A two day event, the game normally fills the available time but this year we got to play the same game twice. The results were widely different but I will report mainly on the second, Sunday, game in which the Anglo-Egyptians managed a "winning draw".
Our "terrain guy", Daniel, did his usual outstanding effort to create a forbidding desert landscape, fringed by the Nile & largely empty at the beginning of the game.



The A-E arrive, in a state of nervousness & immediately form square for no good reason.


The game had two simple goals. The first was to escort a caputured emir down the length of the table for river evacuation. The second was to defend the village & evacuation point.
You can see the far zareeba here & the village in the foreground:

and the dock:

The Mahdist entry to the landscape was through an elaborate system of dice throws that deposited them in one of three entry points.



The plan on Sunday was to use a fast escort...good idea but the Egyptians were cut off & barely managed to return to the zareeba.

Thwarted, the Mahdists massed to take the village. Our wily opponents, Mal & Daniel were certain they could massacre their foreign opponents.

The Anglo-Egyptians formed a line in close order.

They unexpectedly used the evacuation boats as gun platforms to enfilade the Mahdists.


By using the scrub as cover, the Beja managed to hit the British & destroy two units.

But British and Egyptian nerve held. Damien & I had kept a reserve & re-enforcements were brought in.

And the desert again gained its deathly quiet.

Fortunately the whole event was photographed.

The photographer later leaving by the late coming train.

donald