Tri-State Bolt Action and other wargaming stuff Blog

Turn 3

 

Things seem to have stabilized this turn as there are no additional revolts in the West or South.

In the East, elements of the 3^rd Egyptian reach the wells at E1 and Adrarna with no sign of an uprising.  The 2^nd Egyptian Cavalry and the 2^nd Gendarme arrive at Hadiga, only 1 move from reaching Atbara when the siege needs to be lifted. Sensing a revolt coming in the East, Trinkitat is abandoned and the 2^nd Bashi Bazooks are ordered to Suakin. 

In the North the 75^th and B and C sections of the 6^th Egyptian Artillery advance to Wadi Halfa. The garrison at Berber and Atbara stay in place awaiting relief from Suakin or maybe even Khartoum

In the West the 1^st Egyptian receives word that a relief force is gathering at Kosti. The only way for the 1^st Egyptians to make it to El Obeid in time before running out of supplies means they must breakout now.

Battle of El Fasher: (4 - 3, 1 unit of Dervish, 1 Rub of Ansar, Allied attack on Dervish camp) The Dervish forces around El Fasher are smaller units of 9 stands each and are new recruits with no training and are rated as Raw. The zeriba they are defending may give them some support.  The 1^st Egyptians only need to drive them off with minimal losses

As the1st Egyptians advance the Dervish Rifle unit fires first with no results.  The Egyptians fire back with the Dervish Rifle unit loosing 1 stand and is now disordered.  The Rifles recover from the Disorder but one of the Spear units decides that charging and dying for the Madhi is better than hiding behind a thorn bush. The resulting defensive fire is devastating to the charging unit which looses 2 stands and the charge is checked. The fire from the Rifle unit does disorder the Egyptians and they lose a stand.

Now it’s the Egyptians turn, the roll for maneuver results in recover from disorder and they now charge home against the exposed Dervish unit.  The Dervish Rifles fire again with no results.  The Egyptians fire back at the Sword unit with Galling fire which only results in an additional stand lost.  The melee results in 4 more additional stands lost and the unit is broken and affectively gone from the game.   

The next turn the Dervish decides to remain in the zeriba since charging did not help the last turn.  The rifle fire from the Egyptians results in an additional stand lost to the Rifles taking them down to 7 stands.  The return fire is negligible.  Just when the Egyptian commander thinks he has things under control, his troops freeze in the face of the enemy.  The Dervish Rifles fire again with no results.  But the fire from the Egyptians results in 2 stands lost against the remaining sword unit but they are now low on ammo. 

The Rifle unit continues to man the zeriba, but the Sword unit retreats from the devastating fire from the Egyptians. The Egyptians fire first causing only 1 stand lost to the Rifles.  The return fire is again negligible. Final the Egyptians get up enough never and charge the zeriba.  This will decide the outcome.  The resulting fire from the Dervish does not stop the Egyptians for closing.  The results of the melee mean that both Dervish units lose a stand and are pushed out of the zeriba. 

This affectively ends the resistance at El Fasher and the 1^st Egyptians can then restock their ammo before moving to Wadi Banda

The resulting march to Wad Banda is uneventful as there are no Dervish units to defend the well.  The wounds sustained by the lone loss are too much and the 1^st Egyptian strength is reduced by 1 stand. El Fasher does fall to the Dervish as this was abandoned, but with the Egyptians winning the battle, things even out.

In the South elements of the 3^rd Egyptian arrive at Kosti joining the 2^nd Egyptian Regiment, 1^st Egyptian Cavalry and the 2^nd Egyptian Camel squadrons. This force will now be ready to move on El Obeid, unless a revolt breaks out in the south.

Finally, General Gordon in Khartoum realizes he must act and begins to send forces north. The Ruby T is loaded with the 4^th Egyptian Regiment and Section A of the 5^th Artillery with orders to steam to Atbara and relieve the forces there and open up the way to Egypt. With a revolt index of 6 the commander of the Ruby T knows that passage will be contested at every stop. The first stop on the way to Atbara is Wad Hamed. . 

Battle of Wad Ahmed: (6 - 1, 5 units of Dervish, 3 Rubs of Ansar, a cavalry unit, 1 unit of Jihadiya and 1 Cannon, Allied attack on Dervish camp)

With the Ruby T sailing with the current, this will hopefully be a quick passage. The only concern is the Dervish cannon, as most rifle fire will be ineffective against the steamer. 

On the first turn, the long range shot with the 12pdr results in the Dervish cannon being silenced. This might be a quicker passage then thought!  The Gatling is out of range so saves ammunition.  The Dervish then roll and the cannon are able to retreat from the firing line to re-group. Again there is no fire from the rifles.

As the Ruby T steams closer to the Dervish positions, the crew of Section A- 5^th Artillery, work to bring the 7pdr Krupp gun on deck to provide fire support. I allowed this battery to only fire on the Egyptian turn as offensive fire and no defensive fire. The long range from the Ruby T resulted in no casualties this time. Now the first Dervish Rifle unit fires long range but to no effect.

Now the Ruby T is moving closer and the Dervish cannon is back on the firing line, but the resulting fire of the 12pdr, Gatling, and 7pdr do not result in any hits.  The cannon and 2 of the rifles fire back with no results.  It could be that with the steamer moving with the current, they Dervish gunners cannot get a bead on the steamer.

The Ruby T is almost on top of the Dervish positions and the fire from the guns again results in no casualties.  The Dervish finally gets a lucky shot in and silence the 7pdr Krupp section, no more beatings from the battery command!

As the Ruby T steams past the Dervish positions the 12pdr and Gatling final hit their mark. The Dervish cannon are silenced and damaged effectively eliminating any resistance and allowing the Ruby T to pass Wadi Hamed.

The Ruby T successfully negotiates the 6^th cataract and proceeds to Metemma. Here the Dervish presence is small with only a small Rub of Nile Ansar with no rifles. The Ruby T steams past Metemma into the next space. Waiting for the next turn to move on Atbara with the other units moving in from Suakin and along the Atbara River.

 

The supply situation here is still in good shape with Berber dropping from 6 turns to 5 with relief soon close as Atbara. Atbara drops from 4 to 3, but help is on the way.

Reinforcements are still slow to arrive at the front as only 2 more units arrive at Aswan.  But 3 units arrive from India at Suakin.

At Aswan the following arrive:

2^nd Battalion 89^th Royal Irish Fusiliers

Camel Corp Commander

Guard Camel Regiment

At Suakin the following arrive:

3^rd Infantry Brigade Commander

1^st Battalion 79^th Cameron Highlander

Company A - Mounted Infantry

3^rd Royal Artillery 7pdr Mountain Screw Battery

 

Closing out the turn the revolt index in the West stays at 4 since El Fasher fell but the Dervish lost the battle at El Fasher. The North goes down by 1 to 5 since the Ruby T won the battle at Wad Hamed.  The East stays the same at 3. The South the index also stays the same at 5. The Mahdist gains 34 points this turn for a total of 81 points.