Sudan campaign ~ situation so far

A glance at the theatre map shows the current situation and disposition of forces.

Cataracts and Wolseley and Wild, Wild Warriors.

General Wolseley has had an easy time of it so far. He advanced up the Nile to the town of Kerma without facing much opposition. It seems the population of those areas closest to the Egyptian frontier have yet to decide if they're for the Mahdi or not.

The Nile is daily becoming more of a problem due to falling water levels. In spite of this the three steamboats sent to Abu Hamad have successfully descended the river to rejoin the flotilla with the main army. One boat received minor damage from captured Egyptian guns sited in Mahdist ring forts covering the 4th Cataract below Kirbekan, and is undergoing repair at Kerma.

The steamboats carried copies of Brigadier Stewart's report from the Flying Column as to its progress and the recent battle. Stewart's report did not impress Wolseley, but there's little he can do about the situation.

Sending another flying column to Abu Hamad is out of the question since it will denude his own force of cavalry and mobile infantry. Wolseley intends to continue his march, but is giving careful thought to sending steamboats to Abu Hamad with supplies, ammunition and reinforcements for Stewart. He has one other gunboat, Sultan, which he would prefer to keep with his army. Equally, the steamboats face a tough time of ascending the Nile without an armed escort vessel since the River Arabs are now considered actively hostile. Decisions, decisions...

As for the situation at Abu Hamad the recent battle was, as one correspondent put it, 'brutal.' The Mahdists lost over 2,300 warriors, the Flying Column 910. Such losses put both commanders, Brigadier Stewart and Emir ibn Yusuf, in a quandary. Stewart more or less has to stay put in the town of Abu Hamad and await reinforcements. He has supplies for a couple of weeks, but ammunition is a concern since so much of it was lost along with the Camel Corps' mounts. At least he can act as a threat-in-being, since the mere presence of his brigade threatens Mahdist control of the area should Emir ibn Yusuf withdraw.

Should I stay or should I go?

Emir ibn Yusuf's army suffered enough casualties he can't make a move against a determined defence, neither can he withdraw without the British force seizing control of the area. As the uprising spreads reinforcements are coming in, although recent Imperial victories in the Red Sea Littoral province have mitigated the enthusiasm shown by the local River Arabs and Sudanese for the Mahdi's cause. This has reached the point where new recruits aren't as numerous as ibn Yusuf would like. For now he has dispersed much of his force in the locality so his warriors can forage, but all are within easy recall distance should the Infidel make a move. 

The Emir has decided to take the option of moving SSE to join with the remnants of Usman Digna's army, currently withdrawing from its home territory after the rough handling meted out by Major General Graham's column. Combined, this will give the Mahdists a potent army with which to face Graham's column in battle as it approaches the town of Berber on the Nile. If/when victory is achieved recruitment will pick up, and ibn Yusuf can then return to deal with Stewart's force before British reinforcements arrive. The Emir has enough intelligence of the Infidel Chief's activities he knows this will be a long time yet.

Abu Hamad - post-game thoughts.

It's fair to say the Battle of Abu Hamad did not progress as Brigadier Stewart hoped. The sudden appearance of the Mahdist Ansar army threw him for a loop. (In game terms it appeared on the fifth turn of the cards - shockingly early for British tastes). It placed Stewart under immediate pressure to achieve his objective before the Mahdists engaged him in the open or - perhaps worse - reinforced the town garrison. Stewart's Flying Column had speed, but certainly lacked the strength to take on the Mahdists in the open or to initiate siege operations against a strongly-held town, even with support from the flotilla. His only hope was to take Abu Hamad by coup de main - which he did.

Screened by Bengal Lancers and Egyptian Gendamerie, the Camel Corps advances towards its fate.

The Mahdists appeared out of the southeast (randomly determined by dice roll), perhaps the best location possible from the British point of view, since it gave Stewart a certain amount of time to act against the town. However, on approaching his chosen point of attack Stewart acted precipitously by sending in the dismounted Camel Corps. He had time to unlimber his artillery and Gatling guns, which, combined with infantry rifle fire and gunfire support from the Gunboat Khedive, would've sufficed to drive back the defenders from the zareba. Instead the infantry went in with the bayonet against an enemy who hadn't been softened up, and suffered accordingly. It was only when Stewart called off the attack and then did things properly that the British made progress.

The British now hold the town of Abu Hamad, but taking it cost a considerable number of casualties. Brigadier Stewart is now down to eight companies of infantry. His cavalry got battered in the battle, and he has to reassign a 7 pdr screw gun crew and some infantrymen to man one of the Gatling guns and the RA 12 pdr, which lost their crews during the last Mahdist attack. He lost all the camels for his mounted infantry, which in itself will be cause for a board of inquiry into his conduct.

He has the support of the Gunboat Khedive, but it appears the Mahdists either removed or destroyed the firewood stocked in the town for use by commercial steamboats. Khedive has enough fuel for three to four days operations, but after that she'll be little more than a floating battery. Stewart has also to send the transports back downriver to General Wolseley and the River Column if he's to receive much-needed reinforcements.

So, what happens now?

The enemy is still lurking in the vicinity. Emir ibn Yakub suffered enough losses to make attacking a prepared defence rather risky. He'll keep a watch on the town until sufficient reinforcements arrive to make a new attack possible, preferably before the Infidel receives reinforcements by steamboat or the River Column comes up. The latter is making slow progress so this may take weeks.

Brigadier Stewart's aware of the military adage "By trying to hold everything, you'll lose everything." He believes he can hold the town by concentrating his infantry and guns in an area small enough to hold comfortably with the numbers he now has. The cavalry can patrol from the town and keep the enemy under observation, and launch spoiler attacks if necessary. The area within the red lines is Stewart's intended cantonment, for which he'll use the cut bushes from the zarebas located in and around the town. He might demolish the Mahdist ring forts since these offer him no practical use and may well serve the enemy as lodgments during an attack.

Will Emir ibn Yakub attempt to retake the town before more Infidel arrive? The next game will decide in a week or so.

The Battle of Abu Hamad - part two

Taking a deep breath, Brigadier General Stewart ordered the recall sounded, and the bugle call rang out over the sound of combat. Obediently the men of A and B companies of the Camel Corps broke off their struggle against the Mahdists at the zareba and trotted back to the main body. The Mahdists jeered at their cowardice but didn't pursue. Once the battered companies had cleared the line of fire, General Stewart nodded to the Camel Corps Colonel, who gave the word to his other two companies to open fire. A double volley crashed out, the nearby Gatling gun adding to the mass of lead that shredded the zareba and the warriors sheltering behind it. The Gunboat Khedive took her cue from the Camel Corps and opened up with her aft Nordenfeldt, catching the defenders in a vicious crossfire.

 

As gunfire filled the air a courier brought word of the 19th Hussar's appearance to the north. Stewart nodded. He'd have a few pointed words to say to the Colonel of the Hussars later, but for now the regiment's tardy arrival worked to his advantage. It would place it on the flank of the oncoming Mahdist army. Should the enemy chose to attack the town, the Hussars could attack his flank and rear. Should the enemy commander divert part of his force to drive off the Hussars, it would weaken him. Stewart trusted the Colonel to know his business and handle his regiment accordingly, but a heliograph message conveyed his orders just in case.

To the east the Egyptian Gendarmerie faced the oncoming Mahdist army. Their comrades of the Bengal Lancers attacked and pinned the enemy's cavalry wing, throwing it into confusion and delaying their deployment.

Meanwhile the steamboats closed with the town. Stewart eyed their progress and considered they might reach Abu Hamad and disembark the infantry before the Mahdist army was in reach to interfere. Then a groan went up from the men. One of the steamboats had contrived to go aground on a mud bank. Her stern swung as the paddles thrashed the water helplessly.

Thankfully the combined fire from his brigade and the Khedive had driven the defenders away from the zareba guarding the north beach. Stewart ordered his men to move into the town as the Khedive and the other steamboats headed for the shore.

The Khedive moored up, and her Naval Brigade contingent went ashore with alacrity. They made for the nearest two buildings, securing both and taking up positions at window and rooftop. They eyed the undecided mob of Mahdists, who milled in an open area some little distance away. A shell from the Khedive's aft gun persuaded them to go elsewhere.

The beachhead in Abu Hamad became a scene of frenetic activity as the British troops sought to establish a defensive perimeter. Brigadier General Stewart resisted the temptation to manage every aspect of the arrangements, leaving that to his subordinates as he pondered what best to do in the circumstances. A cheer announced the steamboat's freeing herself from the glutinous mud. She now made best speed to join her sisters along the waterfront, but another groan went up as the second steamboat succeeded in grounding within yards of the shore.

Emir ibn Yusuf led his fierce warriors closer to the town, intending to cut off the infidel's retreat. Messengers ran to and from the town or shouted from the battlements informing him of developments. ibn Yusuf stroked his beard and considered the situation. With Allah's blessing he had caught the infidel before he could secure a defence. He would slaughter them until the Nile ran red with their blood, which would flow downstream to tell the British and their Egyptian lackeys that the Sudan belonged to Allah and the Mahdi.
 

General Stewart ordered his defence as best he could, although the situation did not look promising. Some of the newly arrived Royal Irish Regiment he deployed along the palm tree-lined levee in case the Mahdists attempted to force the breach in the wall.  The RA 12 pdr and a Gatling gun lined up behind the zareba to lend fire support for the battered companies of the Camel Corps. C company Stewart sent to the battlements, ready to fire down into the enemy should he storm the defences. Long range sniping from enemy riflemen failed to make much impression as the company commanders ordered the men to stay below the parapets until needed.

Out on the river some of the stranded steamboat's crew went over the side onto the mud bank. After a few minutes pushing and shoving they succeeded in freeing her from the mud.

Having disembarked her Naval Brigade, Khedive moves upriver a short way to cover the town.

The 19th Hussars succeeded in drawing off the enemy cavalry wing. Emir ibn Yakub sent orders to his cavalry not to pursue, and had his camelry turn about to guard against another attack from the Egyptian gendarmerie. He intended to force the gap in the northern defences as the garrison of Abu Hamad attacked the infidel from within the walls. Given the small number of enemy reported ashore, he felt confident Allah would allow him victory.

At this moment the second steamboat freed herself and headed for shore. Secure in the houses near the waterfront the Naval Brigade watched as the Mahdist garrison gathered in among the streets and houses. Were they planning an attack? 

Unable to see any potential targets within the walls, Khedive obeyed a signal from General Stewart desiring her to move downstream to provide fire support against the enemy army now gathered in the millet fields. Two hundred or so of the enemy broke off from the main force to investigate the camel park. Stewart sighed. The animals were as good as lost, but then, there were few riders left for them anyway. He felt the crisis was drawing near.

A high pitched wail followed by a wild roar announced the onset of the Mahdist attack. Stewart had finally decided to place two fresh companies of infantry from the Royal Irish Regiment at the zareba. As the enemy advanced, the RA 12 pdr, Khedive and the Gatling gun opened fire. The Gatling spat bullets - then jammed on the sixteenth round. 12 pdr canister and a double volley from the infantry lashed the enemy but on they came. Soon the line of the zareba surged with vicious hand to hand fighting. Pack animal handlers and artillery limber crews fled to the dubious safety of the rear. Aboard the steamboats nudging the beach the crews watched the unfolding melee nervously. 

In the town a sizable force of Mahdists gathered near the mosque. The Naval Brigade watched and waited for the enemy to decide what he would do.

The pressure on the British line became unbearable. Although the gun crews fought heroically they soon fell under the spears and swords of the enemy. The Royal Irish buckled under the onslaught. One company was destroyed outright. Only C company of the Camel Corps' fire into the mass of enemy surging below the battlements enabled the Irishmen to hold on.

General Stewart watches with concern as his troops buckle under the onslaught.

The steamboats began to shove off 'lest they fall to the Mahdists. Drawing his revolver Stewart and his HQ party made for the rear of the two companies of Royal Irish only recently disembarked from the vessels. On the river Khedive's paddles thrashed the water to stem the flow as she traded shots with the Mahdist artillery. As the last of their fellows died and the infantry fell back, the two screw guns and Gatling lining the levee turned about and blasted the oncoming enemy with canister and bullet. Rifle fire erupted from the nearby buildings as the Naval Brigade dealt with the remnants of the Mahdist garrison.

Safe behind the stalwart Irishmen, General Stewart watched the unfolding scene-and felt his heart rise. Struck hard by gunfire the enemy fell by the score. The survivors hesitated...

...then reluctantly fell back across the tattered zareba. Stewart could see his opponent gesticulating furiously at his men in an attempt to hold them to his aim, but it was not to be. Faced with increasing exposure to the deadly British guns, the Emir fell back with his men.

Khedive continued to exchange shots with the enemy artillery, destroying one gun at the cost of a direct hit near her bridge. The enemy artillery fell silent as their fellows streamed back from the failed attack. Khedive fired upon the mass, driving them into a faster retreat.

A near miss and a hit on the Khedive.

With the enemy in retreat, General Stewart ordered the Royal Irish to advance. Safe from the threat, the steamboat crews edged their vessels up to the shore. Their crew looked at the slaughter and wondered if any prize was worth such a cost. Would General Stewart stay, or order reembarkation?

The Naval Brigade divided, one half heading to support the army, the other fanning out through the town to winkle out the last of the garrison. Stewart reholstered his revolver. His men had fought and won-but at a terrible cost. He looked at the blood-soaked sand and the bodies of the fallen along and across the zareba. The fallen would be buried, and in a matter of months the Nile would rise with the spring flood and wash away the blood. As Stewart gave his orders he wished time would be as effective as the Nile in washing away the memories of this blood soaked day.

And so ends the Battle of Abu Hamad. Thoughts on the action to follow in a day or so.

The Battle of Abu Hamad - part one

With General Gordon to save and time pressing, General Sir Garnet Wolseley has let slip the Flying Column under the command of Brigadier-General Sir Herbert Stewart. His brief is to cross the bight of desert formed by a westerly curve of the Nile and to take the riverside town of Abu Hamad. Under his command is the Mounted Infantry battalion of the Camel Corps, the 19th Hussars, Bengal Lancers and Egyptian gendarmerie, plus attached artillery. Aiding him is a Nile flotilla composed of the Gunboat Khedive bearing a company of the Naval Brigade, along with three commercial steamboats pressed into service as transports for six companies of infantry.

The flotilla has encountered shoals and other hazards along the course of the river, which is now falling to her slow, sleepy summer level. Although this has delayed the boats, it has also exposed a stretch of open shoreline between the fixed defences of Abu Hamad and the river.

Abu Hamad, asleep and apparently empty. An incomplete Mahdist fort guards the southern beach, a zareba the north.

General Stewart entered the field of battle confident that he could force the extemporised defences filling this gap and get his men into the town before the Mahdist forces in the area could consolidate. Since the 19th Hussars failed to make an appearance (random 2d6 roll - delayed for ten turns - ouch) Stewart sent the Bengal Lancers and Gendarmerie out to cover his left flank.

Of immediate concern was a Mahdist fort built on the newly exposed beach covering the northern river approach to the town. An artillery piece and an indeterminate number of enemy infantry were seen within, but the latter, intimidated by the oncoming army, left the fort and melted away into the rising heat haze, never to be seen again. Left to their own devices the artillery crew manhandled their piece out of the fort and back to the zareba covering the riverside gap. The cavalry reported small parties of enemy infantry in the vicinity to the east, but these remained at a distance and posed no immediate threat.

The Flying Column approaches the abandoned fort.

Closer to the town, and the walls soon began to bristle with defenders. Stewart dismounted A and B companies of the Camel Corps and formed them up ready to storm the gap. His artillery came up and went into battery to the left, ready to pound the walls-but what's that approaching to the south east of town?

The Mahdist gun crew positioned their piece behind the zareba and opened fire upon the British. They succeeded in hitting... Africa, but not much else. However, at this juncture matters took a turn for the worse for Stewart and his brigade. Away to the south east a sizable host of Ansar appeared out of the heat haze. The Mahdist army controlling the vicinity had arrived.

Emir Ahmed ibn Yakub had intended to take his army to confront General Graham's successful army coming west from the Red Sea Littoral province. Graham's defeat of Usman Digna had exposed the whole eastern flank of the uprising and ibn Yakub hoped to contain the damage before Graham reached the Nile. However, word of Stewart's Flying Column alerted him to a much more immediate threat.

Faced with an oncoming horde he had little hope of defeating in open battle, Stewart's task become more urgent. His artillery and the Khedive opened on the walls of Abu Hamad, but their shot went over. Stewart suppressed a curse. His gunners would have to do much better than that...

A and B companies of the Camel Corps approached the zareba, taking some fire from the walls and the gun. They stopped to blast the defences with a double volley, shredding the Mahdists sheltering there before charging in with the bayonet.

Battle on the beach. The Camel Corps prepares to charge. Shell bursts bloom behind the enemy ramparts.

Downriver, the transports come up, travelling at slow speed to avoid grounding in the falling water levels. An urgent signal from Khedive impels them to increase the pace regardless of danger.

The fighting across the zareba swung to and fro. At first the British infantry got the better of their opponents, wiping out the hapless gun crew and over a hundred Mahdist warriors. Then the fighting swung back, and soon it was Tommy Atkins feeling the pressure.

Away to the flank, the cavalry had speedily dealt with a hundred or so enemy marksmen. The Bengal Lancers blooded themselves for the first time in the campaign here, aided by the stalwart Egyptian gendarmerie. A devastating barrage from the guns cleared the ramparts of enemy marksmen and brought down a large section of wall. Out on the river Khedive was unable to provide fire support now the fighting had closed to melee, so she swung towards the bank, ready to send her contingent of the Naval Brigade ashore to aid the army.

Close to the action General Stewart looked on anxiously as his troops fell back under pressure from the Mahdist warriors. Off in the distance the gendarmerie and Bengal Lancers rode down two contingents of warriors - but now they faced the oncoming might of the Mahdist Emir ibn Yakub. A clash is coming, one that could well see the destruction of the Imperial cavalry as they prepare to sell their lives dearly to buy time for the Flying Column.

Has General Stewart bitten off more than he can chew? Will the cavalry's sacrifice be enough? Can the Naval Brigade get ashore in time to help their soldier comrades? Tune in for the next episode of - the Battle of Abu Hamad.

Before the game - The Battle of Abu Hamad

Things have been quiet in the un-air conditioned gaming room lately, not least because the extreme heat currently inflicting this area makes the place nearly uninhabitable. Luckily, although the temperatures are appropriately approaching that of the Sudan, it hasn't stopped me figuring out some details for the planned Abu Hamad game.

First off, whilst General Wolseley was a great organiser he wasn't a patch on his successor, Lord Kitchener. There's scope for the friction of war to appear in the 1885 Sudan campaign. Would the Imperial forces dispatched to the Nile-side town arrive on time? To decide this weighty matter I rolled an average die (remember them?).

A score of 2 meant the army mobile column was delayed 1-3 days in the desert somewhere between Abu Simel and Abu Hamad. The riverine force would attempt to take the town as best it could using landing parties covered by gunfire support. Huzzah!

A score of 3 meant that the army would arrive first with the rum-soaked matelots of the riverine force showing up a tardy 1d10 moves later.

A score of 4 meant the riverine force would show up on time and those lazy landlubbers of the army would arrive 1d10 moves later.

A score of 5 meant the riverine mission had been delayed 1-3 days somewhere along the river. The army mobile column would arrive first, fighting on its own as best it could to take the town. Play up, play up, and play the game...

The die was cast and... came up 3. To use the racing parlance of the time, "Tommy Atkins, mounted on Too Late by Verbosity," would attempt feats of derring-do against the Walls of Abu Hamad. A d10 roll gave a 6, so that many moves must pass before the Navy chugs into view.

Now, the temperatures are supposed to drop somewhat this coming few days, so I hope to reclaim the gaming room from the sauna-like conditions and fight out the battle. Stay tuned...

A little oasis

One thing every desert should have is an oasis. A watering hole for people and beasts of burden alike. They make great objectives for games and, under the Sands of the Sudan rules, oases also harbour potential ambushers. Having a bit of spare time this weekend I made one for the Sudan campaign.

Bengal Lancers approach the oasis.

The urban buildings are more or less done, if a little bland looking. I'll do some more research and see where I can put some colour to make them stand out a bit.

Since I now have everything I need for the Abu Hamad game, I might be able to fight it out this weekend. Watch this space...

Urban development

It's been a while since I posted. The gardening has kept me busy, plus a tooth infection followed by dental surgery really did a number on me these past few weeks. Ho hum. At least I'm able to press on with Sudan developments.

I made a couple of buildings for the urban area in the upcoming game set in and around Abu Hamad on the Nile. The spackle work is done, just need to paint in the windows and doors.

The taller building at the back will be shops and apartments. The lower ones with the courtyards are apparently typical of Abu Hamad. I'm tempted to put some greenery in the courtyards, and perhaps a palm tree. 

I also finished the Bengal Lancers, so they're ready to take their place in the Imperial army. The photo is a bit blurry, but it shows what's what.

In the Ooh shiny! category, we have yet another area of wargaming temptation, to whit the Great War Middle East, Palestine and Mesopotamia. For this I place the blame on David Fromkin's book "A Peace to end all peace" - that and Pendraken Miniatures excellent Middle East range. Fromkin's work gives a general view on the background to the theatre and the aftermath that rumbled on into 1922, all of which offer plenty of 'what if...' scenarios. Too Fat Lardies have their If the Lord Spares Us rules for the Middle East, and from the game reports I've read seem to give a good feel for the period.

We'll see.

A squadron of Bengal Lancers - almost

These stalwart chaps are by Irregular Miniatures, from their Wars in India range. I bought them many moons ago and they've been in a half-painted state ever since. Now I've brought them over to this side of the Atlantic it's high time they were finished so they can take their rightful place in the Imperial army.

These figures look as dark as this in real life.

They're basically undercoated. I intend to paint them a bit brighter than would be usual with larger scale figures, since wee chaps this size tend to look darker than they should when painted in historical colours. While they're drying I think I'll crack on with a few more Sudanese buildings. Perhaps in a couple of weeks or so I might be able to play out the next game in the campaign. What a concept!

A Mass of Mahdist Matelots.

So, after a week of not being able to do very much hobby-wise, I took the opportunity this weekend to make the crew and passengers for the four feluccas I made earlier. They probably don't bear too close examination, but en-masse from a distance they look fine.

A bit out of focus - my camera is playing silly buggers - but it's enough to show the rows of figures made from Sculpy. For convenience I made them in rows of threes and fours.

A Mass of Mahdist Matelots push off from the shallows into the deeper waters of the Nile.

Follow the Nile. Deep to much deeper...* Sunrise over the Sudan sees an expedition afloat.

I glued the rows of figures onto the decks of the feluccas in a slightly random pattern, which kinda works. Although a bit fiddly the figures weren't too much of a problem to make, so I may make another batch to crew a Mahdist steamboat. The only things left to do before fighting out the next stage of the Nile campaign is to finish painting a squadron of Bengal Lancers and to make a few houses of a more urban nature for the Nile side town.

* A brownie point to whoever identifies the singer and song title the lyric comes from.

Felucca template

I was asked to share the template I used to create the feluccas in the previous post, so here it is. It can be scaled up if needed.

The feluccas I made are based on 3/8th inch foamcore cut to shape, with cereal packet card for the sides and stern. I used Aileen's glue for the curved lengths of card around the hull, tacking them in place using a hot glue gun to hold them while the stronger Aileen's glue dried. Card can be used for a deck if required. It might also help to use another deck-shape cutout to base the foamcore hull on for added strength. I used a mini-dowel for the mast. Note that with the felucca rig the mast is comparatively short and thick. The diagram shows its location in relation to the yard. The felucca sail is just a triangle with one point cut off. I made mine from stiff paper with the yard being a thin strip of cardboard glued along the upper edge of the sail. It's best to assemble the mast, yard and sail before mounting it on the hull. 

Felucca the draw

I couldn't resist the pun. After the weekend I had, I might be excused.

Four feluccas sail by a Mahdist fort guarding the Nile.

One of the issues I have with modelling tends to be mission creep. I build one thing for a campaign or project and that leads to another - then another. In this case I built three steamboats, but then had to make a few of the felucca-rigged boats so characteristic of the Nile. Even now they're done, I'm not. I look at the photo above and think 'I need to add crew and passengers...'

I see Sculpey taking a prominent part in the near future.

A Trio of Steamboats

Wet and windy weather has curtailed any gardening today, so I pressed on and completed the three Nile steamboats for the Sudan.

Steamboats pass a house by the Nile. They're steaming dangerously close to each other, so they must be in a hurry!

The bases are made of sections cut from clear plastic food packaging. It helps if this stuff is as thick as possible, because the hot glue used to form the bow waves and wakes tends to pull on the plastic, causing it to warp. I had a few issues with this during the basing, but on the whole they came out alright. Use the glue gun to create streaks of raised material to represent waves and troughs. It pays to wait until the glue sets before going over it again around the bows and the wheel boxes to build up the rush of water. Once the last application of glue set I highlighted it using white craft paint. This tends to dry flat, so I shined it up with gloss varnish.

As you can see from the photo the blue material under the steamboat bases shows through, giving the whole a sense of depth.With hindsight I would've made the tail end of the bases a little longer, as the wakes look a bit too truncated for my taste. The final touches will be to put flags on the boats. I'm thinking of using pins and cartridge paper so they can be swapped out to represent different owners.

Steamboats progress

A little more progress on the trio of Nile steamboats...

I think I've got the haphazard plank protection right. They look like scruffy, workaday steamboats that once plied the Nile for civilian purposes but were commandeered into the fight between the British Empire and the Mahdi.

My next move will be to mount them on clear plastic bases with a bit of froth around paddleboxes and waterline. At the moment I'm not sure how to do the flags, but may settle for making removable flags so the boats can change allegiance with little effort. Quite how much effort the contending sides will expend to do the job on the tabletop remains to be seen...

I'm a workin' on the steamboats

All the livelong day? Well, not quite, but progress is being made.

One coat of battleship grey undercoat later and perhaps they look a bit too much like pre-Dreadnoughts at anchor off Spithead. I think I've succeeded in getting the snaggletooth appearance of the ad hoc plank protection that made these Nile steamboats so distinctive. They're now ready for the main painting to begin. I'm aiming at a scruffy weathered appearance, so expect lots of dirty whites, faded browns and greys.

Palms, Steamboats and Forts

It's been a while since I posted here, but I 've made some progress in making terrain specific to the Nile theatre in 1885.

The steamboats are a little over halfway towards completion. They're a bit rough and ready, but functional. I need to add the wooden planks to armour them, and do something to represent the paddle wheels.

Reports from British officers and observers at the time of the Nile campaign mention Mahdist forts along the course of the river. Circular in shape with one entrance, they housed one or two Krupp artillery pieces captured from ill-fated Egyptian expeditions. I'd call them redoubts myself, but those on the spot called them forts, so forts they are. Being well protected they posed quite a challenge to the British/Egyptian steamboats passing upriver, so I needed to add those to the Mahdist arsenal. One is complete, the other half-built as was mentioned in some accounts.

And finally, what Nile scene would be complete without a few palm trees? These scratch-built versions are fresh off the painting board.

I may tweak their appearance a little to get a more feathery look, but they'll do for now. I'm not sure whether to leave them on the wooden splints and base them up likewise, or make a more random pattern on circular bases.

A Batch of Boats

It's curious that, for a relatively modern major military operation along one of the great rivers of the world, little is known about the Nile gunboats used during the 1885 campaign. Some thirty or so steamboats were employed. Even the Mahdists had a few, either captured from the ill-fated Gordon's flotilla or commandeered from civilian operators. One of the former is mentioned as being armed with 'a brass howitzer,' which must've been an antique even then.

What few illustrations there are show gunboats armoured by a rather gimcrack arrangement of wooden beams and planks battened onto the sides and superstructure to give the crew some cover.

They bear little resemblance to the spiffy Nile gunboats used by General Kitchener eleven years later...

Nile gunboat Melik. She and her sisters Sheikh and Sultan were built in 1896 by the Thorneycroft yards at Chiswick, London and transported to Egypt in sections.

I already have a British gunboat, not too far removed from the Melik to look at...

...but now I need a couple of steamboats for troop transports and a Mahdist gunboat and riverboats to provide some opposition. I have the beginnings of three steamboats.

The riverboats will look something like these modern craft since the design hasn't changed for centuries.

Red sails in the sunset...

Along with these I need to make a load of palm trees since these are a feature of the Nile banks, so it'll be a while before I resume the campaign.