There are special rules that should be considered. The movement of European forces overland should be reduced by the effect of the desert. Isolated units in the desert should be destroyed quickly. Those familiar with Colonial actions in Egypt will find the topography and natives very similar to the 1880s. The first exposure of the French cavalry to Camels should include some disruption of the French. Mamelukes should be treated as "guard" units for the Egyptian armies. If the Mamelukes fail morale then the entire army should check morale; if the Mamelukes rout in significant numbers then the Egyptian army should rout as well. Additionally, the Mamelukes should be considered impetuous and should roll to charge the French at the first opportunity. The Mamelukes that survive the first encounter will lose their impetuous status if they lose the charge. If they win, they will retain it for the rest of the campaign. Campaigns The campaign option is probably the most interesting for a number of reasons. First of all it is a campaign game that can pit a number of players against one rather than in teams. Secondly, it includes naval as well as military considerations. Logistics will also playa role but nota critical one. The players should include as a minimum, a French ground commander, a French naval commander, an Ottoman ground commander, a British naval commander who can also handle ground actions, and two rival Egyptian commanders. THE FRENCH The French order of battle should include the following: Eight infantry divisions of two demi-brigades each. Four regiments of Dragoons Two 4 lb. batteries Two 8 lb. batteries Two sets of trains The French player can be reinforced from two sources, France and from the local population. The Coptic Christians in the Nile Delta quickly associated the French invasion with a resurgence of Christianity. Napoleon, with his personal dislike for the Catholic Church and its ties with the French aristocracy, probably found that association amusing. Nonetheless the French made good use of the Coptic population. Supply from France requires the French Navy to be intact. The French should have one battle line and the ability to raise two convoys a year. To make this a random event the French player should roll a die to determine the status of the battle line and the supply fleet. There should be a 66% chance that the French battle line is available. If it is available for a three month season then the French player can control its operations. If the battle line is available, then the mere threat of its operating will allow a 25% chance that one supply ship a month will arrive in Egypt. Each season there is a 50% chance that the supply fleet can be assembled. If assembled it is located in any French port. The supply fleet must be escorted by the battle line and can bring anything the French need including more troops. It is unlikely that the French government would commit any more major units to the campaign. But this should be a possibility; I would give a 5% chance that another infantry division would be sent, 25% chance that another demi-brigade and a 30% chance for another cavalry regiment. The French should also have the option of withdrawing from Egypt on the supply fleet. The supply fleet brings enough supply to last one year. THE BRITISH The British naval commander should have to wait for land units. The British commander should have a battle line of 13-15 ships of the line and 15 or so scouting shops. The British commander should be allowed to assemble his marines into a unit (about 35 per ship or 500 men). He should have a supply fleet of 20 ships that can be used for transporting Ottoman or British forces. The Ottoman forces will be available if the Ottoman player makes them so; the British forces should be rolled for with 15% chance per battalion, battery or cavalry regiment. The total land forces available to the British are as follows: Eight battalions of infantry One battery of RHA Two batteries of foot artillery Two regiments of dragoons Roll at the start of each season until all forces have been committed. Land units transferred by fleets have a five percent chance of being lost at sea from all causes... storms, plagues, and stupidity. Players must roll foreach battalion, battery or squadron uncommitted each seasonal turn until all have been committed. THE OTTOMAN TURKS The Ottoman Turk player should have access to a small battleline of four ships of definitely inferior quality plus 15-20 scouting ships. The Ottoman forces are as follows: 10 Battalions of janissary infantry. Four batteries of heavy artillery Two batteries of medium artillery Remember that this affair in Egypt should be viewed as a side show, one that should not attract the total resources of the Empire. The Ottoman should have a large feudal contingent of mixed infantry and cavalry. Roll one D20 each season and the result should be the percentage of regulars in each force. The feudal contingent should be rolled up as a D10 times 10,000. Also, 15% of the total will be cavalry. Turks can have one massive fixed battery of heavy artillery per army. I recommend 25-50 guns and howitzers. One army can be organized in the home ports around Cyprus and the other in the area of Syria. These should be reduced by combat and attrition. Rather than the factors that limited the regular units these troops should vary by the time of the year, the success of one side or the other and a random die roll should be used to determine attrition rates. In any case these units should be replaced in the next season without a die roll when lost. THE MAMELUKES The Mamelukes players should have a feudal army of some 15,000 Mameluke warriors organized in 1,000 man units. These are mounted troops rated as medium cavalry but move as light cavalry, The Mamelukes had ground forces of feudal infantry also in units of 1000. Mameluke cavalry cannot be replaced. Infantry units, however, can be replaced each season. To make it more interesting, have two Mameluke players with conflicting goals and resources. They should have specific regions of occupation. Ibrahim Bey in the North and Murad Bey in the South would be a nice breakdown. The critical areas that would be controlled are Cairo, Alexandria, and Aswan. Other locations should be valued in their relationship to these principal locations. The French must maintain control over the Nile Valley and the Delta in order to continue to eat. See the map. If the French control all the cities on the Nile River between Aswan and Cairo the Mamelukes receive no replacements. They should get 2,000 infantry each season from every city on the Nile River. Unless the Mamelukes have a link with the Ottomans, all replacements arrived armed only with melee style weapons - swords and spears. For simplicity I recommend that the campaign start with the French landings in Egypt. Otherwise this could be a very short campaign. Allow a few minutes each turn to execute political intrigues. I recommend weekly turns. But that comes to 155 turns; perhaps monthly turns would be more reasonable. The sequence should be Ottoman/British move, French move, and last, Mameluke move. Losses in naval combat can be replaced with home units. The Royal Navy units can be replaced 50% of the time and will arrive the next season. The French Revolutionary Navy can replace its losses 10% of the time. These French replacements should be available the month after the loss occurs. Ground units cannot be replaced for the European powers and must come in as reinforcements. The one exception is the Coptic replacements for the French. The French players may be forced to consolidate units as attrition wears down the French army in Egypt. Losses from other causes such as disease or accidents or routine enemy action should be handled each season by rolling a D10. The number rolled is the number of Frenchmen as a percentage lost in the past three months. A zero roll should be treated as a zero percentage loss. A D6 should also be rolled for the French to determine the number of Coptic Christians entering the French service as replacements in the last, the die roll equals the number of Coptic Christians in hundreds that enter French service as replacements. Special considerations should include the following items. The French were uncomfortable with the desert and were loath to travel on it. The Turks and Mamelukes were able and willing to use the desert tracks to the east and west of the Nile. The French also operated a flotilla on the Nile between Alexandria and the first Cataract. The French should move up and down the Nile River with ease. The Mamelukes can be reinforced each month by Janissaries returning from the pilgrimage to Mecca. roll one D6 each month and the result is the number in fifties of Janissaries arriving at Qseir. The Janissaries can be used to leaven the fellahin units. Most of the French needs in Egypt can be produced in the Nile River including food, ammunition and other supply needs. Napoleon in Egypt Historical Background Rules Consideration A Skirmish Scenario A Naval Scenario Available Wargaming Figures Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. IX No. 5 Back to Courier List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1990 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. 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