Fu Manchu in the Back of Beyond

Myself and Martin agreed after our last Napoleonic battle to mix things up with some Back of Beyond Madness. Interestingly this was a popular theme at Partizan with more than one game on show. Our game is set some where in Tajikistan. A Russian force has been sent out to investigate reports of some British troops in the valley who have stockpiled a number of resources. But at the same time a mercenary force under the infamous Fu Manchu is looking to thwart the Russians and capture the resources for themselves. Both forces will arrive in three waves with some randomness on the location. The small British reconnaissance force will fight independently attempting to escape off the board towards the railhead. All troops will get a double move in their turn of arrival to get things moving. Lots of photos so I will rattle through the action.

The battle after the first turn with both Advance guards now on the battlefield and contesting the road

The first phase of Fu’s force are mercenary Afghans and tribal warriors

They surge forward to the village which is one of the three objectives

The British Recon force, surprised by the arrival of the two forces heads off down the road hoping to break through to the railway

The Russians have several light Howitzers but initially they have limited impact

The British Rolls Royce open fire initially against the Russian Tachanka

The Russians and the British have a plane each which swirl around above the battlefield

A good start for the tribesmen who rush out of one of the buildings and manage to destroy the Russian armoured car

Tribal cavalry also manages to charge around the village knocking the Russian infantry back

After a couple of turns Russian main force arrives consisting mainly of infantry who spreadout and advance

Chinese regulars arrive and bring with them some very large mortars

They advance towards the railway

Annoyingly the Afghans have managed to get a unit onto a rocky hill and the Russians need to eliminate these before advancing further

The British infantry unfortunately come under fire from both sides and a stray shot explodes some of the  stored fuel, this kills the remaining British 

The rear guard of the Chinese and Fu Manchu arrives with his horde of irregular and poorly armed warriors, they rush forward

Fierce fighting on the rocky hill by the village

The Russians have been badly mauled by their artillery is starting to find its range

Russian reserves arrive by the railway but come under heavy fire

As the Chinese infantry are now in a strong defensive position by the water tower

The Russians have brought up another machine gun to strengthen their defence

Fu’s horde rush across the road

The small White House on the road changes sides several times and is the sense of intense hand to hand fighting

There are lots of them but they pay a heavy toll coming across the road !

The furthest the Russians get is to touch the train but they are pinned back

In a desperate attempt to capture the village the Russian commander attempts to charge the White House but is killed in the attempt. The battle is over with a win for Fu Manchu. A fun battle with lots of twists and turns. Also a lot of blood spilt on both sides 👍

I’ve managed to complete a second Spanish regiment. These were again very cheap of eBay and required repainting so they are not the best but look ok from a distance

I have been testing out some rules for my small ships.

The British winning this first encounter,  very hard to balance the complexity with the number and scale of the ships ?

Finally a shot from Partizan 2 last week meeting up with Dave and Phil 👍 a good show, beautiful games and I picked up just a couple of bits.

Thanks all for checking by more to come soon

Matt 😀