The early Sudan campaigns cry out for larger games and although we use to do some skrimish gaming with TSAT and Ral Partha figures, we've now turned to Battles For Empire II and 15mm. With units now being companies for Anglo-Egyptian forces or clans of natives, we are able to do some brigade sized actions. The early Sudan period is very colorful, with units of Egyptians, Sudanese, Bashi-Bazouks, gunboats, and of course the British, including the last time that they wore red uniforms. From the early campaigns of Hicks to the Desert and River columns, the early Sudan period are an exciting era of colonial wargaming that offer a wide variety of scenarios and forces.Colonial Wargaming
Sudan and NWF Campaigns in Miniature
Colonial wargaming has always been one of our club's most popular periods and frankly, it doesn't get played enough! After having pretty good sized armies for the Sudan using 25mm Ral Partha figures, those were sold off and we went down two different paths for this era. The first is The Northwest Frontier using 28mm figures and The Sword and the Flame rules. The second is the early Sudan campaigns using 15mm figures along with the Battles for Empire II rules. This gives us the benefit of being able to do skirmishes for one colonial theater and larger, more operational level engagements in another. Over the years we've portrayed assaults on forts, rear guard actions, surprise attacks, and more with both sets of rules.
The wonderful thing about colonial gaming is that you can easily set up fictional encounters, use a wide array of units, and tailor the game to how many players you have without too much planning. Click on the links above to go to the various web pages that detail our games with Battles for Empire II, The Sword & the Flame, 15mm Nile Gunboats using Boilers & Breechloaders, plus our colonial campaigns that can be used with a variety of rules sets. Colonial wargaming is definitely a fun and exciting period for gamers.
When we decided to move to 15mm and BFE II for the Sudan, it left a void as we really loved colonial skirmish gaming and TSATF. We then chose to start a new period in 28mm, which was the Northwest Frontier. The NWF offers more than fifty years of continuous Victorian era battles, from division sized actions down to raids on local villages. With the large variety in 28mm now available, we've quickly reached several hundred figures where we can do massive skirmish games. We currently have units of Highlanders, Gurkhas, Bengal Lancers, Indian artillery batteries, as well as a few hundred Pathans, plus villages and forts to play almost any kind of battle.