Have you ever had one of those wargaming days were everything goes right and you roll over the enemy like they were bowling pins? Doesn’t happen too often, does it?
(Editers Note: I've been wargaming for five years now and am still waiting for that sort of day!) Well, I have got to tell you the tale of this cavalry troop that I commanded at Historicon. I was playing exclusively French Foreign Legion (FFL) scenarios using the TSATF rules. The second day I was part of an FFL force that was trying to reach a besieged strongpoint in the desert. I only had one unit which was this French colonial ally Spahis cavalry troop. These chaps were black colonials wearing uniforms that bore a strong resemblance to the uniform that the Brits wore in the 1879 Zulu War, which I thought made them look a bit odd. I wondered what I was getting myself into, but these chaps really gave me a big surprise.
I was leading the FFL march column and was trying to move down the right side of the long table edge since the enemy units were all coming in on the left. It looked like “clear sailing” until a random die roll brought two more enemy units onto right side of the board right in front of me. (Throughout the scenario I was appalled by how many enemy units the GM threw at us. It just seemed to be overwhelming.) Well, by the time these two units finished their arrival move they were at long range for a charge attempt, so I gave it a go thinking that my unit would meet an early end. I rolled high and completed the charge into the first unit. I was then surprised when they failed their “stand and fight” roll, which meant that they had to flee right back off the table edge. The second unit charged me on the next turn but I successfully evaded. Then on turn three I charged them as well. Everyone was amazed when they also failed their “stand and fight” test and fled off the same table edge! You should have seen the look on the face of the kid who was controlling those units! Within a matter of minutes he had been wiped out without a shot being fired, a spear being chucked, or a sword being swung! Tough luck, you little creep! (He was a nice kid actually.)
After this the enemy started to swarm across the middle of the table and assail the middle of our march column. I charged into and out and back into the flank of that mass of enemies three times. Each time I routed an entire enemy unit, or finished off one that had been whittled down by the infantry rifles. In the last attack I took heavy losses in close combat but and was forced to fall back. However, the enemy unit that had just barely defeated me failed the critical morale test they were forced to take because I had carved them down to about 20%. So they were eliminated as well! By the end of the game I only had one unwounded trooper left, but get a load of this: I calculated that these 12 cavalrymen were responsible for the elimination of about 90 enemies all together! Well worth their ration of gruel and oats, don’t you think? It was one of those days I will never forget. I wish they were my figures, I would have painted a Croix de Guerre on all of them! (With TSATF you can do that and it will actually mean something.) My only regret is that the picture I took of this valiant lot didn’t turn out very well; as you can see.
Editers Note: Thanks again to "Bwana" Bill!
