[Battle of Boharsef (British vs Egyptians)Egyptian-Ottoman War (1839-41)]

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Battle of Boharsef (British vs Egyptians)
Egyptian-Ottoman War (1839-41)

Muhammad Ali of Egypt had revolted in 1831 against the Ottoman Sultan and after the war, he had extended his rule to Syria. Six years after that war ended, now it was time for the Sultan to go on to the offensive. In the decisive Battle of Nezib (today a province of Gaziantep, Turkey), Ibrahim, eldest son and finest general of Muhammad Ali, defeated the Ottoman Army, leaving the road to Constantinople open to the Egyptians.

Britain, Russia and Austria were alerted by the possibility of a power vacuum that would be caused by a fallen Ottoman Empire. They promised to help the new Sultan against the Egyptians, whereas France and Spain sided with Muhammad Ali, but their help was minimal.

A squadron of the British fleet under command of Admiral Charles Napier was sent to threaten the Lebanese coast. Ibrahim Pasha was trying to hold the coastal cities but it was a difficult task, with the British ships in sight, signs of rebellion were seen in already unstable Syria. With reinforcements in September 1940, Admiral Napier landed troops to Beirut, capturing the city. Sidon fell shortly.

Ibrahim's forces were positioned at the heights of Boharsef. Admiral Napier received an order to give up the command, as his superior now recovered from illness. Not wanting to lose the initiative, Napier ignored the order and pressed on to Boharsef, where a decisive battle would be fought for the fate of Egyptian rebellion.

Wikipedia link for Egyptian-Ottoman War (1839-41);
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian%E2%80%93Ottoman_War_%281839%E2%80%9341%29

The Battle Report

This weekend, with my friend Onur we agreed on a game in Istanbul. He has 1877 Russo-Turkish War Ottomans and I have Napoleonic British. I have somewhat more models than he has so we decided to play a game representing the Battle of Boharsef Heights, with him proxying his Ottomans as Egyptians, but it's no problem at all because Egypt was a former Ottoman province and uniforms, flags and organizations were very similar. We don't know if the British were indeed numerous at that battle but we do know that it was a very hard won British victory, so I designed a basic scenario.

I gave the Egytians a fort to defend which would be very hard to take with frontal assaults and it was worth 5 points. The farmlands were more open and it was worth 3 points. Every destroyed enemy unit (except artillery) also gave 1 point. At the end of turn 10, we would calculate points if no Army were already broken.

Initially I thought the cliffs would be impassable so the only way to take the fort was with frontal assaults to the gates. But Onur said he would rather play as cliffs only treated as rough terrain, halving the move and blocking line of sight, but not impassable. We agreed on that, but that would turn to be a very decisive call as game progressed.

Enough talking then, here is the Batrep;



Army Lists were; (if I remember correctly)
British: 2 Line Brigades (each having 3 Line Regiments, 1 Small Rifle Detachment and 1 Gun Battery), 1 Highlander Brigade (2 Highlander Regiments, 1 Small Scots Skirmishers, 1 Hussar Regiment) and 1 Guards Brigade (2 Guards Regiments, 1 Howitzer Battery, 1 Dragoon Regiment)
Egyptians: Fort Defence (2 Regular Regiments, 1 Small Regulars, 2 Gun Batteries), Farmlands Defence (2 Regular Regiments, 1 Militia Regiment, 1 Small Veterans, 2 Gun Batteries) and Cavalry Brigade (3 Small Light Cavalry)











We said it's ok for us to decide which units would form a brigade and where those brigades would deploy.

The Egyptians were defending the fort with somewhat small numbers. Farmlands were guarded better but they would surely be owerwhelmed by British. Egyptian cavalry were spread around, being Marauders. Seeing the Egyptian defence, I put one Line and Highlander Brigades to attack the farmlands, my other Line Brigade and Guards would storm the fort. I was not expecting to actually take the fort, but if I could capture the farmlands and give enough casualties to the Egyptians without losing too much units, I could grab a victory.





With the opening moves, I moved my columns forwards and then turned most of them into lines. Maybe a bit too soon because I failed some command rolls one after the other so had to wait for some turns before my men got into firing range. I did not want to risk being better artillery target but I could still go a few more moves. Gotta remember that next time.







And the first shots of the game. Onur orders his guns to fire! He concentrates on my gun battery and manages to disorder it, but no big casualties.



My Guards were walking from one side of the hill that stood just before the fort and my Line Brigade was walking from the other side. One Egyptian cavalry unit wanted to give us a warm welcome.



But one of my Guard units managed to climb the hill, take line formation and succeded in enfilading them. I would shoot them for a few more turns before they would eventually break and flee.



The assault to the fort is about to begin! Or so I thougth... Again command rolls failed me and my Line Brigade was staying nearly just like that for the remainder of the game. Again, too soon changing from column to line.



In the rough terrain of farmlands, progress is slow but we are getting closer to Egyptians every turn.



And the first successful assault of the game! My Divisional Commander, Admiral Napier personally commands the Dragoons and they wipe out their enemy. That's two of three Egyptian cavalry units fleeing so the Cavalry Brigade of Ibrahim Pasha is Broken.



Seeing the gap, Napier continues to command the British heavy cavalry and they climb the hill, now flanking the Muslim troops at fort.



Wait for us Egyptians, we're coming... Just there...



My Guards at the hill are perfect targets for Egypt guns at fort so they're soon Shaken. But next turns, when they recover from Disorder, their Brigade commander successfuly rallies them.



At last, the British reach enemy lines at farmlands. Now they will taste our Musket Fire!



I think firing the first shot is important in Black Powder. When you get to Disorder some enemy units, the return fire is not that much scary. In my humble opinion, the Egyptians also should moved a little towards us, tried to get the first shot and engage my lines so maybe I would not come that close to the objective unopposed.



At the fort side, seeing the Line Brigade will not take action, one of my Guards regiments and my howitzer proudly move forward and start the firefight, which is no problem at all to the Egyptians after hard walls. But the real trouble is, my Dragoons flanking them. Onur wanted to move one of his units to face my heavy cavalry, but they Blundered instead. Now, the fort was very vulnerable and the only thing that would save Ibrahim Pasha was that my cavalry to fail their command rolls.



Meanwhile, on farmlands, the return fire come. Not so impressive from Egypt infantry but devastating from their guns at short range. Soon, my Line Brigade is here would be Broken.





But help arrives! Highlander columns smash an Egypt line, destoy it and move to engage more enemy. Egyptians here will also be Broken soon.





Meanwhile, my Hussars try a flanking charge to Egypt militiamen. Bad dice here and instead, British Hussars run off the table.



Blunder and bad command rolls prevent the troops at fort to turn towards the cavalry. Then, Napier again gives a "With Me" order to Dragoons and succeeds. The fort will fall shortly. A sad day for Ibrahim Pasha...





Some important moves at the end of game. And that's it, all Brigades Broken, the Egyptian Army is also Broken and the game ends with a Major British Victory. God save the Queen!



The farmlands are under Highlander control, which is the only brigade capable of fighting there.



And the fort falls to an unexpected, game winning heavy cavalry charge.

A wonderful game! I could not guess the outcome at the start, nor I did any idea if that would be too easy or too hard for me to fight the Egyptian defenders. Again, humbly, I think Onur should give more units to the defence of the fort, as that was the objective with highest points. And maybe his cavalry needed to stay together. If the fort would be at his hands at the end of game and if he had retreated from the farmlands in good order, I now see that it was highly possible for him to grab a victory. Though I know it's not an easy task as said...

Thank you all who read. Hope you liked it!

(Türkiye'deki arkadaşlar, 10mm Black Powder oyunları cidden çok keyifli ve modelleri boyaması da gerçekten çok kolay. Napolyon dönemine ilginiz varsa kesin gelin aramıza.)

ne emek veriyosun sen şu raporlara yaw, eline sağlık  :)

eyvallah abi

oyun çok datlı olunca illa ki insanın uğraşası geliyor. Black Powder'ın bu yönü süper, oyun öncesi araştırma yapıyorsun hangi tarihsel çatışmayı oynasak, bunu nasıl masada canlandırsak diye. sonra güzel bir senaryo hazırlayıp rakibinle tartışıyorsun böyle mi yapalım nasıl olsun diye. oyun da çekişmeli geçti mi... e daha ne isteyim

olay şu, hani oyunda kazanmak için muazzam şeyler yapmana gerek yok. basit manevralar, rakibin yanına geçmek, süvariyi düşman flank'ine sokmak filan bunları yapmaya çalışıyorsun kabaca. ama bunları yapmak o kadar kolay değil. hani kimi sıkılır filan ama bana bu basit şeyleri yapmakta zorlanmak, yapınca da kazanmak çok eğlenceli geliyor.