My 19th century colonial collection has not seen battle for quite a while, so we decided to get them out and have a game. We decided to trial a game using Lion rampant.
The French colonial force which I took control of was formed of 4 units of tirailleurs (foot sergeants with bows), 2 units of Spahis (mounted sergeants) and 1 unit of allied tribesmen (warband). The West African raiders had 7 raiding parties (warbands) and 4 skirmishers (bidowers)
It is the early 1900s, work on the railway from Senegal to Mali is ongoing, but constantly hampered by raids from local tribes who oppose the foreigner's infringement into their ancestral lands. A company of Algerian Tirailleurs, supported by a detachment of Spahis, are patrolling in the local area, on the look out to defend the local railway workers against such raiders.
With scouts having spied the approaching raiders the French advance to protect the railway and the workers against the tribesmen's attack.
A long range volley from a section of tirailleurs cuts into a unit of skirmishers, sending them running.
Both sides advance on the railway track
The allied tribesmen rush forwards, towards the lead skrimishers
The skirmishers open fire, but the tribesmen hold.
Both sides continue the advance, the skirmishers holding up the allied tribesmen's advance in the centre, while the tirailleurs pin down the native Africans on the right.
The French advance rapidly on the rails, the skirmishers at last swept from the nearest bushes by the allied tribesmen, with some difficulty. The line opens up long range fire on the raiders.
At last some raiders push close to the tirailleurs on the right, but a volley seems sure to scatter them.
However the Algerians fail their volley and the West Africans charge in, however the tough tirailleurs put up a fight and (surprisingly) send the raiders packing.
In the centre the allied tribesmen at last break and flee as nearby skirmishers open fire on them.
The tirailleurs on the right charge their fleeing foe, chasing them further on.
The French, with many of the raiders beaten back by firing, cross the railway line, the Spahis coming out from behind the line on the left.
Captain Charles Dubreton leads his men on as the spahis trot forwards
Despite receiving a charge from the nearest warband, which cut down a quarter of their number, another charge from the Spahis cuts through two warbands, causing the raiders' commander to flee the field.
A French Victory... but...
It felt far too easy! The Raiders didn't stand a chance, swept away by the advancing French line. All the raiders' units were either fleeing or fled by the end, while the French still had every unit they had started with on the board. The problem seemed to be not so much the power of the shooting, but the combination of fighters (sergeants) with range. Even when the raiders made contact they were repulsed! The raiders also suffered from bad rolling to move and to charge, which only put them more at the tirailleurs' mercy, while they didn't have any quality ranged troops of their own.
We concluded that perhaps Lion Rampant did not suite this period as well as it might have appeared...
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