February Results and Reinforcements

Campaign Situation -- March 1st, 1876

Click twice on the map to left for much larger image.

Well as "March comes in like a lion" we have our first confrontation between Native troops and one of our commands.

The Vile River Field Force has met resistance upon entering the district of M'tubel.

Sadly, since I'm only in the process of painting the proper type of troops, we may need to wait a week or two before fighting this out.

Following the "Medical Report" are brief reports from the field relating to the experiences of the various River Commands.

Medical Report:

Pvt. Paul MacArthur of the 72nd Foot (Wazu River Command) has died of the wounds he received from that jungle cat last month.

Gurkha Thapa of the 4th Gurkha's (Vile River Command) has had his condition upgraded from "serious" to "stable".

Sepoy Chand of the 15th Bengali Native Infantry (Wazu River Command) has recovered and has returned to duty.

Cango River:

After the funeral service for Sepoy Japjot, Capt. Davidson's command left the fertile farmlands of Anwaki and hurried across the dry veldt of Tewfiq to the Tewfiq Trading Post. Here they learned that things had indeed gotten much worse at the Jadu Trading Post . . . so Capt. Davidson decided to requisition boat in order to "take to the river" as the quickest way to reach the trouble spot.

While at the Trading Post, Lt. Appleby's "problem child", Sepoy Prakash (#7) somehow manged to knock over a large display of heavy crates which all fell on top of him . . . yet somehow he escaped injury.

Later, when boarding the boats, Prakash managed to upset one of the boats and was not seen again until the boat was successfully righted, when he was found to have been knocked unconscious and had been trapped face-up in the air pocket under the boat. Havildar Granth and several other members of the 2nd "Piffers" now feel that Prakash is a good luck omen . . . he certainly was lucky while at the Trading Post.

Tyger River:

Captain Webley-Grant forced marched his command across the arid grasses of G'umb toward the badlands of Luni. His reception in both Districts was quite hostile, bordering on open rebellion.

While traveling past one of the G'umb villages, some children threw rocks at the troops and Sepoy Kulbir (#19) of the 45th BNI was struck in the head and remains unconscious a few days later. In addition, one of the muleteers received a broken arm from a thrown rock and now has to ride one of his mules.

If possible the atmosphere in Luni was even worse than in G'umb. Webley-Grant's second in command, Lt. Pete Kipling was shot in his right (shooting) arm from ambush. While he seems to be out of danger, he won't be able to use his pistol well for some time (+2 penalty on die roll).

In a similar incident, Pvt. Elliot O'Neill (#6) of the 88th Foot was shot in the leg and is confined to riding a mule; and Sepoy Onkar (#13) of the 45th BNI is in "serious" condition from a bullet wound he received from some camel riders.

Nevertheless it seems like the "show of force" has (for the time being at least) quieted the discontent . . . at least enough to delay open rebellion for a while although it seemed like a close-run thing.

Vile River:

Having successfully quieted the discontent in Ghilz, Capt. McMurdock led his troops to the confluence of the White and Blue Viles and crossed the White Vile into the troubled Jungles of M'tubel.

As they crossed the White Vile, they were greeted by a hail of spears and Private Angus Grant was critically wounded with a spear to his stomach. Several volleys into the jungle apparently dispersed these natives . . . although no bodies were found after the encounter. Since then the column has been continuously harassed and a battle seems inevitable.

Wazu River:

The two columns of Captain Ellis and Lieutenant Jeffers crossed their respective West and East branches of the Wazu and re-joined to quiet the discontent surrounding the Fuziwa Trading Post.

While not received exactly warmly by the bushy-haired hill people, Ellis' command encountered no active resistance. Still, Private Gordon Ogilvy (#8) of the 72nd Foot slipped and fell down a hillside and is rather substantially banged up and will be out-of-action for a while.

Following are the current Rebellion Index for the various districts:

• Alex's Cango River districts are in red
• Pete's Tyger River districts are in green
• Murdock's Vile River districts are in purple
• Jeff's Wazu River districts are in blue

The following "codes" will be in effect -- and the die roll in parentheses indicate how many points the Rebellion Index will rise each month if not visited:

• Home Districts are marked with * (d6-4)
  
• Mission Districts are marked # (d6-2)
  
• Trading Post Districts have a $ (d8-4)
  
• Normal Districts are unmarked (d6-3)
  
• "Beja" Districts are marked -- (B)
• "Dervish" Districts are marked -- (D)
  
• "Egyptian" Districts are marked -- (E)
• "Pathan" Districts are marked -- (P)
• "Zulu" Districts are marked -- (Z)
  

CANGO RIVER:

Tewfiq * -- (E) ---- 3
Derf # -- (B) ------- 6
Jadu $ -- (P) ------- 11
Zirak $ -- (P) ------ 3
Anwak -- (D) ------2
Bele -- (Z) ---------- 3
Noair -- (D) ------- 2
Quett -- (P) -------- 4
W'tut -- (Z) -------- 8

TYGER RIVER:

Nukar * -- (E) ---- 4
Ta'ish # -- (D) ---- 4
Afridi $ -- (P) ---- 3
Swati $ -- (P) ----- 4
Dendoa -- (B) ---- 7
G'umb -- (Z) ------ 3
Luni -- (P) --------- 2
M'wez -- (Z) ------ 2
Umma -- (D) ----- 5

VILE RIVER:

Urabbi * -- (E) --- 2
M'tubel # -- (Z) -- ???
Bejj $ -- (B) -------- 5
Dinqa $ -- (D) ---- 6
Alghaz -- (D) ----- 5
Ghilz -- (P) -------- 2
Tarqa -- (P) -------- 5
J'ele -- (Z) ---------- 3
Z'ooli -- (Z) -------- 9

WAZU RIVER:
Kamel * -- (E) ----- 2
Baqqar # -- (D) --- 2
Fuziwa $ -- (B) ---- 2
Shluk $ -- (D) ----- 4
Dwari -- (P) ------- 4
Likaz -- (Z) -------- 6
Mazood -- (P) ---- 5
Ngoon -- (Z) ------ 3
Wazri -- (P) ------- 5

Reinforcements Choices:

All commands will get some reinforcements delivered to their home ports. Each player will have his choice of one of the following options:

1. one Artilleryman
2. one Cavalryman and one Sepoy
3. two "Britons"
4. one "Briton" and one Gurkha
   
5. four Sepoys

Please inform me of your choice of reinforcements as soon as you decide.

-- Jeff