The Adventure Continues.

This battle was a continuation of the battle of Abu El Shagbahg. El Zahira was convinced that with a little more effort he could have overwhelmed the fort for a total victory. His plan now is for a short reorganization of the local tribes and a swift re-strike at Abu El Shagbahg and the French Fort les Miserable.

The Arabs have exhausted themselves and withdrawn.

After pulling back to the Fort the Legion take stock of their situation.  The first thing Adjutant Vucks does is appraise his current situation with regards to the wounded and supplies.   The Red Shadow and the remaining Chasseurs have ridden for relief and the earliest they can be expected to return is 8 days.  The rest of the day is spent taking inventory of the supplies and caring for the wounded. 

The pack animals have been unloaded and have left with the Ghanaian Askaris. 

After taking care of the incapacitated, patching up the wounded and recovering one or two men who had found themselves "lost" and had been considered dead. 

Preparations begin at the start of day One.
The following setup information was only shown to the appropriate sides prior to the game.


L'Aerodrome Bon Chance
is 90 miles away and is in telegraph contact with a block house that the Red Shadow and the Chasuseurs will pass on their way to the relief fort.  The Red Shadow intends to have a telegraph sent from the  Block House in an attempt to convince Monsieur Capitainne Froggles to take his aeroplane and scout the fort and surrounding area to act as an early warning for the fort.

THE MAP
The layout of the board is the same as for the Battle of Abu el Shagbahg because essentially this is part two of the same battle. the fort has been centralized to reveal some of the buildings behind it. The area of crop fields afford some cover to advancing troops but are rough going for horses. Those buildings that are in effective rifle range of the fort are numbered. The rocky area is very difficult terrain requiring considerable time to cross.
THE FRENCH SITUATION

Significant Personnel 
 
  • Adjutant Wolfgang Vucks 
  • Lt. Devaux, Sgt. Priller, 18 men 
  • Lt. Benoit, Sgt. Bergman, 18 men 
  • QF 75mm, Sgt. Akmed, 3 men 
  • MG, Cpl. Anderson, 3 men 
  • Wounded in hospital, 18 men (take no
  •  part in game) 
  • Ted Hofstedter, Big game hunter. 
  • El Zahiras brother in the cell. 


    • Units may be sub united into 5 man units for piquet's etc. but become part of the parent body
    for card drawing purposes when back within 6 inches of the parent unit. 

    In addition to large supplies of food and ammunition, the following potentially useful items
    have been recovered from the stores and added to your existing resources. 

    30 sticks of dynamite, electrical detonators and wire and fuses. 

    Hundreds of sacks for sandbagging. 

    Ford Model T truck (Sgt. Bergman is able drive). Truck is fairly reliable. (Throws 3D6 on sand,
     must include a 1 or 2 to not stall, 5D6 on roads, also requiring a 1 or 2) 

    Pre Game Tasking 

    Your pre game mission is to decide how best to utilize your resources while waiting for the
    arrival of the expected relief or until the impending Arab attack commences. 

    Cpl. Anderson thinks that daily training should see the MG team very effective in a few days. 

    The QF 75mm team are not experienced in its use and need training. Sgt. Akmed believes if  his team work constantly they will be an effective gun team in a few days. 

    Ted Hofstedter (who was not as seriously wounded as previously thought due to the bullet  hitting his pocket watch) has revealed that he was an engineering officer during the Spanish American War. During this and in his subsequent adventures he has had quite a bit of experience with explosives. As well as supervising the mines he can show the
    sergeants and officers how to throw dynamite and use it as a weapon. 

    Six of your men are on light duties and need to rest to be functional in the coming battle.  This leaves 30 rankers available to perform needed tasks. 1 man can perform 1 unit of work in  a given day or be part of the piquet. The tasks possible are listed below with their required  costs. You can perform 30 units of work per day. 

    Tear up the hedges that may provide the enemy soft cover to the north of the Fort (cost is 90 units of work) 

    Mine each building in rifle range with an electrical detonation that can be fired from within the fort. (requires 5 sticks of dynamite and 10 units of work per building) There will be a small chance that these mines will fail. 

    Build a box and barrel redoubt in a semi circle outside the fort gate to provide protection for the QF 75 and/or MG. (this will be an 'obstacle' for attackers) (requires 10 units of work) 

    Build any sandbag redoubt anywhere on the board. This will be a 'significant obstacle' for attackers providing a firing step for 10 men. Occupants receive same cover as buildings. (10 units per redoubt within 24" of fort, otherwise 20 units) * it is not necessary to mark these on the map, you can place them as desired at the start of the game. 

    Build low sandbag walls anywhere on board. These are not obstacles to attackers but provide cover for defending firers providing same cover as buildings. Each wall provides cover for 5 men or MG or QF75 (requires 1 unit within 24" of fort, otherwise 2 units)
    *see note above. 

    To prevent being surprised and having working men caught outside the walls and to prevent the Arabs getting very close to the fort without being spotted it is necessary to stand a vigil. Vigil can be 'low', 'medium' or 'high' To stand vigil patrol units are placed on watch and may not perform other work. These units detract from your available work pool at the rate of 5 unit per day per patrol.

    'High Vigil' (20 units). 2 patrols in fort on walls and tower, 1 patrol in police station, 1 unit patrolling town on foot or in Ford Model T (Sgt. Bergman can drive, using the truck will allow the patrol to return to safety quicker or attempt to collect others etc.) *Each Patrol outside the fort must include a sergeant or an officer for each patrol.

    'Medium Vigil' (10 units) 1 patrol in fort and one unit either in police station or on patrol on foot or in Ford Model T. 

    'Low Vigil' (5 units) 1 unit in fort. 

    Vigil levels remain the same for any given day but may be changed from day to day.

    Task Assignments. 

    The QF 75 and the MG team is in daily training. Decide if you want to use the ford for the MG or not. Remember! You have 30 units per day to spend. Bear in mind, the Arabs were badly mauled. If they choose to return sooner rather than later they will be at a lesser strength. The longer they take to organize and rally the other tribes, the larger will be their attack. 

     DAY 1. 

     DAY 2. 

     DAY 3. 

     DAY 4. 

     DAY 5. 

     DAY 6. 

     DAY 7. 

     DAY 8. Expected arrival of relief. 
     NOTES: 

    Units may be sub united into 5 man units for piquet's etc. but become part of the parent body for card drawing purposes when back within 6 inches of the parent unit. 

    Officers and Sergeants may posses and throw up to 5 sticks of dynamite 

     

     
    THE ARAB SITUATION

    Significant Personnel 
     
     
  • El Zahira the Magnificent 
  • 12 Horsemen with rifles 
  • 12 Horsemen with rifles 
  • 12 Camels with spear and rifle 
  • 20 foot swordsmen 
  • 20 foot swordsmen 
  • 20 foot swordsmen 
  • 20 foot riflemen 
  • 20 foot riflemen 
  • 20 foot riflemen 


    • The infidels have been severely mauled. Victory is within grasp. The wound received by "Mohammed Abdel Salimah Qabar el Zahira the Magnificent, Defender of the Faith" is not that great because he is blessed by God. 

    Your tribes will not be ready for two days. Jaleel Kalibaar is one of the El Zahiras trusted advisers and he has been blessed by God with a great plan that will be the undoing of the French. Jaleel has spent the last two days figuring out how to make the white horseless machine work. Jaleel has been to school in Fez and knows how to read and write. 

    Jaleel has attached the barrel of powder of powder to the front of the machine and rigged a trigger that will be activated when the truck is driven into the gates of the fort. 

    The treacherous Red Shadow was seen sneaking off at the end of the battle of Abu El Shagbahg and
    is expected to return with reinforcements. He is not likely to be able to get reserves back to Abu El
    Shagbahg for 8 days. 

    It is necessary to rally the tribes. Destruction of Fort les Miserables will stop French actions in this
    area and provide the necessary impetus for rallying all the Arab Tribes in a massive Jihad against the
    infidels. It must succeed. Time is needed to rally the tribes. More time means more tribes but gives
    the French more time to prepare, also bringing closer the likelihood of a relief column arriving.

    All of the above forces are considered 1 wave. In the first two days Jaleel will have his machine ready, the above wave of warriors will be ready and each sword unit will have prepared 1 lightweight  ladder that will not slow down the unit. The battle can commence at dawn on day 3 

    If two more days are spent preparing, a second wave of warriors will be prepared. Each sword unit will have two ladders. The battle can commence at dawn on day 5 

    If a further two days are invested in preparations 3 waves will be mustered, each sword unit will have
    3 ladders and each pair of horsemen will have practiced carrying a swordsmen to the wall and
    launching him up onto the wall. The battle can commence at dawn on day 7. 

    An additional day can be spent immediately before any attack sending spies to get a close up view of
    any French preparations. 

    Pre Game Tasking 

    Decide how many days you want to spend in preparation and whether or not you want to spy the fort. 

    DAY 3: 1 wave with 1 set of ladders 

    DAY 4: as above but spy dispositions of enemy first. 

    DAY 5: 2 waves with 2 sets of ladders. 

    DAY 6: as above but spy dispositions of enemy first. 

    DAY 7: 3 waves with 3 sets of ladders and cavalry wall assault 

    DAY 8: as above but spy dispositions of enemy first.

    The Arabs will always know of the Legion positions before the battle commences but if spying is chosen the likelihood of any special French preparations being discovered is greater. 
    The Arabs will have time to prepare assault ladders
    enabling them to storm the forts walls.
    The French will be building sand bag walls for  the 
    75 mm gun and Machine Gun. They will also need 
    to stand vigil and send out patrols for which they have the use of the well drillers truck.
    THE RULES
    The rules will be The Sword and the Flame slightly modified as appropriate to make them suitable for the French in North Africa. This pioneering set of rules were written for the British colonial experience in Africa and the Northwest Passage but lend themselves extremely well to most colonial adventures from 1870 to  1920.  The rules don't cover the use of vehicles but the mechanism the rules use are intuitively adaptable for the adding of them.  The points at which we vary from the rules are noted below.

    VEHICLES
     

  • Reliable Vehicles move 3D6 off road and 5D6 on roads (must include a 1 in the throw to avoid staling/breaking down: the vehicle continues in the next roll that includes a 4,5 or 6)

    •  
  • Fairly reliable vehicles move the same but the roll must include a 1 or 2 to avoid stalling, continues on the next roll that includes a 5 or 6


    • Unreliable vehicles move the same but must include a 1,2 or 3 to avoid stalling and continues on the next roll that includes a 6.

    What should be evident from this is that vehicles are inherently more reliable on roads than off. THese can of course be modified to suit specific scenario requirements.

    CIVILIANS

    These can be controlled by the side that has responsibility for them or controled by the game master of controlled by a set of conditions if-then instructions completed prior to the start of the game.
     

  • Another method used in the Red Shadow games is to include them in victory requirements but have them act independently, either by pre written instructions or under the auspices of the GM until "brought under orders" by a player. A simple grid indicating the likelihood of a particular character being brought under control by a player can be drawn up. An example is given below.
    		•
    GEORGE YELLOW will proceed from point A to point B. On sight of the Arabs, will panic and lie down, not moving until, killed, captured or brought under orders.
    Brought under orders by rolling equal or less than the following on a D20
    Any other Civilian:6 Any African soldier: 4 Any European Soldier:7 The Red Shadow:8 Any European NCO:10 Any European Officer:14

    Usually when doing this we do not reveal to the players what each type must roll to bring the character under orders. Only the game master knows what is needed. The player is just told whether the character responded to the orders or not.  We require the players figure to be within 4 inches to bring the character under orders. The character stays under orders usually to the end of the game. This of course can be determined by the scenario.

    LADDER ASSAULTS

    A small adaptation is used for the ladder assaults. The ladders are carried by the arabs and may be placed against a wall at the end of a turn. The Arabs spend the next turn ascending the ladders in assault and are placed up the ladders. In the melee phase, the Arab at the top of the ladder fights as if "Top of a barricade" If he defeats two  Frenchman he is on top of the wall. He fights again as if "on top of a barricade" (these are both defended by French as "defending a barricade". If he defeats two Frenchmen he is off the wall and on the parapet. and the next Arab is on the wall behind him.
     

    This makes it hard for the Arabs to get off the ladders into the Fort, but once in, they come streaming over.
     

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