The battle was Condore, in India where the East India Company (under the command of Forde) took on their French competition - the French East India company (commanded by Conflans). Both used native armies and sepoys to do most of the fighting.
Before we began, Ian knocked out some hot cross buns and (true to the Good Friday tradition) served no meat all day (dishing out some delicious veggie pizzas during dinner). We also met his lovely wife Ness who was kind enough to put up with us all day - and helped our diets by polishing off the ready salted crisps!
No fighting took place for some time as we soaked up the sun in the back garden and chewed the fat (including the logistics for running a battle outdoors!) but eventually got down to business.
Myself and Mark were given the British to play (as Russ chose the French alongside Ian).
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| The French camp |
The French were camped on one side of a ravine (which would prove to be a tricky place to cross). As the Brits we had to deploy first (in front of the town of Condore with its maize field and water tanks) - then the French would deploy.
Mark had a cunning plan of rushing the native allies (who in the real battle did naff all) down one flank to get the French interested while the British and their sepoys went down the other flank - with more sepoys as a mobile reserve.
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| View from the British side before deployment. Condore, water tanks and the maize field. |
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| British deployment - the natives by the water tanks, sepoy reserve in column (for rapid movement) and British plus sepoys on the right. |
In the actual battle, the French rolled up on the British left but failed to spot the sepoys hidden by the maize and got hit in the flank. They ran and the Britsh - despite fielding less numbers - won a desisive victory which pretty much got the French out of India for good.
In ours, Mark started moving the entire native force (plus Maharajah in command) sideways on our left while I took the British and sepoys on the right. As we moved down, Russ sent a large contingent to meet the natives (hoping to drive them off).
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| The French command. Ian referring to the rules with Russ paying rapt attention, thereby not noticing the Blue Pencil of Doom |
The French on our right lined up on the other side of the ravine with their cannons - hoping to blast us to bits should we have the timerity to try and cross.
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| The French bravely hide behind the ravine. |
Of more interest though was events on the other side of the maize field. Russ deployed his forces in line - making them harder to kill but slower to move. Mark's eyes lit up with the prospect of swamping the French - especially as the reserve sepoys were trundling unseen through the maize field and would soon be able to rush them in the flank. Russ helped him by splitting his force into 3 parts - making them harder to move.
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| Setting the trap - natives seek to pin the French while the sepoys get through the maize and into the flank |
British shooting meanwhile was hampered by Ian handing our defensive bonuses to the French ("Plus 1 for the ravine, plus 1 because its sunny, plus 1 because I'm commanding them...") . French shooting on the other hand was mighty effective and soon we were losing casualites off our best troops). But Russ had seen the danger and had ordered a withdrawl - trying to get clear before my sepoys could outflank them.
Mark chose this point to throw a '1' for the Maharajah who promptly stopped in mid-chase, giving the French valuable escape time. Forde had to rush over and whap the Maharajah's elephant with a stick to get him going again - but the yellow French had made good their escape.
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| The flashing d20 - announcing another abject failure |
We were also not helped by Mark's latest toy - the flashing d20. This thing is the size of a baby's fist and (especially when thrown by Russ) has an inability to roll very far. I think our first morale check (in POW, low is good, high is bad and 20 is disasterous) we threw a 20 - cue flashing lights and shouts of laughter from the French.
The Maharajah stopping cued some French musketry which led to lots of 'Shaken' markers and even slower movement from the natives. The 'reserve' sepoys found themselves facing the French as well.
But the lack of pips meant that the Maharajah was leaving units strung out all over the path of advance - meaning he'd have to either stop to let them catch up or plunge on with weakened troops. Of course, Banzai Mark chose the latter and carried on regardless.
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| The French lines - note the 'strung out' troops at the top trying to get to safety. |
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| The French celebrate as Mark lights his d20 up again |
The only good thing for us was that both wings of the army had joined up, making a solid line that was wider than the French one. This meant that (assuming we could gt across the ravine) that flanking was possible on both sides.
But we had to get across, and the Maharajah had stopped again (allegedly to allow his stragglers to close up). No such retisence from the British who (having come under sustained cannon fire) had decided this was the time to get up close and personal.
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| The French get to the other side of the ravine and safety |
There was a chance though - the centre was realtively unguarded and the reserve sepoys had an order to attack the French left. This could be achieved by going through the centre and rolling up the French (assuming the natives got busy and the French left was pinned by the British and the other sepoys.
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| Just before the real stuff began - the reserve sepoys rush the middle while the Brits and the other sepoys engage the French left. |
In terms of shooting, I managed to throw a succession of 1's for minimal damage and Russ began the greatest streak of morale checks in the history of wargaming. Time and time again the French hung on and failed only once in about 12 attempts when logic and statistics would have it that they would - nay should - fail and run. Of course, as the French rolled well, I rolled woefully and another 20 saw the Brits turn and run.
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| The Brits suffer and the French make roll after roll after roll... |
This led to all kinds of accusations - such as checking the dice to see if there was any number higher than 10 on it and requests that the dice be seen to roll (rather than drop 1" onto the table). We even looked under the table for hidden magnets and other nefarious devices (maybe a chicken sacrificed to the Dark Gods) that could explain the run of saves.
It didn't help when it was pointed out that Russ had tried to add in the strength of a unit that wasn't even there - enhanced by Ian adding on extra damage that had not actually been inflicted! The accusations flew thick and fast and the air turned as blue as the sky.
At this point we retired for pizza and beer - and spent far too long outside in the sun. The conversation covered many points, including Salute (which Ian and Russ had both attended), Victory at Sea, next week's battle (probably 1941 Russians vs Germans) and lots and lots of laughter.
Then back to the serious stuff. I know it was serious as my note taking declined to random words as the action got fast and furious.
The French hung in despite the sepoys getting in on the flank (Russ saving on a '3').
In the middle, the reserve sepoys were getting attention from all sides. One unit was battered and as Mark announced "you need to throw like you've never thrown before". I threw....a '1' - shaken marker taken off and they stay in the hunt. The other however knocked back the European contingent and then killed off the cannon that had so damaged their comrades. This however attracted the attention of all opposing forces in the area - and they were on their own.
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| Russ appears to be channeling dark forces as he reaches for his killer d20. Ian has dropped off, knowing the saving throws are in good hands. |
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| The Super Sepoys see off the Europeans and kill a gun - then line up the French flank |
The Maharajah finally got going and threw his boys over the ravine - helping take the heat off the Super Sepoys. And the French on our right failed to throw in the towel despite being flanked by sepoys, shot to bits by the Brits and having unit strengths in the 'under 5' category.
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| Somehow the French flank does not crumble. Somehow being Russ throwing 2's and 3's all afternoon |
The Super Sepoys then got attacked on both sides by oppositng sepoys to the front and irregular horse from behind. A number of times they got charged at a huge disadvantage but I managed some Russ-like saving throws (including two '1's' that removed Shaken markers at critical times to allow them to fight at slightly better odds). Amazingly, they held on in there.
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| The Super Sepoys charged at both front and rear - yet stay fighting! |
Either side had the chance for victory, and it got very tense in the room. Comments flew as the tension rose.
"Your natives have done really well"
"Have they f**k!"
Russ' shout of "That's gone" before the points had been added up to see if the unit broke (it hadn't).
Mark getting back on the Try It On League by claiming (tongue in cheek) that a unit was 17" away (i.e. out of cannon range) when it was under 11" away.
All kinds of shenanigans - including Russ saving a unit with a throw of 2 causing more curses from the British side and demands to see the virgin that had been sacrificed before the battle had started.
But then, the Gods of War changed their fickle minds and things started to go our way. The Super Sepoys found themselves fighting well against the opposition and forced the troops facing them to go Shaken and fall back. They also drew a combat with the horses and suddenly had space to fight.
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| The Super Sepoys fight their way out despite overwhelming odds. |
Of course, not ALL went our own way as the Maharajah misbehaved and his troops proved as fragile as a glass football. They failed to do much against the French but were at least keeping them busy.
On the right flank, both sides were pretty much ground down. Russ started failing morale checks for the first time and as French units became shaken, the sepoys charged in.
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| Could the French be finally crumbling? The sepoys run in to find out. |
The Super Sepoys were charged again - and kept going with a '2' on the morale check. Good news followed as the 'Mullah from Abdullah' (aka the Maharajah) charged across the ravine with his horses and managed to (after several ridiculous morale check rolls) kill it off.
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| The Maharajah earns his pay as the cannon is killed off (finally!) and they pin the flank |
The French left flank finally crumbled though as the Britsh and sepoys finally broke through.
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| Finally Russ failes a morale check and a French sepoy unit dies - leaving the flank to be rolled up. |
In the centre, thinking that the Super Sepoys must die eventually, the French Europeans came back into the fight and shot at the other battered reserve sepoys that Mark had dragged back into the fray (they were on very low strength). I needed a 2 or better on a d20 to stop them running - and threw a 2! This was crucial as any units lost counted against morale checks.
At this stage, the battle was truly on a knife edge. If the reserve sepoys died, then the French were strong enough to turn and hold against the wekened British and spoys coming down their left (as the Maharajah's troops were getting shot to ribbons and started failing morale checks). But then the Maharajah summoned up one last effort and the remains of his force (those not running for the hills) managed to get a French unit shaken!
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| The Maharajah's force causes some casualties! |
Russ therefore moved the troops facing the Super Sepoys into the line to face off the Maharajah's forces. This left the way open for the irregular horse to charge the Super Sepoys again.
The French left finally collapsed and the British (what was left of them) and their sepoys turned to roll down and take the French camp. They surrounded the remaining unit to finish them off before the looting began.
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| Finally the French left collapses fully - leaving the camp open to attack. |
On our left, the Maharajah's cavalry - having killed the cannon facing them (finally) turned into the flank of the French troops. The French were now relying on killing as many units as they could to secure the flank and centre. Central to this was killing off the reserve sepoys. The irregular cavalry lined up for a charge. The sepoys - down to just 5 strength - needed less than this number to receive the charge. Discarding Mark's chunky d20 Disaster Dice I rolled my trusty purple d20 - and got a 2! They stand.
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| The crucial '2'. Note that it rolled off the '20'! |
The cavalry therefore needed to roll to see if they would go in. Russ reached for Ian's chunky 'Under 10 Guaranteed!' d20 and rolled - a 20! The red light flashed! The British cheered and high-5'd while the French despaired. Unbelievably the thin red line of sepoys had seen off the irregulars who ran for the hills.
At this point, all was lost for the French. Both flanks and now the centre were under severe threat. The French threw in the towel and despite all that had happened - the incredible saves, the 20's on both sides, the battering both had taken, it was the British who won a most famous victory.
Thoughts
An absolutely amazing battle. The period is really growing on me and I would never have thought (from previous experience in the Napoleonic rules) that POW could deliver such a close and exciting battle. Both sides could claim that they had victory in their grasp - and both had units that held in decisively when they really should have died or run. The Indian campaign is a hit for me and - win or lose - I thought it was a superb day. Ian and Ness looked after us really well, the sun shone, we had loads of laughs and a cracking battle to boot. Does wargaming get any better than this? Not likely!
The Super Sepoys faced another morale test
Background
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Condore