Back of Beyond : ‘the Great Game’

We have been talking about doing some ‘Back of Beyond’ gaming in a similar style to some of my other ‘campaigns’ where it is loosely  based on some historical basis but is closer to an imagination campaign. Our chosen period is around 1910-1920 giving us the opportunity to utilise our RCW figures, together with British, Turks and multiple Tribal elements many of who can fight as mercenaries etc. This allows us to develop existing collections and effective fight single battles but within a larger narrative campaign. The Great Game refers to the conflicts between the British and Russian empires over Afghanistan in and around this period. With a spare Saturday I invited Martin over to kick this off. Martin has previously painted up a Dunsterforce of British so we pitched these against his Turks supported by a collection of renegade Armenian units who have deserted for better pay.

This was a slightly adhoc battle as we planned it in short time. The set up has a small Armenian force of renegades holding an important railway junction. Specifically of importance is a significant artillery gun which has been located. The British Dunsterforce (these did exist just google for some excellent fun background) have been sent to capture the gun but the Armenians have called on support from the Turks who are advancing on the junction in force.

At the start the Armenians are holding the gun, and the railway station, expecting an attack from the East they are holding a defensive line along the road which cuts across the railway.

The Turks arrive in force arriving from the roach mountain area, they only gradually arrive adding more activation dice to the bag each turn

The Armenians holding the area close to the rail crossing

The Dunsterforce arrive from the East with two armoured cars, infantry and artillery

The armoured cars head down the road to clear a path

British cavalry arrives as well

The armoured cars immediately concentrate their fire at the artillery piece which has been set up by the Armenians knocking it out

But suddenly a shell knocks out the Rolls Royce ! Where did that come from ? The Turks are firing heavy artillery from long range in the rocky hills to the North

The broths are supported by a biplane which swoops across the battle field forcing the Armenians and Turks to keep their heads down

The Armenian General has pulled back to inspect the gun

The Turks are making slow progress through the hills

But the British are making quick progress with more and more infantry arriving of the battlefield

An overview of the battlefield from the East

Finally the Turks are close enough to a support

Whilst the Rolls Royce burns the British start to move to the right, looking to engage with the advancing Turks

British machine gun exchanges fire across the railway

The Turks have no answer to the biplane which cause many units to take cover

The Turks are now managing to get numbers of infantry forward 

Some of whom have made it into the salt marsh and rough round giving them cover from the advancing British 

Turkish infantry digging for defence in the salt marsh

The British cavalry have moved around the right flank and charged one of the two Turkish artillery pieces.

But the Turks have a good hold on the objective

The Turkish commander caught out in the open is also charged down by the remaining British cavalry a big feather in their caps causing the Turks army morale to drop so their is a greater risk they will now fail to activate

Still that biplane !!!

In the distance the Dunsterforce makes its final assault across the road

But there is a lot of open ground to cover and the Turks are dug in. The assault peters out 

Lionel Dunsterville the British commander rash with his own safety is out in the open, with practically the last shot of the battle a stray artillery shell lands I direct hit on Lionel, only his boots remain 

Close but not close enough with the second armoured car now burning and seeing their commander evaporate under the stray shell the Dunsterforce call off the assault and pull back.

A fine game to get stuck into another ‘genre’. The majority of figures on show today were Martin’s terrain, planes and Armenians are mine. This project gives lots of options to develop smaller forces and interesting units which can support and combine as necessary. Splendid stuff !

I also managed to get to a bring and buy sale over the weekend called ardhammer in Gateshead. Only small but I picked up come reinforcements. Some cheap paints at £1 a pot some cheap spare sprues of Napoleonics, some arab cavalry as if I didn’t have enough, a couple of Late Roman cataphracts and some Norman infantry. 

Thanks as always taking the time to look, I am off to paint french Napoleonics and some British for the ‘Great Game’😀