< The Last Outpost >

This game was played at Cold Wars 2000, Sunday morning, March 12. I was surprised that after all the tickets were snapped up during pre-registration, only one ticketed player showed up! Still, we didn't have any trouble filling the game with passersby, malingerers, and my two traveling companions (who were guaranteed spots anyway).

This departs from my usual reports in that I didn't write it. My good friend Rick Norton, retired Naval Commander and current instructor at the Naval War College, was one of the players in this game and he graciously provided me with this after-action report. Well done, Rick! I've added my own thoughts and comments as parenthetical Angle notes in various places.

The game was played on a 5 x 7 table, though something smaller would have sufficed. Five people played for four hours (and as you'll see, could have used about one hour more, although I don't think it would have altered the outcome).

Now I yield the floor to Rick.

First, let’s get some things straight. I think playing in a Steve Winter game is about as good as it gets in wargaming in general and colonial wargaming in particular. The rules are clear and simple, the scenery superbly crafted, and the figures are good enough to win the painting contest – if The Angle would ever bother to enter. It’s true that I also count myself among Steve’s friends, but he didn’t pay me to say this. (Angle note: No, but I may have to pay you to stop saying it.)

The first impression the Anglo-Egyptian player has in The Last Outpost is the daunting notion that the game might be better named The Lost Outpost. During set-up one can’t help but see that there are a great many more Dervishes than Egyptians out there.

The disparity in strength led to our first – and in some ways only – strategic decision. We just couldn’t find a way to adequately defend every area of the compound and were worried about either being rolled in a large charge, or having forces cut off from one another. Accordingly, we opted to not defend the water tower. Its loss would not give the Dervishes an automatic victory; chopping it down would take time and might divert some of the Dervish force from the rest of the garrison; and we might be able to whittle down more than a few of the Mahdists as they went about their destructive work. (My gaming alter-ego, Captain Renfield Trunion, would also point out that his men didn’t really need the water, as there was a well by the hospital.).

We endured sniping attacks for the first three days. A few of the lads were hit and we had the odd fatality. It was easy to visualize the odd, flat crack of a Remington, the puff of dust on the compound floor, or the cry and thud that mark a more accurate shot. Not to mention the rest of the garrison trying to avoid open spaces while the officers nonchalantly walked about at the full vertical to provide that steadying influence

The first Dervish charge, launched on day 4, came straight for the water tower. Our field of fire was blocked by the towering jebels south of the compound until the attackers were up to the zareba. With all due respect to our opponents, this first effort was not as tactically sharp as it might have been (and as later onslaughts would prove to be). The entire horde came rushing forward, nearly all of them at the water tower. (Angle note: And it was a sizable assault, involving something over 200 warriors.) While this gave the enemy mass, it meant that Trunion was able to pull almost every available man into the fray. We packed the upper level of the redoubt with shooters and lined the troops shoulder to shoulder along the zareba. Here we came up with our major tactical breakthrough. By setting up a double rank of rifles we were able to maintain a volley per turn, avoiding the risk of being caught reloading. I imagined the line as a continual fire-step back-reload-step forward-fire sequence, in the best style of Zulu. Luckily, ammunition was not a problem.

The fire from such a large portion of the garrison was devastating. A wave of brave Ansar flowed over the small zeriba and attacked the water tower, but all were shot down. They caused only one point of damage to the tower. The defenders took no casualties. The charge failed at the 25% morale check and the Anglo-Egyptians gave three cheers for success. (Angle note: This first assault was driven off with 64 casualties among the ansar, having achieved essentially nothing.)

More days of sniping attacks followed, with attendant casualties. The sight of additional Dervishes coming to join those already in the field did nothing for the defenders' morale. Trunion knew it was only a matter of time and on day 8, the Dervishes came a running.

This second attack was much more sophisticated than the first mad rush. (Angle note: the Dervishes had clearly learned several very important lessons during that first assault.) For one thing the Dervishes separated their riflemen from the mob and posted them as snipers. They maintained a galling fire that took a small but steady toll of the defenders. Eventually, they forced us to abandon the watch tower, roof, and upper floor of the redoubt. Trunion, watching the fifth man tumble out of the tower in as many minutes, ordered it abandoned. "We’re not the French Foreign Legion, you know."

The Dervishes also held forces back, not committing all their troops at once. This meant we had to at least earmark a reserve to meet the potential threat. The troops they did commit streamed toward the tomb and the water tower. Still, we had the majority of the garrison intact and handled the water tower action without much trouble. To their credit, however, the Dervishes managed to gravely damage the tower before retiring.

It was hotter work at the tomb/hospital. The Dervishes advanced through cannon fire, endured three rounds of rifle fire, and reached the wall. Close combat ensued and we quickly learned that fuzzy-wuzzy was better at this game than we were. Thankfully the high walls surrounding the tomb yard mitigated this advantage somewhat. The walls also allowed the riflemen on the roof of the tomb to continue their work. We discovered a tactic that would come in very handy later. When a Dervish managed to slip past our gallant defenders, or kill one and step into the compound, unengaged troops were able to easily dispatch them. The most lethal of this clean-up crew were the officers. It was a lesson that would come in very handy.

My fellow commander displayed a superb talent for predicting how close the enemy was to a morale check. We used this skill in determining when to open fire with adjacent forces. (Angle note: Normally, attackers can only attack the wall section they charged, but when troops on an adjacent section open fire, the attackers are allowed to "spill over" and attack that section, also.) This proved a bad command decision on my part. We triggered the morale check as expected, but the Dervishes passed. They would now fight to the last warrior, and with improved odds against the lower zeriba. In the end all were killed, but not without casualties on our side.

The sniping rounds came almost as a relief after the assault. The defenders had been hurt, no doubt about it. Almost half of the survivors were wounded. Lines had to be thinned. (Angle note: By this point, the combination of sniping and melee had reduced the Anglo-Egyptian force from 60 to 42 and, as Rick points out, almost half of them were wounded. Dervish losses were heavy also, with over 200 casualties by the end of the second assault.)

On day 11 the anticipated third assault materialized. (Angle note: This time they came on with 180 figures. It would have been best to snipe for another day, but the Dervish players took a risk and pulled both jokers on day 10, forcing them to assault on day 11.) Again the Dervishes committed their forces in waves, effectively disguising their intentions and tying down Anglo-Egyptian forces. First they came for the small zareba and the water tower. A second wave rushed the hasty barricade from the east, and the third wave came at it from the west. (Angle note: The Dervishes had a clever plan this time. Because there were no defenders behind the hasty barricades, they could be approached relatively safely. Once the attackers were inside the barricades, they could turn and assault the zeriba. At the same time, this pincer attack would screen fire against the Ansar who were tearing at the water tower. This was by far the most tactically adept of the Dervish assaults.)

Once again cannon thundered and the Dervishes swept on. We never reloaded a cannon, by the way. The three-round reload requirement, while very reasonable, just took time we didn’t feel we had. So the artillery crews jerked their lanyards and then picked up their rifles.

With so many forces coming from so many directions it was inevitable that the water tower would be reached. Officers nervously checked their loads as the fighting at the zeriba became desperate.

With a crash the tower toppled, sending water into the sand and freeing more Dervishes to join the assault. Anglo-Egyptian casualties continued to pile up and the officers were soon hard at work shooting those Dervishes that managed to slip into the compound. This understandably upset the Dervish commanders, who bore their disappointment with equanimity. Dervish morale checks came and went, hardly noticed.

At the height of the fighting, when all Anglo-Egyptian forces had moved to meet the threat, the Dervish snipers formed into a wave and rushed the tomb. Four men and an officer who were badly needed on the firing line had to be detailed off to protect the wounded. A poor Ansar morale roll saved them from a desperate battle.

At last two groups assaulting the zeriba finally broke, but one wave stayed and fought to the last man. Again, it was easy to let your imagination take hold at this point and give in to what Larry Brom so accurately calls the romance of the game. You could envision the clouds of dust, war cries and screams, officers shouting "Hold Them!" as they desperately fired at the warriors forcing their way through the ever dwindling defensive line. Trunion prayed the line would hold as he pushed a lightly wounded man into the first rank. He did not seek death, but it was infinitely preferable to disgrace. I was so taken with the image that I accompanied each die roll with the shooting of an imaginary pistol – a potential annoyance which our foes tolerated with great grace.

At this point Trunion felt the first faint tendrils of fear. More than half the command was dead. A bare handful of the remainder were unwounded. And the relief column was nowhere in sight.

It was time for a revised strategy. It seemed doubtful the zareba lines could still be held. Accordingly, it was decided to man the zareba lines until the attack developed. Then a single volley would be fired and the garrison would head for the safety of the walled yard and the redoubt. It was hoped that this could at least keep the Dervishes off the guns. (Angle note: Along with wrecking the water tower, destroying the guns would have given the Dervishes a minor victory. But there was only one day remaining in the siege, which meant there was no opportunity to increase the attacking force by sniping. The assault would have been very small, just 114 figures.)

We never got to find out if the strategy would work. We certainly did not feel confident of success, and still don’t. But time had run out and Steve gave the victory to the forces of the Sirdar. I don’t say we could not have won, but it was a very close run thing. (Angle note: With only 114 figures in the assault, it was very unlikely to make headway into the compound. A mere 29 casualties would inflict morale checks on the whole force. Good luck on the morale checks could have changed the picture and turned the final assault into a real nail-biter, but the odds were heavily against it. Unfortunately, I had timed the game based on three assaults, not four, and we had a plane to catch.)

All in all the Last Outpost was a tremendously enjoyable game. While the Anglo-Egyptian forces seem static, there is intense movement in the compound during assault turns and, as our water tower decision indicates, some strategic choices to be made.

It also showcased what has been described as the strongest talent of the British officer of the day. Given a defensive position, adequate supplies of ammunition, and a requirement to hold to the last man while looking brave, the British officer excelled.

As for our opponents, the concentration of the first rush – which in all probability resulted from a misunderstanding – could have been more effective. I also feel the water tower might have attracted too much attention. Had the enemy closed to the zareba line first, a second wave would have been able to topple the tower pretty much at leisure. But this is Monday morning quarterbacking and, as mentioned earlier, I was fully prepared to see the garrison go down to the last man. (Angle note: I agree completely with Rick's assessment here. If the first assault had been used to come to grips with the enemy and inflict casualties, the second and third assaults would have had far greater chances to overwhelm the garrison. Given the good luck the Dervishes had with their sniping turns, I would say the game could easily have been a Dervish victory, had the Dervish players known on day 1 what they knew by day 12. In the end, the Dervishes caused a severe setback to the railway construction schedule by demolishing the water tower, and they grabbed some shocking headlines in London and upset a great many Englishmen at their breakfasts, but the victory went to the Anglo-Egyptians.)

It would be churlish of me not to pay respect to the other players; my partner and our opponents Thomas, Kevin, and Roxanne. They were all great sports and nice folks. These gamers represent the far better half of our hobby and I look forward to standing alongside, or against, them again.

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