A two day event, the game normally fills the available time but this year we got to play the same game twice. The results were widely different but I will report mainly on the second, Sunday, game in which the Anglo-Egyptians managed a "winning draw".
Our "terrain guy", Daniel, did his usual outstanding effort to create a forbidding desert landscape, fringed by the Nile & largely empty at the beginning of the game.
The A-E arrive, in a state of nervousness & immediately form square for no good reason.
The game had two simple goals. The first was to escort a caputured emir down the length of the table for river evacuation. The second was to defend the village & evacuation point.
You can see the far zareeba here & the village in the foreground:
and the dock:
The Mahdist entry to the landscape was through an elaborate system of dice throws that deposited them in one of three entry points.
The plan on Sunday was to use a fast escort...good idea but the Egyptians were cut off & barely managed to return to the zareeba.
Thwarted, the Mahdists massed to take the village. Our wily opponents, Mal & Daniel were certain they could massacre their foreign opponents.
The Anglo-Egyptians formed a line in close order.
They unexpectedly used the evacuation boats as gun platforms to enfilade the Mahdists.
By using the scrub as cover, the Beja managed to hit the British & destroy two units.
But British and Egyptian nerve held. Damien & I had kept a reserve & re-enforcements were brought in.
And the desert again gained its deathly quiet.
Fortunately the whole event was photographed.
The photographer later leaving by the late coming train.
donald
Moderator
BB
