least big enogh to fight proper battles and the piled up dirt is the closest thing to an actual military sandbox you can achieve. Two thumbs up for that. Keep gaming!

[argsilverson]

Very nice.
I particularly like the artillery!
very nice green.

[Will Bailie]

Thanks for all the nice comments!

The table was pretty much shot before we ever got our hands on it, as it had been out in all weather for several years.  No one has complained, at any rate (which is why we kept our hands off the foosball table!).

Next plan is to build a few houses - I might try clay, since that is what they are made from here anyway. 

It is surprising how much the dirt piles do end up looking like the real thing:

[Captain Blood]

Playing TSATF actually in Kandahar really takes the biscuit.
Too good an opportunity to miss I suppose. Bravo indeed.

I suppose it's out of the question to rope a Pathan or two in to play the erm.. Pathans?

Whatever you're up to out there, I wish you luck with it. I hope you stay safe. Shout if you need anything. I'm sure we can get a red cross parcel of wargaming goodies together.

[Plynkes]

I think this whole endeavour typifies the "pluck" of the British fighting man, and I for one salute you and your mates for the sterling effort. Bravo lads! Bravo!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Will Canadian? Some people may regard Canucks as a type of Briton, but I'm not sure everybody does! 

As I have no idea what Afghan artillery uniforms looked like in 1880, I simply took some Perry Egyptians and decided that green looks like a nice colour for the uniforms!  Any information on more accurate uniforms is welcome.

Will, according to Osprey they wore blue uniforms and brass helmets with a red horsehair plume. Don't have anything beyond that description, I'm afraid.

[Will Bailie]

Thanks, Plynkes - I was afraid it would turn out to be something like that.  At any rate, the artillery's primary function in the battle was to
1.  Look good (with those snazzy uniforms and all),
2.  Misfire on 2 out of three shots, and
3.  Accept an unreasonable amount of sharpshooter fire as soon as the 66th advanced to rifle range
In short, pretty similar to the role of every specialist unit that I have ever painted!
 
And I thought the British soldiers Bezzo was referring to were the ones that chased off the Pathans!  Capn Blood, the idea of getting real Pathans to participate is intriguing, but probably not going to happen.