Badly mauled at Badli-Mahld!

The second game of the New Year here in GHQ between Phil and I needed to be an Indian Mutiny game. Why, you ask, dear reader? Well, later in the week, Dan from Wargames Illustrated is coming to take action pictures to accompany a piece I've written for the magazine on my approach to gaming the Indian Mutiny. As I didn't want to clear one game away and lay out another on the same day, you can now see why we opted for the game we did. The game also needs to make use of the whole collection of figures, scenic pieces, buildings and terrain, as they will be needed for the photoshoot. So, a straightforward encounter battle was on the blocks as we began...
The forces of the H.E.I.C. have to clear a Mutineer blocking force from the pass leading to Bhyklabad. The mountainsides are lined with warriors of the fierce Bhurpa tribes, for whom any excuse for a fight and the chance of plunder is welcome ~

The Mutineers' left flank is further guarded by a force loyal to the Raja of Rhanli, comprising his foot guards, lancers, camel gunners, elephants and bands of local Badmash ~

The main Mutineer blocking force comprises several infantry regiments, some cavalry and two batteries of guns. They occupy the village of Badli-Mahld and will take some shifting out I felt ~

The forces of the H.E.I.C. were commanded by Lord Rawnsley, scion of that noble family of warriors tracing their ancestry back to the C17th and the ECW! His force consisted of three Brigades of Infantry, a mix of HM Regulars, Company troops and loyal Native Infantry battalions, a Brigade of artillery and two small Brigades of cavalry ~

The first turn was notable for Lord Rawnsley's poor dice throws on Command Rolls which saw the H.E.I.C.'s forces make little progress towards their goal ~

Throwing caution to the wind, the Mutineers and their native allies move boldly forward in an attempt to crowd the enemy and prevent his superior fire power and ranges from being fully exploited against them ~

The Bhurpas force the Gurkhas to retire after vicious hand-to-hand fighting while the Badmash, in an unlikely outcome, force the Sikh Horse to also retire! The dice gods are already showing their hand, although the Bhurpas' horse is driven back by a loyal Native Infantry battalion ~

In a bold attempt to force the Mutineers' centre, Neil's Blue Caps find themselves unexpectedly flanked by Mutineers! Their situation looks desperate unless friends can come to their aid ~

Meanwhile, away on the Mutineers' right flank the H.E.I.C.'s cavalry is showing little appetite for the fight! Luckily the artillery is more aggressive and the Mutineer infantry suffers from their accurate fire ~

The Blue Caps are holding on, although badly shaken by crashing Mutineer volleys! Support is coming from one of the Regular battalions in the brigade. In the distance you can see the dashing charge of the Raja's elephants against a battalion of loyal Native Infantry  ~

The Gurkhas are rallying, although the Sikh Horse remain badly shaken, but the Gordon Highlanders drive off one band of Bhurpas! The elephants, meanwhile, crush the Native Infantry in decisive Hand-to-Trunk combat ~

The Gordon Highlanders suffer the humiliation of being routed by the Badmash while the Raja's elephants rampage through the centre of Lord Rawnsley's army ~

With his attack on the Mutineers' left thrown back decisively, their centre holding firm in the village of Badli-Mahld, and no progress being made on the Mutineers' right, not to mention the Raja's elephants rampaging in his rear, Lord Rawnsley orders a halt to the attack and begins to withdraw his battered army to safety! A great victory for the Mutineers in just six turns!
We used Black Powder to run the game, You will be able to read about the modifications we used when the article appears in Wargames Illustrated later in the year. The figures are all from my collection, almost entirely Wargames Foundry figures, although the guns and buildings were from Mutineer Miniatures who seem to be off the radar at present. Phil and I created the mountain range based on a plastic pre-formed Christmas Village display piece {See the Blog entry in Tales from Rhanzlstan in the sidebar for details.}