KAM DAKKA Pt.4: The Final Chapter (turns 9-11)

First off, my sincere apologies, as it has taken me much, much, MUCH too long to post this 4th and final chapter of the Battle of KAM DAKKA, which I played against myself (aka: SOLO) way back in June.  There is no excuse, but my explanation is that in addition to the unceasing demands of work and home, in these interim months I was delayed by a succession of 3 major events:

(1) FIRST: And far most importantly, the wedding of my son, Skylar, and his beautiful bride, who were married on Sunday September 7th... 

(2) SECOND: This year I took a much bigger role in helping to prepare for and run the annual convention held by HMGS Pacific Southwest down in Orange County.  As anyone who has ever helped with such a task knows, this was incredibly time-consuming.  On the plus side it was a decent success and where for the first time in recent memory I'm happy to say we presented awards to GMs for the most outstanding games...

(3) ...and finally, THIRD: for almost 2 weeks I was glued to all seven games of arguably the GREATEST WORLD SERIES in the history of baseball, which our local team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, ended up winning in highly dramatic and incredible fashion!  It's true I was born and spent the first thirty-odd years of my life in Brooklyn, where -- at least back then -- EVERYONE hated the Dodgers, myself included, BUT I've lived here in Lala Land for almost thirty years now, and way back when my son who recently got married was 4 years old and told me after I took him to at Dodger Stadium for like the 6th time to cheer for the Mets or Yankees against the Dodgers (I grew up a Yankees fan but unlike many, never hated the Mets) that he wanted to cheer for a team from the city where he lived... I succumbed and we became Dodgers fans.  That was almost 25 years ago, so don't dare call me a "bandwagon jumper"!!!

Okay, now that my excuses -- I mean EXPLANATIONS -- are clear, I will pick up where I left off, heading into Turn 9, with the whittled-down but still intact ranks of Captain O'Moore Creagh's 2 companies (20 figures) of the Mhairwara Battalion under intense attack in Kam Dakka graveyard even as the dual relief forces from Dakka Fort to the West and -- farther away -- Landi Kotal to the Southeast, desperately race to reach them before the swarm of attacking Mohmands manage to close with and wipe them out!

THE BATTLE RAGES ON, HOT & HEAVY...

TURN 9

Afghans get first movement card - clan at South wall CHARGES up onto the wall, accompanied by their Tribal Hill Chieftain...

British get second movement card - Landi Kotal relief force Mountain Battery rolls well on its movement dice and advances on road 18”...

Afghans move third - Clan at East wall CHARGES up onto the wall...

Afghans get fourth movement card - Mullah Khalil attempts to Rally pinned Clan -- fails...

British move fifth - Landi Kotal relief force Infantry road march 13” and reach the perimeter of Kam Dakka village itself -- where you can see neither hide nor hair of Umra (future Khan).  It seems the close approach of so many Ferengi dogs led him back to the arms of Lajwardina -- "the Lapis-hued one"... 

Afghans Move sixth - Clan #5 advances 16” to base of North wall...

Afghans move seventh - Mulehead leads his Clan #6 to board a BARGE whose timely arrival he had arranged in advance and use it to head across the Kabul river!!!  He can be seen here poised atop the bowsprit of the wee boat:

Dakka Fort relief force 1 Battalion, 17th Fusiliers British Infantry advance down Dakka Pass...

Dakka Fort relief force 10th Bengal Lancers CHARGE down Dakka Pass with enough distance to reach the Mohmand Clan at the South wall -- a melee is in the offing...

British fire first - score only 1 hit but it’s WIA Leader of the East wall clan...

British fire second - 1/17th Fusiliers (Dakka Fort Relief Force Inf) fire 20 shots but score only 2 hits (TERRIBLE DICE ROLLING!) 1 x WIA Swordsman + 1 x KIA Swordsman...

Afghan fire card…

Mulehead's "Marines" Clan #6 takes 3 shots from atop the raft in the Kabul River at the Class I Bengal Lancers & score 1 WIA...

Afghans fire again -- 8 shots from the Clan at North Wall on Class IV Mhairwaras in the cemetery - score 1 WIA who will be out for 1 turn...

CLOSE COMBAT…

East clan atop the wall FAILS to close into combat with the Mhairwara defenders...

Bengal Lancers roll a 6 and fail to close (?!?!?!). OMG -- British Cavalry FAILING TO CLOSE INTO COMBAT???  Yes, Virginia, it can and does happen -- albeit on very rare occasions.  One of which is now.  They fall back up Kam Dakka Pass, Shaken...

South wall Clan closes into combat with the Mhairwaras -- loses 6 KIA, multiple WIA, Mhairwara defenders lose 2 KIA & 6 WIA, incl. Bhisti, Bugler & Havildar...

Mhairwaras dip below 50% (9 effectives left) so must check Critical Morale: roll 6 and pass (with Leader present 2-10 = PASS on 2 D6)...

TURN 10

Afghans get first movement card - Pinned Clan passes morale check, stands up to rejoin the fight...

British move second - Mt. Battery rolls 2 dice to move & fire, only gets 4” but this may be enough to get them in range to hit pinned Mohmand units and potentially route them...

British get third movement card move - Mhairwaras are OUT OF AMMO (the men had 4 turns worth & the mule had 5 turns worth = 9 turns total) so... Capt. Creagh orders his men to CHARGE the Clan lining the North wall!

The trusty Bhisti goes along for the ride...

Afghans move fourth - second Pinned clan passes morale check, stands up...

British move fifth - Dakka 1/17th Fusiliers British Infantry advance into the Cemetery (!!!!)...

British move sixth - Landi Kotal 1/12th Foot road marches 13”...

British move seventh - Bengal Lancers rally and CHARGE the clan at North wall but their movement dice roll leaves them a few inches short of being able to close...

Afghan routing clan keeps routing towards ford in the river...

Mulehead pivots the barge so it can serve as a bridge across the river, and leads his clan of newly-converted "Afghan Marines" onto the South side...

BRITISH FIRE FIRST

The Screw Gun Battery from Landi Kotal fires at Long Range at the Class IV clan behind crop field wall - 24 shots (3 dice per 4 crew figs = 12 dice per gun x 2 guns = 24) needing 2< to hit … score 3 hits: 1 x KIA Sword,  1 x WIA Sword, 1 x WIA LEADER (!!!)...

Afghan fire - clan at North wall fires at charging Mhairwaras, Class I - need 6- to hit, 8 shots, score 4 hits - WIA Leader + 3 x WIA men...

British fire - 1/17th Fusiliers fire at the clan that just rallied from having been Pinned - 4 hits, 1 KIA Sword, 3 WIA Sword...

CHARGING Mhairwaras CLOSE with the tribesmen facing them across the cemetery wall, that clan of leaderless Mohmands STANDS (need 1-2 and get a 1!) -- when the dust clears the result of the melee is...

The Mhairwaras suffer 2 KIA, 1 WIA and 2 Fall Backs -- and are defeated (But because THEY had charged over the wall to attack the Mohmands, this cannot result in the Mohmands pursuing them into the Cemetery).

TURN 11

British move - Routed Mhairwaras in the cemetery try to rally -- but FAIL (!!!)...

British move #2 - Bengal Lancers CHARGE Mulehead clan & the adjacent clan at North wall...

Afghan move #3 - Routers enter ford...

Afghan move #4 - Dark Green flag Clan advances to East wall...

Afghan move #5 - Clan climbs atop North wall...

British move #6 - British prolong Gun battery 2 dice forward...

British move #7 - 1/12th Foot Inf from Landi Kotal advance 13” down road...

Afghan move #8 - Black flag Clan moves to line north wall of fields...

Afghan move #9 - clan charged by Lancers remains in place...

1/17th Fusiliers Brit. Inf. from Dakka line North & East cemetery walls...

Afghans shoot first - Mulehead's "Marines" fire 10 riflemen at Bengal Lancers - 5 clear shots & 5 potential friendly fire - clear shots score 2 hits 1 KIA, 1 WIA, risky shots score 1 hit WIA on Lancers & 1 hit WIA on Mulehead’s own men - casualty card is a Swordsman but only Rifles in beaten zone, so Rifle falls WIA.

British fire Second - Mt Battery fires 2 guns - 24 dice - Long Range CLASS I needs 6- & score 6 hits - LDR WIA (!!!), 1 x Rifle KIA, 1 x Rifle WIA, 3 x Swords WIA.  LEADER IS MULLAH KHALIL (!!!)

Afghans get third fire card - East wall Dark Green flag clan fires 6 shots at CLASS IV Mhairwaras needing 1 or 2 on D20 to hit & score 2 hits (!!!) -- BUT Red Joker casualty card flip = NO EFFECT on one, second card is a KIA on 1/17th Fusiliers from Dakka Fort.

Clan atop North cemetery wall CANNOT fire (since they are atop wall).

Bengal Lancers roll to close - SUCCEED IN CLOSING with a 5 (needed anything but a 6 to pass and close)… Mulehead's "Marines" roll to stand — FAIL & ROUTE.  They roll enough distance to go OFF TABLE -- running back across the barge bridge, making it impossible for the Lancers to pursue them...

As his men disembark at warp speed and race off the Northwest table edge, Mulehead himself remains onboard, cuts the barge loose and heads East, down-river, alone…

END OF TURN 11 

It’s over.

Clan at base of East wall has 7 effectives and is leaderless.

Clan atop North wall has 13 effectives and is also leaderless, as well as about to be shredded by mtd. carbine fire from Lancers & rifle fire from 1/17th Fusiliers AND then if anyone’s left & they mange to close without leader they will melee at -2 vs. Fusiliers who are now behind the cemetery walls.

Clan lining North wall of fields has 14 effectives with leader + Chieftain - total 15 — they will now run for the ford and try to cross to North bank before screw guns can maneuver to hit them.  This is the sole remaining Afghan unit that can be referred to as "intact."

Mhairwaras have 8 WIA including their Havildar (Indian NCO), 6 effectives incl. Capt Creagh, plus their Bhisti, 6 x KIA including their Subedar (Indian officer) who led the failed charge after they ran out of ammo and after Capt Creagh fell WIA by fire.  Total: 14 casualties from original strength of 20.  Heavy casualties indeed.  But still present and accounted for...

Dakka Fort Bengal Lancers suffered 3 x WIA, 1 KIA - 4 casualties 

Dakka Fort 1/17th Fusiliers suffered 1 KIA - 1 casualty

The entire relief force from Landi Kotal suffered no casualties.

Grand total British casualties: 19 out of 80 total troops (11 WIA + 8 KIA)

Mohmands: original force of 124 (61 + 61 + 2) … 15 remaining effectives …  total casualties (including routed): 109 

109 Afghan casualties vs. 19 British casualties, a casualty ratio of between 5 and 6 to 1.  But of course, the vast majority of the battle was fought between  all 124 Afghans and only 20 British - actually 1 British & 19 Indians.

But what of Umra Khan???

What indeed...

Was it the Lapis-hued woman who watched him go, that had brought Umra to Kam Dakka to begin with?  Or was it the mules...

...rumored be laden with two crates of Martini-Henrys, fresh from the Ordnance Depot at Peshawar.  Two crates to be transported by two mules -- so as not to risk driving one past the point of collapse and being stranded with too much weight to carry on your shoulders.

TWO MULES FOR UMRA KHAN*...

(*not a bad title for a movie, I must say!)

The Relief force from Dakka Fort and its counterpart from Landi Kotal both arrived just in time to save the last remnants of the Mhwairas from annihilation, the closer Dakka portion providing the boots and hooves on the ground, the farther away Landi Kotal component providing the long range direct fire artillery support.

The large war-party of Mohmands suffered tremendous casualties but the rearmost portion of the force was able to withdraw back across the Khyber River to their home territory on the Northern side.  

BUT OF COURSE one junior leader visiting from another tribe took another path for his own withdrawal, using the Barge that had appeared on cue allowing him to lead his men across the river to attack the Mhairwaras hunkered down in the Kam Dakka cemetery, when victory had seemed so close at hand...

Thus MULEHEAD floated East, away from the bloody aftermath of the conflagration...

Along the way he was spotted from atop the nearby mountains by a British picket from the 1/12th Foot -- but the luck of the mule held fast, as Tommy Atkins' die-roll reaction check resulted in him waving to Mulehead as he sailed past, rather than firing his Martini-Henry rifle and possibly cutting his future legendary life short -- which would have been far better for all mankind!  If only he had shouldered his rifle and rolled nice and low on the D20 firing die...

Mulehead blows a farewell kiss to Tommy Atkins...

And so, as relative youngsters, both Umra the future Khan of the Waziris (A pox upon him as endless promoter of terrible Evil!) and Mulehead the future Khan of the Afridis (Blessings upon his devout & utmost righteous name!) managed to escape this battlefield where not so many Pathans did -- though it's true that Mulehead was himself wounded leading men (not really his men, since he wasn't a Mohmand, just a visiting banditti of some renown & family connections who was thus able to wrangle a junior command) before taking the scenic route to safety down the Kabul River, while Umra himself seems to have done his utmost to avoid putting himself in harm's way -- though it's also true he might have been spotted by the pickets of 1/17th Fusiliers just as Mulehead was by a picket of the 12th Foot, but as Umra was leading a pair of pack mules, one of which carried 2 crates, he would almost definitely have had a much harder time avoiding death, injury, or at the very least detainment.  But the Barakah was with them both that day, which, My Children, can be said to be lucky for us, as if it had not been, then how could I tell you the tales of their righteous and heinous deeds, lo these many years hence?

Mulehead & Umra c.1879 roundabout

the time of the battle of Kam Dakka:

...Mulehead Khan & Umra Khan today c.1893

photographed for posterity during an uneasy truce

called expressly for that purpose:

Now, shifting back to the battle itself....

It was a nail-biter to the very end.

The Mhairwaras took appalling losses. Only a handful of figures from Captain Creagh's original "Kam Dakka Defense Force" remained standing at the end -- but the graveyard still held, while the Mohmands -- despite pressing their brave and relentless attack for many turns -- had failed to take it.

The historical choice of occupying the cemetery and using it as a fortified position for a last stand, while dispatching a courier to summon relief, was validated. At multiple points things could have gone dramatically different depending various results -- indeed if the 10th Bengal Lancers had not failed to close by rolling a 6 the first time they charged, the Mhairwaras might have come out of the battle with far fewer casualties, as the Lancers' resulting probable victory could have led to the route of multiple Mohmand units.  On the other hand, if the Mohmands had done better rolling to Close Into Combat before the relief forces even appeared on the table, there might very well not have been a single Mhairwara left by the time did arrive.

I was very happy with how the balance of forces -- despite how dramatically unequal they were -- worked out in the end. The 6:1 odds were extreme, but when balanced out by the combination of the cemetery's "CLASS IV TARGET" benefit and the single ford which served as a chokepoint slowing the arrival of the Mohmands from across the river -- at least until Mulehead's barge conveniently arrived for the latter stages of the battle -- both sides ended up with a real chance at victory.  I hope to play this one again multiple times, and just ordered several packs of Perry Miniatures "Jacob's Rifles" and command to convert into a unit of Mhairwaras, whose beards I will do my best to convert into the distinctively splendid c.1878-1900 Mhairwara "winged" style on display in the pics I posted at the very start of this saga, and which I will repost now at its very end:

FINIS.