Sharp Practice Sudan Egyptians v Dervishes

After four games with the Dervishes taking on the British we thought we would try something different so I used the Egyptians and Dave took over the Dervishes. 

We basically replayed the second scenario in which an Egyptian column is attempting to return to it's base on the Nile, probably after an unsuccessful attempt to locate and punish a recalcitrant local tribal leader or preacher.

For the same points as the British had in the scenario the Egyptians mustered eight groups of Fellahin, two of scouting cavalry and a medium gun all with appropriate leaders.

The battlefield set up. Scouts indicate the Dervishes approaching from the lower table edge (the Black and Green flag deployment points):

The Egyptians send their cavalry forward while half the infantry follow in column. The remainder of the infantry form a firing line to cover the advance:

A smaller force of two groups of Fellahin and the artillery defend the camp on the Nile:

The cavalry swing round to scout the hills and palm grove while the rest of the Fellahin form into line with surprisingly effective drill on display:

There are Dervishes in the hills! The cavalry draw their fire with one unit deciding discretion is best and retiring to the infantry line:

The Dervish skirmishers drawn out by the cavalry are forced to withdraw by accurate Egyptian fire. Meanwhile the main Dervish horde arrives and begins a rush towards the Egyptian lines. The Egyptians hope that they will get enough shots into the Dervishes to weaken (or ideally stop) them before they can contact the Egyptian line:

The Egyptians open fire and knock over numerous Dervishes, while in the distance the remainder of the Dervish horde arrives on table:

The Green Flag Dervishes suffer numerous casualties (but not so much shock) due to Dave's remarkable ability to throw sixes for his casualty rolls! 

The other Egyptian cavalry unit attempts to intercept a Dervish cavalry group that has worked it's way onto the flank of the Egyptians guarding the camp:

They don't arrive in time and the Dervishes hit the flank of the Egyptians:

Surprisingly the Egyptians fight back furiously and turn to face the Dervishes:

Further combat sees the Egyptians cut down to a man while the Dervishes also break after huge losses:

Meanwhile both the Green and Black Flag Dervishes begin to rush the Egyptian line. They have a considerable distance to cover over open ground though so speed is of the essence for them:

The Green Flags have taken heavy casualties and split up badly:

The Black Flags have also split up but one group manages to contact the Egyptian line with a second in support:

The Egyptians are wiped out but once again the Dervishes in combat take sufficient losses themselves to break and flee:

The Green Flags also manage to get a unit into combat but again the Egyptians fight off the weakened Dervish unit and break it:

Close range fire drives off the last of the Green Flags breaking the Dervish army's morale:

Another great game and I'm really enjoying these Sudan modifications to SP, with the Dervishes having to get into close combat it makes it a very different game from the usual SP shooting match. As with the last two games this one was quite close with the Egyptians ending up on 5 morale, a couple of Dervish close combat wins would have taken them over the edge. I also think Dave was a little unlucky with his movement rolls when trying to get into combat as some poor throws lead to the Dervishes making scattered attacks rather than charging in one mass.

As for how the Egyptians compare to the British (which was what I was most interested in) they lack the British special abilities (Sharp Practice and easy Crashing Volleys), fight much worse in close combat and tend to have a lower starting morale. However, they have numbers and more officers on their side which I suspect more than makes up for the disadvantages, six groups of Egyptian infantry with two Lvl III leaders and breech-loaders puts out an awfully large amount of firepower hardly affected by them being 'bad shots' at all.

Finally it has also been great to get these veteran (probably 20 years old plus) figures into action again! They are certainly not some of my best painting, having been done quickly with colours just blocked in and a wash of dilute black oil paint (aka 70's and 80's 'quick shade'!) but I think the overall effect is nice and they have something not all armies I paint develop, a bit of a personality!