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 Fusiliers rules section). This battle was played solo, with 4 command cards per side. The event cards relating to wild animals were removed from the "event cards" deck. 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 FOUR FEATHERS".
"Battle for Maxim's".
The gateway to the Valley of Death.
SCENARIO NOTES - TO VIEW THE BATTLE CLICK HERE.
The British column leaving the basecamp (Lord Hamilton commanding):
- two 8 fig B-class sepoy units (scarlet & blue uniforms).
- two 6 fig A-class Ghurkas (green uniforms).
- two 5 fig A-class Bengal lancers.
- one A-class (steam drawn) heavy artillery unit (4 figs).
Two officers: Lord Hamilton on horseback and a Captain on foot.
"Unit colours" (see rules) are mixed red-green-blue. Contrary to the French, who proudly fly their "Tricolore", Lord Hamilton keeps a low profile and does not display the colours. 		The French column leaving the basecamp (Rico Sanscheveux in command):
- three 6 fig A-class French regular units (blue & white uniforms).
- two 6 fig A-class "Légion Etrangère" units (light khaki uniforms).
- one 6 fig A-class "Infanterie de Marine" unit.
- one 6 fig volunteer unit "Maxim's Rifles".
- one A-class artillery unit (4 figs), a medical and a supply unit.
Two officers (Rico Sanscheveux and a Captain) and 1 sergeant, all on foot.
"Unit colours" (see rules) are mixed red-green-blue.
Volunteer units: are"special units" not mentioned in the basic "Afriboria" rules. Volunteer units are composed of European civils with modern weapons and have the following specs:
- B-class for morale purposes (flags);
- battle as A-class, be it without the benefit of the "not moving and firing twice" rule.
This reflects the quality of their arms but also their lack of military training.
The 6 fig VOLUNTEER UNIT "Maxim's Rifles" is composed of civilians supporting the allied cause and in particular François Maxim, their leader. Maxim is not a character but integrated in the unit. If the unit is destroyed, François Maxim is killed.

A-class (steam drawn) heavy artillery unit
(gun: pencil sharpener - tractor: Lledo Diecast model - both repainted).

Ambulance unit followed by a supply unit
(ambulance: Lledo Diecast model - repainted).

The A-class (in this case steam drawn) HEAVY ARTILLERY UNIT (4 figs) is a "special unit" not mentioned in the basic "Afriboria" rules. It has the following specs:

TYPE
MOVE
DICE& RANGE
Heavy artillery: If 25/28mm figs with 10cm hexes and a prime mover are used (as in the picture above), the hex containing the p.m. is the target hex for enemy attacks. It is more practical to consider the p.m. to be an integral part of the gun model, but visually less appealing (player's choice...). When the gun is deployed, the p.m. model is (temporarily) removed from the table.
Heavy artillery
1
&
0
0
&
4 - 3 - 3 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 1
The main goal of this type of artillery is to bombard an area or building. This is simulated by restricting the ammo by using one or more small D6 (to represent the number of shells left). As this heavy (and expensive) ordnance would normally not be left unprotected, it may be part of a "platoon" or "company" (see "Afriboria" rules). For as long as another ("covering") unit of such a formation is in the same hex (or adjacent when using 25/28mm figs with 10cm hexes), this "covering unit" must first be forced to retreat (or be eliminated) before the heavy artillery can be attacked.

The MEDICAL UNIT (in this case a 1 model ambulance unit) is a "special unit" not mentioned in the basic "Afriboria" rules and represents medical capacity.

Medical unit: moves as infantry and enables the player to tend to his casualties. To simulate this, AT THE END OF HIS TURN, the player casts 1 D6:
1-2: the medical staff has done its utmost, but couldn't bring any of the casualties back in line...
3-4: one figure is back with his unit and fit for duty;
5-6: two figures are back with their units and fit for duty, with a maximum of 1 figure/unit.
As long as the medical unit remains active, this applies to any unit within 6 hexes when using 10cm hexes or 4 hexes when using 15cm ones. Player choses which units receive recovered figure fit for duty.
The medical unit might also be represented by (a) tent(s), which would then of course be immobile.

The SUPPLY UNIT (in this case 4 packhorses, but could also be a wagon,truck or bunch of porters) is a "special unit" not mentioned in the basic "Afriboria" rules.

Supply unit: represents the supplies of a western military force in the field. It moves as infantry. Supply units do not have a special function (unless otherwise stated in the scenario), except that they need protection in order to avoid the opponent scoring an easy victory point. In a way, the supply unit represents certain restrictions (due to supplies) an imperialists' field force suffers compared to a native warband.

As a medical or supply unit would normally not be left unprotected, It may be part of a "platoon" or "company" (see "Afriboria" rules). For as long as another ("covering") unit of such a formation is in the same hex (or adjacent when using 25/28mm figs with 10cm hexes), this "covering unit" must first be forced to retreat (or be eliminated) before the medical or supply unit can be attacked. Medical or supply units have no attack/defence value and are automatically overrun and eliminated. When overrun, a victory point is added to the opponents' total and the unit is removed from the game.
The (scratchbuilt) French trading post (known as "Maxim's") in happier days. The post was manned by François Maxim's second son, but since the unrest in the region nothing has been heard from him nor his servants... Fearing the worst, his father has raised a unit of volunteers and joined the French column.
After dispatching about a third of his army to deal with the allied basecamp, the "Devil's Own" (Rif tribes) commander arrives with his main force at the trading post to deny the allies entrance to "the Valley of Death".
Prior to the battle, the first Dahnist' units arrive on the scene. The main Dahnist' force is still days away, but a fast camel "company" (3 C-class units) commanded by a "tribal overlord" has been sent ahead with great speed, no doubt not only to strengthen the "Devil's Own", but also to make sure the Rif Arabs won't sue for peace...
DEPLOYMENT - OVERVIEW.

Scenario objectives/victory conditions.
 Allies: 6 victory points to win the game.
Taking the trading post = 2 points.
Each unit/tribal overlord killed = 1 point.
Rif tribes & Dahnists: 4 victory points to win the game. Taking the heavy artillery unit = 2 points.
Each unit/officer killed = 1 point.
5 command cards per side. Allied side moves first.
ALLIED INITIAL DEPLOYMENT (left):
(1) French infantry "company": 1 officer, 2 "Légion Etrangère" A-class infantry, 1 "Infanterie de Marine" A-class infantry.
(2) French infantry "company": 1 officer (Rico Sanscheveux) , 3 line infantry A-class, 1 A-class field gun.
(3) British (Indistani) infantry "company": 1 officer, 2 Ghurka A-class infantry, 2 sepoy B-class infantry.
(4) British (Indistani) cavalry: 1 officer (Lord Hamilton) leading 2 Bengal Lancer A-class cavalry.
(5) French "platoon": 1 NCO, "Maxim's Rifles" and a medical unit.
The supply unit and the heavy artillery unit are unattached and to the rear (next to (5)). British officers/NCO's can only command British troops, French officers/NCO's only French troops. The medical unit serves both nationalities.
ARAB INITIAL DEPLOYMENT (right):
(1) Rif tribes infantry "company": 1 tribal overlord, 3 C-class infantry with spear. These units defend the entrance to the "Valley of Death" (between the mountains).
(2) Rif tribes cavalry: 1 tribal overlord leading 2 B-class cavalry with spear.
(3) Rif tribes infantry: 1 tribal overlord leading 2 B-class infantry with spear.
(4) Rif tribes cavalry "platoon": 1 tribal chieftain leading 2 B-class cavalry with spear.
(5) Rif tribes infantry "platoon": 1 tribal chieftain leading 2 B-class infantry with bow.
(6) & (7): unattached C-class Rif tribes camelry with bow. There is also an unattached Rif tribes C-class infantry unit with bow stationed in the trading post.
(8) Dahnist' cavalry "company": 1 tribal overlord, 3 C-class camelry with bow.
Rif tribes commanders can only command their own troops; same goes for the Dahnists.