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Author Topic: "Never trust anyone on the Frontier" an ...epic NWF Campaign  (Read 96065 times)

Offline Mad Guru

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Re: "Never trust anyone on the Frontier" an ...epic NWF Campaign
« Reply #270 on: September 20, 2021, 12:12:24 AM »
JAI HO SINGH'S RIDE -- PART II

(NOTE TO READERS: Turns out this post was TOO BIG, so it had to be split into 2 parts -- and wouldn't you know it, PART I ended up being the VERY LAST POST that could fit on the previous page of this thread [page 18] -- so if you came here direct from the Colonial Adventures Index you may want to GO BACK ONE PAGE to p.18 in order to read PART I of what has unintentionally turned out to be a 2-PART extravaganza.)

WE PICK UP RIGHT WHERE WE LEFT OFF, with counter-charging Jai Ho Singh & the charging Ghazi about to roll D6 melee dice against each other...



In TSATF losing a melee with a 3 or above = "FALL BACK";
Losing with a 2 = WIA;
Losing with a 1 = KIA.

So the Ghazi is dead.



Jai Ho RIDES ON...





ANOTHER EVENT CARD IS FLIPPED...



RED = NO INTERFERENCE.

JAI HO RIDES ON...



ANOTHER CARD...



RED JOKER!



RESULTS IN SOME BENEFICIAL SURPRISE...



IT'S A KIND LOCAL WHO TAKE PITY ON THE
WOUNDED TROOPER & OFFERS HIM FRESH WATER...



WHICH HELPS JAI HO SUSTAIN HIMSELF DESPITE
HIS WOUND FROM THE JEZAIL ROUND...



Having ridden 3 table lengths, flipping a total of 10 event cards (an extra got thrown in somewhere), engaging 3 enemy units (albeit all small ones due to low die rolls) and 1 local friendly (courtesy of the RED JOKER), Jai Ho Singh reaches the North end of the Malakand Pass, picqueted by troops of 9th Gurkha Rifles...









Who recognize his uniform and allow him to pass...



At the top of the Malakand he is struck by the view of
1st Brigade, Peshawar Field Force's Cantonments...



And the CHARRED HUSK OF DARGAI VILLAGE...



Along the banks of the Swat River...







Jai Ho descends the South side of the Pass,
follows the road and reaches the gate...



Tells the sentries he has vital information for
Brigadier Ruff-Husband
(his former Colonel)
And is admitted at once...



He quickly rides through the camp,
catching sight of something odd as he goes...



A large tent filled not with British
or Indian soldiers, but a LOCAL FAMILY...

It is Nazim Gul, former Headman of Dargai Village, his wife
Farrah Akbar, & their 3 sons, Raza Muhammad, Baba Muhammad,
and Gaza Muhammad.  Farrah Akbar is the sister of Black Mountain Vice Khan Gul Akbar, one of the leaders of the current Frontier Revolt...



It was Gul Akbar's vile effronteries & crimes
against all that is decent and human that led
Brigadier Ruff-Husband to torch Dargai
in punitive retribution...



But these are not sights for an interloping visitor to see,
even a highly decorated retiree from 2nd Punjab Cavalry...



And so the tent flaps are closed by the officer & men on watch.



Jai Ho Singh finally reaches his old regimental commander,
now serving as CO of 1st Brigade, Peshawar Division...



BRIGADIER RUFF-HUSBAND: "By god, I thought they were pulling my leg when they said it was you, Jemadar Jai Ho Singh!  How the blazes have you been?"



JAI HO SINGH: "I abide, my Colonel -- forgive me, Brigadier.  I enter my house justified, as does Risaldar-Major Habibi."



BRIGADIER RUFF-HUSBAND: "You fellas still pitching your tents at the foot of  Diwaalya Pusht Pahaarh*, on the Afghani side of the border?"

(*Brokeback Mountain)

JAI HO SINGH: "Yes, sir.  That's why I'm here.  I bring important news from thereabouts..."



BRIGADIER RUFF-HUSBAND: "I say, Jai Ho, are you wounded?"



JAI HO SINGH: "It's nothing, my General, just a scratch from a jezail ball on my left arm.  It did not  hinder me from wielding my saber in my right to dispatch a Ghazi who tried to interrupt my journey here."

BRIGADIER RUFF-HUSBAND: "Can't say I'm surprised, Jemadar.  You always were a good one in a scrap.  So what's this news then, eh?"



JAI HO SINGH:  "Colonel-turned-Brigadier Ruff-Husband, sir, I've learned the Iron Amir has traded 200 Martini-Henry rifles to Sarban Khan of the Yusufzais, at Kunar Caravansary in Goshta -- in exchange for the British subaltern captured at the fall of Chakdara."



BRIGADIER RUFF-HUSBAND: "And you're quite sure about this?"

JAI HO SINGH: I would not be here otherwise, sir.  I trust the source as if they were my own family -- and they are placed within the Arg Palace in Kabul."

BRIGADIER RUFF-HUSBAND: "Good god, man... this will complicate things!  Still, you've certainly earned supper on the Queen Empress tonight -- and a look-see from Doc Watson, our old regimental surgeon and now my brigade medical officer, at that shoulder!"

JAI HO SINGH: "Thank you, my Colonel -- sorry, my General."



BRIGADIER RUFF-HUSBAND: "No, Jai Ho Singh, thank you!"







* * * * * *

GAME SUMMARY:

Out of 10 potential events, Jai Ho Singh was shot at twice by 2 shooters each time.
He was hit once, sustaining a LIGHT WOUND.
He was Charged by one Ghazi.  He chose to countercharge and in the resulting melee he killed the Ghazi – head-to-head D6 melee result: 4 vs. 1.

On his very last event card (red joker) he was then aided by a kindly local who gave him water, which helped him recover from his light wound and continue on to the Malakand Pass.


« Last Edit: September 21, 2021, 10:57:23 PM by Mad Guru »
"We shall see what wisdom lies beneath my madness!"

Offline CPT Shanks

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  • Posts: 275
Re: "Never trust anyone on the Frontier" an ...epic NWF Campaign
« Reply #271 on: September 20, 2021, 03:45:40 AM »
Amazing ride Jai Ho Singh, but the news will do nothing to save the cantonment.
"welcome to the world of cascading failure"


Offline Mad Guru

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Re: "Never trust anyone on the Frontier" an ...epic NWF Campaign
« Reply #272 on: September 20, 2021, 04:26:29 AM »
That's a BOLD STATEMENT Capt. Shanks -- or should I say, Gul Akbar Khan?!?! (Or should I say, Gul Akbar "Wannabe Khan"?  I can't remember if he's the big-shot boss in the Black Mountains... or just the heir recalcitrant.)
« Last Edit: September 20, 2021, 04:28:39 AM by Mad Guru »

Offline giorgio

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Re: "Never trust anyone on the Frontier" an ...epic NWF Campaign
« Reply #273 on: September 20, 2021, 05:54:34 AM »
Mad Guru your memory is weak as your faith. The Khan of all Black Mountains is Hashim
Ali Khan. Young Gul Akbar is the destined, the one who will rule all Punjabi with my son     Ghaazi Muletail El Komiss aka Hussein, under my supreme leadership, the True Rule Defensor of Faith El Kommiss Mulehead khan of all Waziris.


Offline Mad Guru

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Re: "Never trust anyone on the Frontier" an ...epic NWF Campaign
« Reply #274 on: September 20, 2021, 10:52:53 AM »
Oh, False Fakir of the Waziris, I fear these future lines of dynastic succession grow likes weeds in your head, fogging your mind and blinding your eyes.  Please, by all means, continue to ponder these vital matters in great detail unto the twelfth generation!

Offline Umra Khan

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Re: "Never trust anyone on the Frontier" an ...epic NWF Campaign
« Reply #275 on: September 20, 2021, 10:58:59 AM »
Oh, False Fakir of the Waziris, I fear these future lines of dynastic succession grow likes weeds in your head, fogging your mind and blinding your eyes.  Please, by all means, continue to ponder these vital matters in great detail unto the twelfth generation!

 lol lol lol
great answer Mad Guru

Offline Marine0846

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Re: "Never trust anyone on the Frontier" an ...epic NWF Campaign
« Reply #276 on: September 20, 2021, 01:53:55 PM »
Great story telling.
Love this whole set of posts. :-*
Semper Fi, Mac

Offline giorgio

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  • Posts: 356
Re: "Never trust anyone on the Frontier" an ...epic NWF Campaign
« Reply #277 on: September 21, 2021, 03:16:18 PM »

Dear reader this last week was fully of incredible happenings, adventures, fighting, and we at Tribune will try to answer to the readers ‘request to have an overall clear picture of the latest news. The internal insert will provide also additional amazing news on some well known characters who are writing the story of the Frontier.
Many things happened but much more are going to be showed!

Let’s start from our glorious Army.
In the South Gen. Sir John Percival "Mandrake" Aubrey-Smith is marching towards Wana to capture and hang the bandit Mulehead, and actually is in Jandola, where it is reported many waziris tribes are regrouping both from South and North. The road to Wana is a tugh nut to crack.

With General Aubrey-Smith there is Major Haldane, the fine political officer, great manager of jirgas, author of the famous sentence: Gentlemen, we’ll have to suppress this uprising with the utmost tact and diplomacy…we’ll string up ‘alf a dozen of ‘em for a start”!

In north Waziristan Colonel Fullerton is burning the Tochi Valley to teach some civilization to those ruthless bandits. This young hero immortalized in Reginald Winkie’s poem, “The charge of the Guides”, responsible for many young ladies broken hearts.


North of Wairistan, north of Kohat, at the borders with Tirah Major Vousden is approaching with his gallant column to bandit Umra’s den to replace him with a more reliable khan. But the more he go to North the more Afridis are regrouping around him…Will he able to replicate Col Fullerton’s triumphs?

In Chitral there are two brigades operating. The former brigade is in front of Uch Pass which is  in the hands of Yusufzais tribe while the latter is at Chakdara

Overall operations are brilliantly coordinated by Gen Mc Guinness

Nominal leader in Black Mountain is Hashim Ali Khan whose brother and heir was the bandit Sikander, killed by our forces. Rising star is now the infamous Gul Akbar Khan. They are quite fanatically devoted to new Rule and allied with Waziris.He has taken prisoner General Channers after a Jirga, as a retaliation versus destruction of Dargai village and jailing of his sister Farrah’s family.

He is recruiting new warriors among the tribes east of Malakand pass, burning the villages which refuse to provide support and enlist under his flag.
BG Channers is Gul Akbar’s guest in the Black Mountains while two columns under colonels Sym and O'Grady and political Officers search for them. It is suspected they are in the compound of Hashim Ali near Durband.

But the Frontier is like a Pashtun dinner: it is the chicken who gives substance, but the tamarind slices make it tasty. So we cannot forget many characters which are adding salt to the scenario.
The young bandit Muletail was reported to be everywhere, but our most reliable informers says he is in Khost with his merry comrades. Where will he go now? The more obvious choice should be southwards into Waziristan, but too obvious, probably dozen Afridis, Mahmuds, Orakzai, Turis killers are already waiting for him.

Two other roads are possible if he chooses Peiwar Kotal: the shorter but thru Khost lands, beyond Khurram river, thru many Afridis willing to grasp him and bring to Umra’s den. The longer but safer goes north west to Bar Ferozkhel and from there other decisions…
Decisions always new decisions. As the ones to be made by Colonel Fullerton: either obeys the order, once in his life, remaining in Tochi Valley burning and killing everything and everyone or moves to new adventures?

And in South Waziristian what is plotting the past havildar, past deserter, past khan,the enigmatic Zarin? Last voices give him marching with his bandits toward Jandola but…to fight whom?

And what about Zibibb and Flashman? Where are they going to find out El Osprey’s son and the secret scriptorium? And will they survive at the hand of Tsarist agents and hired bandits?

Sgt. Major Lawrence Brom (1st Brigade, Chitral Field Force) – Legendary Old Soldier of the Queen with a reputation as being a gifted tactician and logistician, as well a very talented writer.  A well-known secret in barrack rooms from Peshawar to Calcutta is the rumor that Sgt. Major Brom is in fact the real-life Reginald Winkie, writing under a pen-name in order to preserve his position as a senior NCO in Her Majesty’s forces! Or are these  just rumors spread out by the ironic poet?
Lorelai Brom & Christine Brom – the young adult daughters of Sgt. Major Brom, both recently arrived from their home in Glasgow, Scotland, on a self-appointed mission to visit their father in time for his fast-approaching 50th birthday, which their hearts are set on celebrating together with him.

Dirka Grimm (Detachmental Bhisti, Chakdara Outpost) – Dirka Grimm’s heroic efforts to assist Sgt. Crood and the handful of other survivors from the Yorks & Lancs garrison of  Chakdara Outpost were recently immortalized in Reginald Winkie’s poem, “You’re A Better Man Than I Am, Dirka Grimm,” which has taken the Empire and the rest of the English-speaking world by storm.  For his part, Dirka now dreams that his heroic efforts may somehow enable him to fulfill his lifelong dream of rising from the rank of “Bhisti” to “Sepoy,” but so far at least – sadly – neither his Indian nor British superiors have discussed this with him.

Maryam Singh – Clandestine Agent of the Political Department serving undercover as a maid in the Iron Amir’s Palace at Kabul, where she overheard the parlay between the Amir Abdur Rahman and the Mullah Sadullah (soon to be known throughout the Empire as the “Mad Mullah).  She asked her brother, retired Jemadar Jai Ho Singh, to carry word of what she’d heard across the border to British India, and deliver it to his old Colonel, now Brigadier Ruff-Husband, at Dargai.

Jai Ho Singh – Aforementioned brother of Maryam Singh, who did not hesitate when asked to risk life and limb to help thwart the designs of those who would lay low the Raj.  The question for him now is: will he rejoin the colors to get in one last campaign… or slip back across the border to rejoin his steadfast companion and housemate, retired Havildar-Major Habibi Singh?

2nd Lt. Hampton Fitzroy, Yorks & Lancs – A young subaltern on the very first deployment of his career, having no knowledge or experience of North-West Frontier terrain -- or any terrain outside old Blighty – Fitzroy made the terrible mistake of plucking olives off a tree near Chakdara Outpost and eating them raw, after which he puked his guts out & suffered a convulsive stupor.  One night later the Outpost was attacked and overwhelmed by a force of Ghazis and Lt. Fitzroy was the only member of the garrison captured alive while his Sgt. & 4 of his men were able to escape alive.  Though he remains a prisoner – first of the Mullah Sadullah’s Ghazis, now apparently of the Afghan Regular Army, on the plus side he has managed to regain his health.


Mullah Sadullah’s Ghazis’s been vacationing from Chakdara to Kabul - vast distances for a local holy man!!!
Chakdara … to Kunar … to Kabul

Mayank Jan (Sarban Khan’s spy in Peshawar & then Dargai).  Mayank Jan was able to get himself hired on as a Mule Skinner and travel with 1st Brigade Peshawar Field Force from the city of Peshawar to Dargai, where he saw with his own eyes the torching of that village at the command of Brigadier Ruff-Husband.  By day he remains in camp as an erstwhile “muleteer” while by night he slips out to pass any and all intelligence he gathers to allied Tribesmen in the nearby Malakand Pass, though he must take great care not to be spotted and found out by the Riflemen of 9th Gurkhas who keep watch over that strategic terrain.

Dast has left his shop in Peshawar and is going towards Kashmir. To buy new flying carpets or...?

And not forget our spy on the roof of Mulehead’s tower, for safety reason we cannot indicate exactly where.

So many cruel stories but we know of a secret affair who can change all the balance in the Frontier, is happening close to Chitral river:



When I wasn’t in the need of jezails I had arsenals.
When I need jezails they were converted to unpalpables.
Punjab Your eyes are beautiful and
You have also beautiful hair…
Beneath the blanket of the stars
In the company of the moon
On the riverbank two mullahs
By the side of water’s boon
In a pavilion covered by flowers
Sat immersed in Rule consultation
They speak about Khans powers
And the outcome of their divination

From “Peshawar barracks ballads” by Reginald Winkie

Who are the mullahs? What new adventures will rise from these romantic seeds?

Subscribe to the Tribune for avoiding missing a single episode.

« Last Edit: September 21, 2021, 05:44:01 PM by giorgio »

Offline Lord Raglan

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Re: "Never trust anyone on the Frontier" an ...epic NWF Campaign
« Reply #278 on: September 21, 2021, 05:08:39 PM »
Great thread boys, so much narrative, its a brilliant way to approach a wargaming period. 

Offline CPT Shanks

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Re: "Never trust anyone on the Frontier" an ...epic NWF Campaign
« Reply #279 on: September 21, 2021, 07:03:33 PM »
Great thread boys, so much narrative, its a brilliant way to approach a wargaming period.

Thank you sir for your kind words. It is quite the collaborative effort.

Offline Lord Raglan

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Re: "Never trust anyone on the Frontier" an ...epic NWF Campaign
« Reply #280 on: September 21, 2021, 07:13:54 PM »
Thank you sir for your kind words. It is quite the collaborative effort.

You are smashing it, so keep up the great work 👍

Offline JBaumal

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Re: "Never trust anyone on the Frontier" an ...epic NWF Campaign
« Reply #281 on: September 22, 2021, 03:28:13 AM »
I must renew my subscription to The Peshawar Tribune at once!!!

Offline CPT Shanks

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  • Posts: 275
Re: "Never trust anyone on the Frontier" an ...epic NWF Campaign
« Reply #282 on: September 22, 2021, 06:16:32 AM »
To the editor of the Peshawar Tribune.

I, Hashim Ali am a gracious host, a mullah of the True Word, devout follower of the Men Who Would Be King, and leader of the largest jirga in TorGhar. I am the uncle of Ghul Akbar and he travels with my blessing to Dargai, to right what has been wronged. It pains me to read within your pages the lies and deceit of the ferenghee who burn the Bunerwhal villages and blame my nephew. They drive the people from their homes, steal their livestock, and confiscate their crops to feed the ferengee army all the while proselytizing the untrue word of infidels.
I demand the truth be told. That the fajarah are responsible for the evil deeds along the Buner, not my dear nephew, a light in the darkness of this ferenghee plague. I demand a retraction  of the lies and that my nephew be cleared of these lavicious claims. If this does not occur I will issue a fatwa boycotting the reading of the Peshawar Tribune. There can be only one truth and you must print it or face the consequences.

Offline Mad Guru

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Re: "Never trust anyone on the Frontier" an ...epic NWF Campaign
« Reply #283 on: September 22, 2021, 08:53:16 AM »
To the Editor of the Peshawar Tribune,

I, Brigadier Stewart Ruff-Husband, Commanding Officer of 1st Brigade, Peshawar Field Force, am writing to register my most severe and egregious exception with the manner in which your so-called newspaper characterized the ongoing operations in Swat.  You say, and I quote:

"Nominal leader in Black Mountain is Hashim Ali Khan whose brother and heir was the bandit Sikander, killed by our forces. Rising star is now the infamous Gul Akbar Khan. They are quite fanatically devoted to new Rule and allied with Waziris. He has taken prisoner General Channers after a Jirga, as a retaliation versus destruction of Dargai village and jailing of his sister Farrah’s family."

"...taken prisoner General Channers after a Jirga, as a retaliation versus destruction of Dargai village and jailing of his sister Farah's family"?

Good god, man -- are you mad?!  Or have you chosen to serve as a lying propagandist for the rebel tribes hereabouts on the North-West Frontier of our Indian Empire?  The village of Dargai was destroyed as punitive retribution FOR the hostage-taking of General Channers and his staff -- which had PREVIOUSLY OCCURED -- and also for the highly offensive manner in which this same Gul Akbar Khan insulted The Sword And The Flame, which every right-thinking person knows is the One True Text beloved throughout the Empire.  High crimes such as these are not trifles to be condemned on the pages of your sad excuse for a periodical, or for that matter even in The Illustrated London News!  No, sir, they are enemy attacks requiring immediate and effective COUNTER-ATTACK, and that is exactly what the burning of Dargai was.  Though I will note for the soft and/or sentimental among your readership that no villager lives were lost in said operation.  It was done to impress upon Gul Akbar Khan the seriousness with which his criminal behavior shall be dealt with.  Should he choose, as seems to be the case, to continue his revolt against our lawfully recognized authority, he will soon find himself in similar circumstances to his brother-in-law's village which once stood on the banks of the Swat River but has been reduced to a pile of ash.  Meantime I demand RETRACTION of your mudslinging libel and CORRECTION TO THE RECORD in the pages of the Tribune be posted in the very next edition of your sad excuse for a newspaper.  If such retraction and correction is not speedily provided to the public, rest assured that immediately upon my return from the Malakand I shall find a more up close and personal manner with which to seek redress for the false infamy you have brought upon my name.

Yours With Little or No Respect Whatsoever,

Stewart Ruff-Husband
BGnl, CO 1st Brigade, Peshawar FF

« Last Edit: October 28, 2021, 08:13:17 AM by Mad Guru »

Offline giorgio

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  • Posts: 356
Re: "Never trust anyone on the Frontier" an ...epic NWF Campaign
« Reply #284 on: September 22, 2021, 12:26:15 PM »
From Col Fullerton to Gen Ruff-Husband
Sir, my best respects to you. I want to provide you my compliments for your letter published in yesterday Tribune with a wily coward answer which says “no” without having even the pride to declare it explicitly.
If I can dare and you allow me to move a little comment to your well addressed sentences, it is that you should be a little bit tougher, because no sentimentalism is allowed when honour and prestige are discussed. As you well know in that uncivilized village there are  only people, all of them to a man concerned in hostilities. And with them their families.

To spare that village inhabitants was about as reasonable as to spare the commissariat supplies or arsenals of a civilized enemy. Operation must include the destruction of Pashtun villages, crops, concealed provisions, and supplies of water.
I can proudly say that here in Tochi valley we have created the maximum inconvenience and total bankruptcy for these uncivilized bandits.
Faithfully
Col Fullerton

 

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