Thanks very much for the kind comments, dhtandco and Marine0846!
This past Saturday we played the scenario for the very first time, 6 players* in total, 3 vs. 3, with me doubling up as GM and commanding the Afghan reserves behind the walls of Kabul.
(*Amongst them LAF's own Arundel, AKA: the "Other Daryl"!)A lot of fun was had by all, but some shortcomings were discovered in the balance of forces, as is sometimes the case with the first play-test of a more complicated colonial scenario. Sadly the game was also cut short, after about 4 hrs, when several of the players had to head back home from LA to San Diego, a 2+ to 3 hour drive, depending on traffic.
Still, a very good time was had by all, and despite coming up short, the Anglo-Indians managed to protect their 4 Baggage Train units from suffering any casualties at all, which was a bit of a triumph in and of itself, even though none of their troops managed to reach the safety of the Bala Hissar fortress.
In the aftermath of the game the collected players came up with a bunch of great ideas for slight adjustments to the scenario, which I'm confident will strike a more equal balance and allow the British a much better chance at success, while retaining the, "flavor," of the setting and the somewhat desperate circumstances for the British side.
For this I must sincerely thank my fellow gamers, who came up with most of the ideas for improvements and made the entire day a purely positive experience, despite the shortcomings of my scenario design!
You can read more details at my blog, where I've posted a little more than 100 pics of the game. If you do choose to visit, thanks in advance for your time!
The high point for the British was probably the dashing performance of their 2 Bengal Cavalry units. The Brits split their army in half and sent each half down a different road to the two gates of Kabul, both led by a unit of Bengal Cavalry.
Along the way, both units swept multiple Afghan Tribal Inf. and Cav. units out of their path, mostly by causing their opponents to fail "Stand And Fight" morale checks and route away before any contact was made.
The closest the Brits got to their objective was when one of the already bloodied Bengal Cavalry units charged for the Western (Kohistan) Gate, but the Afghan defenders opened fire from the ramparts, leaving only a single Sowar in the saddle, who then turned and raced back down the road to rejoin his more slowly advancing comrades.
I'm really looking forward to running this game again, hopefully before too much time passes.
Until then, here's a LINK to my blog post:
http://maiwandday.blogspot.com/2016/02/bala-hissar-or-bust-aar.html...and some pics of the game:
19 April 2012, 05:23:54 PM