"Never trust anyone on the Frontier" an ...epic NWF Campaign

[Mad Guru]

Many thanks, Bravo Six!  The whole thing comes from the twisted minds and machinations of Giorgio and Umra Khan/Piero.  Putting aside any neutral or objective view of this thread, all that really matters is how GOOD, PURE & TRUE Umra/Piero is when it comes to his taste in colonial wargame rules, and how BAD, CORRUPT & FALSE Giorgio is in the same area!  Still they deserve equal shares of glory for the proceedings -- and I can't leave out my great friend Sgt. Guinness and my terribly awful new frenemy Captain Shanks!  And Giorgio will give my soldiers of the Queen extra drill and rob the jezails from my tribesmen and the choras from my Ghazis if I don't roll out the Persian Carpet and invite any/all gamers with an interest, whether they have many or few troops and much or little terrain, to join us, as player slots remain available on both the Raj and Rebel sides, and new blood is always in demand on the Frontier.

[CPT Shanks]

The peaceful village of Batora on the Chagarzu River awakens to Baluchi raiders allied under Ghul Akbar's banner.  Mullah Abdullah, sardar of Batora has refused to provide warriors to fight against the ferenghees.

The trap is sprung as the Bunerwhals jump from hiding  and descend upon the mercenary raiders only to be driven back with tulwar and jezail.

Jezail fire rips through the villagers driving them back while TippuTib rushes his Ghazis across the Chagarzu Ford and into the Batora.

Villagers, seeing the raiders failing to reload their jezails, charge from the trees across a poppy field into them thinking them easy prey. Not realizing until too late, they are the fiercest warriors on the field.



Mullah Abdullah has occupied the largest compound and awaits the assault from behind the relative safety of the walls.

TippuTib leads the attack against the compound, the fight rages across the walls but is repelled by the stalwart defenders.

Their bloodlust up the defenders jump the walls abandoning the compound and chase down their attackers slaughtering them to a man.

One Eyed Abdul, the Cutthroat of Quetta, presses his attack killing Abdullah's personal bodyguards and capturing him.

At this, the rest of the villagers fade into the forest and surrounding hills. One Eyed Abdul leads the rest of the band down river to the Barandu to rejoin Ghul Akbar in Elai, with a new guest and carrying the martyred TippuTib.

[CPT Shanks]

Ghul Akbar, beloved son of TorGhar continues his ride up the Buner Valley towards Malakand. Many of the villages cower in fear, the Mullah Abdullah of Batora stood and found the wrathful hand of righteousness delivered in the words of the One True Rule. Now he gathers with his Baluchi allies and Bunerwhals from Tangon and Elai poised to strike down vengeance on Ruffhusband Sa'ab for his insolence at desecration of his family and the burning of his brother's village Dargai.

[rafm3ic]

Excellent work and write up! Thanks Lads!

[giorgio]

August 4th 1890 Sir I respectfully send to you the summary of the message that the bandit Mulehead sent to Ghul Akbar, in the black mountain, that was reported by our spy who got it in the desert caravan at campfire, taking the confidence of the caravan bashi with a sweet present...
Humble servant   Tanas Singh, Subedar 2 Sikh company of Guides PFF.

“Oh great qafilah-bashi (caravan master) your wither face and deep wrinkles and the sunned face you have walked back and forth, your eyes only know what they have seen and your ears heard secrets that cannot be nominated.”-

“Your words are honey to my ears but hide snakes in their corrupting intentions!” answered the old bashi.
“Caravan master let me offer this glass of pleasant pomegranate of Kandahar. You deserve it You may your heart sing on a halt, your love call under the moon sleep, look a precious gift for you, hosoor. You deserve a rest and tomorrow our roads will separate”

This is an extract of what our spy found and read in the bashi baggage while he was in other business...

Noble Ghul Akbar, the Almighty Ruler gave his powerful blessing to me, his faithful and loyal humble servant, me the Mighty El Komiss Mulehead, Light of Waziris, true Khan of all the lands between Delhi and Kabul, protector of widows and orphans, Defensor of True Rule, Light of Faith.
Messengers are just arrived with news of your triumphs. Heretics have been punished to have deviated from the True Path and the dice gave them a heavy message: you’ll never betray TMWWBK.
But now my beloved son let us raise the eyes to where Umra’s infidels and Feringhis will destroy each other and after Swat you will subjugate Tirah.
The renegade jackall of Swat is foxy and smart, do not underestimate his power and his cheating tricks. His connection with Umra is stronger every day, we have to be confident in Ferenghees ability to distract chitralis reinforcements.  My son, The Almighty Ruler is blessing your actions, the trap is working!
This is the destiny for the one who follows the wrong Ruler, but the Almighty Ruler provided us new rules to kick out Ferenghees and destroy heretics, and He said is only with good Dice that you can succeed.
I have no news about my son Ghaazi Muletail El Komiss, some voices say he is in Khost, other in Buner, please forward to me any information about him, the Defensor of faithful believers.
When I will be the Khan of all Tirah we will go to Swat where I have some credits to collect, specifically one head of the Guru of Infidels!
Keep high morale and be loyal to your Khan, I got messages that the brothers in faith of Buner and Khost are already marching to join us in the triumphal campaign, I’m still hidden in the shadow , and I will hit sudden like a tiger and all Punjab will be under our wise governance.

[Umra Khan]

Zibbib Khan after ordering his men to track down a northbound caravan,  heads west to Sialkot to meet Percival Flash Dumbar....... but who is he?

Percival "Flash" Dunbar Born 1827 At the time of Mutiny he was 30 years old, now in the 1890 he is 63 years. Younger cousin of Sir Harry Paget Flashman VC, KCB, KCIE hero of the Revolt of the sepoys.
Like is most famous cusin is a large man, six feet two inches (1.88 m) tall, his dark colouring frequently enabled him to pass (in disguise) for a Pashtun. He claims only three natural talents: horsemanship, facility with foreign languages, and fornication.
Is a coward, who will flee from danger if there was any way to do so, and has on some occasions collapsed in funk. He has one great advantage in concealing this weakness: when he is frightened, his face turns red, rather than white, so that observers think he is excited, enraged, or exuberant—as a hero ought to be.
Flash, an insatiable lecher, has sex with many different women over the course of his fictional adventures. His size, good looks, winning manner, and especially his splendid cavalry-style whiskers win over many women, from low to high, including many famous women, and frequent encounters with prostitutes
Despite his admitted cowardice, Flash is a dab hand at fighting when he has to. Though he dodges danger as much as he can, and runs away when no one is watching, he usually controls his fear and often performs bravely creating an aura of legend.
He was often selected for especially dangerous jobs because of his heroic reputation.
Now is an old chap with white beard and mustaches but his legendary aura  is still upon him .

Zibbib Khan  knows that Flash lives in Sialkot Punjab,  It is a city south of Jammu and Kashmir, here Zibbib Khan meets Percival Flash Dunbar, in the Mustapha's  Turkish baths which are in front of the Jadghari Gate.




I see a weird guy....


Ah here's the Turkish bath...


Hi Flash ... I like you ...

Only thanks to these baths that I take every day ... you know my old joints ... Zibbib Khan what are you doing here? You are far from the frontier and from your interests...

Flash you know that I mask my espionage services with trade ... I got a proposal from a Russian Captain ... and honestly I didn't understand much ... This Russian pays me 50,000 rupees plus another 25,0000 to bring him or protect 2 boys, the first is the son of El Osprey, the second is a friend of his .... They left Kabul 10 days ago with a caravan heading north ... my men are following them, I diverted to come and talk to you ... Flash what's behind this story ?




Zibbib times are changing on the Frontier, the Pax Britannica has been in question for years ... the Holy Brom's True Book of Faith may be supplanted by new rules .... The Raj, Umra, Mad Guru, Seargent Three, Malak Mansur Khan and Ali Razah Khan want to keep the state of affairs but every day new followers declare their faith in the book of El Osprey, the Vile Wazir Mulehead Khan ,  the new Khan of Tor Ghar Sardar Gul Akbar are among them ... and also the evilRussians .
El Osprey artisanally prints his rules in a printing house up north in Khunjerab, an isolated place in an area not mapped by English cartographers. There he prints his few copies .... the Russians want to overturn the status quo by taking the matrix of the book and printing it industrially using modern printing methods. They want to flood the world with the new creed, drive the British out of India and take over the area ....


Zibbib is shocked by this tale ... This is the Big Game ... and I ended up in it ... Flash what will the Russians do with the boys and with El Osprey? And why does the Emir of Afghanistan care about these 2 young people?

Zibbib the two young men grew up together and studied in Kabul .... one the son of El Osprey is called Maa Din and the other, his friend is called Amindullah and he is the son of the Emir ... but  the Russians don't care about the boys ... they want to find El Osprey's printing house, they want to follow the two guys to discover the place ...


Flash do you know where this place is? You were telling me about a region ... of Khunjerab ? ... you should go with me on this mission ...


Zibbib ... I'm old ... during the Devil's Wind I was 30 ... now I'm over 60 ... it will be a hard and dangerous journey , Khunjerab's village of Sust is very far away in a difficult country..... Let's go get dressed and we'll keep talking outside ...


Zibbib I have thought about it I cannot allow the Holy Book to be abandoned ...in the meantime let's go togheter in the alleys of Sialkot , I want to introduce you to a voluptuous friend of mine...


.....to be continued.

[JBaumal]

Excellent post Umra Khan

[Mad Guru]

DISPATCHES FROM THE ENEMY

PESHAWAR, AUGUST 1890...



Dispatches have reached Captain Crane, Resident Political Officer, and are now being relayed to Major General Whitsend, CO Peshawar Division...





The General has summoned Brigadier Padraic "Magpie" McGilligan, CO of 2nd Brigade...



The contents of the dispatch, dated August 4th, 1890, are as follows:

"Ghul Akbar, beloved son of TorGhar continues his ride up the Buner Valley towards Malakand. Many of the villages cower in fear, the Mullah Abdullah of Batora stood and found the wrathful hand of righteousness delivered in the words of the One True Rule...



"Now he gathers with his Baluchi allies and Bunerwhals from Tangon and Elai poised to strike down vengeance on Ruffhusband Sa'ab for his insolence at desecration of his family and the burning of his brother's village Dargai."



A handy map is included as well:



The Courier proceeds to read the rest of the Dispatch: "Sir I respectfully send to you the summary of the message that the bandit Mulehead sent to Ghul Akbar:



"Noble Ghul Akbar, the Almighty Ruler gave his powerful blessing to me, his faithful and loyal humble servant, me the Mighty El Komiss Mulehead, Light of Waziris, true Khan of all the lands between Delhi and Kabul, protector of widows and orphans, Defensor of True Rule, Light of Faith.



"Messengers are just arrived with news of your triumphs. Heretics have been punished to have deviated from the True Path and the dice gave them a heavy message: you’ll never betray TMWWBK.



"But now my beloved son let us raise the eyes to where Umra’s infidels and Feringhis will destroy each other and after Swat you will subjugate Tirah.



"The renegade jackal of Swat is foxy and smart, do not underestimate his power and his cheating tricks. His connection with Umra is stronger every day, we have to be confident in Ferenghees ability to distract chitralis reinforcements.  My son, The Almighty Ruler is blessing your actions, the trap is working!

This is the destiny for the one who follows the wrong Ruler, but the Almighty Ruler provided us new rules to kick out Ferenghees and destroy heretics, and He said is only with good Dice that you can succeed.

I have no news about my son Ghaazi Muletail El Komiss, some voices say he is in Khost, other in Buner, please forward to me any information about him, the Defensor of faithful believers.



"When I will be the Khan of all Tirah we will go to Swat where I have some credits to collect, specifically one head of the Guru of Infidels!

Keep high morale and be loyal to your Khan, I got messages that the brothers in faith of Buner and Khost are already marching to join us in the triumphal campaign, I’m still hidden in the shadow , and I will hit sudden like a tiger and all Punjab will be under our wise governance."



BRIGADIER MCGILLIGAN: "'All Punjab will be under our wise governance'?!  Bloody cheeky bastard this Mulehead fellow!"



CAPTAIN CRANE: "Bloody cheeky indeed.  But I'm afraid he's got a growing quantity of lead and steel to go with his cheek, Brigadier -- including his new ally, Gul Akbar from the Black Mountains."



GENERAL WHITSEND: "Ruff-Husband and his brigade are at Dargai.  The question is... will they be enough to quash this Gul Akbar and his own growing band of rebels."



BRIGADIER MCGILLIGAN: "This Gul Akbar fellow and his gang have only fought other tribal riff-raff,  General.  While I'd love the chance to lead my men into the field, I'm sure old Ruff-Husband and his lot will make quick work of them.  Not to mention, by the sound of things, the tribes are still at each other's throats."

CAPTAIN CRANE: "There's also the matter of leaving Peshawar itself very thinly garrisoned, Sir.  If you were to order Brigadier McGilligan and his 2nd Brigade to Dargai, we'd have very few troops left to hold down the fort here."

GENERAL WHITSEND: "Hmmm.  Neither of you seem to take this gathering threat from the North very seriously.  Do you realize that 1st Brigade's Cantonment at Dargai lies right at the foot of the Malakand Pass, overlooked by towering heights, from which our foes could snipe away by day and then launch deadly rushes under dark of night, returning each time to the mountain fastness conveniently located right over 1st brigade's shoulders?  No, whether or not to immediately send reinforcements to Ruff-Husband is not so quick and easy a decision as you present, at least not to my mind, and for better or worse I remain the one in command.

MEANWHILE OUT ON THE VERANDA...

Captain Hardigan, commander of the recently arrived RHA battery, waits with Havildar Major Kunara of the 127th Baluchis, both curious to learn if the recently arrived Dispatch will result in their units getting a chance to take the field...



HARDIGAN: "What do you think's up, Kunara?"

KUNARA: "The sky, Sahib (DRAMATIC PAUSE) And also my regiment's rifles, and your battery's galloping limbers.  I think the blood of heroes is up.  Tho' could be just my wishful thinking!"

BACK INSIDE HQ...



GENERAL WHITSEND: "Gentlemen, I have reached my decision.  Brigadier McGilligan, you and your 2nd Brigade shall......"

TO BE CONTINUED!

[JBaumal]

Capt. Shanks & Mad Guru, excellent posts gentlemen!!!!

[Mad Guru]

Thanks, Jeff!

ORDERS FOR 2nd BRIGADE, PESHAWAR DIVISION

We return to the scene of the scene: HQ Peshawar Division, where CO Major-General Whitsend has decided on orders for his 2nd Brigade and is about to share them with his Political Officer Captain "Teetotaler" Crane and 2nd Brigade CO Brigadier-General "Magpie" McGilligan...



GENERAL WHITSEND: "Gentlemen, I have reached my decision.  Brigadier McGilligan, you and 2nd Brigade shall top off commissariat and proceed at once to Dargai to support 1st Brigade, and you shall take Hardigan's Royal Horse Artillery battery with you."



BRIGADIER MCGILLIGAN: "Very good, sir!  We'll be ready to march by sun-up."

GENERAL WHITSEND: "And when you cross paths with this Gul Akbar fellow, which I believe you shall, you know what to do with that brolly of yours, as the youth have taken to calling them nowadays."

BRIGADIER MCGILLIGAN: "Indeed I do, sir.  (BRANDISHING HIS UMBRELLA) In my experience the locals don't like it up 'em."



Captain Crane considers voicing his opposition to this decision... but decides to keep his powder dry, unlike his lips, which he uses to take a long sip of his now rather cold Irish Breakfast tea...

* * * * *

How was the decision made???

In the 40+ year tradition of TSATF game mechanics a standard card deck was used.  Red and Black JOKERS were added to the deck, which was shuffled, then cut, then the top card was flipped and compared to the following CHART:

RED CARD = 2nd Brigade marches for Dargai

BLACK CARD = 2nd Brigade remains in Peshawar

RED JOKER = En route to Dargai 2nd Brigade UNCOVERS & APPREHENDS Sarban Khan's Peshawar SPY(!!!)

BLACK JOKER = While remaining in Peshawar, members of 2nd Brigade CONTRACT CHOLERA, which may then spread throughout the regt. & rest of garrison (!!!)









So no counter-intelligence coup and no plague, but reinforcements will soon be heading to Dargai -- or rather, to the charred remnants of that village at the foot of the Malakand Pass, recently burned as punitive retribution for the vile effrontery of a mockery of a sham (AKA: crimes against humanity) committed by Sardar Gul Akbar in the vicinity of Serai...

[ulverston]

Well what a fantastic thread! I have skipped through this during the evening due to visitors (pah!) but will re read in depth tomorrow. This has everything that I love about wargaming and take me back to the glorious days of receiving the "Lone Warrior" through the post. Honestly for me this does not get any better. Thank you for sharing.

[JBaumal]

@ ulverston, that’s high praise indeed! I thank you on behalf of all involved sir, since I’m the only one awake at the moment. 

[Umra Khan]

Well what a fantastic thread! I have skipped through this during the evening due to visitors (pah!) but will re read in depth tomorrow. This has everything that I love about wargaming and take me back to the glorious days of receiving the "Lone Warrior" through the post. Honestly for me this does not get any better. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for the nice words, this campaign, even with the help of new players, has grown considerably. we are happy that the readers of the Forum like it.
But most important thing we discovered and became friends with three great characters, JBaumal, Mad Guru and CPT Shanks !
I'm old enough  to remember the pleasure of receiving by mail the numbers of Lone Warrior, MWAN, and others...

[CPT Shanks]

Up the Bunerwhal valley swept Ghul Akbar and his swelling lashkar. To his standard they had come for a chance to strike out at the farenghee and settle the blood feud against the Angleez. To take back what had always been theirs, but mostly for the chance to fight and prove themselves worthy of their warrior traditions. They had steadily moved upriver from Elai towards the passes that would lead them to the Swat Valley and down the Malakand pass, but now they turned to the southwest and wound their way through the southern passes. Soon they found themselves assembled on the outskirts of Plai. Would the Khan join them or would he choose to fight and possibly meet the same fate of Mullah Abdullah, his village lost his tribe scattered? 

[Lord Raglan]

Brilliant mate