Sudan Rules - Close Combat Mechanics

At the pointy end..hope the Mahdists don't "stick"!!

Close Combat

Close Combat takes place whenever two opposition units have charged into each other or one or the other has been charged or is charging.  Clear as mud!

A unit must move a minimum of 1” if foot or 2” if mounted to count as charging.

If any unit is charged in the flank or rear, they are only permitted to turn the figures that are contacted to face the enemy and fight.  For example a battalion in line caught in the flank can only fight back with two figures.

Under no other circumstances are figures allowed to fire or change formation (other than to turn those contacted figures to face that is).

Remember that this is a fun game so when a charge is measured and it may be in or out by a fraction of an inch the game encourages contact.  Push the charges in and put your faith in lucky dice and pure steel!

Always try and maximise contact with units as well.  If a unit has charge on an angle (not flank or rear of course) and just makes it into contact, wheel the unit into frontal contact to maximise figures fighting.

Naval Brigade prepare to dispatch some excited Fuzzies...hopefully!

Troops entitled to fight

In the initial round of combat, only the first rank of Imperial troops is entitled to fight.  As a consequence, only the same numbers of Mahdists are entitled to fight regardless of how many actual figures are in their formation.

If the Mahdists reactions after combat allow them to remain in contact in the second round, or indeed if the Mahdists have won the initial round of combat, the following occurs:

The Imperial player is entitled to fight his second rank of troops which generally means he can fight his whole squadron, battery, company or battalion.  The Mahdists are then allowed to fight back with TWICE the number of figures that they are fighting against.

If fate should allow it through the appropriate Mahdist reaction test result and combat should enter a third round, the Mahdist player is then entitled to use FIVE times the number of Imperial troops he is fighting against as long as there are that many figures on the actual unit.

Troops who have been charged that turn but who also inflicted casualties upon the enemy unit before they charged in with fire can count the casualties caused in addition to close combat casualties for the melee result.

Mahdists in melee may not be fired upon unless the unit has more than 100 figures in it.   If the formation does have more than 100 figures, it can then be the target of support fire from any other Imperial unit other than those it is meleeing with and as long as they comply with all firing requirements in terms of arcs, ranges etc.

These casualties count towards the melee result in terms of casualties that are received and inflicted by the Mahdists.

It is important to remember that though all casualties in firing and melee are calculated using the melee chart, all must now be converted to ACTUAL FIGURES LOST.  Therefore if a result shows that an Imperial unit lost 73 casualties that turn, we know they have lost seven figures with a possibility of a third if the player rolls between 4-10 on a ten-sided diced.  A roll of a 1, 2 or 3 would mean that the unit has lost eight figures.  The same applies for the Mahdists however they do not have the option of using an officer if the first roll is failed.

Bengal Lancers find someone lurking in the mimosa.

Imperial Melee Factors chart

IMPERIAL TROOPS MELEE FACTOR
Troop Type	Camels	Cavalry	Infantry
Cavalry	3	4	5
Dismounted Cavalry	1	2	2
Infantry	2	2	4
Camel Corps	2	2	4
Fighting behind a prepared position                                                                       +1
Charging with advantage of ground                                                                        +1
If Lancers in first round			+2
All Egyptian/Sudanese troops			- 1
Mahdist are in Cover			- 2
Camel Corps fighting on camels                                                                              - 2
Mahdist are in prepared cover                                                                                  - 3

MAHDIST TROOPS MELEE FACTOR TABLE
Troop Type/ Opponent	Camel Corps	Cavalry	Foot	Improvised		Prepared
	Mounted			Cover		Cover
Cavalry	3	2	4	1		-2
Infantry	2	1	4	2		-1
Camels	4	3	5	1		-2
If unit has an Emir with it						+1
Charging with advantage of ground						+2
Within 18" and in sight of the Mahdi						+2
Rifle armed foot in melee						-1
Unit is Fuzzy Wuzzy						+1

  

 Modifiers are then applied and as is the case for the firing procedure, a random factor is achieved by rolling a dice and referring to the Fire and Melee Random chart.



Local War Corespondent capturing
some images - for the London Newspapers perhaps?

 Next post - After Combat, Combat examples and winning the game!

Officer Losses



Camerons attempt to outflank the enemy!



Officer Losses

Leadership is an important factor in the Sudan!

When a squadron or company lose their officers, effectiveness can start to dwindle and their ability to counter the enemy can be diminished.  We already know that any unit without an officer attached can not Rapid Fire against the enemy and even there normal fire is at a reduced fire factor rate of – 1.

However there are times when the sacrifice of an officer can be the difference between a catastrophic defeat or hanging on by the skin of ones teeth.  Sands of the Sudan tries to capture this by allowing Imperial players to, in certain circumstances take losses on their officers rather than on the formation.

This is how it works.

 

The square watches events unfold with its baggage and spare ammo in the centre

When a squadron or company suffers losses it may elect to take part of this loss on its officer.   This option may only be used to save the remaining part of a figure i.e. a combat result shows that a unit has lost 29 casualties. 

These would normally result in the loss of two figures and a 90% chance of a third using a d10.  In this case a roll of 10 would be required to save that third figure.   

However by taking the officer option this becomes a straight 50/50 chance of not being a loss to the unit but a casualty wound to the officer.  This can be very important in melee since winners and losers are calculated on whole figures lost.   Thus in this example a d10 is rolled. 

Colonial 28th Bengal Native Infantry

A roll of 1-5 means the figure is not lost and the officer marks off one of his wound markers and earns the eternal praise of his men.  A roll of 6-10 however means that the unit does lose that third figure.  No wound on the officer is recorded.

You would have noticed that this is the opposite of the normal roll on a d10 for troop losses.  Normally the lower roll would be better however this is the way that Peter Gilder wrote it and we are determined to keep faith in the original rules in every way and at every turn possible.

Guards Camel Corps - part one.



The boys make their way over the drift - now that's a hell of a lot of metal!


One of the most distinct types of troops from a British perspective in the Sudan has to be the camel mounted troops of both Guards and Mounted Infantry.  In order to truly have a representative force of the period these troops had to be represented in all their glory.

Slightly fuzzy in the front rank but you get the idea.

These chaps are the Heavy Camel Regiment 4th Dragoon Guards organised in 4 companies of 12 figures a piece as per the Gilder Sudan rules.  That accounts for 48 Camels, both advancing and dismounted or at rest, 48 mounted troopers and officers and of course 48 in firing position.  As mentioned earlier that is a hell of allot of metal for one unit...but it certainly looks good.



Nice view of the boys advancing.

On the basing desk we have the rest of the formation awaiting final distribution of all equipment, ammunition, PVA white glue, ballast, sand etc.



Nice unit...but certainly don't let the Mahdists catch you mounted!

As usual these figures are from the wonderful Connoisseur Sudan range and were all originally designed by Peter Gilder.  They are all available from the wargames supply company Bicorne Miniatures - you can find a link to his site at the bottom of this page.   

The inspiration for these chaps -
cover of Miniature Wargames many moons ago.

Hopefully the next post will have some more rules and the rest of this formation in dismounted formation awaiting the Fuzzy Wuzzy attack somewhere on the plains of Abu Klea.

Even the Guards can use some artillery support...lovely
camel carried screw gun model from Redoubt Miniatures

Rainy afternoons at the Midland Library with Donald Featherstone...



Quick search of my book shelves this morning

 It is with a genuine sadness that I read last night of the passing of Donald Featherstone.  Though never having the good fortune to meet or even speak to him, it is a measure of the influence that one person can have on an impressionable young soul half a world away to whom playing with toy soldiers was just about to become a passion he will chase for a life-time.

Growing up in the working class suburb of Midland in the 1970's the local library was very much the place I went to discover the wonderful books, stories and characters that lay within the pages of these tens of thousands of books.  One afternoon early in my exploration I came across the section 793.9 (Duey Decimal system was wonderful back then!) about 16 inches of the most amazing books a young boy could come across...how to play with model soldiers in actual battles and campaigns.

Donald Feartherstone, Charles Grant, Bruce Quarrie and Phil Barker became the new prophets Matthew, Mark, Luke and John for this young man and I borrowed those "Gospels" out of the library on every opportunity!

I think the greatest aspect of his writing in my opinion was that I could understand what he was teaching me, I could play games that way, I could build up an army it that fashion and I too could play a wonderful campaign with characters, plots and histories woven with a richness one could take as far as your imagination desired.

I also believe that we wargamers also travel so well and seem to get on with other gamers we meet from all over the globe because our origins into the hobby, at least for gentlemen of my vintage, were so similar.  We read the books by Donald Featherstone and company, saw the wonderful figures of Peter Gilder, Phil Robinson and David Mason in the truly inspirational early issues of Miniature Wargames and Wargames Illustrated and dared to dream.  We went to clubs where there were always some older gamers from the UK who had migrated to Australia and who regaled us with stories about their weekends at The Enchanted Cottage or the time they were rolled up on the flank by Keith Benson etc.

For me, reading "Solo Wargaming" on the lounge at the library, rain dripping down the foggy windows of the Midland Library and imagining how much fun it would be to be marching to attack a local Hill fort at the head of my miniature garrison just like the pictures in his book, are as vivid a memory now as they were over 35 years ago.

I am guessing that Mr Featherstone wouldnt mind that a single bit!  Travel well.