Skirmish in The Bongo Pass!

[CapnJim]

Perhaps ol' Gupta can save the Lady, and Leftenant Prawn-Brayne's intrepid men can arrive in the proverbial nick of time.  I suppose we'll all find out in due time...

[Harry Faversham]

Perhaps ol' Gupta can save the Lady, and Leftenant Prawn-Brayne's intrepid men can arrive in the proverbial nick of time.

Sadly no. 


The Afghan tide flooded into the Empire's compound, knives flashing. Gupta threw himself over his Mistress's body to no avail. A terrible butchering then took place.
Further down the Bongo Road, young Prawn-Brayne fought and killed one Beloved, staggering to his feet, despite his wound. Another screaming Beloved leapt over a rock only to be blown off his feet by the Officer's service pistol. Limping down to the road he ordered the recall to be sounded. With scattered shots still kicking up dust around them and the Beloveds chants ringing around the hills, the British skulked away.
2nd Lieutenant Prawne-Brayne had fought and led his soldiers with great dash and gallantry in his first action. Sadly this would never be recognised, his Sergeant having fallen in the melee on the road. At least the lad had the satisfaction that his actions were in the finest tradition of the Queen Emperor's soldiers!


 

[CapnJim]

Sadly no. 

Oh well.....'Tis a pity really.  That Prawne-Brain fella seemed like a nice enough guy...maybe he can, um, provide an, er, reasonably accurate description of events.  Which would shine a rosy light on his actions, of course...

[Harry Faversham]

Word of the Beloved's great victory sped swiftly up and down the Bongo Valley. A very satisfied Wazzim Bari decided it was time to stoke the fires. The dodgy Fakir made his first appearance, to a rapturous audience...


 

[Harry Faversham]

"Looks like you've lost yer audience Boss?"

Muttered the Dodgy Fakir's flagman.

"Wait till these dimwits see the finale of my show, you idiot!"

Wazzim hissed back. To be fair it did pick up a tad, when the  Dodgy Fakir announced he'd had a guest staying at his cave in the mountains. A great leader the Beloved's had believed had left then to reside in Allah's Magic Garden. The great Mad Mullah appeared on a nearby rooftop!
In that strange way that news travels swiftly in the Bongo Valley, within a minute all the Beloved's came charging into the square! Now the fight to crush the Infidels could start proper!

ALLY-ALLY AKBAR!!! ALLY-ALLY AKBAR!!!

 

[FifteensAway]

...and then...there was...a sense...perhaps...of foreboding...somewhere.  But where and by whom?  I guess we'll just have to wait and see (and read)

A man and his toys and the fun he has with them.  I think we have evidence here.

[CapnJim]

Seems an, um, unseemly lot there.  I'm sure they will cause all sorts of mischief in due time... 

[Harry Faversham]

Eagle eyed viewers will have spotted Prawne-Bryne's mule train among the Beloved's shower. Does this mean the young lad and his survivors were run down and taken?
You may think so?


 

[Harry Faversham]

You may think so... but you'd be wrong!
2nd Lieutenant Prawne-Brayne had excelled in one thing during training, map reading. Leaving his pack train to the enemy had been a calculated risk to slow them down. He smiled to himself thinking what the Beloveds would do with 50 brand new rifles and 8 boxes of ammunition. Rifles with no firing pins and 8 boxes of sand to load 'em with!
With the ammunition they'd saved, he was confident of holding the fort*.

 

*Gomal Pass is a mountain pass on the Durand Line border between Afghanistan and the southeastern portion of South Waziristan. The ruined fort defending the Pass was stormed by the British, long ago in the 1st. Afghan War.

[FifteensAway]

Well, that's rather a small garrison to hold a fort in such a ruined state - here's to hoping there are some reinforcements coming down the pass.  And hope they have the ammunition from those eight boxes well positioned to be ready to hand just in case though how they'd carry that much without the mules is a bit of a mystery.

Nice fort - is that a much modified Airfix fort?

[Harry Faversham]

Certainly is, and half a century old!
We bought three back in the day and cobbled together the Alamo. Defenders were Airfix and Atlantic Texicans. About 600 Airfix Napoleonics attacked it, great game.
Years later we discovered pellet guns and the Alamo once again came under bombardment. What you see there is all that survived!
 

[AKULA]

A fun looking game ... not sure that that fort is going to hold 

[Harry Faversham]

They're Englishmen, they'll hold until relieved!
 

[FifteensAway]

"They're Englishmen, they'll hold until relieved!"

Which, of course, makes it mandatory that your next scenario with the fort includes a bridge somehow.  It doesn't matter that there isn't one in the photos shown here - it was just the wrong angle to see it.  So, we shall be expecting one in the assault on the fort.  Now, whether it is why it is hard for the assault to be brought home or the manner by which the surviving members of the garrison make good their escape - when that promised relief is just far too tardy - or not is going to be up to, well, you.  Or maybe it is on the flank and that is how the relief finally makes its appearance - too late or, wonder of wonders, in the nick of time.

Your devoted audience awaits - nay, expects - the next installment sooner than later.