PORTABLE WARGAME MEETS 2ND AFGHAN WAR

Khyber Knives cross Sikh Bayonets in the perennially troubled Dismal Province, Afghanistan, circa 1880.

In this post, dear readers, we meander into something completely different--Colonials.  This is another of my collections that has been fallow--but not forgotten.  I picked up Bob Cordery's The Portable Wargame (TPW) some time ago and ever since have had a project cooking in the background to put together some modifications to use with my Colonial/2nd Afghan War (era) figs. I finally got that together and was able to run a test game (of which this is the report). I am happy to say that changes were made based on this game and a second test game was run (no report, sorry).  As a result, the variant is now ready and posted among the content pages of this blog (more on that at the conclusion of this report). But for now, first things first: here is the battle report. As usual, you may clix pix for BIG PIX in this report. 

The environs of Naughtybad, scene of the recent unpleasantness.  Given that the focus of this game was testing the rules and variant, the layout was rather minimalist. The hills are self evident: the other patches are "rough."  For the curious, I detail how I created this gridded playing mat (with 6" squares) on the Portable Wargame Content Page of this blog.

The Soldiers of the Queen (entering from the bottom of the picture) are embarking on yet another punitive expedition in Dismal Province, Afghanistan.  It has come to the attention of the Politico that the citizens of Naughtybad have been skimming off contributions of the poppy harvest owed to the Great White Queen for their own use (such quaint local traditions are nothing new in these parts: Naughtybad is also known as "Happy Valley" among the locals...).  Nevertheless, such a slight to the authority of the Empire cannot be borne. 

The punitive expedition is gathered, with representative contingents from the Dismal Province Military District Force, Major C. Langley Smoot, District Commander, leading them himself. Their aim is to occupy Naughtybad and confiscate goods in compensation for the affrontery--and bust things up while they're at it.  In this game, my friend George would take up the cause of the Great White Queen.

Sharp-eyed observers may have noted the three infantry figures behind the Queen's Lancers. These represent the lancers in dismounted mode. For anyone familiar with TPW, units have strength points (average infantry 4, average cavalry 3, average artillery 2). One figure equals one strength point (in my game). As a bit of chrome, I rate British Cavalry as 4 SP when mounted, but 3 when dismounted (who doesn't prefer to ride?), hence why there are three foot as opposed to four here.  Well, that was a bit much of a diversion... 

Local Warlord and perennial foil of Maj Smoot, Ali Hassan bin Sober, given the usual advance warning of the coming expedition, has gathered the lads to give the Feringhee Dogs a hot time in Happy Valley.  For this game, your humble correspondent would take up the cause of the noble indigenous warriors against the foreign devils. 

Each side had a bonus figure (a trumpeter for the Imperials and a standard bearer for the Afghans) that they could assign to any unit (ie, as an extra strength point). This extra figure is a "freebie": its loss would not count against the exhaustion-level calculation. In this scenario, the Afghan exhaustion point was 11 strength points and the Imperial's was 10. 

The Afghans were waiting for the Imperials, deployed across the front with their mixed firearm infantry forward on the left and jezails holding the central highground. The melee infantry were positioned to support the shooters. The jezails on the key central highground were reinforced by the standard bearer.

Ali Hassan bin Sober posted himself in depth with the other jezail infantry so he could improve their long range sniping, with the tribal cavalry safely set back but at hand, ready to respond.  

Not being very sporting today, the Imperials load up on the left and refuse the right, with the main effort being spearheaded by the East Lancs and Gordons (in this scenario, all units were rated as "Average" with the exception of the Gordons, who were "Elite").  The Gurkhas, having drawn the "up the middle" lot, were reinforced by the bugler (in my variant, Gurkhas are as mobile as tribesman, so can negotiate rough terrain better than other Imperials). 

Being a fox hunting man, Maj Smoot rides with the Lancers, who would disdain dismounted operations this day. 

The ball opens...with the initiative, the Imperials advance online as if on parade at Aldershot, with their right smartly echeloned back.  The initial volleys and close assaults of the lancers and sikhs have attrited the jezails holding the central highland. At this point, the momentum of the Imperial advance seems irresistible.

This not being his first dance, Hassan bin Sober is not dismayed. The Ghazis answer by coming forward over the highland and pushing the Sikhs back; the tribal cavalry goes into action like a thunderbolt. The fight for the central highland becomes a back and forth affair. 

On the Afghan right, the melee infantry come forward into action to block the advance at the defile between the highland and the rough terrain. The Gordons would take it on the chin, leading to an extended scrum among the units on this wing.  Eventually, the Afghans would be attrited and have to give up the ground. 

Meanwhile, Maj Smoot decides that something must be done about the harassing fire coming from the Afghan mixed firearm infantry who are working their way around the Imperial right. And so he leads the Queen's Lancers into action, who get the job done in the finest tradition of the mounted arm, suffering casualties gloriously. 

Back in the center, the Jezails have been cleared from the highland, but the Ghazis remain defiant, causing the Sikhs to back off to more respectable shooting distance (not very sporting).

With casualties ticking up on both sides and time running out, George surveys the situation...

...and decides that quick action is needed, so he commits his alter ego, Maj Smoot, to lead the remnant of the 9th Lancers up the hill and into close combat on the flank of the Ghazis--providing another stirring "artist's rendition" of action on the Northwest Frontier to adorn the morning papers in Blighty, no doubt. 

A defiant parting shot. 

Although the 9th Lancers had paid a price, the Afghans had been pushed past their limit, and so they hastily packed up what remaining bales of poppy they could carry ("for later") and abandoned Naughtybad and Happy Valley to Imperials (for now...).  

As mentioned earlier, this was our foray into The Portable Wargame (and my mutation thereof), and we came away entirely satisfied with the experience. We were able to run through both this and the subsequent test game in about two hours each, both rendering interesting play that felt "colonial" as opposed to something more generic or simplistic.  In short, TPW produces a very good balance between playability and chrome: it has provided the opportunity for me to "rediscover" my grand old Ral Partha Colonials.  We're already looking forward to more games!

For anyone who might be interested, I have added a Portable Wargame Content Page to this blog. You can find and download the 2nd Afghan War variant used in this game there, along with the accompanying player reference sheet and unit roster. 

Excelsior!