Update to - TMWWBKs AAR - Rains, Mule Trains And Delayed Steam Trains

[Widows Son]

Overview

We are a group of wargaming chums, made up of three older guys and two younger ones.  The latter two having been mentored over many wargames - over many years - by the older ones; this was their first game against the veteran ‘Masters’ (rather than working together with them on the same sides).  Great credit to Ben and Tom for relishing the chance to take on the veterans Clive and Larry.

We had not used TMWWBKs for a colonial game before, although we had played a RCW game using a set of adapted TMWWBKs rules (the AAR of which is posted on the Back of Beyond board), and all were familiar with Lion and Dragon Rampant (games from the same ‘stable’).  I had played this colonial scenario through solo, albeit just gaming both sides ‘normally’ and not using the ‘Mr Babbage’ solo set that is included within the rules, and as I found it tough for both sides I concluded that it was balanced.  I did not work out total point values, but the Mahdist forces had a third more units than the British and Egyptians.

The scenario was one that I made up, however it was inspired by a small passage in Winston Churchills ‘The River War’, wherein he describes how stretches of railway that had been successfully laid in the dry season, were swept away during the rainy season.  I took that as the central theme and built the scenario around it.  The dates and places are all rather ‘elastic’…

Background to Scenario - The Sudan 1884

General Gordon is under siege by Mahdist forces in the city of Khartoum.  Various attempts to provide a rescue by river have come to nothing, with many boats and lives lost.

As a consequence, the British have decided instead to extend the railway down to Khartoum in order to best move their forces for the relief attack.  The problem is that those building the railroad underestimated the weather and the terrain.  Depressions in the ground that were dry and benign in the summer, quickly turned into gullies filled with raging floodwaters in the rainy season, and entire sections of the railroad were swept away and ruined.

Recce parties in force have now been pushed out all cross the countryside, each accompanied by an engineer, whose purpose is to find a safe route for the railway to be taken.  And all the while precious time is being lost…

Scenario

El-Biir is a ramshackle district administrative outpost of Egypt, used for the twice-yearly collection of taxes from tribal elders.  Even in its heyday it wasn’t much more than a small collection of mud brick buildings… and its heyday has long since passed.

A small combined force of British and Egyptians are in El-Biir, tasked with getting it ready to use as a staging point from which to push out further recce forces.  The Mahdists, ever watchful, shadowed the force on its journey there, launching small lightening attacks whenever the moment was right for them.

British and Egyptian Mission Briefing

A recce force is moving towards El-Biir, while a small force is busy at the outpost preparing it as a staging base.  

Intelligence informs you that the Dervishes have spread the word that it is due to the justness of their cause that the railroad was swept away.  Tribes that were previously neutral have already begun to flock to the Mahdi’s banner.  A defeat at El-Biir will surely lead to even more tribes swelling the ranks of the Mahdist forces…

Your mission is to defend El-Biir and move the recce force to it, in order that further advances can occur.  

Remember that the life of General Gordon - and the prevention of a wider uprising - both depend on you.

Mahdists Mission Briefing

Your scouts report that a force of British and Egyptians are moving towards El-Biir, while another small force is busy at the outpost preparing it for something, it seems.  

The word has been spread that it is the justness of the Mahdi’s cause that led to the railroad being swept away.  Tribes that were previously neutral have already begun to flock to the Mahdi’s banner.  A defeat at El-Biir will surely lead to even more tribes swelling the ranks of your forces…

Your mission is to attack and capture El-Biir and prevent the relief force from reaching it, in order that news of the successes may be spread still further, and so that even more tribes will join the Mahdi.  

Remember that the capture of Khartoum - and causing a wider uprising - both depend on you.

Initial Set Up - British and Egyptians

As the British and Egyptians, Clive and Larry had a total of eight units, which were:

•   2 x Veteran British Infantry – Discipline +2
•   2 x Regular British Infantry – Discipline +1 (Naval Brigade and General Post Office Rifles)
•   1 x Naval Brigade gatling gun – Discipline 0
•   1 x Egyptian artillery piece – poorly trained
•   2 x Egyptian Infantry – Unenthusiastic and Poor Shots

They were told that they had to have between 3-5 units within El-Biir, with the remainder forming the relief column.  The relief column had quite a way to go, and through some treacherous terrain, to reach El-Biir.  Leadership of units had been pre-decided by me, and was variable between good (6) to truly awful (9).

Larry and Clive decided to put both Veteran British Infantry units, plus an Egyptian one into the Relief Column, with the remaining five units going into El-Biir.  Clive took command of the relief column.

Finally, Larry had the opportunity to send out work parties to clear some of the ground around the outpost (and was encouraged to look around the outpost), but he declined to do so; presumably to try to avoid the work parties being ambushed by the Mahdists.  (Each terrain piece was allocated a set amount of days that it would take to demolish it, with, for example, a small piece of scrub taking one day, whereas pulling down a building would take four days.  For each day’s work a D6 would be rolled, with the Mahdists killing a member of the work party on a 6.  The players did not have this information in advance).

Initial Set Up - Mahdists

The Mahdists (Tom and Ben) were told that they would have to initially have three units on each side of El-Biir, except for the side the Relief Column was arriving on.  The remaining three units could be anywhere, however all Mahdist units must start at least 18 inches from the enemy.

The Mahdist units were:

•   2 x Veteran Cavalry – Discipline +1
•   2 x Emir Guard Infantry – Discipline +2 and Fierce
•   2 x Slave Artillery – poorly trained
•   3 x Tribal Warrior units
•   3 x Rifle Armed units

The Mahdists were allowed to completely conceal one unit in a terrain piece (keeping it off table), and they chose to do this with an Emir Guard unit in a clump of scrub and trees, and they also were allowed to present one unit as a small unit only (choosing Beja rifles for this) on a rocky hill, concealing the bulk of the unit (off table) behind the crest of the hill.

How the Battle Played Out

The battle was fought out in two parts; with the Mahdist forces initially furiously battering the British and Egyptians until it looked liked they would win a clear and early victory, and then - in small, almost unnoticeable ways at first - the British and Egyptians dug deep and eroded the Mahdists, unit by unit, until in the end they were below half strength.

In between times, the Relief Column was pushed from the battle area, routed and destroyed (a unit each), the Mahdists at one point broke into the compound, and the supposed best units of each side generally performed badly, while the supposed poorer quality units performed magnificently.  It was that sort of a battle.  The attached pictures should help to tell the story of the battle.

At battles end (and as the Umpire) I called it a slight win for the British and Egyptians, due to the depleted state of the Mahdist forces, however on further reflection, I consider that I called it wrong and that it was a draw.  This due to the fact that whilst the Relief Column had been destroyed, the remaining Mahdists were in no position to take El-Biir.

A magnificent and hard-fought game, played in a great spirit.  Ben and Tom did extremely well and deserve much praise for their battle plans and actions.  Well done to all.

Larry and Clive have supplied their ‘dispatches’ below, and I have put something together for the Mahdists.

Report from The OC of El-Biir Outpost – Captain Lawrence

Sir, we have a message… said the telegraph man from the General Post Office Riles that had been attached to the station; a relief force is to be sent made up of British and Egyptian forces,.

‘Very well, we shall hunker down here and await the forces of the empire. Get that gate closed and take your positions’, snapped the OC.

The naval infantry and their Gatling gun took to the roof of one building and the detachment of Egyptian troops took the other, the GPO rifles manned the lower barricade along with the Egyptian field gun.

We quickly came under fire and whilst I had been told that our Egyptian allies are a motley lot, they soon bent to the task and quickly began to whittle down the enemy forces.

We could see Mahdist forces on all sides with still more in the distance streaming in the direction of the relief force.  The hour was hot with fire and we did well to hold our position, we had a couple of very close calls when the enemy broke into one of the buildings but we soon showed them why the Empire is great.

After some time the sound of firing in the distance faded and to our dismay we saw the much reduced enemy heading back, we could only conclude that they had defeated the relief force.

However we seemingly had reduced their numbers and their fighting spirit, as in no time we had them on the run, and the outpost was saved!

Report from The OC of the Relief Column – Captain Clyde (dictated from his stretcher)

Three units of foot (two British, one Egyptian) entered the area with the agreed strategy to draw off the mass of Dervishes away from the besieged outpost rather than enter it.  (Umpires comment: this was not the task given to the Relief Column!  But well done to Captain Clyde for (re)interpreting his orders to allow for a better backstory).  This strategy, while initially shaky, proved a great success.  First came the cavalry, then a multitude of forces and an ambush from the left.  All were repulsed but took their toll on the gallant Relief Column.  Finally, giving up on any attempt at coming into close quarters, the remnants of the gallant band were shot down at long range by concealed Mahdi riflemen.  Yet their sacrifice was not in vain, as such a large proportion of the Mahdi forces were drawn away from the assault on the outpost, that the fort was able to repel all attackers and bring about ultimate victory.

Report from the Senior Emir

Truly our cause is just, for the dogs of the desert feed well tonight on the bones of our enemies the ‘Turks’ and the foreign ones.  Send out the word to all the tribes to bring men and tribute to the Mahdi!

The arrogant and amateur way that their soldiers came towards El-Biir caused their own downfall, with some of them even running before hardly a blow had been struck.  We can only hope that next time they may send real warriors against us, rather then those cowards.

As for the few wretches that remain in El-Biir?  The ghosts of their friends will haunt them at night, keeping them awake in terror as they ask: ‘Oh why did you not have the courage to come to our aid, for then we may still live (not true of course…), whereas now we are tormented by the gnawing of dogs and ants?’

Conclusion

The rules give a fast, easy to learn, and period-flavoured game.  A few units had their commanders killed, included one Egyptian Infantry unit whose commander was so unpopular (a 9 rating) that their morale improved after he was killed!  A marvelous little vignette within the battle.

As mentioned at the start, it did seem at times as if most of the high rated units under-performed, whilst those units that should have been at the bottom of the performance pile, did well.  The combination of discipline, along with the quality of unit commanders, are the two key components in units faring well, or badly, when it comes to passing tests for actions.  All units had commanders that had been prepared before the start of the game (name and rating), thus ensuring a fast start to the game.

[Widows Son]

This picture shows (almost) the entire battle area.  El-Biir is the large compound in the foreground.  The Relief Column came on from the top left, which is an area of scrub, clumps of trees, and rocky hills and cliffs; treacherous terrain to traverse through for any force.

[Widows Son]

The main compound of El-Biir at the start.  The first task the defenders had to do was to activate to move, and then drag the remaining one wagon (seen of the right) across the gap in the wall of boxes, thus creating continuous hard cover all round.

[Widows Son]

A view from a key area of the battle.  The Relief Column came on from the bottom left area of this picture, while the Mahdists placed a number of units in the rocky hills and other rough areas shown.  These Mahdist forces delayed the Relief Column long enough for other units to come up to attack the Column.

[Widows Son]

A different view of the main compound, this time showing the gap in the wall of boxes, and the wagon that had to be rolled across it.

[Widows Son]

The defenders starting positions.  A strong and well-thought-through initial set up that proved its worth throughout the battle.  The GPO Rifles successfully managed to activate to drag the wagon across the gap, something that I had singularly failed to do during my solo test game, allowing the Mahdists to burst into the compound!  The reports of a strong smell of rum coming from the naval infantry proved to be true and to the detriment of their performance during the battle...

[Widows Son]

A different view of the initial set up of the defence.

[Widows Son]

The Relief Column starting positions, with baggage train.  They did not get too much further forward than this, but this was due to the furious attacks of the Dervishes, rather than any reticence on the part of the Column itself (and great credit to the Mahdists for holding this force away from El-Biir).

[Widows Son]

The Egyptian artillery performed very well during the entire battle, and despite a number of the gun crew being cut down by Mahdist rifle fire, they returned (from being pinned) to man the gun and were a constant source of worry and casualties for the Dervishes.  Ammunition was limited to 8 rounds, but lasted for the duration of the battle.  This was an example of a supposedly poor quality unit that exceeded expectations during the battle.  Well done the Gunners!

[Widows Son]

Meanwhile, on the other side… the Mahdist artillery - well, one piece at least - were also well-manned.  This guns first shot hit the Gatling crew on the roof, and in their rum-induced hungover state, they came down from the roof (pinned result) and into the compound to 'gather themselves'.     This motley set of Matelots did not fire the Gatling gun during the entire battle, spending their time going up onto - and back down from - the roof (more pinned results).  Another great little vignette during the battle.   

[Andrei1975]

It looks great. Very decent work.

[Widows Son]

This Mahdist rifle unit that was on the large rocky hill, engaged the naval infantry on the roof of the second building, and drove them from it.  (Pinned result).  These feeling-sorry-for-themselves, hungover Matelots left heir key post to join their fellow sailors in the courtyard.  The Mahdists, seeing the opportunity and seizing it, came down from the hill to move towards the now unmanned building…  The OC of El-Biir was starting to sweat just a little more, and it wasn't the sun that was causing it, but hungover sailors.  

[Widows Son]

Another view of the Mahdist Rifles coming down from the large rocky hill, but this time showing the Beja units in the background whose task it was to delay the Relief Column.

[Widows Son]

The Relief Column being charged.  This was truly a duel of heavyweights as this was Veteran British Infantry fighting Emir Guard Infantry.  Prior to this picture a unit of Mahdist Veteran Cavalry charged the other Veteran British Infantry unit, winning the melee and pushing it back from the battle area (removed from the table!).  This was much to the consternation of the British and much to the credit of the Mahdists, who saw and seized the moment.  The upshot of this melee was the that Emir Guard won.

[Widows Son]

The Emir Guard Infantry, having beaten the British Veteran Infantry next charged the Egyptians (thinking these to be easier still to beat).  The Egyptians, however, were in Close Order, and therefore reduced the effect of the Mahdist numbers.