Go Sharp into the Desert - Lard Magazine 2021- Part 3 Rescue or Destruction

Dartington Crystal having barely escaped the earlier encounter he reached headquarters and described a vicious fight where he had taken down scores of savages but was let down by his men in the defence of the priests.

With the McCreadys captured the British have learnt from local sources that they are being held in an abandoned pumping station along the Nile before being taken across the desert to be presented to the Mahdi. 

Dartington Crystal’s  has been reinforced and his troops refitted with orders to to assault the Mahdist position and destroy them once and for all.

The South Borchester's march out of the town and head for the centre ground, which is held by a scattering of riflemen, it's seems the Mahdists have got their hands on a fresh batch of rifles... The Dervish sniped away at the regulars and whilst a couple of HE rounds had seen off those in the centre the wadi was crawling with skirmishers.

Dartington's frustrations grew, lining out the Borchester's and manhandling the Gardner Gun up on to the rise he would teach the natives a lesson.

So far so good......

Pride comes before a fall.... Dartington looked on in horror... Rising out of the scrub.... masses of spearmen charged catching his regulars in the flank

Dartington's company was broken and ran, Dartington ran with them. Sergeant Grundy in the centre ordered his men to fire on the flank of the spearmen slowing their advance and thinning their numbers.

With the British in real trouble, Arab cavalry charged forward to press the advantage.

The lancers rushed to plug the gap and sent the camelry backwards, but they ruined themselves in the process and fell back behind the naval brigade holding the sector.

The Lieutenant commanding the Naval Brigade looked across the desert. Out of the heat haze a whole fresh cohort of Mahdist Warriors, the British knew they did not have the numbers and with Dartington nowhere to be seen and with other forces flanking the defenders. It was time for the Crown forces to leave the field to the Mahdi.

2-1 to the locals... 

A great set of games and nice to get the colonials on the table, the tactics over the three games changed on both sides, the British firepower can knock chunks out of the natives if they can spot them, but let the damned savages get too close and the supporting ranks and the fervour will give any regulars a bloody nose.

Roll on the next set of linked games.