30 October 2017

"The Battle of Tukar Plains" - setting the scene

Egyptian troops on the march elsewhere in the theatre of operations


Apologies for the delay in getting the preliminary details of what was the first battle of our campaign out.  Life sometimes does have a habit of getting in the way of the fun things however I thought four weeks plus was far too long to leave thins up in the air.


As you recall the first weeks responses have been sent out to all the participants and Major General Davis has encountered some enemy to his front.


The plan for these campaign battles was to always use them as a way of introducing more players from the club into the games as required to serve several very important roles.


Firstly, it is always best when the column commander cannot control all the key roles in the battle.  Sometimes it is best to develop a small bit of character within the on-table personalities such as a head strong Cavalry commander, a stubborn Scots Guards Regimental Colonel etc.  In this way orders can at times be somewhat laxly interpreted much to the frustration of the overall Commander in Chief.


You can then also introduce small side lines into the battle which some of the minor players may be aware of without the C In C having an inkling of why Captain Tudway wont support Captain Smiths charge!


All good fun.


Very important to have all elements of the command led by named officers as
it does make the battle reports so much more personable.



All set for the battle ahead


So as you can see Major General Davis has a challenge ahead of him as he attempts to ensure he doesn't go the way of Pasha Hicks so early in the campaign proceedings.  The presence of a third party, in this case Roger Fredericks of "The Standard?" newspaper, whom none of the players will control also gives the umpire (me!) a lot of scope for wandering off into awkward situations, places that he should certainly not be in and even worse, areas where he could possibly put th entire columns well-being in jeopardy.


More soon.



12 comments:

  1. Impressive and great picture!

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    1. Thanks Phil. I need to get a fresh batch of photos shot for planned publications so a few days of organising over the Christmas break may well be in hand.

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  2. Good to see we're off. 😀

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    1. Sorry for missing this post Graham - tardiness on my behalf I'm afraid. Yes this campaign was so much fun and I will start to post some more of it very soon indeed.

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  3. Shaping up for a good battle. I like the idea for Fredericks of "The Standard." Will the column rescue their embedded correspondent before some Hadendowah spear is embedded in him?

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    1. ...or even worse AJ...will Fredericks get in the bloody way of damned fine volley?

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  4. I'd like to know how you will organise the firing squad when a column commander gets cashiered? Good to see the campaign get started.

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    1. Thanks Gerry - yes it’s an interesting question to ask mate. Hopefully the column can survive!

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  5. All of this looks great Carlo - thanks for sharing the link to your blog.

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    1. My pleasure Greg - love seeing your updates on your blog as well.

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  6. I've had an itch called 'The Sands of Sudan' for bloody ages. I've finally scratched it with an order to Caliver Books. I'm really looking forward to reading this one.

    Of course, I only have a standard size dining table and not nearly enough models to do it justice, but I needed this ruleset, and that's all there is to it.

    Tally ho!

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    1. So glad you are taking the plunge Leo and I am sure Dave has a few copies still in stock for you. Dining tables can be a wonderful place to start as you know so I very much look forward to your updates on how you get on.

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