Tri-State Bolt Action and other wargaming stuff Blog

Turn 7

Headlines from the London Times News – “Allied forces suffer setback in the Sudan” With loses at El Obeid and Kosti the Revolt in the Sudan is growing.  Even with the presence of British forces moving up the Nile, can Khartoum hold out until relief arrives and can the revolt be brought under controlled.

Yes, turn 6 was worse the previous turns when the whole of the Sudan revolted.  Having 3 Revolt indexes increase and one stay only because of an Egyptian Victory is only putting pressure on the British to commit more forces from India.  This could be the turn that changes the direction of the campaign back to the Allies as battles loom at Abu Hamed, Atbara and Trinkitat.

The West: With the defeat at El Obeid and the loss of the 1^st Egyptians, the small force that had retreated to Rahad decides it might be better to retreat all the way back to the Nile, in the hopes that reinforcements will arrive from Khartoum.  So the long retreat begins and it is back to Ruwaba.  Here a force of 2 Dervish units is waiting. 

2^nd Battle of Ruwaba: (6 – 4, 2 units of Dervish, 2 Rubs of Western Ansar, Allied attack on Dervish Town/Zeriba) Being a small outpost, 1 Dervish rub is defending the town, while the other Rub is setup in a zeriba outside of the town.  The Egyptian forces consist of the 2^nd Egyptian Regiment, the 1^st Cavalry Squadron, and the 2^nd Camel Company.

Here 1 Rub of Dervish were setup in a zebia and the other Rub in the town of Ruwaba.  As the Egyptian column advanced the Rub in the town decides to take action and advanced out toward the Eqyptian column.  The egyptians then made their way into a rocky outcropping with eth Cavarly on the left and the Camels advancing aroun to the right.  Seeing their fellow Mahdist advancing towards the Turks, the Dervish in the Zerbia decided to advance out also, who was in command of these units?

The Dervish fromt eh town were able to inflict some casulities on the Cavalry and forced them back, but the 2^nd Egyptian Regiemtn poured fire into various units either stopping them as they charged, are inflicting casulited enough to stop them farther out that mad the think twice about charging again.

Eventually the Cavalry made it back to the line and the Cavalry dismounted to form a solid line that the Dervish could not break, although they did try many times.  Really who was commanding these guys and how bad was his die rolls? 

Finally the Dervish had had enough and fled back into the desert leaving Ruwaba to the Turks.  The Camels lost a stand during this battle, but with the town secured, the troops were back in fighting form within the week.  The Cavalry on the other had had lost 2 stands of which only 1 stand returned. The loses were just too much for the cavalry.

 

The South: With the Revolt index increasing in the south Khartoum is still reluctant to send troops out either south ort north.  The Ruby T is needed to provide additional protection and with 5 turns of supplies, the commander sees no need to expose the small number of troops to harm. Only relief from the north or possibly pressure from London will shake the commander into action.

The East: With the Revolt index in the east very low the number of Dervish forces here will be limited. The British force at Hadiga could be the key to the relief of Khartoum.  The 3^rd brigade commander decides to try and take Atbara from the Dervish. Since this is an advance into the Northern Region the die roll is a 1

2^nd Battle of Atbara: (4 – 1 - 2, 5 units of Dervish, 3 Rubs of Fuzzy Wuzzys, 1 Fuzzy Camel unit, and 1 Nile Ansar Rub. Dervish ambush on Allied Column) is it possible the Osma Digna has finally decided to meet the British force in open battle!  The British force under the command of the 3^rd Infantry Brigade Commander, consists of the 2^nd Battalion 46^th and the 1^st battalion 79^th, along with the Mounted Infantry and 3^rd Royal Artillery 7pdr Mountain Screw Battery.

 

The Mounted infantry were at the head of the column deployed in line to provide scouting information to the column Commander, they were followed by the 46^th, then the 79^th and last the 3^rd Artillery.

 

Right away the column was attacked by a rub from the right side of the track.  Good luck for the British as the attack fell short, but more trouble was coming from the front as another rub and the Fuzzy Camels appeared, again falling short. Here the Mounted Infantry, being mounted, were able to make their reaction roll and counter charge the Fuzzy infantry.

The Mounted Infantry lost the battle with the Fuzzies, but this worked out to their favor as since they just fell back with 1 loss. On their turn they were able to reform and dismount next to the 46^th as they formed up in line. The 79^th formed up along the track with an artillery section on both end and the last section moving out the British far left. The Dervish tried again to charge the British, but effect fire either stopped the charge or pushed the Fuzzies back during melee.

At this point it did not look good for the Dervish and the unit in front of the 79^th was slowing melting away due to artillery and infantry fire. The only chance was to overwhelm the dismount infantry and the lone battery on the left.

Finally gaining enough support, with effect rifle fire from 2 fuzzy units the Dervish were able to inflict several causalities on the British line and push them back in hand to hand combat. 

They even damaged the lone section of artillery, but were just not able to capture the guns.  However the British were able to rally and reform the line and as the 79^th wheeled around they poured effective fire into the camels almost eliminating Osma Digna. 

 

At this point in his typical fashion, the Dervish melted away back into the desert claiming a victory over the British even though they lost Atbara.  The end result is that the lone Mounted Infantry loss was able to return to duty.  The bad news is that the British line lost 3 stands, and only 2 were returned as the 3^rd stand succumbed to injuries.  Worse was the loss of the 3^rd section of the 3^rd Battery.  The guns were too damaged to be repaired and will need supplies from Wadi Halfa to be repaired.  But Atbara was captured.  And now being under siege, the British have 2 turns until help needs to arrive.

The force at Tokar advances to Trinkitat. The result is that no Dervish forces are present. They must have left to go to Atbara to defend that important city.

The North: The British force at Dongola advances on to the recently capture Korti. The forces at Suarda advance on to Dongola.  The recent reinforcements move up river to Wadi Halfa to join the forces there with the hope that in a few turns The Desert Railway will be opened up. The Egyptian force at Korti decides not to wait and advances on to Kirbekan where 1 Dervish unit faces the Egyptians. Being a lone Ansar Cavalry unit, this force must only be a scout force or possible a screen for the Dervish and does not give battle.  Instead retiring back to Abu Hamed where the Egyptians are expecting a large force to be present.  And here the Dervish only has 3 units available to defend Abu Hamed  

Battle of Abu Hamed: (4 – 3 - 2, 3 units of Dervish, 2 units of Jihadiya Rifle and 1 unit of Ansar Cavalry. Dervish attack on Allied Column) This battle may be the turning point that the Allies need, with so few Dervish units it looks like the Egyptians should win easily. The 1^st Camel Company lead the way followed by the 5^th Egyptians, then the Xth Sudanese, the 6^th Artillery, the Supply Train, and then the XIth Sudanese. Seeing that the only Dervish units were the 2 Rifles and the Cavalry, the Commander ordered the 6^th Artillery to the front and began to fire on the Dervish from long range.  This had a demoralizing effect on the Dervish and after several causalities they disappeared into the desert. Abu Hamed had been re-taken with no loses.

The supply situation at Berber is still in good shape, decreasing from 4 to 3 and with allied forces close the relief of Berber is imminent. In Khartoum the supply situation is reduced from 5 to 4 and it appears that relief is also close. Atbara has 2 turns and with forces close, this should not be a problem.  The North is close to being cleared of the revolt.

Again the situation in India is not allowing any additional units to be dispatched from there to Suakin. At Aswan it is worse as Woseley is unwilling to commit any additional troops to the front, so no reinforcements this turn.  The Allies must turn things around quickly.

Closing out the turn The North goes down by 2 with 2 wins by the Allies to 2. The East goes down by 2 to 2 with the loss of Trinkitat and the wins in the North. In the West it goes down by 1 with to 5 as does the South going down to 5. The Mahdist only gains 30 points this turn for a total of 265 points. Things are looking better for the Allies.