Sharp Practice Sudan Dervish v British

Having had two comprehensive victories for the Dervishes so far we decided to replay the last scenario again having read the rules more carefully and figured out a few things we did wrong! Dave took the British again with me as the Dervishes.

I set the terrain up to favour the British a bit this time with more open space to allow British firepower to have a greater effect. 

The British marched on to the table and headed for the Nile:

They make good progress:

However, there are hordes of Dervishes lurking in the palm groves! This time I thought I'd try a different plan and attempt to overwhelm the Naval Brigade defending the supplies on the Nile before the main body could intervene:

The British form an extensive firing line:

The Dervish plan looks to have worked well, the Naval machine gun jammed when it was fired and the Dervishes are into contact with the Naval Brigade without too many loses:

Unfortunately the stout British Jack Tars hurl the Dervish warriors back without losing a single man!

While the combat was going on the British Hussars were galloping to the rescue of the Naval Brigade. A few Dervish skirmishers seem unlikely to dissuade them:

The rest of the Dervish army arrives facing a thin khaki line of British in the distance:

Again, the Dervish warriors get into contact quickly and hope for an immediate breakthrough:

The British line holds firm though, at least this time they take some losses which weakens them a little:

Unable to turn in time the Dervishes are charged in the rear by the British Hussars:

The Dervishes are wiped out:

Losses mount for the Dervishes attacking the British line:

The Dervishes do manage to deal with the Hussars though, charging them in the rear then winning a second round of fighting:

The Hussars are dispersed:

Dervishes are in contact again! They don't give up easily:

Dervish skirmishers that have been hiding in the sand dunes emerge and pepper the British with fire inflicting heavy losses:

By the Nile the attack on the Naval Brigade has collapsed and the Dervishes are forced to withdraw their shattered units:

Both sides morale is falling rapidly. The British line have been worn down by repeated assaults and fire, one unit breaks and runs:

A second British unit breaks as does a Dervish unit. Both sides are approaching their break point:

Which unit will move first? Will the Dervishes be able to charge into the rear of the British line or will the British turn in time and see off the warriors:

Dervish skirmish fire has forced another British unit to withdraw:

The Dervishes react first and hurtle into the rear of the British line, breaking both the unit and the army:

A far more even game this time, both sides were down to three force morale in the last move and if Dave had got the last British unit to turn before the Dervishes charged it they could well have won.

Hopefully we will play more games in the future, SP seems to give an interesting game for the period which is a bit different from the usual shooting match AWI or Napoleonic SP tends to end up in (mostly because the Dervishes have virtually no firepower!).