Battles For Empire II is an operational level set of rules for Victorian colonial battles. Each unit is represented by four stands (a company/squadron of Anglo-Egyptian troops or a native clan), which equates to a scale of around 1:25 per figure. The movement system is similar to Fire & Fury, but does a great job of simulating the unpredictable nature of the native attacks. There is a great firing and melee system that shows the quality of the Anglo-Egyptian forces, but still gives the Mahdists more than a fighting chance. The rules allow for large scale colonial actions instead of the usual skirmishes seen when gaming this period. We use 15mm figures on the 25mm basing sizes to give the game a more visual impact, but there are several basing options available.To The Wells!
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British in the Eastern Sudan
A fictional relief of a town was the focus of this Battles For Empire 2 scenario where the British needed to seize the wells in the area to continue the campaign. Leaving behind the wounded and most of the baggage in a hastily fortified area, the British square advanced towards the believed position of the wells. Unfortunately, their guide was wrong and it was placed behind a Mahdist held village with entrenchments! The British had to withstand a number of attacks, break apart the square, then move across a large ridge, which disordered everyone and created numerous other problems. The British split their force and worked their way to the town, coming under attack from multiple d
irections. Fortunately for the British side their firing dice were especially hot this night and the Mahdi's forcdes could not coordinate a thing! Time and time again the Mahdist forces tried to catch the British forces while they were strung out, but ran into a murderous fire, particularly from the screw gun sections that simply could not miss. In the end the British defeated the piecemeal Mahdist attacks, although there were a few close run things, especially with the Naval Brigade who got into more of a fight than they bargained for. Although it was fairly large game and there were only three of us, it played pretty fast and there were hardly any rules questions that needed to be looked up. Next time we'll try an assault on a walled town!
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