"Fire and Sword in the Sudan" is a simple campaign game built around the Mahdist uprising in the Sudan. It is not meant to be a simulation of those events, but rather to capture the atmosphere of that campaign. There is no definite time scale; the war lasted 18 years, from the first bloodshed on Abba Island to the death of the Khalifa less than 50 miles from the island where the revolt began.

All players in the game assume command of some portion of the Anglo-Egyptian forces. Players can divvy up the units equally, they can command by committee, or each can assume command over all Anglo-Egyptian troops in one region. In any case, when battles occur, players whose forces are not engaged take command of the Mahdists.

The map divides the Sudan into five regions: Egypt, the Northern (Military) Sudan, Southern Sudan (Omdurman and Khartoum, the Ghezira, and the banks of the White and Blue Niles), Western Sudan (Kordofan and Darfur), and Eastern Sudan (the Atbara river, Abyssinian frontier, and Red Sea Littoral).

Squares on the map are garrison towns. Dots are other villages, wells, or waypoints.

The Anglo-Egyptians have about 40 (depending on how you count the artillery) "basic units" to use in the game. The size of a basic unit is determined by the rules you’re using—platoons in TS&TF, companies in Soldier’s Companion, etc. Throughout these rules, the term "company" is used to designate a basic unit.

At least 20, but not more than 24, companies must be distributed by the Anglo-Egyptian players among the garrison towns (those marked with a number in a square). Every garrison town must have at least one company in it. All of these garrisons must be Egyptian or Sudanese units, or gunboats.

Every company that is not placed in a garrison town is held off-map (you can put them over in Arabia, if you’re using counters; consider that to be the Alexandria Holding Box).

There is no Dervish set-up.

Each area except Egypt has a "revolt index," reflecting how much of the populace has risen against the government and gone over to the Mahdi. The indexes vary from 0 to 10.

At the start of the game, their values are determined randomly. Roll 1d6+2 for the Southern Sudan, and roll 1d6 each for the Eastern, Western, and Northern Sudan. Record these values someplace where you can keep track of them—right on the map is a good place.

(For a less random start, use these revolt indexes: Southern Sudan, 6; Eastern Sudan, 4; Western Sudan, 3; Northern Sudan, 2).

Once it revolts, a region remains in revolt until its revolt index is driven back to 0 or less.

Roll one die for each region. If the result is equal to or less than the region’s revolt index, then revolt has broken out or spread to that region, and that region is officially "in revolt."

If no regions revolt on the first turn, roll again for each region. Keep doing this until at least one region revolts (this shouldn’t take long).

On the turn when a region revolts, Dervishes may capture its garrison towns and field forces by surprise.

The basic chance for a surprise attack to capture a garrison town equals the regions’ revolt index. This is modified as follows:

Roll 1d6 for each garrison town in the revolting region, and 1d6 for each Anglo-Egyptian force that is not in a garrison town. If the roll is equal to or less than the modified surprise chance, the town is captured by surprise and its garrison is lost, or the force outside a town is overwhelmed and destroyed.

Any garrison town that is not captured by surprise comes under siege. Roll 1d6+1 for the number of turns the town can hold out before supplies are exhausted.

Only Anglo-Egyptian forces actually move on the map. Dervish forces are ubiquitous and appear randomly.

Movement is from point to point along the communication routes, which are the Nile and Atbara rivers, the Desert Railway, and an assortment of desert routes that follow the few lines of wells.

Anglo-Egyptian units can move two spaces per turn if they are following a river and they are not overstacked. They can move only one space per turn away from the rivers or if they are overstacked. Units must stop moving for the turn if they are engaged in a battle. All Anglo-Egyptian units are free to move beginning on turn 1, even if their region is not in revolt.

A force along a river but not in a garrison town can remain in place indefinitely. If the region is in revolt, roll every second turn to see if the unit is attacked, the same as if it moved into the space. This battle is handled as a dervish attack against a British camp (roll 1-4 on 1d6) or a surprise attack (roll 5-6 on 1d6). A surprise attack is identical to a normal attack against a camp except the dervishes are allowed to sneak up to within 12 inches (or about one move) of the zeriba before being spotted.

Away from the river, a force cannot remain in place unless it occupies a garrison town. The force must move every turn until it reaches a river or a garrison town. For example, a flying column moving from Korti to Metemma cannot rest at Abu Klea. On the turn after it moves to Abu Klea, it must either advance or retreat; it cannot remain stationary.

The two gunboats must stay along the Nile River. They can move three spaces per turn. They must roll for Dervish attacks in each space, just like other units. They can also be stopped by cataracts. When a gunboat tries to pass a cataract in either direction, roll 1d6; on a roll of 5 or 6, the gunboat cannot pass the cataract and must go back to the previous space.

The Desert Railway does not exist at the start of the game. To bring the railway into action, an Anglo-Egyptian force must ascend the Nile from Wadi Halfa to Abu Hamed and then occupy Abu Hamed for two turns. Units can move along the railway beginning on the third turn after the column captures or relieves Abu Hamed.

Up to nine Anglo-Egyptian companies can occupy any garrison town or a space along a river. No more than four companies can ever occupy a desert space.

When moving along a river, a stack of up to six companies can move normally (two spaces). A stack containing more than six companies can move only one space.

A gunboat counts as one company, as does any amount of artillery.

When moving across the desert, no more than four companies can move as part of a stack, ever.

Six companies per turn can use the desert railway. They must begin in Wadi Halfa and stop in Abu Hamed.

Whenever an Anglo-Egyptian force enters an empty space or a besieged space in a region that is in revolt, roll 1d6. If the roll is less than the region’s revolt index, Dervishes meet the force for a battle. The number of Dervish basic units equals the difference between the die roll and the region’s revolt index. For example, if the revolt index is 6 and the die roll is 2, the Anglo-Egyptian force encounters four companies of Dervishes.

If the space being entered is a garrison town, subtract 1 from the die roll for every full 5 points the town is worth.

Once the number of Dervish units is known, roll 1d6 per unit to find its type (subtract one from the roll if the battle is occurring in the Eastern Sudan):

Unless the battle is a sortie to break a siege, roll again to find out what sort of battle will be fought:

Attacking a Dervish town: The town will be along the banks of the river or built around a well or standing pool. It will have defenses of some sort: rifle pits/trenches, a zeriba, or stone/mud walls. The Dervishes have one artillery piece per three basic Dervish units. These can be 12-pdr smoothbores or 9-pdr breech-loaders, at the referee’s discretion. The Anglo-Egyptians win by driving the Dervishes out of the town.

Attacking a camp: The Anglo-Egyptian units are hunkered down in their camp, surrounded by a zeriba, when the Dervishes attack at dawn. The Dervishes have one artillery piece per four basic Dervish units. These can be 12-pdr smoothbores or 9-pdr breech-loaders, at the referee’s discretion. The Anglo-Egyptians win by holding the field.

Attacking a column: The Anglo-Egyptian force enters one edge of the table and moves to the approximate center, with transport animals. They can be in square or column formation. Dervishes enter in an L-formation from the opposite edge and one side. Anglo-Egyptians win by holding the field or by getting at least half their transport off the forward table edge.

Ambushing a column: Anglo-Egyptian set-up is the same as for attacking a column. Dervishes can enter unseen from any or all sides and are placed within one charge-move of the enemy column. Victory is the same as for attacking a column.

Sallying to relieve a siege: A sortie is handled as if the units were entering their own space; a die is rolled, modified by the size of the garrison town (-1 per 5 points), and compared to the region’s revolt index. The difference determines how many units are participating in the siege. The garrison can call off the sortie after this die roll, but it counts as a lost battle. The Dervishes will have a fortified camp (zeriba, rifle pits) to defend and one cannon per four basic units. If the camp is captured, the Dervishes are driven away, but only temporarily. The garrison can gather 1d6 additional turns’ worth of supplies and settle back into its defenses or it can abandon the garrison, moving one space immediately (and risking another battle). If the garrison town is reoccupied while the region is still in revolt, the siege resumes.

Wounded Anglo-Egyptians can recover, but only if their side held the battlefield or they escaped somehow, either by limping or being carried.

One-half of a unit’s casualties return to duty after a battle, the rest are removed. (For example, if using Soldier’s Companion rules, assume that all lightly wounded figures and one-half of seriously wounded figures return to duty. In TS&TF, figures wounded by black cards can return to duty, those wounded by red cards are dead or incapacitated. If your rules use some other system, then juggle the numbers accordingly.)

This does not apply to garrisons lost to surprise attacks; they are gone completely, either slain or absorbed into the ranks of the Mahdists.

Moving units and units outside towns are assumed to carry or forage sufficient supplies. Also, as the head of a column moves from Wadi Halfa up the Nile, it converts the spaces behind it to friendly territory. Those spaces are no longer considered to be in revolt and supply can move freely through them to the head of the column. The same applies to a column advancing from Suakin.

At the end of each turn, reduce the remaining supply total of each besieged force by one. If supplies drop to 0, the garrison is forced to surrender and is removed from the game.

Reinforcements can move into a besieged town if they are not defeated in battle (roll normally for an attack when the force enters the space). Reinforcements can come from a town that is not under siege or may be units that slipped out of a besieged town. Reinforcements bring 1d6 turns’ worth of additional supplies with them.

Adjust each region’s index up or down according to the following list. Only things that happened this turn are considered.

The Anglo-Egyptian units that were held off the map during set-up arrive as reinforcements during the game. The referee rolls 1d6-1 during the reinforcement step of every turn; that many reinforcing units, of the players’ choice, arrive at Aswan. If players prefer, one of these units can be sent to Suakin instead (bringing 1d6 turns’ of supplies, if needed). Conversely, one unit per turn can also be evacuated from Suakin back to Alexandria, if the commander desires.

Victory points are tallied at the end of every turn and added to the running total. The Dervishes receive VPs equal to the value of every garrison town they control, every turn. If the Dervishes amass 400 or more points, they win.

The game ends when all four regions are out of revolt or after 20 turns, whichever comes first.

This game is based very closely on a set of campaign rules for Pontiac’s Rebellion written by Greg Novak and published in The Courier, Vol. VIII, No. 5. Although I never played that game I was fascinated by its structure and decided that it would work well in any situation where the natives suddenly rise up and throw out the foreign devils, only to have the foreign devils come back stronger than ever.

I especially like the working of the revolt indexes and the way they make it possible for all players to be on the same side. Games where it’s everyone against the system always seem to be more enjoyable. Players still have plenty of opportunity to kick each other around. And the fact that no one is concerned about conserving Dervish manpower for later battles encourages players to throw native units into the fray with gusto. It works beautifully solitaire, too.

While this game and the original are similar in their approach, there are many subtle differences in the details. Overall, Fire and Sword in the Sudan is a bit more complex than Pontiac’s Rebellion (it’s always easier to add complexity than it is to take it away). Still, I think the game is more than simple enough to make it a pleasant experience for everyone, especially the referee, whose job is often difficult and thankless.

There is nothing magical about the Egyptian OOB. It is far from historical, being based entirely on the troops that I have available and what makes for an exciting game. Feel free to tinker. Even though the OB is rather large, you never need to field more than nine Anglo-Egyptian units at one time. As many as 14 Dervish units can appear at one time, but only in the worst possible battle at Omdurman. Ten is the more usual maximum. So you don’t need all that many figures to play the campaign.

As in the real war, the river shapes operations. There is no capacity for clever maneuver. Since one never knows where the Dervishes are, they can’t be pinned down, trapped, or screened. It’s all a matter of assembling a relief force quickly enough to aid the trapped garrisons and assuring that it is strong enough to survive advancing into enemy territory. It’s shocking what can happen to an apparently strong column when subjected to one or two bad set-up rolls at Abu Hamed or Atbara.

In the end, the Anglo-Egyptians are going to squash the revolt and retake Khartoum, as they should. But if the players don’t balance caution and aggression in the early turns, the Dervishes can wrack up an insurmountable lead. The map shows a total of 100 points, and 50 of them are far away in Southern and Western Sudan. In only eight turns, that amounts to 400 points and a Dervish victory. While assembling your unbeatable force at Abu Hamed, keep an eye on the score.

At the same time, anything can happen in a game with this sort of random start-up. If Khartoum is lost and the Northern Sudan falls to the Dervishes in the first turns, victory for the Anglo-Egyptians is very difficult. On the other hand, if revolt in the Northern Sudan is quelled quickly and cheaply, victory is almost assured. I guess that what I’m saying is, keep an eye on the VPs but don’t get too caught up in winning; the real goal is to share a few beers and a few laughs over the table with your friends.

Steve Winter