Colonial Games: Skirmish at the Finolah Minehead

Skirmish at the
Finolah Minehead
A Spot of Bother in a Small Place

Steve and David decided to try out some skirmish-scale action using a Colonial-era adaptation of Nick Lund's Killzone science-fiction rules.

The game was set up in approximately 30" by 30"(75cm by 75cm). Steve's DBA playing cloth served as the ground, and some quickly-cut scrap cardboard provided the hills. Steve's Sony Mavica digital camera provided the beautiful photos.

The Tabletop
In the valley of Tel al Taradidl, the Affable East Ouargistan Company's lead mine nestles against the the rugged Ouargi foothills. Nearby is the small town of Finolah, populated mostly by mine workers. In addition, there are three groves of trees and two areas of ruins. Click here for closeup photos of the mine and the town.

The Scenario
Early in his career, young Regnad Kcin is given a small warband and sent by his father to forge a temporary alliance with Hassan Hadeni al Yir, the grumpiest brigand chief in all Ouargistan.The objective is a raid on Alf Company's lead mine at Finolah. The hillmen's immediate need was the mine's lead for casting musketballs, but the looting of the town and the offices provided a bit of extra incentive.

Capt. Gravehand Powderbourne's small command is charged with protecting the area around Finolah from just such activities. One evening, the mine manager and a stream of refugee townspeople appear at the British outpost, having barely escaped ahead of two bands of dacoits sweeping down from the hills. The situation is especially serious since the mine office contains the company payroll in silver, and there is a store of the new explosive, dynamite, in the stone magazine building. The Captain and his men make their way up the valley in the fading light, not knowing how many raiders they will be facing, how they are armed, nor where they might be.

The Forces

The British The Natives -

Capt. Gravehand Powderbourne (a hero)
with 4 highlanders (including Sgt McKinnock),
Lt. Ripplington Dashley,
with 4 fellahin (including Sgt Abdullah).
Goal - to clear the mine and town of brigands and hillmen, and to preserve the payroll and dynamite.
Entry - anywhere on the table edge at the open end of the valley. Regnad Kcin (a hero),
with 10 hillmen fighters (swords and spears)
and a unit of 4 jezailchi (musketmen),
Hassan Hadeni al Yir,
with 9 brigands (swords, spears and two muskets).
Goal - to loot the town and mine, and carry off anything of value in the mine office and magazine.
Entry - Player dices for 3 locations. The results were: 1 unit behind the forge in the mine (the hillmen), 1 unit in the two southernmost palm groves (the jezailchi) and 1 unit spread throughout the town (the brigands). Except for the unit looting the town, natives are initially invisible to the British.

The Battle

The British view of the valley. Hassan's brigands are noisily looting the town, but where are the rest of the natives?

The Fellahin cautiously move forward to scout the ruins.When it has been established that no natives lurk there, the Highlanders run up the line of the hills to the wall of the magazine, straining their eyes and ears for indications of native activity in the mine compound. Suddenly, four jezails open up on the Fellahin from the palm groves to their left.

The Fellahin are enfiladed and cannot effectively reply with their rifles. Sgt Abdullah and Lt. Dashley bravely return fire until the rest can move into the cover of the ruins.

The Highlanders don't have long to wait, as the Hillmen,who have been collecting lead from the storage area behind the forge, now stream out and try to batter down the reinforced door to the stone magazine.

PRESS ON to Part 2 of
Skirmish at the Finolah Minehead

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