Sudan 1882

[GridGame]

The York & Lancaster, 15th Bengal and Royal Sussex defend the fort against determined Mahdist attack. After numerous casualties on both sides the Mahdi force did achieve the set task for a 'win'. It might have been a different outcome if any Empire cavalry had turned up – but they refused as they have not been painted yet!
The scenario is of my own creation with a few twists to give the Mahdi a chance.
(I've previously used OHW [One Hour Wargame] scenarios and unless the Empire throw 'low' and the Mahdi 'high' then it's all over quickly. Please note it's these opposing forces that cause the issue as the scenarios from OHW work very well for my Ancient battles).

Rules are my own and are a blend of OHW and Portable Wargames. The grid is 10 x 10 squares and is 410 x 410 mm (or 16" x 16"). This gives me a compact sized solo game that lasts about an hour. The Mahdi forces invariably out-number the Empire force at least 2:1 otherwise it's an Empire massacre.

The basing is not to any particular 'system' and is just done in a way to help me identify units.

[Terry37]

Sounds/looks like fun and might be an endeavor I could be interested in. Do you share your rules?

Terry

[Techno]

Nice one, GG. 

Cheers - Phil

[Steve J]

Very nice and the sort of game that's perfect for mid-week gaming

[Dave Fielder]

That's a lot of open terrain, must have been murderous for the approach.

[GridGame]

A few replies & thanks for the comments:

1] Terry37 – I think we have a plan?

2] SteveJ: Midweek games – several usually  . I'm retired and my wife works fulltime. (Not quite sure that's a true 'win-win' – I'm sure I could start an on-line poll on that!).
Since retiring helping with a heritage charity and dementia group (and the housework  & cooking  ) means available time is short and not too predictable when it will come: short solo games are essential.

3] Dave & open terrain: a few points

A] Pictures of north Sudan from the internet suggested very open terrain, lots of sand, etc. but sparse scrubby vegetation sometimes.

B] The idea of clearing vegetation and other cover from around defended positions has been the norm over many centuries ?

C] The scenario I used requires the fort defenders (one unit) to dice to see the Mahdi approach. Only when a Mahdi unit is observed can the other (5) units of the Empire forces be activated. The entry points for these 5 units is also decided by dice rolls. In the game I took the pictures of I got to the point of checking the 'spotters' dice had other numbers besides '1'. But I did get good rolls to get the two infantry units in front of the fort, (who then died).