THIS PAGE IS ALWAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION, SO PLEASE VISIT AGAIN.
THE AFRIBORIAN HERALD: THE CAMPAIGN GAZETTE.
The Afriborian Campaign is situated in an imaginary world that resembles our own planet and its history (roughly 1874-1914), but events that took place in our world might be set at different dates or in different places in the Afriborian world, thus making any resemblance between Afriboria and real history, -people, -events and -places purely a matter of imagination.

The "AFRIBORIAN HERALD" is the campaign gazette of the Afriborian wargame/roleplaying campaign and reports on the events on the Dark Continent.
The rules used for this engagement are "Afriboria - Miniature battles in a colonial setting", fastplay card driven colonial rules (downloadable for free at http://www.tsoa.be/ - Antwerp Fuseliers rules section). This battle was played solo, with 4 command cards per side. Given the small scale of the skirmish, no event cards were used. Each turn, the solo player picked 2 command cards (his choice) from the hand of the active side and casts 1D6. 1-3 activated the first card, 4-6 the second. Pretty straightforward, but it worked rather well. The dramatic attack of the Mahdist' battery on the French vessel is part of the scenario notes and prelude to the game. The Mahdist' battery did not take further part in the engagement; it was just a victory token to be taken by the French infantry within 15 turns. Thanks to the brave Mahdist' commander, the French did not succeed in this (it took them 18 turns to reach the spot; by then the Mahdists and their gun were gone). Thus, the battle ended in a Mahdist' victory, even though its "forlorn hope" was killed to the last man.

***** THE AFRIBORIAN HERALD **** issue 5
 ****** THE EYES AND EARS OF THE DARK CONTINENT ******
"THE FOUR FEATHERS".
"A swinging safari"

Men travel to the Dark Continent in search of wealth and fame, either looking for gold or diamonds or hoping to discover new tribes or ancient temples. There are indeed some women who venture into this also, but they are rather the exception than the rule. Most ladies simply follow their husbands and try to make the best of their stay in these godforsaken lands by playing bridge once a week, attend a rare cocktailparty or... go on safari.
The wifes of Lord McDee, le Comte de Rixansart, Markgraf von Spritzen and the mother of Gewestbeheerder Van Lancker were no different. The natives called them "the Four Feathers", because of their delicate, be it somewhat overfashioned parisian plumed hats. They were soon to experience that even well organized safaris are not without danger... Unknown to European intelligence, Dahnist's units (the Dahni being a fanatical religious leader) had penetrated the Upper Nile region and overrun the coastal battery of El Tap, exactly the spot were the safari party of our four unfortunate ladies had planned to camp. As soon as the Dahnist' commander realised the importance of his catch, he send a ransom note to the British, French, German and Belgians. Instead of gold and weapons, the French cuirassé colonial "Charles Martell" carrying a substantial force of infanterie de marine and légionnaires was dispatched to deal with the matter. The French commander was convinced that the sight of his mighty vessel would be more than enough to make the Dahnists sue for peace. How wrong can one be...

The "Four Feathers": Lady McDee, la Comtesse de Rixansart, Markgrafin von Spritzen and mevrouw Van Lancker.
Not only were the Dahnists not at all willing to give in without a fight, but (much to the surprise of the French) they also had more than capable gunners in their ranks: their first shot at the "Charles Martell" scored a direct hit amidships, bringing down the aft mast and making a dent in "Z" turret. Needless to say that the "Charles Martell" backed out of the bay hastily before the well served Dahnist' battery would have the opportunity to drill some holes under the warship's waterline! After a short council of war it was decided to land a company d'infanterie de marine well outside the reach of the battery to take the position overland and from behind.
The Dahnist' battery and its excellent guncrew.
"Charles Martell" suffers a direct hit.
What the Dahnists lacked in numbers, they made up for in fighting spirit: their Arab commander placed his (only) two infantry units at the narrowest point of the peninsula where the French had landed, hiding in tall elephant grass. He intended to charge the enemy machinegun with his spear armed ansar under covering fire of his askari. However, as soon as the French had spotted their opponents, they drew up in line and opened a well directed and steady fire, killing many ansar and forcing them to fall back in spite of their commander's efforts to rally them. It was just too much...
The French infanterie de marine disembarks.
Smoke is still emerging from the Charles Martell.
The ansar retreat under heavy fire of the French.

The French infanterie de marine now started concentrating its firepower on the askari unit, forcing it back steadily, but at no small cost: one of the French units suffered many casualties, but fortunately for them some of the askari must have been out of ammo and had been firing pebbles, so most wounded were treated on the spot and were soon back in line. Finally, only a few askari (and their brave commander) remained, still defending the hill that lay in between the French and the battery. Since they refused to surrender, French snipers took a shot at them, but in the end they were overrun and killed to the man. When the French finally entered the battery and its tower, they found the position abandoned and the gun gone. No sign of our feathered ladies either. The Dahnists had abandoned the position and moved inland. The French relief force was to follow them on this swinging safari...

TO BE CONTINUED...