Written accounts of Hicks' ill-fated expedition into the Sudan provide some interesting material for developing wargame scenarios for that period of history. By mixinga little imagination with some historical fact, the following scenario was developed forplayon asix byfourtable using 25mm figures. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND In 1883, the Mahdist revolt was in full swing. The Egyptian garrisons in the Sudan had fallen one by one. After several months' siege, the main garrison at El Obeid surrendered and the city became the main base for the Mahdi's forces in Kordofan. The Egyptian government, anxious to regain control of the Sudan, sent an expeditionary force deep into hostile territory to recapture El Obeid and put an end to the Mahdist revolt once and for all. Under the command of William Hicks, a retired British Army officer, the expedition was doomed from the start. Hicks had no experience in desert warfare. With mediocre officers, the untrained and ill-equipped column had little chance for success. Churchill called it, "the worst army that ever marched to war". The column eventually fell into a Mahdist trap a few miles from its objective and it was annihilated. SCENARIO Action takes place during Hicks' advance on El Obeid. The column has been in the field for several weeks. Their water supply is almost depleted. Morale is low and the desertion rate is high. In desperation, Hicks makes a reconnaissance in force in search of a reported oasis. Once located, he intends to hold the position until nightfall when the main column is expected to arrive. Unknown to Hicks, the Mahdi is informed of his plan from one of the column's deserters and a Dervish force is sent to intercept him at the oasis. Opposing Forces The reconnaissance column consists of Hicks with one cavalry unit and two infantry units supported by a machine gun detachment. The Dervish force consists of a mounted leader with one camel unit and three Fuzzy Wuzzy units. Set Down: Dervish forces enter from the western edge of the board. Egyptian forces enter from the eastern edge of the board at entry point determined by a roll of one average die (1xAD). Refer to map forlocation of the entry points. All Egyptian forces enter the board in column formation with each unit behind the other. Terrain Characteristics The high ground and the wadi are both Class III cover and offer concealment to the Dervishes. There is no movement penalty for the Dervishes on high ground. Only 2/3 movement for the Egyptian forceson the high ground. A minus 4" movement penalty for the Dervishes moving out of the wadi. Victory Conditions Victory is awarded to the side that holds the oasis at the end of the twelfth move (nightfall). Rules of Play Scenario was play tested using The Sword and The Flame Rules (TSATF) with the following modifications: Egyptian morale number is one lowerthan that shown in TSATF rules. All Egyptian units must advance directly to the pond at the oasis before any subsequent deployment. As each Egyptian unit comes within six inches of the oasis for the first time, it will break ranks. On the following turn, it will make a charge move (no stragglers) to the oasis and must then remain one full move at the pond in disorder before reforming. A local sandstorm is in progresson the opening move (use wads of fluffed cotton to represent storm line at middle of board from north to south). At the beginning of each turn roll a D6 to determine the storm's status. If a 5 or 6 is rolled, the storm has subsided. If a 4 or 2 is rolled, the storm line moves that number of inches toward the eastern edge of the board. If a 3 or 1 is rolled, the storm line moves that number of inches towards the western edge of the board. Neither side can see the other on level ground if the storm line blocks the line of sight. There is no visibility restriction on high ground except the observer cannot see a blind spot 9" directly behind the storm line. A half movement penalty occurs when moving through the storm line which is 12' wide. BIBLIOGRAPHY Henry Keown Boyd, A Good Dustin, 1986 Peter Johnson, Gordon of Khartoum, 1985 Michael Barthrop, War On The Nile, 1984 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. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com