The Rules : POW 18C
The Location : Ian's house
The Participants : Myself and John controlled the Nawab of Bengal's forces, Mark and Russ (when I say Mark and Russ, I mean Mark) controlled the East India Company, Ian controlled the forces of the duplicitous Mir Jafar.
The Background : The Battle of Plassey, 23 June 1757, was a decisive British East India Company victory over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies, establishing Company rule in South Asia which expanded over much of the Indies for the next 190 years. The battle took place at Palashi, Bengal, on the river banks of the Bhagirathi River, about 150 km north of Calcutta, near Murshidabad, then capital of undivided Bengal. The belligerents were Siraj-ud-daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, and the British East India Company.
The battle was preceded by the attack and plunder of Calcutta by Siraj-ud-daulah and the Black Hole tragedy. The British sent reinforcements under Colonel Robert Clive and Admiral Charles Watson from Madras to Bengal and recaptured Calcutta. Clive then seized the initiative to capture the French fort of Chandernagar.
Tensions and suspicions between Siraj-ud-daulah and the British culminated in the Battle of Plassey. The battle was waged during the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) and in a mirror of their European rivalry, the French East India Company sent a small contingent to fight against the British. Siraj-ud-Daulah had a numerically superior force and made his stand at Plassey. The British, worried about being outnumbered, formed a conspiracy with Siraj-ud-Daulah's demoted army chief Mir Jafar, along with others such as Yar Lutuf Khan, Jagat Seths (Mahtab Chand and Swarup Chand), Omichund and Rai Durlabh.
Mir Jafar, Rai Durlabh and Yar Lutuf Khan thus assembled their troops near the battlefield but made no move to actually join the battle. Siraj-ud-Daulah's army was defeated by roughly 3,000 soldiers of Col. Robert Clive, owing to the flight of Siraj-ud-daulah from the battlefield and the inactivity of the conspirators.
This is judged to be one of the pivotal battles in the control of South Asia by the colonial powers. The British now wielded enormous influence over the Nawab and consequently acquired large amounts of concession for previous losses and revenue from trade. The British further used this revenue to increase their military might and push the other European colonial powers such as the Dutch and the French out of South Asia, thus expanding the British Empire in Asia.
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| Clive meets Jafar after the battle. |
Just so you know, in the real battle 3,000 assorted Europeans and sepoys faced off against 35,000 infantry, 18,000 cavalry, 53 artillery pieces (mostly large guns) including some French artillery from the French East India Company - although most had no involvement at all.
Casualties were relatively light - 22 killed and 50 wounded on the EIC side, 500 killed on the Nawabs. Ours was a bit more bloody!
The Set Up
The EIC forces set up in the Mangrove grove and to the side of the hunting lodge (with some cannon in an old kiln).
The Nawab's forces were deployed alongside the river - starting from a reboubt and the hill at the left hand side of the battlefield. We deployed infantry and artillery in two dry water tanks on the path leading to the redoubt. These were planned to be hard points to delay and wear down the EIC forces as they advanced on the redoubt.
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| The Nawab's forces alongside the water tanks. The redoubt is in the bottom right corner. The Nawab can be seen on his elephant bottom left. The river on the right - you can also see the EIC deployment and the hunting lodge where Clive spent the entire battle. |
In addition, we had forces in the middle of the battlefield (controlled by John) comprising rocket troops, jezzails, cavalry and other assorted bits.
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| John's forces in the centre - rocket troops and jezzails at the front, backed by assorted cavalry and infantry. |
Jafar (Ian) deployed opposite the mangrove grove - in an ideal position to attack either force!
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| The (possibly) treacherous Jafar lines up opposite the mangrove grove. |
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| EIC deployment - inside the mangrove grove. |
The Victory Conditions
For the Nawab, victory depended on eliminating the EIC force and maintaining a presence on the battlefield. For the EIC it was to eliminate the Nawab's forces and / or to take the Nawab's redoubt and baggage train.
For Jafar it was a bit more subtle - he had to make a decisive influence on the battle. i.e. come in on the winning side but only to reverse the fortune of battle (so if the Nawab was losing he could come in to help eliminate the EIC, and vice versa). It was no good just to come in and reinforce a clear victory - they had to come to the rescue AND then win the battle. This represented the political necessity of being seen to be the most powerful military leader.
Before we began
Ian described the victory conditions, the background and the forces available. He knen knocked out some lovely bacon and egg baps for breakfast.
The Battle Begins
Our plan was relatively simple. Commit Jafar to confronting the EIC while defending the route to the redoubt - using our weaker troops to wear down the Europeans and their sepoys. If we could get Jafar to commit against the EIC it would force his hand onto our side. If not, then we'd know which way the tide was due to turn and we'd still have (hopefully) a strong force to face Jafar with.
To this end we placed lines of troops in their way (alongside the river bank - the quickest route to the redoubt). John commanded the centre and was willing to get stuck into anything which showed its face to him.
The Bengalis won initiative and got some artillery shots in - especially the French cannon ("Very good shooting, sahib") which shook the EIC artillery in the kiln. Jafar refused to shoot on the EIC (claiming something about effective range, boggy terrain and the atmospheric conditions) - clearly he was biding his time. He was referred to as 'Jaffa the Seedless One' for the remainder of the battle.
In terms of movement, every time Jafar or John rolled a '1' it meant they automatically went on Hold - so Ian was praying for 1's so he wouldn't have to move. As it was he was forced to move but did so really slowly. Given that he often rolled 6's during the battle, it was amazing how slowly you can move troops on the field when you want to.
The EIC shot back at the Nawabs cannon. Ironically we'd been discussing Big Lee and his illuminated d20 (that lights up when a 20 is thrown). Sure enough I rolled a 20 for morale - a catastrophic fail and some of our artillery routed. This roll pretty much set the tone for most of mine / John's dice rolling for the rest of the battle.
The EIC then came out - two units with battallion guns and tugging their artillery along with them. This combination was to prove pretty effective all day. The other stayed in the mangrove grove - with some artillery tucked into the corner.
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| The EIC sally forth |
The Bengali shooting went in with little effect and the Bengalis stood while Jafar crawled towards the mangroves.
In return, the EIC cannon opened up again but Mark started inflicting casualties on his own guns (a '6' reduces the strength by 1 each time).
Mark's plan seemed to be a simultaneous move down the right wing towards me while another column took on John (keeping the last in the mangroves just in case Jafar tried a triple bluff).
This brought Mark's troops in range of John's rockets and artillery - so he lit the blue touch paper. Unlike artillery, rockets have a life of their own and can easily land on any unit in range - including your own. The rockets hit this time - going into the sepoys. This forces a number of morale tests - one of which (revenge!) is a 20 - forcing the sepoys to retire shake through their own troops. A good session for the Bengalis.
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| The result - two lots of shaken EIC units |
The EIC got some good shooting in themselves and started inflicting severe hits on my Bengalis. They also moved forward as a formidable group. Despite the huge difference in numbers, it was clear that quality was going to count for a lot. And we didn't have a lot of quality.
The rockets fired again, but the cohesion tests were easily passed and the thin red lines pressed on. But we thought they'd stepped too far and allowed us the chance to get around them. We decided on an order change to engage the EIC - which would come into effect next turn.
Seeing this, Mark referred to the need to keep something upper and stiff - prompting the reply that we hoped he was referring to his lip!
He needn't have worried. His devastating cannon fire forced a Bengali cavalry unit flanking the first water tank to retire shaken and they shook every unit they passed through. Disaster. The only bright spot was another self-inflicted wound on the guns by Mark.
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| Disaster at the water tank as all my units go shaken at the same time |
Then another decisive moment. As in the real battle, a monsoon downpour ensued. The Europeans (British and French) had the foresight to cover their powder with tarpaulins. Not so the Bengalis. Each artillery unit therefore had to take a hit on the '25' table - and our artillery, not the strongest to start with, was considerably reduced. D'oh!
Still, at least the rockets were unaffected and they continued to pour random destruction in the sepoys but also managed to hit their own cavalry.
Another decisive moment - Jafar rolled a 1 and stopped dead. The Nawab would have to issue an order across the battlefield to get him going again - using up vital pips and time.
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| Jafar grinds to a halt. Great. |
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| The EIC in two lines - ideal for a flank attack. |
Seeing the EIC forces facing him were now in two lines, John took the opportunity to turn his jezzails around to hit them in the flank (causing a casualty and getting them Shaken). Jafar watched with interest and was clearly wavering. He wasn't helped by rolling a 6 for movement ("We'll see him dead yet!) forcing him to continue the advance. Mark causing more self-inflicted wounds on the kilnm artillery was also a welcome bonus.
However, with 2 cannons and battallion guns in range, they started pouring withering fire into the Bengalis. 7 hits on 3 units. In addition, the artillery in the mangrove got a flank hit on the nearest jezzails and another crappy dice roll saw them Rout. Still, at least another self inflicted wound also resulted.
The rockets chose this moment to go bad and hit their own jezzails which went Shaken. Indeed, this was one of several times when our combined dice throwing was really, really bad.
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| Looking grim at Water Tank 1 as the casualties mount. |
Over by Water Tank 1 it was looking grim. The Bengali forces were being pushed back, leaving the French artillery exposed. The EIC infantry continues their grinding movement - safe in the knowledge that incoming fire would be curtailed. However, they got a sharp reminder from the French facing them - who inflicted 2 casualties and killed their commander, Coutts! Cue Bengali celebrations.
John moved his cavalry up in the centre - with a view to charge the sepoys there in the flank. However, EIC artillery fire forced the rocketeers and the jezzails back as well as John's cannon. This became a feature of the battle for us - as soon as we got into a good position, morale rolls forced us all the way back again. Sometimes the dice gods are against you - I've had them against me for the past 3 weeks!
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| Loads of Shaken markers on John's troops. |
The EIC then charged the French cannon - which Routed. Great!
About the only unit we could get to shoot were the skirmishers in the water tank - and as Russ rolled another 20 the EIC troops facing them retired shaken and took 2 hits (and almost lost Coutts Junior - the recent replacement for the deceased Coutts).
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| A ray of sunshine for the Bengalis - the EIC are pushed back and Coutts Jnr. is wounded. |
I then took the opportunity to charge the same Shaken sepoys in the front while John charged the sepoys in the middle in the flank. The EIC rolled a 19 and failed their morale check and Routed. The Bengali cavalry were now in behind the EIC. All eyes turned to Jafar (Ian) to see if he was going to react - if the EIC folded at this stage he'd need to get stuck in quickly.
It was looking a lot rosier for Bengal at this point. We should have known...
John then rolled for the attacking cavalry (as they'd taken hits from the artillery in the mangrove grove). As this was in their flank the roll was at -4 - and he rolled a 20! So despite seeing the EIC sepoys run before them, they now Routed themselves! At the worst possible time - when the entire EIC army was open for attack - they Rout. Cue much cursing from the Bengali side. Again the dice had conspired against us.
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| How is it possible not to make this a great victory for Bengal? Roll a 20. You can also see the artillery in the corner of the mangrioves that caused us a load of problems. |
The EIC wasted no time in exploiting this good fortune. They moved forward to take on what Mark described as the "spear chucking mo-fo's"
Worse, as the John's remaining cavalry wanted to charge in but required a 1 on a d20 in order to pass the test (given the flank shot from the mangrove artillery) - i.e. virtually impossible. Some bad words were used.
This shows how Jafar could easily have swung the battle. The EIC in the centre were fully exposed except for the artillery. Had Jafar engaged the mangrove grove, the cannon would have to have adjusted fire - and the rear of the EIC forces engaging the Nawab would have been opened up for a devastating cavalry attack. As it was, Ian sat back and let the two sides rip into each other. Politics! Of course, at that point Ian rolled a 1 anyway, so he ground to a happy halt again.
As they were now virtually on their own, my Water Tank skirmishers took the full brunt of the EIC fire and Routed. Mark then adjusted his forces by marching his troops out of the mangrove grove - feeling that he was safe to do so thanks to Jafar's perfidy.
My other remaining skirmishers at least had some effect - by wounding Coutts Junior (and therefore limiting the EIC movement on their left side. I also formed a line in front of the redoubt with some elephant-mounted artillery behind some matchlock troops - of which more later.
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| Knowing Jafar is not going to attack, the remaining EIC troops come out of the mangroves unopposed. |
The EIC had by now formed a line alongside Water Tank 1 (with the column moving to bolster their right flank). My troops by the tank were too weak to do much - having been reduced by accurate shooting. However, we continued to harry the EIC troops as much as we could, with a view to holding them up as long as possible.
Indeed, with Coutts Junior injured, they weren't going anywhere quick.
Which didn't matter as we had nothing to shoot at them with anyway. So I decided to charge him instead - using one unit to screen the attacking unit from the kiln cannons as the other got stuck into the flank of the leftmost sepoys.
Or they would have, had I not rolled 18 and 17 for morale checks. More swearing as the dice prevented us from exploiting another great opportunity. So rather than swamping the sepoys, they both retired shaken and I'm back to square 1 again. Sooooo frustrating!
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| Quelle suprise! Our dice prevent another devastating flank attack. |
The EIC opened fire and applied loads of Shaken markers on our troops. This wasn't helped by Mark trying it on for the first of many times as he tried to get his troops stuck into melee.
Ian : "Did you fire those?"
Mark : "No."
Me and John (in unison) : "Yes you f****** did!"
Mark - "I'll just move these as well"
Ian - "You could - if you actually had any pips left".
He then tried it on a couple more times in the same round. Like conveniently forgetting the extra -4 on his morale roll for being attacked in the flank by the 'spear chucking mofos'.
The wargaming gods struck back as Mark then suffered more self-inflicted wounds on the artillery. But it was a short respite, as our dice again conspired against us. Despite having all the advantages, my spear chuckers ran in again on the flank but failed to win the combat AND failed their morale check so ran off. Sometimes you just want to chuck your dice out of the window. So another battle winning opportunity turns into an embarassing failure.
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| It's just not happening. Another failure to exploit the open flank. |
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| Mark aka Mr Try It On aka Mr Extra Pips hides behind Russ as accusing fingers are pointed. Russ' contact lenses stayed in despite eye-popping shenanigans from his commanding general. |
The EIC swept forward and drove off my skirmishers in Water Tank 1. Meanwhile Jaffa angled his troops towards the centre (waiting to see how things went). EIC shooting was devastating as usual and shot at the cavalry threatening them (getting 3 hits in).
I therefore turned my cavalry to face the oncoming infantry. However they were shaken by the routing skirmishers and so already up against it. As a consequence the cavalry bounced and again the dice stopped us making a difference. The morale roll was failed and they routed.
The melee boys got stuck in by the water tank but - again - the dice acted against us. Both sides rolled a 1 (anything other than a 1 would have seen the Bengalis win the combat) and they failed the morale test and were shaken again.
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| Attacked in the flank and the front? Doesn't matter - you know you're safe when Phil's throwing the dice. |
Meanwhile, John's troops in the centre were being pushed back by artillery fire and just looked like a sea of shaken markers. This was not helped by him rolling a succession of '2's for pips - meaning he could do nothing about it. In a way this was positive in that we were doing so badly, Jafar might be forced to come in on our side.
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| If you're wondering why John's troops aren't much involved, check this out. No less than 8 Shaken markers. Tricky to get rid of thoese when you're throwing 2's. |
So most of the action was on our right. My troops were crumbling like a damp Rich Tea biscuit. The artillery suffered another self inflicted hit (another 6 - tht dice needs investigating...) but they were dishing out more than they were taking. Two units were routed and they also inflicted damage on the redoubt (as units routed through it). It was looking grim. The EIC moved forward and again Mark tried it on with his shooting dice.
All we could do now was move our better units onto the right flank and take some shaken markers off. Marks shooting was again solid, but another two 6's (I'm serious, I want that dice looking at) meant two more self inflicted hits (making around 8 so far - more than my own troops had put on them).
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| Not much to hold the EIC back here. Some loin-clad swordsmen, a couple of monkeys and a goat. |
The dice were also not helping as we threw a 19 for a morale test and another unit Routed from the field. At this stage we had nothing to shoot with and were getting pounded back. We needed pips but were both rolling 1's and 2's. In a desperate attempt to balance the odds John charged the centre artillery (which had moved up with the mangrove troops) with cavalry - and succeeded! The cannon went shaken and fell back. Our one piece of good news in a world of horror.
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| John's cavalry send the pesky artillery packing. |
Meanwhile the majority of troops on the right flank by the water tanks had melted away. I had to move my elephants and matchlocks into Water Tank 2 to provide some cover and protection for the redoubt. Just as well as everything around them was disappearing fast. It was scant comfort that Mark threw another 6 for self inflicted wounds as he started shooting at the redoubt itself.
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| We charge shaken troops in the open - aand still can't shift them. |
Russ briefly woke up at this point as Mark allowed him to roll a couple of dice. This was for an order change from Clive in the hunting lodge.
Luckily, John managed to throw over 2 for pips for the first time in 10 attempts and got his rocket troops into range (as did my jezzails and elephants). After shooting, I sent some skirmishers in and Russ rolled 20 for morale - retire shaken - and suddenly the picture changed. The ECI left flank had retired into the first water tank. However, cannon fire shook the skirmishers in turn but further shooting saw another EIC unit go shaken. This was unexpected - but we were too weak to exploit the opportunity.
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| Wahey! We actually push the EIC back for once. If only they didn't have that bleeding cannon there! |
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| Looking good! |
The EIC therefore formed a strong point around water tank 2. Shots were exchanged and my skirmishers finally gave up the ghost and ran off. But the wounded officer meant they were stuck there. If only we could get more units in!
Our cavalry therefore charged in to the shaken unit - only to see the EIC not only pass the morale test, but to roll a 1 (so they were no longer Shaken). Talk about the dice not being with you! Aa a consequence they shot and meleed at no disadvantage. We had 4 charges lined up (as John had also got his troops into range) yet the dice again conspired and we ended up with just one unit going in. Despite Russ claiming they were doomed they rooled a 6 to our 2 meaning we not only lost a melee we should have won, but also failed the morale test and bounced.
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| Multiple charges - but only one ends up in contact. Dice!!!! |
Again, a position which should have been decisive was ruined by poor dice. Our mood wasn't helped by the gloating and back slapping across the table and we descended into a slough of despond and catatonia - and especially after Mark's comment that his greatest tactical move was "choosing not to go on the same side as John or Phil - the two worst dice rollers in Christendom".
More shooting ensued - with my jezzails forced to run for it as a consequence - but also putting shaken markers on the EIC once again. So again we girded our loins for another charge, this time elephants and cavalry. Except they didn't. As we were shot at going in we managed to fail more morale tests and continued to bounce off the line. Another good opportunity denied by the bones. Not only that, all three opposing units passed their morale tests and shot at our boys. So we bounced again.
At least we had some luck - we managed to shoot another officer of the EIC. But in the melee we drew and then Russ rolled another 20 (so it wasn't all one-way dice rolling) and they retired shaken! But we also failed our roll and routed. No silver linings for us.
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| The thin red line holds despite all our best efforts. |
So the cavalry and elephants tried again.
This also set the moment for Jafar's move. Finally he decided to close up to the action and moved his troops up- but we just didn't know which way he would go. To be fair, at this stage neither did he!
Mark then tries it on again with his morale roll. He tries to shoot his cannon despite having retired shaken previously. A quick check showed that he couldn't fire in such circumstances but also showed that myself and John had been diddled previously as the gun had shot a couple of times while being pursued and one of those shots had forced the cavalry to retire shaken! As this shouldn't have been the case the additional cavalry unit should have been unaffected and could have caused mayhem by attacking the undepended flank of the sepoys! Much grumbling from the Bengali contingent.
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| Mark tries to shoot with a retreating gun. |
The elephants and cavalry were finding it hard going - more failed morale tests and lots of hits from shooting was taking a heavy toll. The elephants gave it up and routed away - while John' and my cavalry continued to bounce off the lines. Melees were drawn where they should have been won and the EIC were looking stronger than ever. Jafar needed to time his entrance to a nicety.
The only benefit was that the wounded officers were holding up the EIC advance with -1 pips. Not that it made much difference. My cavalry also routed and only the matchlocks and 2 units of shaken cavalry and skirmishers were in the way.
As for the cavalry, again the dice transpired as a 19 meant a refusla to charge home against a unit of shaken infantry - so thry bounced and retired shaken. We made that 4 times we'd been in a good position and the dice had stopped us going in. I felt like banging my head on the table (except that's where the redoubt was and I whould have got an elephant stuck in my head).
At least the rockets were still going. They fired (more in hope than expectation) and miraculously it forced a cohesion test that Russ failed with another 20. The dice gods had swung to our side! The sepoys retired shaken leaving a huge hole in their right flank. This preciptated mass charges - I charged the retiring unit, while John charged the gun and the rightmost sepoys.
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| Boom! A big hole opens upin the EIC lines. Get in there, boys! |
It goes without saying that the dice did us again. John bounced on the flank of the sepoys (more swear words) but the cannon was sent backwards again. So we had some cavalry in the rear at last. Not only that, but the Nawab also grabbed hold of his shaken cavalry in front of the redoubt and sent them running for the guns the ECI had dragged up from the kiln (if only to give the reboubt a clear arc of fire).
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| John somehow bounces from a flank attack but everyone else piles in. |
The ECI moved their infantry back from the water tank to cover the cannon. In an inspired move, John and I moved all three cavalry units around and surrounded the exposed sepoys, which routed!
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| Custer's Last Stand? No, its sepoys dying in their hundreds. |
This gave us an advantage - except for more shooting which routed our cavalry going for the cannon and made the matchlocks retire shaken. But the cavalry in the rear were now able to do more damage and charged another EIC unit in the rear.
As expected, Jafar made his move at this critical point, and sided with...the EIC. He clearly saw that they were close to losing and decided to throw his lot in with Clive and to rid Bengal of his nephew the Nawab. Followed by boos and hisses, Ian swung his troops round to attack John's forces (which were strung out all over the battlefield at this point). But was it too late?
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| Jafar the Treacherous makes his move. BOOOOOOOOO! |
The EIC forces had taken a battering on the way in (mainly self inflicted by Mark's dodgy d6) and now it seemed they were not strong enough to take the redoubt alone. The Nawab still had strong units on the field and the majority of John's forces were intact but shaken.
The EIC were severely weakened and although they continued to shoot at the redoubt, they now had troops in their rear. One of John's cavalry units contacted some sepoys in the rear - which retired shaken in range of the redoubts guns ("Get the grape ready") and they failed the morale test and routed. This left just two EIC infantry units and guns on the field. Was Jafar simply re-inforcing a defeat?
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| The Nawab's forces are unmoved by the unfolding events. Bring it on! |
It was hard to say as his cavalry swamped John's brave cavalry. Having reduced themselves to ribbons in an effort to get to grips with the EIC, they were easy meat for Jafar's fresh troops. It now became a different story - could Jafar actually win the whole battle and become top dog?
At this point both John and Russ departed (it was pushing 5pm) so we played out a couple of moves then stood back to look at what had happened.
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| Chaos in the middle. |
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| Things are much more orderly at the redoubt. |
The Result
It wasn't clear who actually held the upper hand. Clearly Clive had failed to get rid of the Nawab and had also suffered horrendous casualties (Mark admitting that 80% of the force had gone). In comparison with the real battle, this was a heck of a different outcome - mainly as John's forces had become involved and worked with the Nawab. Indeed John's rocket troops and the Nawab's elite cavalry had inflicted most of the damage (after Mark's self inflicted wounds) on the EIC.
The material strength of the remaining units was so low as to prevent them trying anything independently and so would rely on Jafar to achieve any form of result. So Ian was up on this side of the bargain - Clive was very much in his debt. If Jafar had done nothing, then the Nawab's forces could have quickly won through and eliminated the EIC's army completely.
It was argued that his European and sepoy army was so depleted that this would seriously affect both the EIC's standing and their ability to fight in other provinces (and indeed encourage others to rise up and fight). The EIC had definitely failed here.
The Nawab was still on the field, his redoubt was secure and he had significant numbers of troops still available. It was suggested that if these could be placed behind the redoubt and John's centre forces placed in some form of line (as a lot of Jafar's forces were strung out across the field) then - combined with the Nawab's forces, Jafar was unlikely to win the day.
So on countback, it was a woolly result. The Nawab could be argued to have won the day simply by still being on the field and with Jafar having a lot to do. Indeed, with Jafar throwing his lot in with Clive and not winning the day, he would be in for significant trouble - not just from the Nawab but other provinces as well. It was tricky for Ian and the consensus was that he moved just one round too late. If he'd swung in before the Nawab's cavalry routed one unit and took the other sepoys in the rear, then the combined force may have had enough strength. As it was, Jafar's treachery was clear to see. Indeed, he might have waited until Clive's forces were fully eliminated and then gone for it - it may have given him a better result.
Conclusions
Myself and John had a good plan that would have been much more effective had we been able to throw dice. Creating the strong points certainly whittled down the EIC forces but next time I'd certainly give more though to placement to keep them out of harm's way until they're needed.
We weren't helped by the artillery routing in the first turn. The extra grape firepower they could have added would have made a big difference later on.
Both sides threw bad dice - Russ managed some 20's on key rolls as well. But when you see the opponent roll 19 and stay to fight when the same roll sees your own unit run for the hills, we felt up against it all the way. Our bad dice hurt much more than theirs.
This was especially true of movement pips. John and me rolling a succession of 2's meant that nothing could get going and opportunities could not be exploited.
The combination of battalions guns and artillery gave the EIC a huge bonus. Most of my troops were shredded and John was pushed back to the edge of the table by it. Indeed, it could be argued that the EIC's best unit was the artillery in the mangroves which routed unit after unit that otherwise would have ridden down the sepoys flanks and finished the battle in short order. We certainly learned not to expose flanks to fire if it can't be helped.
But our rockets gave a good account of themselves as well - definitely a unit to watch out for.
The battle proved much bloodier than the real thing - many men were lost on both sides (especially the Nawab's) and it certainly showed the power of quality vs quantity (when all guns could be brough to bear).
However, when the dust settles, it was a superb battle. Well done again to Ian for hosting a fantastic day and again putting on a superb wargame. I'm definitely a fan of 18tc C POW now - I just wish I could throw a dice properly!