Tin-Tin in East Africa....

 Tin-Tin in East Africa.. a nice die-cast 1/43 car

I'm going to make up a set of my equivalent Tin-Tin characters for use in Africa games - Kit Campion, Captain Pollock plus Sterling & Stirling.

East Africa - German Askari..

German askari unit painted up (mostly Tiger Miniatures)....

The mountain gun and some supporting Ruga-Ruga...

The commander of this little force Otto Von Tiddenheim....

I'm going to add a few more figures to bring it up to the strength of a German WW1 field company.

East Africa Force - extra jaloppies

I managed to pick up a couple of cheap diecast Matchbox Crossleys; these were painted up for use a transport and another for a machine gun. For crew I bought some Empress Miniatures crew sets; these I've tweaked slightly, along with a couple of spare seated figures I had.

The full East Africa Force motorised force....

One of the Empress crew sets is a dismounted Vickers gun; this will be used as a British machine gun section.

FFL - Algerian Spahis...

 Using some Gringos40s figures from their 28mm Tonkin range, I've added a detachment of mounted Algerian spahis

Taking Manga --- the action....

The action commences ....

The British start their advance; in the centre are British regulars, supported by naval landing party, with East Africa volunteers on the right flank.

On the left flank, the Kings African Rifles take the lead with the Indian troops in support...

The forces of Nambuzo advance to take up forward positions...

The Nambuzo forces take up their positions, the irregulars on the left flank, askari in the centre and the German mercenaries on the right flank.

The British continue their advance and will soon come into contact with the opposition...

The British move up and into firing range....

The Nambuzo askari machine gun prepares to open fire....

The Nambuzo irregulars open fire from hidden positions, cutting down over half of the East Africa volunteers..

On the other flank, the African Rifles taken some casualties and fall back into some cover...

the East Africa volunteers have retreated and the Naval landing party moves up to fill the gap ....

The British regulars who had been on the front edge of the plantation took heavy casualties and routed running back towards their start line. The Naval landing party were greeted by a hail of fire from the Nambuzo irregulars, men go down and the landing party fall back...

The landing party form a line to hold their position as the Indian troops move up...

The British regulars have rallied and form a line to hold the back end of the plantation....

The Naval landing party take even more casualties and fall back, leaving the Indian troops with no support.

The Indian Troops and African rifles are holding their positions and inflicting casualties on the opposing askari and German mercenaries.

Emboldened by the retreat of the British forces to their front, the Nambuzo irregulars move into the plantation...

and charge straight into the Indian troops - a desperate fight ensues.....

The Indians get cut up badly in the fight and the remnants retreat down the road.....

The Nambuzo irregulars then regroup and move towards the British regulars ....

meanwhile the askaris and German mercenaries are slowly advancing ....

The Nambuzo irregulars charge the 'thin' British line ...

The British line does not hold and they retreat .....

A victory for the Sultanate of Nambuzo

---oXo---

Notes:

• British losses 55%, all units retreating and not fit to stand and fight. 
• Nambuzo forces 30% losses, following up and harrying the British forces.

Overall the Nambuzo forces, especially the irregulars had the best firing dice rolls and the best saving dice rolls when they were hit.  The British forces dice throws - low number of hits on firing and failed to roll well on saving.... end result they got a drubbing.

Taking Manga - Deployment ...

The two sides have been deployed... 

The British forces are in their start positions ready for the off..... 

The forces of Nambuzo just outside the town of Manga...

to be continued....

Taking Manga ?

Its back to East Africa and the Sultanate of Nambuzo for my next game.  I've worked out a scenario loosely based on the battle of Tanga 1914 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tanga).

Concept: British have landed on the coast at the headland by the bay near the small port town of Manga, they will deploy their force and advance to take the town.

Map from Wikipedia..

I decided to fit the main area of action onto my gaming table, for simplicity I decided to omit the railway line and replace it with part of a line of hedging.  For the best playable setup I rotated the action area by 180 degrees...

A view of the game table....

part of the port is represented...

The British forward scouting party have moved up from the landing area ....

The British view down the table to Manga in the distance...

The British troops are moving up into position. Of course the landing didn't go un-noticed and the forces of the Sultanate of Nambuzo are also moving up to defend Manga. 

more pictures and the game action report as things develop....