Once again the machinations of the wiley Pathans set Indo-Afgan frontier ablaze. Who are the men who can put down these uppity tribesmen? None other than Lord Sterling and his trusty imperial troops. Recently seconded from the Sudan, can the British officers make the mental changeover neccesary to fight the Pathans. Will the evil Khan Abbis be frightened into submission, or will the drums of war sound along the frontier?
On the North Central Frontier
OR
BLAST those pesky tribesmen!
Bill Estes watches Pathan tribesmen pop up out of concealed positions on the hill and open fire upon his troops. Judging by his expression, he is not amused.
Jody McDonald consults the dice. Looking for signs of Allah's favor, the Pathans usually found it. They slowly shot the British up. At the Game's end, the Afghans had 18 more victory points than the Imperial (British & Indian) forces.
August 2, 2003
THE PLAYERS
Noble, Civilized British/Indian officers
| Slimey, slinking, ignominous Pathan tribesmen
|
The GAMEMASTER- Jay Stribling
Afghan cavalry spur forward from their concealment behind the right hand hill mass. Once they cleared the patch of woods however, British/Indian firepower was formidable, and they were all shot down, causing no casualties to the Imperial forces.
| As Jim Woodrick said, when falsly purported to be a Pathan tribesman in this game: "I haven't been able to slink in years!" |
A group of Pathans (pronouce it like "Batons") pop out of concealment and head for the flank of the leading British units on the left of the game table. At one time there was a Pathan cannon on top of this ridge but it did not last long, crewmen all faltering under a hail of British bullets and shells.
Bill Reiman and Jim Pitts (in hat) confer on a sublimely important point of the rules. Note the watch-tower on the hill below the rules sheet. This was the abode of the holy man Iwana ben Phishin. His remaining undisturbed was worth enough victory points to almost decide the game by itself. If the British had only known! An artillery shell or two into the tower....
Alas! It was not to be.
The "hand of Allah" reaches down to adjust a group of charging Pathans as they boil down off the hill. British bullets blasted these foolish men, and they went back up the hill just as quickly as they failed to close.
A group of Afghan warriors has come up from their concealed wadi and are pouring fire into the right flank of the British Cavalry. Hardly the sporting thing to do!
Our "North Central" frontier campaign will consists (so far) of one game played. There will eventually be five games. In our first game, the evil "Emir Tubir" led the Pathans to victory, turning back the Indo-British forces short of the village that they had intended to destroy and allowing the holy man Iwana ben Phishin to remain undisturbed in his tower. The British were only able to trample a few crops and were unable to reach ben Phishin's orchard and chop down his fruit trees, much less destroy the village and watchtower.
A small Afghan artillery piece, on the center hill. The gunners were all killed by British fire two turns after they opened fire. The Pathans had been told by the game master that they could be hidden as long as they did not move or fire. The game master thought that he had been clear that this included hills, villages, woods, crops etc. However some Pathans apparently felt that a more liberal interpretation of these remarks was in order.
They concealed themselves in otherwise unremarkable patches of plain terrain. The game master will be more specific in future games.
| As that notable British General Sir Mark Stevens said: "Ghurkas! You needed Ghurkas to go up into the hills after the flaming Pathans..." Lord Sterling (Game-master Jay Stribling) began to furiously paint Ghurkas. |
A view of the Pathans on the right hand hill mass, firing down at the British. The officer gesturing with empty hand is actually a Jingal camel-gunner pressed into service as a command figure for this action.
Justin Rice (on left) was a British commander. Larry Reeves (headless - center) was the British Cavalry commander who made the doomed attack against the small town. Fred Diamond (on right) turned casualty cards for all "hits" during the game, allowing the game-master the luxury of a small nap.
See below for the remaining battles as Lord Sterling sends his men back across the frontier.
Go to "The Road to Barfus" - Our second "North Central Frontier" Battle
Go to "The defense of JellyBad - Our third "North Central Frontier" Battle
Go to "The Assault on Khan Abbis' Lair - Our fourth "North Central Frontier" Battle
Go to our Colonial Period Page
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