I have always been interested in in the North-West Frontier ever since I saw "Gunga Din", "Wee Willie Winkie" and "The Lives of the Bengal Lancers" about 40 years ago. Several years ago I was able to take a class in military history at the university and chose to write a paper on the NWF. That being too large a subject I narrowed it down to the Russian Invasion of India, having research it several years before for a play-by-mail campaign that lasted three years. The research indicated that the Russians did not have an easy time of conquering Central Asia. They lost many thousands of men to mostly guerilla warfare similar to the NWF and American Indian warfare.
Unfortunately there aren't too many good sources of information in English for the gamer. I have included in this issue some basic source material, from a book entitled Campaigning on the Oxus, and the Fall of Khive by J A Mac Gahan, a reporter for the New York Herald.
This issue includes, unfortunately, none of the planning of the campaign as Mac Gahan apparently was not privy to that information. The book begins with Mac Gahan in Russia on his way to the Aral Sea in this issue I will bring to the gates of Khive. The information contained here provides a few historic scenario possibilities, more next time, OB for two of the four columns and a description of the Russian fort at Kazala. This can be used to game very interesting campaigns using Russo-Turkish War Russians and your favorite Afghans and almost anyone with a turban, as you will see with a few illustrations I have included. This gets us away from the (almost) ever victorious British against the NWF tribesmen.
I call on all of you who write to consider something for two special issues for next year. 1998 is the 100th anniversary of the Spanish-American War and the final Sudan campaigns for the June (107) and August (108) issues. I will take nearly any article for these issues: book reviews (ficticious and historical), historic source material reviews, availability of figure review, scenarios (ficticious and historical), and uniform descriptions. I hope that each of you will contribute something even if it is only a letter report of your activities or game. We kind of missed the 100th issue celebration so I hope we can make up for this next year with two big blowout anniversary issues.
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© Copyright 1997 by Richard Brooks.
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