Spectacular Indian Mutiny Xmas special!

Mark surpassed himself with his latest spectacular Christmas special. These are big multi-player BBB games with a twist: unlike standard scenarios where time limits are clear and everyone knows what their side's common objectives are, in these Christmas games each player has different secret objectives depending on his own individual motivations - greed, glory, self-preservation, rivalry, ambition, etc.

The setting was the climactic assault of the siege of Delhi in 1857 during the Indian Mutiny. (Retaking the whole city actually took a week but this was compressed into 8 game turns.) Mark handcrafted some 15 feet of bastioned walls to represent Delhi's fortifications. Dave W and Phil joined me on the imperial side, outnumbered by five Indian defenders: Crispin, Luke, Ben, Dave T and Nick O.

It fell to me to take the role of Brigadier Nicholson, evidently a fellow of considerable pluck and determination, judging by my objectives. These included storming both the two breaches by the Water Bastion and the Kashmir Bastion (pic above).

Mutineer's-eye view of my force, which for game purposes included both Nicholson's 1st Column and Jones's 2nd Column: four 3-base regiments of European troops plus two larger regiments of loyal sepoys. (Figures from Mark's collection, made by Irregular Miniatures.)

I advanced boldly upon the leftmost breach. I won't be able to tell you much about what was going on along the other 13 feet of fortifications.

Indian artillery on the bastions induced a little more caution towards the righthand breach while we poured fire on the defenders to soften them up for a turn first. Note the small barrels behind my troops. These represent petards for blasting our way into bastions and the like.

Festive combat resolution mechanism! Turns 2 and 3 were spent effecting entry via both breaches, only for Crispin's savage counterattacking hordes to eject the 1st Column from the Water Bastion breach and wipe out a regiment of the 2nd Column, the 2nd Bengal Fusiliers. That loss provoked a cracker pull that I lost, resulting in Nicholson being wounded and rendered hors de combat, seriously handicapping my force for the rest of the game.

To my right was Colonel Campbell's 3rd Column (Dave W). Here he demonstrates one of our patent self-hoisting petards against the Kabul gate.

Turn 4: 2nd Column's 4th Sikhs storm in to avenge the 2nd Bengal Fusiliers

and rout their whiteclad foes, already reeling from the Fusiliers' gallant resistance.

(Yellow markers indicate Disrupted; blue is Spent.)

Turn 5: we are now solidly established inside the walls and driving the enemy before us. The Sikhs are the unit upper right. 1st Column has taken the St James suburb (the grey patch) and the 8th Foot supports its right flank. Heavy casualties are starting to tell on the mutineers.

Our casualties have not been light, though. Here the wounded Nicholson parades assorted wounded and stragglers from my force and Dave's on the table edge.

Start of Turn 8. The building top left is the Magazine, which is also one of my Objectives. In front of it is a shaky line of blue-countered Spent mutineer rabble. My leading unit, the 75th Foot (the line centre left) will shake off its Disruption and charge! Unfortunately, without Nicholson to motivate them, its tired comrades will watch it go in alone.

The 1st Bengal Fusiliers won't even stay to watch ... having rolled snake-eyes earlier, they actually retired outside the breach again. I rationalised this as them being detached to escort supplies and artillery moving up and wounded moving back.

My highwater mark! The 75th routed their spent opponents so comprehensively that they then impetuously charged the rather larger and more solid mob in the Magazine. Unsurprisingly, they bounced off with heavy loss, but their gallantry cannot be faulted.

One of our British team objectives was to find and capture the king of Delhi (Bahadur Shah, I think). Here we see him making his escape past the Red Fort. More splendid Irregular Miniatures.

So how did it turn out? As I said, I didn't have much idea what was happening beyond my scrap with Crispin. He and a couple of other Indian players did better than us on the personal objectives. However, what we didn't know was that there were two factions on the Indian side. Luke and Ben's faction achieved every one of their objectives and therefore achieved a team win. Hurrah for them! (The treacherous dogs, damn their eyes.)

If you enjoyed this and fancy trying some large-scale India games yourself, do take a look at Mark's scenario book, "Bloody Big Battles in INDIA!"

Reflections

Just a seasonal one: the value and importance of good friends.

On which note, I wish all readers of this blog a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope you all get to spend some quality time with the people most important to you. See you in 2024!

Newly published: "Bloody Big Battles in INDIA!"

I am delighted to announce the publication of the third BBB campaign supplement: "Bloody Big Battles in INDIA!" (BBBI), by Dr Mark Smith. This covers the Second Maratha War (1803-1806) where Wellington made his name; the Gwalior campaign of 1843; the Sikh Wars; and the Indian Mutiny.

From helping Mark to playtest these sixteen scenarios, I can report that they are super games. The asymmetrical armies make for interesting tactical challenges (how best to use camel-mounted rockets ... ?). So too do the situations, e.g., protecting baggage against marauding cavalry, or the unusual cityfight in Lucknow. Furthermore, Mark writes very nice clean unfussy scenarios with well-designed objectives. I've provided the full back cover 'blurb' and a list of the battles included at the foot of this post. To get a flavour of the scenarios in the book, here are a few battle reports: Delhi (1803); Argaum (1803); Laswari (1803); Maharajpore (1843); Punniar (1843); Aliwal (1846).

The book is published by SkirmishCampaigns. It should be available from all SC's usual retailers shortly - shipping out this week or next, I think - but let me give a special shout out to North Star Military Figures, who snapped up a big order within 30 seconds of hearing about BBBI! (At time of writing, not yet listed on their website, but drop them a line if you want a copy.) BBBI joins the two existing BBB campaign supplements: "Bloody Big EUROPEAN Battles!" (BBEB) and "Bloody Big BALKAN Battles!" (BBBB). The fourth is in press and will appear later this year: "Bloody Big HUNGARY '48 Battles!" (BBHB). A couple more collections are in fairly advanced preparation as well, so expect more BBB books in 2023.

Thank you to everyone involved: Mark for all his hard work and skill in creating such a fine collection and introducing me to these wars about which I knew very little; our merry group of playtesters at OWS; Scott at SkirmishCampaigns; all the retailers who carry the BBB books; and, of course, the 1,000s of you out there who read this blog, or are members of the BBB group or Facebook page, and whose shared enthusiasm for this period is what really keeps the BBB project going.

===

[From the back cover of BBBI]

The major states of India, especially the Maratha Confederacy and the Sikh state in the Punjab, were among the most redoubtable opponents of the extension of British power in the sub-continent. The size and technological sophistication of their forces posed major problems for East India Company commanders in the field and frequently threatened them with defeat. BBBI lets you refight sixteen of the most important battles of the period from the Second Maratha War (1803-1806) to the Sepoy Uprising (‘Indian Mutiny’) of 1857-1858. This collection gives you:

·       The battles where Wellington made his name!

·       A wide range of terrain and tactical situations!

·       Balanced scenarios with asymmetrical armies!

·       Unusual troops – Gurkhas, camel rockets, ghazis!

·       An engaging game of constant decision-making!

·       Battles you can fight to the finish in an evening!

Many also offer scenario options to explore ‘what-ifs’ and increase replay value. Campaign options allow players to link battles so that each has consequences for the next.

===

Battles covered:

The Second Maratha War (1803-1806) – 4-scenario mini-campaign

    Delhi

    Assaye

    Laswari

    Argaum

The Gwalior War (1843) – two individual scenarios

    Punniar

    Maharajpore

The First Sikh War (1845-1846) – 4-scenario mini-campaign

    Mudki

    Ferozeshah

    Aliwal

    Sabraon

The Second Sikh War (1848-1849) – 3-scenario mini-campaign

    Kyneerie

    Chillianwallah

    Gujrat

The Sepoy Uprising (‘Indian Mutiny’) (1857-1859) – 3-scenario mini-campaign

    Second Battle of Lucknow

    Third Battle of Lucknow

    Bareilly

Update 31 March 2023: the fine French wargames magazine Vae Victis has devoted almost a whole page to a nice positive review of BBBI. (Issue No. 167, March/April 2023.) VV's verdict: "Like all the BBB supplements, the content is extremely informative and, in the present case, enables you to recreate some very unusual and colourful battles." Merci, Nicolas!

 

A Christmas Cracker: Khoosh-Ab (1857), Anglo-Persian War!

As a Christmas treat for us, Mark conjured up a surprise scenario. He wouldn't give us any clue beforehand except to say it was set in the 19th century and that wagons were involved. When the curtain was raised, he revealed that it was the battle of Khoosh-Ab from the Anglo-Persian War of 1856-1857, so frankly we were none the wiser.

Normally for our BBB games both sides get a complete briefing so they know all about the enemy forces and victory conditions. But for Khoosh-Ab - as for his last year's excellent Magdala game - Mark kept us in the dark. Not only did we have incomplete information about the enemy. We also had internal rivalries, with each of the players having different personal objectives. Thus I was cast as General Foster Stalker, a competent professional primarily concerned with protecting the baggage train and preserving the army; and I (correctly) regarded my superior, Sir James Outram, as a dangerous hothead who would sacrifice lives unnecessarily in his quest for glory. On the opposing side, the Persian Prince Khanlar Mirza wanted to shepherd us towards the coast without taking too many risks; and was wary of betrayal by his untrustworthy ally / cavalry commander, who was primarily out for loot (and historically did turn coat later in the campaign).

 Starting positions and opening moves

The scenario began with some Persian harassment of the British square during the night. This was simulated by volleys of Christmas crackers! Party hats and bad jokes disrupted some wagons and drew one British unit out of position chasing snipers and deceptive bugle calls. Sir James fell off his horse and banged his head. When he recovered, the Persian army was revealed in full array.

Sir James was gung-ho to strike the enemy's left flank. I managed to persuade him to aim for their right, ostensibly on the grounds it was closer, but in fact so I could keep the wagons and us nearer to our escape route to the coast. We soon shook out into line. Our Persian foes were rather less organised and marched in various directions or not at all.

This presented us with an opportunity for a massed attack on one isolated and disrupted Persian regiment on our left. We charged forward, only to discover a hidden wadi or donga, teeming with Persian skirmishers whose galling fire stopped our gallant redcoats in their tracks. A bloody firefight ensued in which Persian artillery also participated. We lost the Highlanders and our left wing was forced to fall back on the wagons.

Meanwhile all had not gone well on our right either. The superior quality of our cavalry was not enough to compensate for the sheer number of Persian horsemen, who overran our cavalry and the supporting horse artillery. A Persian threat was finally developing in the centre as well.

The obvious course of action to me was to circle the wagons by the Bushehr exit, and to draw in my regiments around them, which I did. Meanwhile the obvious course of action to Sir James was to charge the enemy centre, smash aside two Persian regiments which had been softened up by our artillery, and carry the Persian gun position on the hill.

Our force was thus divided in two. I now had the Persian Guards charging at me from one direction, and a huge mob of cavalry approaching from the other. I called the Bashkir brigands' bluff by advancing my sepoys to musket range, whereupon the enemy cavalry fell back to a safe distance. The 64th formed up in depth to meet the Persian Guards' onslaught, and by the tightest of die rolls managed to repulse them. The baggage was saved, and with it the game.
 

So endeth the battle of Koosh-Ab.

Final scores on the Persian side: Prince Mirza scored 3 for British units destroyed but couldn't quite get close enough to the exit to get credit for driving us off. The Bashkirs had a disappointing day, no loot, only 1 point for casualties inflicted. Persian total 4. Sir James scored a sorry 1 for guns taken, barely worth the high price paid in blood. But I had preserved all 4 wagons, and kept our pursuers at bay, so our British total was 5. God Save the Queen!

[Edit: Mark has now told us "I have one small amendment to the result though – when I declared an overall British win I forgot to award the El Khani a bonus point as his Bahktiari cavalry went home very content with their haul of new sabres, pistols and horse furniture as a result of their unanticipated destruction of the Poona Horse. The individual positions remain unchanged but I’m particularly delighted to confirm that the overall result was a draw!!"]

This was a really excellent game and a great way to spend the last club night of the year. We all enjoyed the individual objectives which added extra spice. Short-ranged weaponry and open terrain made this a game of sweeping manoeuvre which is always good fun. Plus we learned a bit more history. The battle involved about 5,000 a side. Apparently the casualties on the day were about 700 Persian to 16 British, so historically the Persians can't have put up that much of a fight and if we were being rigorously historical they should perhaps have been rated a lot more feebly (Ragged Volleys, all Raw as well as Fragile, no Skirmishers?). But it made for an outstanding evening's entertainment. Well done and thank you, Mark!

More photos with detailed captions are in Flickr.

After that competent and professional showing, my running total for the year is now:

Games played to conclusion - 33.
Won - 16.
Drawn - 7.
Lost - 10.