Marche ou crève mon braves - An Ambush Alley AAR

I enjoyed my first Ambush Alley game set in French Indo-China so much (read here) that I decided to quickly follow it up.  I also wanted to see how flexible the rules were, so I went back in time to the 1880s and the days of the Armée d'Afrique.  You can download the full scenario details and rules  amendments here.

Mission Brief

A patrol from the Armée d'Afrique is returning to base after a fruitless search for Algerian bandits.  Having spent days chasing shadows and now thoroughly exhausted they are on the last few miles of their journey.  Is it at this point that the Algerians decide to show themselves.  

French (Regular) Mission Objective 

The French must exit the table from the north table edge. The French are exhausted, and morale is low in the Tirailleurs Algériens.  The Legion just want to wash the dust from their throats.  It is important to return to base in good order, keep losses to a minimum and leave no one behind! 

Algerians (Insurgent) Mission Objective  

If possible, the Algerian tribesmen must prevent withdrawal of the French from the table.  If this is not achievable, they must inflict as many casualties or take as many prisoners as possible within the 10 turns of the game.  

Table setup

The game

Turn 1 was just the Armée d'Afrique units moving forward.  

Turn 2 begins with Hot Spot 2 generating 3 camel riding Algerians.  The Tirailleurs fire on them and inflict two casualties.  The two units of the Legion both move forward.  The Algerian unit on the table fires on the Tirailleurs with no effect.  

Turn 3 starts with Hot Spot 1 generating another 3 camelry.  They fail to interrupt and a Legion unit fire on them but without effect.  The Tirailleurs fire on the camelry, the dice are good and it's the end of that unit.  The other legion unit uses it's activation to move . 

 

Turn 4 and an Algerian foot unit of 4 bases and a leader join the fray at Hot Spot 5.  They interrupt FFL2's action and fire but to no effect.  The Legion return fire inflicting a casualty.  The camelry fail to interrupt and FFL1 charge the Algerian infantry inflicting a casualty straight away.  In the ensuing  brutal melee the legionnaires wipe out the Algerians without suffering a casualty.  The Tirailleurs use their activation to move.

Turn 5 sees Hot Spot 5 activated again and drawn by the action 3 Algerian cavalry led by a fearless leader enter the battle.  The camelry fire into the rear of the Tirailleurs and inflict 3 casualties!  Against all odds,  their officer keeps the remnants of the unit together as they pass their morale check and return fire inflicting casualties on their assailants.  The Algerian cavalry interrupt the legion movement and passing the required check charge them!  They suffer  two casualties but true to their reputation the Legion stands firm.  The fight is desperate and they prevail with the cavalry morale being shaken then broken.  The lone camel rider shoots on the Tirailleurs but misses.

Turn 6 begins with 3 Algerian foot bases and a leader arriving at Hot Spot 6.  Into the action straightaway they interrupt FFL1 but their fire has no effect.  This sets the pattern for the turn as all the French units march on and all the Algerian fire has no impact.  Is safety in sight?

Turn 7 and a full unit of 6 Algerian foot enter the action at Hot Spot 3.  The Tirailleurs spot the danger and fire but miss.  The Legion do better and inflict 3 casualties.  The other Legion unit move on under fire from the other Algerian foot unit but they come through unscathed.  

Turn 8 sees Algerian reinforcements in the form of 2 camelry bases at Hot Spot 3.  The Tirailleurs activation is interrupted by these new arrivals but their fire is way off the mark, so the Tirailleurs advance closer to safety.  An Algerian foot unit then charge the Tirailleurs who fend them off and cause them to break in a desperate close combat.  The other Algerian foot fire without effect on the Legion who stoically continue their advance to the edge of the table.

Tirailleurs algériens in desperate combat

The penultimate turn begins with 6 more Algerian foot arriving at Hot Spot 1.  This has little effect as they are too far away to become involved.  The Algerians fail to interrupt  the Armée d'Afrique units as they make a final surge for safety.

And we're at Turn 10.  Hot Spot 2 is rolled but it's too far away and there's no Algerian units in a position to interrupt so the French leave the table.  

The legion triumphant!

Conclusion

Another great game of Ambush Alley.  The time period may change but the essence of the game is the same - trained regulars against untrained irregulars.  The modifications I made seemed to work well enough and I think that with some careful further modifications you could take this set of rules right back to Ancients.  How about a force of Roman legionnaires against Germanic or Celtic tribesmen?  

If I replayed this particular scenario I'd begin with extra units of Algerians on the table to slow down the French.  The Legion units alternated firing and moving to advance and more Algerians would have nullified this technique somewhat.  

Although the Armée d'Afrique achieved their objective they still suffered 5 bases of casualties (3 Tirailleurs Algériens and 2 Legion).  Therefore, although the Algerian tribesmen failed to prevent the French escaping they did score 10 points.  They did suffer 21 casualties though!

Inspiration and reading

Although this was an entirely fictional scenario it was inspired by my reading about the French Foreign Legion and 19th Century colonial warfare over many years.  The picture shows some great titles for those interested.