Saturday 23 September 2017

The road to Brocul Harum 1920

My face was just turning ghostly, as Angus decided to set up a 28mm Back of Beyond - Setting the East Ablaze! game for this Thursday, (Actually it was when he tried to sing like Johnny Cash, that it turned to a whiter shade of pale).
Campbell, Tim and me were defending said road (and village) from Bokhara to Samarkand (as a Muslim League of Bokhari (Campbell), Ottomans (Tim) and some Basmachi (me) against Angus and Bill with a shit load of Bolsheviks (armoured cars, machine guns, armoured train and artillery even from a (surprise surprise!!) later flank attack).

The Reds were coming out of the woods to get the town (village) - that was their objective, as we were out classed, if not even outnumbered (at least with the tokens in the bag) and tactically out-manoeuvered. How despicable, if that has to come within a game set-up and is not properly "earned" through owned initiative and forward thinking in tactical movement ... but my German side is getting away with me ... so true to my nature, I came up with a plan. Campbell commanded at the beginning: "What ever you do, don't charge the machine guns!!!" and well, if our 3rd class cavalry had to die, anyway (quote Tim: "They are shit!") at least they could save us time. So I proposed to let our horses meet the Infantry onslaught, get killed in the process, while our rest of army took position in the houses and defend the city.

It worked. In several brutal actions swords, scimitars and shabbraques flying high in the blodied desert sand, but we stopped the quick access of the Red army - we delayed them, no single house was in their hands at the end of the game!! And even the armoured train or the all of a sudden Thekka and artillery flank attack could not break our grip of the city. What a victory!
What a shame that even unfair set-up condition could not bring victory to a far better equipped and tactically positioned army!! References to possible future conditions are an unveiled attempt to change the victory conditions in retrospect and earn my utmost disrespect. Pfui!

Do not listen to Bolshevik propaganda under:
http://www.edinburghwargames.com/the-road-to-bokhara-1920/

Watch out for the truth in the following holy pictures:

The Golden Horde ...

My brothers in arms (or comic books)
The Red army approaches!

The Red hordes 
The last image of my brave Riders intact

The flank of the city

The centre

The Thekka flank attack ... surprisingly uneffectful ...

My cavalry beaten but not destroyed!

My other riders unit came from the flank and crossed the railway under machine gun fire!

had to stop infront of the soldiers of the reds

to the shock of my Commander in Chief (off image)

But then it won every single melee -  massacred the Infidels

... just to be wiped out on spot by some cowardly machine gun fire from some communist sailors

even the turn dice were against us (all red moves) the purple one was mine

The iron monster seemed unstoppable

even the turks couldn‘t change that

the situation at the end of the night ...

4 comments:

  1. What a spectacular report, awesome pictures for a rare period...Love the terrain, armies, train...More, more!

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    1. Thank you Phil! I‘m afraid there will be more, as the boyz are quite keen on this period, for no reasonable rationale at all ... but c‘est la vie.

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  2. Great looking game, love the armoured train!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thank you, Iain! Yeah the train is awesome!

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