"Battle of Akasha - Sudan 1898 - in 54mm AAR" Topic

Last Thursday evening I travelled north to the Milwaukee suburbs to play in another one of our 54mm toy soldier Sudan Campaign games. The battle was a little bit smaller by our usual standards, but we still had something like 320 Dervish to ~120 British & Egyptians.

The battle took place in the Sudan, during Kitchener's Omdurman Campaign, between the villages of Akasha and Firket, both situated along the Nile River, south of the second cataract.

Here is a long view of the game table, running vertically, showing the Dervish advance into the battle.

Here is a shot of the Cameron Highlanders (figures by Heritage Miniatures), seeing their first action on the wargame table, and performing quite well.

For more pictures (lots of them) and a game report, click on the following link to my blog:

link

Fantastic, as always.

What a great treat on a Sunday morning to read and enjoy the photos of a game as beautiful as this! Thanks for sharing.

Now that is amazing. Beautiful figures and terrain with an entertaining AAR. I think my favorite shot is the one of Fred Burnaby being chased by irate natives – many years ago Mike Blake (another fan of the True Scale) based an entire game off such an episode.

Stunning work, and thanks for sharing!

@ Gone Fishing: that was my favorite comedic moment of the game. We were all laughing until it hurt – the sight of Burnaby running lickety split is one that I will remember.

Wow that is nice!

Second to the above!

Jim,

Where on earth did you find such a large quantity of the old Heritage Scots? I can remember casting those in the far distant past.

Bill

I stand corrected (should always read the link first) on the Scots. Didn't realize this was a new Heritage company, not the original Heritage Models in Dallas. My Bad, as the young folks say.

Bill

Beautiful miniatures – but expensive! Do you require your players to wear white cotton gloves?

@Fritz: That doesn't surprise me – I almost laughed out loud just seeing it. Moments like that, the comedic relief, are often the best part of a game, I find.

The whole report is deeply inspiring. Please keep us posted on your future games!

Awesome game. Beautiful figs! It sounds like the game was big fun. The huge table really allowed for a grand 54mm game.

I love the shot of Col Burnaby running for his life…. Where is young Winston though? Wasn't he standing right behind the Naval Brigade?

Cheers,
JB.

Sgt. Guiness,
The answer about young Winston is imminent. I have the full, exciting and shocking story with photos and his diary remarks ready to post here and elsewhere.
Cheers,
Bill P.

This looks absolutely brilliant. Keep posting!

Brilliant and expensive at the same time. Truly a devotee for the period. Thanks for the photos!

GREAT AAR!

Der Alte Fritz
The battle was a little bit smaller by our usual standards..

Dear Lord Man! A "small game"?
Dare I ask, what is an "average", let alone a "large" battle for you and your companions? Asking..

Your table is amazing, just how large is it? "When" I get around to gaming, its usually 28's.

My appologies for being an "arm chair general" here.
But I think the Naval detachment, lacking any artillary, would have benefited from 'some' of those 'touring' cavalry.

Burnaby's ONE thought.
"Feet Dont Fail Me NOW!"

@PTGamer: a little bit of Fog of War at work here. I was so caught up in what I was doing that I didn't even notice that the sailors had no artillery and were short on men. They were supposed to have a Gatling Gun and the Camel Corps.

We also forgot about the roaming cavalry who were supposed to arrive in the rear of the Dervish army.

Both of the above instances of Fog of War were done without the need for any FoW rules in our rules set. The muck ups were clearly self inflicted by me.

We probably left 150-200 Dervish at home and about 2/3 of our British soldiers stayed in the barracks.

Bill P.'S tables are a main table at 6 x 24ft and two side tables of 3 x 24ft

This is a wonderful game. And I discovered a new toy soldier company that I had not previously heard of. Thanks! Hope to get my games going whenever I finally (gritting teeth) get my Deepcut Studio mats.