TIN SOLDIERS OF ANTWERP
Battle report - Afriboria colonial fastplay rules
The relief of fort "Sans-Espoir"
Download the "Afriboria" fastplay card driven rules here.
There has been growing unrest in the land of Igdi (N-W Afriboria) ever since the fanatic religious leader known as "the Dahni" (first name of the player being Danny...) had started a Jihad against the infidels, not only threatening trade caravans, explorers and outposts, but setting the entire region aflame. Recently he has concentrated his ever growing Ansar army near the border with the Upper Nile Region, currently controlled by a French garrison based at fort "Sans-Espoir" (map left & photo centre) . The Dahni has deployed his army on the banks of the nearby river, cutting off the fort's line of supply (photo right).
To safeguard their interest and secure the region, the French have mounted a relief expedition commanded by FFL commander Rico Sanscheveux (player's first name: Rick, head shaven, hence "Sanscheveux"): a number of well trained FFL units with several supply trucks and an armoured car, supported by a German flying machine from a nearby base and piloted by Freiherr Edmond von Falschhofen (player's first name: Eddy).
Battle is about to be joined: the Dahnist army is holding the high ground on the west bank of the river, blocking the approach to the fort. Their camel units are about to cross the river and advance towards the French force approaching in the distance...
Though it might perhaps have been wiser that the Ansar had stayed put on the west bank, their camel units were more than motivated to annihilate the Christian dogs, so they crossed the river by the only ford and charged towards the enemy. Fortunately, their more experienced Arab allies (B-class infantry with a machinegun in support) took up a strategic position commanding both the ford and the plain beyond.
The fast & fanatic camelry succeeds in outflanking the French troops and taking'm in the flank, all but annihilating a FFL unit (only 1 figure remaining!) and destroying one supply truck and the French armoured car (thus scoring 2 points for the Dahni).
Meanwhile, Freiherr von Falschhofen is making a recce flight over the river and surprises enemy infantry at the ford. Without hesitation, he opens fire at the defenceless warriors, killing one in the process. He now has to return quickly or risk landing in enemy territory...
In spite of their initial success, the camel mounted troops are paying a heavy toll for their reckless assault as the steadfast legionaires mow them down to the last man, including their brave tribal overlord (3 units of cavalry + 1 tribal overlord = 4 points "pour la Patrie").
Not a moment too soon! Seconds after the last camelman has been killed, the Freiherr is forced to land (due to lack of petrol) his plane near the exact spot where the camelry made their last stand (one camel figure would have been enough to claim the defenceless plane and score another point for the warriors of Allah).

Having deprived the Dahni from his mounted troops, Rico Sanscheveux launches an all-out assault. The French have the gods of war on their side: not only do they eliminate an Ansar infantry unit (1 point), but a FFL sharpshooter succeeds in killing another tribal overlord (another point, now 6 points scored in total. Game ends after 2 hours of fierce fighting under the Afriboria fast play variant). This proves to be too much for the Ansar and the Dahni wisely retreats from the field. The relief force reaches fort "Sans-Espoir" where they are greated by the officer commanding and his cheering troops. The siege is over and, for the time being, the advance of the warriors of Allah has been checked, but... for how long?

FORCES ENGAGED:
French relief force: 1 officer - 1 NCO - 7 A-Class infantry - 1 armoured car - 1 airplane - 3 unarmed transport trucks. French fort: 1 officer - 1 A-Class infantry.
Dahnist Army: 2 B-Class arab units (rifles) with a tribal overlord - 1 MG team - 2 C-Class renegade Askari (rifles) with a tribal overlord - 3 camelry (swords & spears) with a mounted tribal overlord - 6 C-Class Ansar units with swords & spears with 3 tribal chieftains.

SCENARIO OBJECTIVES:
FRENCH: to reach the fort with both the relief force and the supply trucks (1 point per truck) and/or defeat the Ansar by scoring 6 points (units anihilated or tribal overlords killed) in total. The heavy laden vehicles could only be moved over flat ground with no trees or rocks.
DAHNISTS: to prevent the French from reaching the fort. The French relief force would retire from the field if the Ansar could score 4 points (units, trucks or flying machine anihilated or officers killed) prior to the French scoring 6 points.
However, the Ansar were not allowed to attack the fort; their objective was the relief force only. They could only return fire if engaged by the fort's garrison.
Although the river had only one ford, one of the French trucks carried bridging equipment (logs) and another one carried some fuel to re-supply the plane if needed. This was information available to the Dahni player, but without him knowing which truck carried what. As it happened, the truck carrying the fuel was destroyed and since the plane landed away from its airbase, it could not take off again, but by then the outcome of the battle had been decided...
Figures are 25/28mm from different manufacturers, the airplane is a diecast Lledo model as are the trucks and the armoured car (conversion); fort is scratchbuild using some components of the Airfix Sahara fort.
The idea behind this scenario was to test the rules for using aircraft and (armoured) motor vehicles. These rules can now be found under the appendix "magnificent men and armoured machines" in the Afriboria rules section.

Rudi Geudens
rudi.geudens@edpnet.be