It seems anyone with an ounce of interest in the Sudan campaigns and the Colonial period has seen and enjoyed the last two of the dozen or more movie adoptions of A.E.W. Mason's novel, THE FOUR FEATHERS. Available in video stores, Korda's 1939 production and the 1977 TV movie with Beau Bridges and Jane Seymour both capture the British zeal for Empire and "proper" gentlemen soldiers. One of the pivotal events of the story makes for a unique and colorful game using THE SWORD AND THE FLAME (TM) rules.
The novel is set during 1884 and the first Sudan campaign. The TV movie stays true to the period, while Korda went to great expense to recreate the 1895 campaign and the Battle of Omdurman. In both cases, the story remains very much the same, while expanding on the novel's plot. A Lt. Harry Faversham, the son of a stern and cold Hero of the Empire, is in love with Ethne Burrows and hates the army. He also believes himself a coward, the result of his father's treatment. His engagement to the beautiful Ethne creates tensions with his friend, Capt. John "Jack" Durance who is also in love with Ethne.
Too soon the call comes for Harry's regiment, the Royal North Surreys, to go to Egypt and teach the "fuzzys" a lesson. Harry resigns his commission on the eve of his Regiment's departure.
Of course this is interpreted as cowardice. Durance and two other officer friends send him white feathers, marking him a coward. When Ethne finds out that he is not going with his regiment and that his friends have given him the feathers, she breaks off the engagement, giving him a white feather too.
The game scenario is the result of Harry's disgrace and loss. He vows to go to the Sudan and find some way, an act of bravery, to make his fellow officers take back the feathers and win back Ethne. He disguises himself as a native, in the Korda movie actually becoming a "Dervish" while the 1977 movie he is a tribal scout for Durance's #5 Company.
Durance in fine British style marches out of Suakin into the desert on a mission to find the enemy in the 1977 movie. In the 1939 version, Durance is trying to draw the Khalifa's entire army away from Kitchener so the British army can move up the Nile. In both cases, #5 Company makes a zariba in the middle of a small valley to spend the night "in enemy territory".
The Ansar and Hadendowa surround the camp during night and attack at dawn. In both movies, as a spy in the Ansar army or the Company scout sleeping in the surrounding hills Harry first sounds the alarm for the sleeping British and then, when the camp is overrun by the Dervish, risks his life to save Capt. Durance. Of course Harry succeeds in rescuing Durance. However, we have a great game scenario in Harry's first rescue attempt: Can Harry warn the sleeping camp in time? Will the British be wiped out? Will Harry reach Durance in time to save him from death...or worse? To find out, see the movies AND play this scenario.
THE SCENARIO
Terrain: The table should be 7' X 5'. Three sides of the table should be hills, one to one and a half feet in from the edges - the hills are considered rough terrain. One of the short ends is open. The rest of the table is flat with rocks and brush scattered about. A camp is placed two feet from the board edge at the open end of the created valley. The camp is 10 square inches on a side. There should be tents in the middle of the camp, and a brush wall surrounding the camp.
The Ansar: There should be seven bands (or Rubs) of 20, three of which are Hadendowa ("Fuzzy-Wuzzys"). Also included are five riflemen. The Dervish forces may enter all hill covered sides of the table on the first turn of the game, or be held off the board till later. They may not enter the table nearer to the open end of the board than the Zareba.
The British: #5 Company of the Fictitious Royal North Surreys consists of two platoons of twenty, plus one company officer, Captain Durance. The officers for the two platoons are the two friends who also sent Harry feathers: Jack Willoby and Ethne's brother, Peter Burrows. This was the officer roster for the 1939 movie. The company is asleep with two guards posted inside the camp brush wall. The game begins at dawn. Two figures are placed in the camp as sentries. They are the only British figures on the table until the alarm is sounded.
Harry Faversham: The British player has a choice of how to have Harry disguised and placed, unknown to the Dervish Player. In both cases, Harry is moved as though he were a separate unit and fights as a leader. Each choice has its advantages and disadvantages:
1. The Company's Native Scouts: Harry is one of two mounted guides for Durance's company. During setup, the British player secretly notes where on the table Harry and the other scout are camped in the hills, hidden away. They may move while hidden. The British player must keep a record of the movement and hidden camp. The scouts are revealed when they are within 3" of the enemy, the scouts fire initiate combat, or they sound the warning to the camp. If Harry sounds the alarm (done by simply announcing the act during the British turn and placing the Faversham figure on the board), the other scout has left the board to find help.
2. An Ansar: If the British Player chooses, Harry is disguised as an Ansar soldier. The British player secretly notes which of the four Ansar units Harry is in. He will remain hidden and moving with the enemy unit until he sounds the alarm. This means that, unlike the Scout Option, he can move toward the British through the Ansar without revealing himself...
SOUNDING THE ALARM
There are two ways the alarm can be sounded:
1. On any turn chosen by the British Player, the alarm can be sounded by Harry. First, the distance from Harry (before movement) to the nearest British sentry is measured and a D6 is rolled. Depending on the distance, the alarm is heard by the camp and they prepare to meet the attack. If Harry is a Scout he must be mounted and is given a +1 on the D6 Roll.
If Harry is more than 20" from the nearest sentry, no alarm can be sounded, otherwise roll a D6 and add 1 to the die for every 5" closer than 20" when attempting to sound the alarm. The alarm is not heard on a modified die roll of 1-4.
Example: Harry is a scout and is 12" from the nearest sentry. He would add "2" to the die roll, the alarm is sounded on a roll of 3-6. (0ne for being a scout and one for being 5" closer than 20")
2. On any turn that the Ansar OR Harry move within 8" of the nearest sentry, they are seen and the Alarm is given with the same effects for the British. If the alarm is given without Harry being revealed, then he may continue moving until he is seen (if a scout) or he attacks the Dervish (either disguise). Of course, if the camp is fired on, the Alarm is sounded.
ALARM EFFECTS:
1. The British will be positioned NEXT turn after the alarm is sounded. They must set up with ten soldiers covering each side of the Camp Brush Wall. They are set up in this way at the beginning of the turn. Once positioned, the British can move them any place he desires. This simulates what seems to happen in both movies: The British soldiers have pre-determined defense posts which they run to as they wake up, grabbing their clothes and guns.
2. When Harry is revealed, any and every enemy soldier in range may attack Harry. The Dervish may attack Harry any number of times until he is hit. If he is killed, he is removed and the movie, if not the game, ends tragically. If he is wounded (as he was in both film versions), the Ansar immediately ignore him and cannot continued to attack him. He is removed from the table and a D6 is rolled and halved. This is the number of turns before Harry awakens (without a scratch a la Hollywood) and again is positioned within 6" of where he was wounded on the table. He is again hidden and will be revealed if spotted or he attacks the Dervish. Further wounds suffered by Harry are treated per the TSATF rules.
The Zareba: The brush wall was made up of camel-thorn or mimbosa and usually five to six feet high. It can not be moved through or attacked across. When the Dervish move next to it, they must stop movement for that turn. On the next turn each Dervish figure touching can attempt to remove 1 " of the wall as the sole action for the turn, unless attacked. Because it was staked down, very thomy and the figure will probably be under fire, the wall is removed on a roll of 1-3 on a D6 or a black card draw. Once the wall is removed, units may move through it and attack nommally. The wall offers no protection or screening from gun fire. In the movie, the Zareba was little protection. In the 1939 movie, the Ansar set fire to it!...very unrealistic.
British Relief Force: If Harry, as a scout, has sounded the alarm, there is a chance that a Relief Column of two troops of mounted infantry (25 cavalry) will come to the rescue. .. guided by Harry's scout companion. Two tums after the alarm has sounded, the British player draws a card. If it is a Heart, the cavalry arrive that tum on the same board edge the Scout left when the alamm was sounded. Each tum a card is drawn until the game is over or the cavalry comes...
Game Victory: The game lasts until all the British are dead, wounded or retreated off the board OR all the Ansar and Hadendowa are routed off the board. It is a major Victory for the side who remains standing on the field at the end of the game...
Movie Victory: Either side can win a "movie victory" while losing the Game. British officers who are killed should be taken off the board, while those wounded are left. The Dervish do not kill the wounded officers in the movie, they either leave them alone or capture them. If the game is over and the Ansar are victorious, each wounded officer or Harry is rolled for with a D6. A 1-4 means they are captured and led off to the prison at Omdurman to be rescued by Harry (if alive) in the second reel. If not captured, they remain on the battlefield to be found by Harry and taken back to British lines.
For every officer (Durance, Willoby and Burrows) dead or captured, the Ansar are awarded one point. If Harry is killed or captured, they gain two points. For every officer or Harry wounded, but left on the field by the less-than-zealous Dervish, the British gain 1/2 point (ALL wounded British officers survive in the movies...)
For every healthy British Officer or Harry at the end of the game the British are awarded one point. Points are awarded to wounded and healthy officers and Harry if they are able to leave the table before the game ends. The Movie Victory is awarded to the player with the highest points. Whoever gains both the Movie AND Game victory has scored a Media Event/Classic Movie level victory!
THE MOVIE/GAME OVERVIEW:
I thought you would like some game notes for this unusual scenario.
The British can break out of the Zareba and try to exit the board employing the same procedure as the Dervish. All points count if the British and officers can escape off the board.
It would seem at first glance that the "Harry as Scout" would be the best option as he gets a +1 on the Alarm and the Relief Force is a possibility. However, because Scout Harry is revealed when the enemy moves within 3" of him and he has to be within 20" of a British Sentry to sound the alarm, it will not be as easy to get close to the Camp as "Ansar Harry". The Ansar player will not know what option the British has chosen, but certainly will make an effort to surround the camp. The British Player can sound the alarm anytime it is his turn (i.e. his card has been drawn).
Depending on what card is drawn next, after sounding the alarm, Harry may be able to move and either reach the camp (facing the Zareba) or escape the Ansar. Sometimes, Harry will reveal himself, only to fail to sound the alarm. He may attempt to sound the alarm every turn he is not wounded or killed, and in range.
It is a tough fight for the North Surreys. They have less than an even chance of surviving, but that is what makes good movies, What? If you feel the game favors the Ansar, take off one of the Hadendowa Bands and/or the riflemen and see if that works better.
I have designated the North Surreys the 36th regiment of Foot. During the period of the movies, 1883-1897, there was no 36th regiment in the British Army. So it seemed the perfect number for a fictitious regiment... Enjoy the scenario. It makes for a great solitaire game. Do or die for the Honor of the Royal North Surreys.... and the love of a good woman.
Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #68
Photo by Bill Haggert.
Copyright 1995 by The Courier Publishing Company.