Inspired by the recent series in THE COURIER and by the chance find of a copy of Winnie Churchill's marvelously partial THE RIVER WAR, I decided to return to the Sudan Wars several years after giving away my old armies of Airfix Arabs and converted WWI Germans. My new armies are Heroics 1/300 figures, a decision based partly on cost and space, and partly on the grounds that I like the little chaps! To portray the battle around Suakin, and of Wolseley's expedition of 1884-85, I am using a strip of five Imperial infantry figures as a company of about 100, an artillery or machine gun piece as one to three real pieces, and cavalry figures in pairs of about 40 men, so that squadrons can be broken down for reconnaissance patrols. Ansar infantry are clustered in five's and sixes on one cent pieces; cavalry and riflemen in threes and camels - both Mahdist mounted men and British pack beasts - in twos. This use of pennies means that no unrealistically "regular" formations can be maintained! Since Mahdist units did not keep drilled spacing, one Ansar stand can represent a wide variation in numbers; I worked out that, of a scale of 1" to 50 yards, a penny piece covers an area sufficient for over 1000 men allowing one square yard apiece! My Sudan game is essentially a role-play exercise, and is structured as a Multi-player solo game, with an umpire controlling the Mahdist forces, and indeed, the entire universe except for those Imperial units under the direct command of the players; each player portrays a British or Egyptian officer, with a personal briefing and position in the overall hierarchy of command. This approach to game format seems far more appropriate to a clash between alien cultures and military systems than the two-player game of controlled maneuver that works well for Napoleonics or Sever Years War. Players do not have access to the rules. They receive, instead, a set of "assumptions" and "exceptions" representing the collective experience of British officers of the Victorian period. This describes accurately, if somewhat linguistically (Editor's Note: One must excuse Howard's English as being from England, he does not yet fully have a grasp of the English language), the skills and attributes (rate of fire, ranges, speeds of movement) of their forces. Egyptians are described in disparaging terms, while cavalry are subtly (or not!) encouraged to value the ame blanche over mundane outpost and reconnaissance duties. The "Dervishers" and Fuzzy Wuzzies are, naturally, 'eathen savages, but cunning and very fierce little blighters. Our brave - though not necessarily very bright - officers of the Queen are thus equipped, after a fashion, to march into the hinterland to relieve Gordon, or avenge him, or whatever. As the British advance across the landscape either actually on a table or on a map, the umpire describes what the officers can see, or what the patrols report. Often this is only clouds of dust, smoke, or nothing at all. The Ansar can, of course, leap from gullies and depressions in what looks like flat terrain - unless your patrols do their work properly. They can also creep really close at night, or while tea is being brewed --- when they are visible, the Mahdists do not appear to be following recognizable tactics, but move terribly quickly, and will keep on coming even when those Martinis shoot enemy stands by the dozen! In my judgment, the structure of the game is far more important than the actual rules, which are only mechanisms to allow the game to operate. In this sense, any set of worthwhile colonial rules could be used with the particular game format. The basic rules of my game are as follows: There is no set time scale. If the Imperial players wish to conduct an action that takes 30 minutes, that turn takes 30 minutes; if the Ansar interrupt that action, it will end at whatever time the Umpire deems appropriate. Movement and firing rates are worked out in terms of "one minute's worth," to be multiplied by the length of the turn. Fire combat for the British is based on rolling large numbers of dice at once, this giving a childishly satisfying feel of a "volley", with the umpire making secret saving throws for the Mahdists. British fire has two results. It may take off whole stands at once - no rosters here - and it may make the enemy run faster/slow down/ lie down/runaway. Killing Dervishes isn't, it itself, much of an object; rather, the idea is to promote them into attacking piecemeal then keep them from actually contacting the British formation. Naturally, it won't always work that way. British fire is thus tied directly to the variations in Ansar morale/activity. Ansar fire is related less to taking off British stands than to disordering their formations and so curtailing the dreaded Martini-Henry volleys. Imperial morale goes through four successive stages; steady, excited, nervous, and panic. British and Indian regulars very seldom fall below "excited," and follow orders closely, while early Egyptians, Bashi-Bazouks and the like, run very quickly from "steady" to "nervous". This concept is shamelessly lifted from my friend Paddy Griffith's FLIGHT TO THE FRONT 1895 solo game, and involves unit charts that look like this; lose one * per "hit". British Regulars Steady **** Excited *** Nervous **** Panic! Highland Regiments Steady *** Excited **** Nervous *** Panic! Bashi Bazouk Steady * Excited *** Nervous ** Panic! At "Panic!", of course, things get pretty embarrassing. All paperwork is kept by the umpire, who also needs to keep track of ammunition, unless he wishes to allow the British thousands of rounds of ammo! These thoughts are where my Sudan game, provisionally titled "Science Versus Pluck; or Too Much For The Mahdi", after a Punch cartoon of 1884, currently stands. Any ideas, comments, would be gratefully received. (3403 Paulsen St., Savannah, GA 31405) Back to MWAN #17 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1985 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com