Campaign Overview

Setting

Afristan is a large (fictitious) island in the Indian Ocean. (click twice on map at left for view at end of 1875).

While it is nominally ruled by Sultan Omar Mustapha, he really has little control over Afristan and has requested British aid in quelling the almost constantly simmering rebellion against his rule and his taxes.

Each of the four players will have "command" of one of the "River Basin Districts" of the island. Each District has nine regions which must be controlled.

Troops

Each player will start with the same number of troops (click on links to right for details of each player's commands). Each turn players will have access to some reinforcements with which they can form new units or fill gaps caused by casualties.

Rules

We will be using "The Sword and the Flame -- 20th Anniversary" rules. Players whose forces are not involved in a battle will play the native forces.

Moves

Each move represents one month (starting January, 1876). Field forces may move to any one region that is adjacent to the one that they've been in . . . OR . . . they may spend the month "on the river", in which case they may exit the next month into any one region that their river touches. Forces will spend the entire month in one region . . . OR . . . on the river. They may not enter more than one region.

Force Composition

Each force must consist of at least one unattached British officer (i.e., one not part of a unit) and more than 20 men. This means that a platoon or two squads are not enough by themselves. A platoon and a squad would be enough (as would two cavalry troops). In addition, at least one of the units involved must be British.

Thus it is possible to have two field forces IF a player has an unattached British officer, a platoon and a squad (as long as one of these two is British) . . . however such forces are pretty fragile and might be overwhelmed and wiped out if they run into rebellious natives. It is safer to travel with a single larger force . . . although it might be advisable to keep a unit "at home" to protect your Headquarters..

Rebellion Index

Each month a die will be rolled for each region and the "Rebellion Index" will either go up or remain the same.

When a field force enters a region, 1d20 will be rolled. As long as the d20 rolls equal to or more than the current Rebellion Index for that region, all is well and the Rebellion Index will drop to "2".

However, if the d20 is less than the Rebellion Index, the region will be "in rebellion" and will muster the number of Native Units that will match the difference between the number rolled on the d20 and their current Rebellion Index. So it is wise not to allow a region's index to get too high or the player's field force could be severely overwhelmed.

Game Turns

Initial forces have arrived in December, 1875 and are in their respective port towns (Stupt, Belhi, Kyro, Azol). So Sultan Omar Mustapha has raised taxes and the regions are growing restless.

-- Jeff