Siege of Azamgarh - 15th September 1857

The events in India had vastly unfolded since the mutiny began on 10th May 1857. Most of the hottest action was still taking place around Delhi, with rumors that the British were to began the attack at any time into the city's streets. Additionally Havelock's column was preparing to march on Lucknow to assist the besieged inhabitants. 

Our story today though takes place at a city named Azamgarh, about 800km from Delhi's wondrous walls.

"Brigadier" Ambrose McArthy was in command of the British forces who had recently cleared out pockets of weak Sepoy resistance from its buildings and streets. Expecting a response from surrounding Mutineers at anytime due to its crucial location as a main route towards Delhi, Ambrose ordered the troops to dig in. The troops were worried, a week had past and no sight of the enemy. However, on that 8th day the flags of mutinous regiments glistened in the hot mornings sky alongside familiar marching band tunes.

The Army Lists

British Forces

34th Cumberland Regiment of Foot
Rank III Officer - 9pts - "Brigadier" Ambrose McCarthy
Rank II Officer - 6pts - "Sergeant Major" Anderson Ward
British Regulars with Muskets - 7pts
British Regulars with Muskets - 7pts

1st Bengal Fusiliers
Rank II Officer - 6pts - "Sergeant Major" Dudley Sanford
Rank I Officer - 3pts - "Sergeant" Harris Ellwood
HEIC European Infantry with Rifled Muskets - 8pts
HEIC European Infantry with Rifled Muskets - 8pts 

1st Madras Fusiliers
Rank II Officer - 6pts - "Sergeant Major" Carter Mills
HEIC European Infantry with Rifled Muskets - 8pts

Gurkhas "Nasiri Battalion"
Rank II Officer - 6pts - "Sergeant Major" Robert Cadden
Native Skirmishers with Rifles - 9pts

Total -  83pts

Mutineer Forces

8th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
Rank II Officer - 6pts - "Subedar" Sanjay Goswami
Well-Ordered Sepoys - 4pts
Well-Ordered Sepoys - 4pts

25th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
Rank II Officer - 6pts - "Subedar" Sukhinder Basran
Well-Ordered Sepoys - 4pts
Well-Ordered Sepoys - 4pts 

25th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
Rank I Officer - 3pts - "Naik" Suneet Bagri
Sepoy Rabble - 3pts
Sepoy Rabble - 3pts

7th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
Rank II Officer - 6pts - "Havildar" Chandran Singh
Rank I Officer - 3pts - Bhaskor Rai
Sepoy Rabble - 3pts
Sepoy Rabble - 3pts
Sepoy Rabble - 3pts

Local Raja Troops
Rank II Officer - 6pts - Jagadish Alam
Rank I Officer - 3pts - Bihari Rakib
Sepoy Rabble - 3pts
Sepoy - 3pts 

Rank II Officer - 6pts - "Havildar Major" Gopal Khan
Sepoy Skirmishers - 7pt

Rank II Officer - 6pts - Rishabh Ghani
Mutineer Artillery (Light Gun) - 5pts

Total - 94pts

The Mutineer forces today combine elements of the 7th, 8th and 25th Bengal. Most of these regiments now have discarded their uniform in favor of the Dhoti so we have managed to get a very nice en-masse look. We also have local Raja troops under the command of Jagadish Alam.

The outer defenses of Azamgarh

View from the Mutineer camp

Carter Mills and his Staff sergeant survey the Mutineer encampment

The well-ordered Sepoy's of 7th & 25th Bengal arrive with some Artillery

More Sepoy's march into line, Skirmishers leading the way

Elements of the 7th & 8th storm forth, lead by "Halvidar" Chandran Singh

The large majority of the Mutineer force now marching forwards

The 1st Bengal Fusiliers are the first to raise the alarm and deploy

Gurkha's led by Robert Cadden start the skirmishing fire

Elements of the 1st Madras move forward to engage

The 34th Cumberland deploy from their barracks to the Cantonments

1st Madras Fusiliers support the center of British defenses

Overview of the Siege unfolding

 

 

 Part of the 25th Bengal advance hastily

The 1st Madras pick targets and fire

The Sepoy's advance en-masse

1st Madras pour a harrowing fire into oncoming Mutineers

Shock begins to accumulate on the Sepoy's left side assault

Sepoy Skirmishers create a skirmishing screen for the advance

The 25th Bengal continue towards British lines under direct fire

 

 

Troops loyal to Jagadish Alam prepare to join the assault

Sepoy's in the center approach the crossroad

Sanjay Goswami finally organizes his men of the 8th Bengal to push forward

 Gurkha's head for cover in the nearby buildings as they receive return fire

Mutineers of the 25th Bengal forming up into line 

Overview of the flanks showing the right side assault stalled

The men of the 34th Cumberland lay accurate volleys down

Mutineers bring their cannon into range of Canister shot, to harrowing effect

The Sepoy's right assault is severely impacted and men flee

Gurkha's again shift positions to continue harassing fire

1st Bengal Fusiliers finally start to feel overwhelmed

Aerial shot of the action

The exchange of fire continues at dangerously close ranges

Rugged troops from the 8th Bengal desperately try to seize ground on British right

Jagadish Alam's troops are eager to join the fight

"Up and over lads!" British push forward at a crucial moment

The chaotic dash begins to secure victory

With Sepoy morale crushed units start to retire from the right side

Disorganization and shock sweeps over the Mutineer lines and a full rout begins

Well that was certainly an exciting game and a close run thing at that!

Sepoy's from the 25th and 8th Bengal slammed against the right side and were consistently repelled by deadly Musket and Rifle fire from men of the 34th Cumberland and Gurkha's. By the time they got close enough to be a threat the Sepoy's morale was too low from constant setbacks. At the end we saw British troops pushing out from the safety of their defenses to shoot into shocked troops and secure a victory.

On the left hand side we saw an entirely different picture. Although initially Enfield fire from the 1st Bengal Fusiliers continued consistently to punish the huge assault at long ranges, the sheer amount of bodies of the 7th Bengal was able to keep things moving for Sepoy forces. Mutineers were able to wither the shock and bring up a Cannon to deliver absolutely horrific canister casualties. This wall was absolutely close to being overrun and had we seen the Mutineers with a higher force morale at this point, I believe they would have likely have pushed into the city and secured the game. 

Two things are for certain with this rule set. Controlled Volleys from Rifled Muskets are absolutely lethal when combined with the "Sharp Practice" ability.  Had we seen a smaller left side assault, I doubt the Mutineers would have even gotten as close as they did. Additionally Canister at close range is terrifying and well worth risking a cannon to take some small arms fire to deliver even a first shot of this. 

I'm glad to be back to tabletop gaming after a period of moving house and expect some more Battle Reports soon. The Indian Mutiny painting queue is now complete after a year and I've moved into carrying on my American Civil War project with the first games expected around Christmas.

Painting Update - 7th Hussars & Characters

Another update as I have finished up some British Cavalry but have added to the Lead Mountain again after winning a nice Ebay bid on some lancers! 

These are painted up as the 7th Hussars most people are familiar with during the period (although they did go through a few uniform variations)

Next a Deployment Point for my 1st Bengal Fusiliers. I'll be doing another one for use in a Siege mission where we see outnumbered Brits take on hordes of Sepoys. This should look great on the table as not only an actual game piece, but a scenic piece showing British Regiments fighting desperately.

Finally just a few characters, a drummer for my 34th Cumberland, 93rd Highlanders Officer and just another baggage carrier to add to my collection. This was my first attempt at Tartan and it seems to create the effect, at least I was happy with it. Whether or not this entices me to paint a full two groups of Highlanders at some point I am not sure, as I've got some other regiments planned yet.

Back to gaming towards the end of the month, so if you enjoyed the Campaign Battle Reports there is lots more to see yet.

Painting Update - Mughal Prince Troops and Elephants!

July has been a productive month and I can't see myself stopping anytime soon with the collection.

Possible future scenarios I have planned for August/September are a Siege/Convoy protection, so I'm painting some models in preparation for that. 

First up is an Elephant I grabbed in the Foundry Christmas sale, and I've been procrastinating on this for a while. It was however very fun and actually quick to paint up.

Next is some Local Prince/Mughal troops that I'll be using as Sepoy Rabble due to them at least having a degree of uniformity). I may yet add another group, possibly swordsmen in similar colors. Again very easy to paint up despite my initial worry of painting flat white, as I usually paint up from Light Grey adding white as I go. 

I'm nearly finished on some British cavalry also, they'll be up here very soon.

Painting Update - 1st Madras Fusiliers

All speed ahead this week with the hobby motivation in full swing.

Finished some Madras Fusiliers to go alongside my Bombay Fusiliers. Only a small unit of 8 leftovers to start with, but these were fun to paint so the unit will likely grow when I get some more models.

I used the following artworks below for reference and settled for a mid tone blue on the caps (They ranged all the way from Dark/Light)

Then a set of leftover characters for various existing units.

From left to right : Officer for Madras Fusiliers, Officer for 34th Cumberland, Generic British Officer, Standard Bearer for my Bombay Fusiliers (Minus the flag yet!), Generic British Officer, Drummer lad for 7th Royal Fusiliers.

Working through my 7th Hussars now and some other Sepoy troops (trying to kill that lead mountain)

Painting Update - CCAF Death Commandos

After much deliberation I finally thought I'd take a go at some Battletech. I've been eyeing up the models for a while and have quite a few friends in a local gaming group, that combined with the low model count it seemed like a good idea for a quick project. Little did I know, it would become rather addictive!

The background lore is incredibly deep in this game especially on the Regiment/Units, which as a historical wargamer does please me a lot. Rather than creating my own scheme I settled on the infamous "Death Commandos" of the Capellan Confederation. These guys are the elite of the Capellan's forces and along with their ominous black and green scheme I did become enamored quite quickly.

The Death Commandos usually have a "backup" mech alongside their main mech, so I have done two of each mech weight class (except for my leader as he likes his Cyclops that much!)

I'll likely add some extra mechs in future as these are really quick to get painted and I have plenty of spares now.

Maybe some Battletech reports will sneak their way onto here also!

Painting Update - 1st Bengal Fusiliers

Just finished a long overdue HEIC unit for my British forces during the Mutiny. These sculpts came out really nice and as usual I will be painting up a Ensign for the unit, so expect to see him on the field.

I'm also excited to start gaming again soon which should be around August. The narrative campaign will continue with plenty of new characters and units.

 Reference/Inspiration pictures (On the right for Bengal Fusiliers)

 

 

The only problem now is I want to paint some Madras Fusiliers also!

The final "planned" British unit is now being worked on (7th Hussars), hope to have these done by next week.