Wargaming.info

Sudanese Infantry...

The Anglo-Egyptians luck runs out – the revolt has spread into Western Sudan; Darfur & Kordofan are aflame with Mahdist support and Dara immediately falls to the rapidly growing Dervish Army in Darfur. Even worse El Fasher falls immediately after with the loss of it’s garrison. In Kordofan the expedition heading for El Obeid (2nd Company, XIIth Sudanese Battalion; and 1st Section, B Egyptian Artillery Battery) somehow survive the sudden onslaught, and are not perhaps fully aware of their precarious position.

However the good news is El Obeid does not get taken by surprise, which would have been a major coup for the Dervishes – thanks to the weak numbers of Dervish followers in Kordofan no doubt – and as El Obeid has 4 turns of Supplies on hand things are not critical immediately. Furthermore, El Obeid’s resistance (luckily) gives the XIIth Sudanese expedition above a safe haven to make for.

Read the rest of this entry »

British Forces await the Dervishes in their camp at Wadi Halfa

The Anglo-Egyptians get a lucky break, the Khedive is relieved to hear the revolt hasn’t spread to Darfur & Kordofan, the breadbasket of the Sudan. Meanwhile in Khartoum the available supplies have actually increased thanks to Bordein’s unexpected, albeit hasty, arrival. However Abu Hamed is not looking so lucky – it has only 2 turns of supplies and the only possible help that might reach them is plucky Talahawiyeh, who, if very very lucky, may reach the garrison by the end of this turn, if she doesn’t they may have to gamble on sallying out to try and drive off the Dervishes long-enough to forage for supplies.

In Northern Sudan the garrison of Abu Hammed can do nothing but sit still – hoping supplies and news will reach them before the end of next turn. At Aswan, Sir Henry gathers up what troops he has (2 Infantry Companies & 2 Guns), and resolves to make for Wadi Halfa. The march south along the Nile and through Korosko passes quickly and peaceably – soon they are approaching the Egyptian-Sudan border, and Wadi Halfa…

Read the rest of this entry »

Egyptian Infantry & Artillery face the Dervishes

Our Colonial Campaign gets ready to kick off! Turn one has already begun and the Sudan has erupted into revolt. See how the campaign is going here… Our First Fire & Sword Campaign.

Egyptian Artillery (Krupp 6pdr Light Field Gun)

The campaign begins with a violent revolt in the North and South, spreading fast like a bush fire. The North had been a powder keg for some time but it had been hoped any insurrection might be contained there. The insurrection actually began at Dongola, and spread North to Wadi Halfa which immediately succumbed and the Xth Sudanese Battalion garrisons in both locations were engulfed by the suddenness of the uprising. Even worse the revolt spread South through Berber and then Atbara fell to the rapidly growing Mahdist cause – it being suggested that most of the troops at Berber (from the 2nd Egyptian Cavalry Squadron) may have changed sides and joined the Ansar rather than fight them! All along the Lower Nile the lesser towns also fell to the Mahdists, and just the strongly held garrison town of Abu Hamed held out, surrounded by a countryside of seething revolt.

Read the rest of this entry »

Headquarters of a Sudanese Battalion

The initial deployment was done randomly – using a random table I generated to use in conjunction with Steve Winter’s original rules. This resulted in a reasonably conventional, although not necessarily ideal deployment of the Egyptian forces. The actual size and number of forces was similar to Steve’s originals, see his starting OOB (or our map below) for an idea of the forces… The map shows the situation once the random deployment has been completed and the initial revolt indexes generated – but before Turn 1 has begun and checks for revolts carried out.

It is late-1883, the apparent insurrection by a small group of followers of the self-styled ‘Mahdi’ have inflicted a serious blow by eliminating the army of General William Hicks, sent to Kordofan to detain or defeat them. Hicks had left earlier than he planned under pressure from the Khedive, and by October his fate is well known.

Read the rest of this entry »

Al Mahdi

Some of us at the Auckland Wargaming Club were inspired by Steve Winter’s campaign at the Colonial Angle website – so we grabbed Steve’s great idea, I tweaked it a little to suit me, and off we went! First thing I did was grabbed Steve’s Map and colourised it – the map below is the result. I am on the lookout for a new map long-term however and this one is now getting a bit congested due to my tweaking!

You can read the narrative and see how we get on with our first attempt at the campaign here… Further down the page (below the map) you will find notes and links to additional rules, changes to Steve’s original campaign, and additional material that we came up with.

Below is the map we are using (as mentioned it is a slightly modified version of Steve Winter’s Map) – feel free to save a copy if you wish to use it for your own attempt at Fire & Sword in the Sudan!

Read the rest of this entry »