The Men Who Would be Kings trial

Steve bought a copy of this rule set some time ago and has been working towards being able to stage a game to try them out.  They offer the opportunity to set up and play a colonial/19th century game a good bit quicker than with our in house versions of Battles for Empire and Blood on the Nile.  For the scenario, a detachment of Imperial troops, (one small unit of redcoats, highlanders and camel corps), is falling back towards a building complex in front of a larger force of  Mahdists.

The set up from behind the Imperial forces

 I was in command of the Mahdists for the first game and decided that the cavalry on the flanks would advance quickly and threaten the flanks of the Imperials, the irregular infantry would advance and then 'soften up' the enemy units with rifle fire, before the beja would charge in and finish them off.  What could possibly go wrong?

Well. firstly the cavalry advance was fitful to say the least.  Needing a score of 6 or more on two d6, they managed to fail a good 50% of their attempts.  The irregulars suffered the same problem, only one unit managed to get in range to fire.  They did manage one good volley, but then we discovered we had used the wrong factor for them and it was ineffective!  In the end the beja made individual attacks, getting shredded by volleys and having to fall back.  The cavalry eventually got into position and then received the same treatment as the beja.  At this point the attack was called off.

Just to check that the rules did not favour the Imperials too much we set the scenario again and swapped sides.  The second time around the Mahdists were more purposeful and coordinated in their advance.  I sent the Camel Corps back to secure the building, hoping to hold the ridge long enough to blunt the Mahdists attack.

It was at this point that things started to go awry.  The redcoats failed an order to fall back onto the ridge.  This left them in range when the irregulars opened fire.  Even worse, that fire 'pinned' them (like 'battered' in Lion Rampant).  They managed to rally next turn, but suffered more losses from rifle fire and then were charged by 'green flag' beja.  It could have been worse; the beja had narrowly failed an order to charge the previous move.  If that attack had gone in, the red coats would have only had half the number of dice to defend themselves.

The beja gather for the main attack

To the left of the red coats, the Scots had been more fortunate.  They had managed to fall back and also to close the ranks, (improving their defence).  In addition they had exacted a heavy toll on the 'blue flag' beja facing them.

The redcoats under pressure

For the red coats the end was nigh.  Caught in open order the melee was a massacre.  They were wiped out.  

The Scots see off one attack, but another looms on their flank

The Scots were being whittled away by the fire of the irregulars.  To the right, their flank was threatened by the beja; however, the decisive attack came from the left as the cavalry attacked.

And now the cavalry

Overwhelmed, the Scots were cut down.

The coup de grace

From the buildings, the Camel Corps watched the disaster unfold, powerless to help.  However, the Mahdist leader didn't have the force to attack such a position and decided to pull back.

The rules passed the first test in that both sides had a chance of winning.  The rule mechanisms were easy to understand, though being familiar with 'Lion Rampant' helped a good deal.  You don't need a large number of figures to play and a 6 x 4 ft table is more than adequate.  They definitely lean to the 'fun game' end of the rules spectrum.  You can have a plan, but the dice rule!