Sharp Practice Sudan Dervish v British

The final game in the mini SP Sudan campaign saw my Dervishes take on Dave's British again. In this scenario the British have to rescue a preacher and his daughter that the Dervishes are holding captive in a fort.

The table is more open than previously, the Dervishes have fewer men and are at least in theory defending though it is hard to defend when most of your force only fights in close combat.

The British base is on the Nile with the Naval Brigade and Highlanders making up the assault force:

One lot of Dervishes deploy behind the fort and watch the British advance:

The Naval Brigade makes a dash for the Dervish deployment point near the ruins while the Highlanders advance more slowly:

The Naval Brigade capture the Dervish deployment point, the Dervishes could have attempted to defend it but decided the time wasn't right to attack yet:

Dervish skirmishers appear in rifle pits in front of the fort:

A group of Highlanders makes a dash for the second Dervish deployment point in the palm grove. This time the Dervishes decide to contest the deployment point and deploy the rest of their force:

Having taken the deployment point the Naval Brigade forms a firing line to support the Highlanders:

Dervishes madly rush forward becoming split up as terrified Highlanders make a 'tactical retreat' after taking hits from the Dervish skirmishers:

The Dervishes all charge forward hoping there is safety in numbers against the inevitable hail of British fire:

Again their wild advance splits the groups up with one dashing far in advance of the rest:

The Dervish lines reform as they prepare to attack the highlanders:

On the right one group of Dervishes have almost caught the retiring Highlanders. The rest of the Dervishes are taking fire as they prepare to charge home:

CHARGE! The Dervishes rush into contact with the Highlanders:

Spears are jabbed, swords slash and bayonets are thrust in a wild melee: 

The Highlanders are forced back with heavy losses:

The group of Highlanders that was caught in the rear breaks and runs:

The vast number of casualty markers on the Dervish units show that the fight has been by no means one-sided:

More Highlanders break pursued by Dervishes:

The Naval Brigade look on in horror as the Highlanders are routed and British morale fails. Back to the Nile and hope for a steamer to evacuate us lads!

Carnage among the Highlanders:

The Dervishes have taken a lot of casualties themselves:

We've played four games now all of which have been Dervish victories. I must admit I couldn't see anything else Dave could have done in this game but, while the Dervishes did win, like the last game it was closer than it looked and could have gone the other way.

Much for the Dervishes depends on timing your attack, making sure you have the minimum of open ground to cover and hoping that your leaders activate before the British do! Adopting a square isn't really practical in SP though it is possible the British could use their flag cards to do different things (such as more crashing volleys) and a couple of the rule modifications are not that clear (the effect of having the Sharp Practice ability for the British, the loading time for Dervish captured rifles).

It's been great getting these old veterans (and a few newly painted ones) on the table again and hopefully we will play some more games, perhaps after thinking about the modifications and making some more adaptions!