Charge of the 21st Lancers at Omdurman Twice in One Afternoo

First posted on the Facebook Colonial Wargames Group: Last Saturday, my good friend Claude Bailey, almost 900 miles away in Tucson AZ, and I nerded out and played back to back games with the same scenario but different rules. The scenario was the charge of the 21st Lancers at Omdurman and the rules were The Sword and the Flame (TSATF) and The Men Who Would Be Kings (TMWWBK). The games couldn't have been more different. Both games started with three British units of lancers within charge distance of the four Hadendoa units hidden in the Khor, and one Baggara unit of riflemen behind the Khor who were the original target of the charge. In the TSATF game the Mahdists had to roll to stand and fight and two out of three failed and had to move back the total on four D6s, Shaken. The Lancers had to roll five D6s for movement and one of the three came up short. The one unit of Lancers who fought hand to hand with the Hadendoa won the melee, but at the cost of almost half their number. The rest of the game, the Mahdists kept missing their stand and fight number and so were gradually pushed off the table. Both sides lost less than 20% to casualties. By comparison, the TMWWBK game was, in Claude's words: a blood bath. As Attack is a free activation for Regular Cavalry, all three units of Lancers got stuck in the first turn. Being Lancers, they got two dice per trooper, hitting on 4+. The Hadendoa also hit on 4+, being rated Fierce, but they needed two hits to kill mounted opponents. The results were predictable, the Mahdists suffered nearly 80% casualties, but the Lancers also suffered over 30%. Using the Follow Up option, the Lancers made short work of the Mahdists and it was all over in two turns. It was a fun way to kill an afternoon!