Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Somewhere in the Sudan

 We did a fictional game featuring my Sudan collection. The basic idea was for a British force to take a succession of hills that protected a town. The scenario was drawn from the "Urabi Revolt" that the British put down. Their enemies were the Egyptian Army. Here is a blurb from Wiki to explain the bigger picture:

The ʻUrabi Revolt (1879–1882) was a nationalist uprising in Egypt led by Colonel Ahmed ʻUrabi. It  sought to depose Khedive Tewfik Pasha and end heavy British and French interference in Egyptian financial and political affairs. The movement advocated for constitutional rule and the slogan "Egypt for the Egyptians".

It's been a while since I took the pics, so they are not in any particular order. I'll explain the action best I can.

This picture features the British center, or the "Thin Red Line," as it advanced on the terrain features. To the right is the Black Watch, and to the right, a line battalion. Two batteries of the Royal Artillery are giving support. The far one refused to move for several consecutive turns. The rules were The Men Who Would Be Kings.


The Egyptian battalion is on the reverse slope. The Highlanders have overrun the Egyptian Artillery that was posted in front of the battalion.


The British Dragoons moved against the Egyptian right but were badly cut up. It was the only Egyptian success of the day.

Egyptian right. The infantry battalion facing to the right helped destroy the British cavalry, but as you can see, the artillery has already been destroyed by the Highlanders.

I'm usually particular about my unit names, but I forgot which line battalion this was. I pulled them from my Zulu War collection, and I think they were the 3rd Foot. I used "red coats" because, in 1882, the British had not yet adopted khaki, except in India.

This is one of my favorite Egyptian units-a unit of lancers. If memory serves me, they are Irregular minis from the UK. They did zero in the game, getting pasted by the British Dragoons.

Bashi-Bazouks in reserve on the Egyptian left.  They occupied space.

The Egyptian center. The infantry were a mixed bag in terms of morale. Historically, they had poor morale and ill-trained peasants. It was reflected in the game, as I treated most of them as "green". The Sudanese units were a bit better, but I managed to shake poorly for them!

Arab cavalry in reserve, and they liked it that way.

The Egyptian center battery.  This particular gun was an old smoothbore, pressed into service.

Close-up of the Bashi-Bazouks. It didn't turn out great.

An impressive Egyptian battle line, supported by Urabi's guards. They all folded up quickly in the face of the British firepower, and I do not think the British infantry ever got pinned!

The "thin red line" was more than adequate.

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British Dragoons by HAT.

HAT Highland Infantry

The ill-fated Egyptian lancers.

The Egyptians had the numerical advantage and terrain advantage, all to no avail.






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