French Foreign Legion Beseiged by Rif Tribesmen AAR

Mark had recently bought a North African fort from Crescent Root Studio (http://crescent-root.com/index.html) and had been itching to show it off. This also allowed him to use some under-utilised French Foreign Legion and Arab figures in his collection.

The scenario was simple (take the fort!), and using Ganesha Games' 'Songs of Drums and Shakos' (a set designed for Napoleonic skirmish games), the stage was set between "cheese-munching surrender monkeys" and "revolting Arabs" (in this case some Rif tribesmen) commanded by myself, Martin and Tyler.

The Arabs were in three groups of 8 riflemen, 3 swordsmen and a leader, a hero (a version of Lawrence of Arabia) and a banner bearer. Facing them, the Legion had two groups of 8 riflemen, a leader, a bugler and a lieutenant.

The three groups of Arabs attacked from the west, south and east:


From the south the banner bearer would provide a central rallying-point for the assault on the main gate:


The group from the east would attack in an effort to scale the walls, completely failing to recognise the wooden door at the north corner:


When the tribesmen attacked at dawn, the legionnaires in the fort steeled themselves for the fight ahead, for things would not be easy:


Particularly as the architect of this fort was insistent on large windows on the ground floor:


After a few turns the attack was starting to falter, with the east and west groups failing to really understand the concept of charging towards the enemy:


The walls were breached! But the rigorous training of the Legion showed and the interloper was dispatched:


Finally the Arabs gave up in attempting group moves (typically 4+ on a D6 if the leader activated), and it was every man for himself to reach the walls of the fort (typically 5+). The cunning tactic met with limited success:

The west and southern groups tried a coordinated attack, but again - the low quality of the men was telling as they failed to get over as one:


Lawrence managed to enter the mess hall with a few men, but in turn the Legion had had time to mass their men. A bitter struggle ensued:


Meanwhile in the courtyard there was the possibility of a small group of tribesmen getting a foothold, but again this was contained:


Elsewhere the tribesmen from the east were in danger of also taking over, but the lieutenant rushed across the courtyard to try and stop this breach:


Things where looking grim indeed in the courtyard, while the battle in the mess hall continued:


Outside in the desert the last of the tribesmen were reaching the walls, except for "Swifty" (who failed to activate until the last two turns of the game, and the only running figure on the table!):


In the end the game was won by the Legionnaires, who spread their limited resources with success, taking down Lawrence and routing the tribesmen back over the dunes:


Another fun game that came down to the wire. 'Songs' (and other Ganesha Games' rules) provide a fun set of rules you can't take too seriously - perfect for club multi-player games.