13 Sept. 1890 - Tirakh Mir - Chitral

The rumors of a large Russian force crossing the border from Zebak into the Chitral Territory have been confirmed. Refugees from the pillaging of Zebak in Badakhshan by the Russians have made it to neighboring villages on the south side of the border. It is said that the Russians have Tajik allies with them and have made a strong base in Zebak from which to attack Chitral!

A village on the road to Tirakh Mir has been occupied by the Russians for a night laager. A young man with ties to Umra Khan and related Ali Razah Khan has left his village before the heathen feringhee made camp. Hidden in the foothills above his vill he made a sketch of the camp and his vill to take to the local Mullah. He told his siblings that it is his duty to report this defilement of his country by the northern feringhees.

 

Ballah Khan, younger brother of Ali Razah Khan has mobilized his forces intent on attacking the Russians in their forward camp at sunrise on the morrow. Local popular forces of the Regular Afghan Army have a fort on the border close by, will they join in the attack?

Hand drawn map made by Bhalla Khan while hiding in the foothills in the southeastern corner.

This game will be run in person at the SMG - South Florida Miniatures Gamers clubhouse, Das Krieg House in Fort Lauderdale Fl. My buddy Bob who’s running the Russians in this campaign is flying in for a visit to play this game. He’s been sending me troops to use in the game for weeks prior and I’ve been painting Russians to add to the battle as well as making custom game cards for all the forces involved. We will be using my favorite set of rules: THE SWORD AND THE FLAME

Here are some of the custom game cards. The front has the movement, fire, and morale charts while the back has the melee stats and mods. They are a half sheet of standard paper in a plastic page protector and kept in a small binder for future operations. The plastic covers also make good coasters for a frosty beer.

TO BE CONTINUED:

15 September 1890, On the road to Tirakh Mir, Chitral …

Game table set up as per Ballah Khan’s hand drawn map. 

Link to the campaign on the Lead Adventure Forum:

Never Trust Anyone on the Frontier

20 August 1890 - Bulgur Pass

Chitral Field Force, heading north through the Bulgur Pass towards the Chitral Territory to relieve Chitral Fort. 

We pick up where we left off in the last blog post, link to part I.

LAF - NWF Campaign - 1st Brigade approaching Bulgur Pass

Link to the main Epic NWF Campaign on the LAF, Lead Adventure Forum:

An Epic NWF Campaign    

The column is halted as the General reads the message. Sergeant Major Brom calls a halt, orders the men to drink water, and sends out scouts from each unit to the surrounding ominous looking mountains.  

General McGuninness confers with his officers and orders the column forwards. Sergeant Major Brom orders the scouts to push further out. The Anglo-Indian force must reach Chitral Fort with all possible haste. 

The scouts move further out to protect the mule train.

The column advances in a cloud of dust, the baking sun already causing discomfort for both men and beasts alike. With a loud war cry of “Allah Akbar!!!!” fanatical Ghazi warriors burst from the tree line and charge the front of the column. After a brief moment of surprise the crack of independent rifle fire starts at the front of the column. 

Two tribes of fanatical Ghazis attack the front of the column 

stopping the entire column in their tracks. Despite the Pashtun casualties from rifle fire the Ghazis charge home and close with the feringhee. (They easily made their die role to close as I rated the Ghazis as Zulu for morale based on my friend’s recommendations, the Mad Guru himself. In addition they do not roll for stragglers!)

The Gurkhas are the first hit and loose several men in the first melee but manage to overcome the initial surprise and defeat one tribe. The 2nd charging tribe didn’t have enough movement to make contact with the column and had to wait until the following turn to charge again. 

General McGuinness orders his Battalion commanders to form combined unit squares around the precious pack mules. The officers gain control of their men, commands of “Form Square!” rings out. With parade ground precision these veterans of The Grim do just that and deftly form three separate squares.

The Ghazis charge again, and again, relentless and blood thirsty! More Pathan tribes move to the edge of the tree line and unleashe ambush fire into the tightly packed column as the Ghazis melee with the front square. 

Several Gurkha and Indian soldiers fall to the accurate Pathan fire from their flank. 

The square returns fire killing many a faithful Pashtun. 

The Bulgar Pass is filled with the crack of rifles and the fanatical screams of Ghazi & Pathan tribesmen. 

          A steadfast square guarding the rear of the column. 

From atop the pass Umra Khan’s Afridi tribesmen fire into the column taking care to not hit the precious mules since they are the main reason for this multi tribe raid. 

To the front of the column and across the valley can be seen more Pashtun warriors emerging from the hills heading towards the column intent on teaching the feringhee a lesson and stealing their mules. 

With the column halted by a melee at its front, and receiving musketry from both flanks, more Pashtun fighters see the opportunity to finish off what appears to be a struggling foe. 

From the southeastern pass emerges Mohameden warriors lead by Osamadouga Khan. With loyalty to none in this valley on this day they move into position like jackals moving in to strike at a wounded beast while the rest of the pack does the same. 

The squares advance, albeit slowly. The Ghazis charge again but are repulsed, forced back, and finally route from the table. None of the Anglo-Indian units falter despite the mounting casualties. 

Waziri warriors led by Muletail Khan, nephew of Mulehead Khan the Fakir of the frontier, the false prophet of Waziristan, the purveyor of the false book, rush forth from the southwestern pass. 

Fort Bulgur awakens with the mountain Gun battery of the 5th Bengal Artillery ranging in on the Afridi tribesmen on the crest of the mountain.

The Helipgraph crew get orders to send the signal of the attack to the nearest outpost. 

Returning from patrol B troop of the 77th Bengal Lancers comes to lend a hand. Alas the cards favor the Pashtuns of Osamadouga’s clans and bequeathed him first movement to allow him to gain the cover of Bulgur village and the surrounding rough ground to negate the Lancers charge!

Allah appears to be pulling the cards as the Pashtuns also get first fire this turn. The 77th Lancers ride through a hail of lead. 

As the Waziris advance the British square sets their sights on them, killing several, slowing them down. 

The jezzails go silent on the mountain as the musketry from the Afridi tribesmen suddenly stops. A Subadar Major of the Corp of Guides can be seen on the mountain top conversing with Buda Khan, leader of the Afridi tribesmen present. Several mules are being led into the positions of Buda Khans men by men of Corp of Guides.

The artillery shells from the 5th Bengal Artillery seem to be falling way wide of the Afridi tribesmen. Is this an error or by intent?

The Afridi tribesmen gather their mules, dismount the mountain and move towards the Waziris. 

The column continues to advance towards Fort Bulgur. With the arrival of the 77th Bengal Lancers combined with the decimation of the Ghazis and Pashtuns in the woods the resistance has slackened considerably. 

Muletail Khan orders an all out combined attack on the column. The Waziri warriors surge forward but Osamadouga’s Mohammedans stay in cover and Umra Khan’s nephew Buda Khan attacks the tribes of Muletails Waziri! The Afridi warriors fire into the Waziris killing the lashkar leader of the lead Waziri tribe. Muletail himself is only saved because he lacks the bravery to lead from the front!

The Highlanders muster and sortie forth from the fort to assist their newfound allies. 

With the death of his cousin, the treachery of the Afridis, and the indecision of the Mohammedans, Muletail Khan orders an immediate jirga to be held. As his uncle’s sway is strong in this valley the tribesmen melt back into the Grim leaving the feringhee to recover their casualties and make it safely to Fort Bulgur.

The fort resupplied, the casualties attended to, the beasts and men rested, 1st Brigade then mounts up and moves north to the Uch pass defended by the Yusufzais. 

Buda Khan is the victor this day as he secured himself 5 mules for aiding the English, or should we say outwitting the British. Will this lead to more cooperation with the feringhee invaders, a temporary alliance, or a total banishment from the Pashtun communities. 

A wise old mullah once told me…. “Never trust anyone on the Frontier!”

French Colonial Marine Gunners 1900 - Askari Minis

Artillery crew of the French Marines. These are 28mm figures by Askari Miniatures.

I painted them in the khaki uniforms for a buddy of mine Last Stand Dan for use in his Indochina games. I painted two gun crews, to differentiate them I painted one crew with white trousers and one crew with khaki trousers. These will be used as 4 man gun crews for TSATF, The Sword And The Flame and TMWWBK, The Men Who Would Be Kings imperial troops.

Askari Miniatures French M1897 75mm gun. 

https://askari-minis.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=23_45&products_id=49

Here’s my motivation and reference for the above gun crew officer. 

Pallet

Uniform: Americana -Khaki Tan

Sun helmet: Craft Smart - Khaki

Haversack: Delta Ceramcoat  - Trail Tan

Puttees: Delta Ceramcoat - Trail Tan

Boots & Belt: Delta Ceramcoat - Black

Blue Trousers: Poly Scale Deck Blue with Poly Scale - Israeli Blue highlights.

White Trousers: Poly Scale - Light Grey then Vallejo- Off White

*There is no wash or dip on these figs as I left them for Dan to dip so as to better match his existing troops. 

Here’s the write up for these figures from the Askari Miniatures website. 

The French overseas colonies (except Algeria) were managed by the Ministry of the Marine (Navy). The troops they owned were either natives (Tirailleurs) or Europeans (Marines).

This European crew is dressed in the khaki uniforms that they wore c.1900. These troops would have manned shore installations or been on campaign in places like Madagascar, Indo-china, or West Africa.

They used the 80mm de Bange Mountain Gun.

Here is the same crew I painted with the Askari Minis 80mm de Bange Mountain Gun. This particular gun model is the older version and has since been replaced with an upgraded model.  

For earlier period uniforms, paint them with dark blue blouses and white trousers. See FR-17 for a mixed European-Senegalais crew.

Set consists of 4 figures as shown.

https://askari-minis.com/

Lt Churchill 28mm mini NWF 1880’s

This figure was made as a promo for a convention. Picture taken from an article in a wargame’s magazine.

Wargame’s Illustrated

I’m looking for several of these figures. My buddies and I who are involved in a pretty epic 2nd Afghan War campaign are all interested in adding one of these miniatures to our respective collections. Alas none of us have them, no one sells them, and apparently they were a give away to promote a convention many moons ago! Does anyone have any they are willing to sell or trade for? If so please reach out to me.

For anyone interested here is the link to our campaign thread on the Lead Adventure Forum.

Never Trust Anyone on the frontier, an . . . . epic NWF Campaign

Here are links to some of the other bloggers involved in this NWF Campaign with AAR’s, pics, maps, and data on their blogs.

Mad Guru’s blog

Maiwand Day Blog - 2nd Afghan War

Umra Khan’s blog

The Northwest Frontier of British India

Cheers,

Sgt. Guinness