Tuesday 31 July 2012

Retreat to the sea!

A tactical problem set during the paniced retreat after the disaster at Annual in 1921 where the Spanish lost between 8 and 18,000 men!

The Spanish defenders have to hold the village and then escort the column of amulances and wounded down to the beach where they can be rescued by boat. the Riffi and their Arab allies have to prevent this. The Spanish have had little or no warning of the attack - just enough to organise a defense, but have not organised the column this took 7 turns before the column could start down the track.

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The Spanish had a rifle company without any machine guns defending the village and a additional platoon in and around a ruin near the beach. The Riffi and Arabs had about 3 companies of warriors (rifle & sword armed).

The boys were too cautious and slow in thier attack, this allowed the Spanish to pick off warriors from cover and still load up the wagons and mules. Eventually i explained the situation and the Riffi attacked from all sides just as my column was forming up to move out.
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One party of Riffi managed to get to the beach and from there harrassed the defending platoon and caused casualties among the drivers/mule handlers. The main Riffi force over ran the rearguard and fell upon the rear wagon and mules and slaughtered the wounded. Only one wagon got to the beach and evacuated its cargo - a big victory for the Riffi.

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Figures all from my collection 20mm

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