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| Action at Tshile
(Chile) 28 November 1892 by Mike Brooks |
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| In 1892 the Belgians
opened Trading Posts on the Lomami River in the Eastern
Congo. These encroached on the area from which the arabs
based on the Congo River (to the east) drew resources.
Sefu, the arab leader reacted by crossing the Lomami with
a view to eliminating the Belgian threat. The historical
version of this campaign saw one defeat follow another
for the arabs until their major towns on the East bank of
the Congo fell to the Belgian forces. Tshile (Chile) was the second action in the campaign and was probably no more than a Belgian attempt to secure a forward supply base. Actions and battles in this campaign are fought using 'The Sword and the Flame' rules, with a few variants on Skip Nicholson's 'The game with no turns' which gamers in the North of England may have seen my presenting at various wargames shows. |
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| Opening Position Arab survivors under the leadership of Simbi from the recent defeat at Tsigge (Jigge) have established themselves at Tshile and reinforcements under Mohar Blakatt are on their way. Belgian forces under Lt Scheklinke seek to occupy Tshile for the provisions it will provide. Arab forces |
 Peacefull Tshile, Belgian auxilliaries probing the western edge of the town and Simbi's arabs reacting. |
| Turn 1 The game sequence works by turning cards to determine who takes one 'action' - any action - ie. move, fire, morale etc. With three units I will use four black and four red cards for the units (units plus one) , a command card of each colour following which all units with the Leader's control may take the same action. Finally a chance card. We play it by ear with this. Nothing spectacular in Turn 1, movement and some firing. The chance card produced a serious setback for the Belgians as the Tshile villagers stampeded into their advance! |
 Bena Musua moves in support of Simbi's forces, Lukungi has now moved to the left flank and the villagers are now blocking the route of Scheklinke's advance. |
| Turn 2 A volley over the heads of the villagers clears the front of the Force Publique only for them to move and block Kolongo! However, the Belgians next get a volley into Bena Musua's force, killing him! Another red card then prompts the charge. In this game bayonets have a +1 in melee and wise arabs avoid this contact. Leaderless, Bena Musua's troops fail their evade morale and will stand and fight with a -1 penalty! A D6 each with '+1' versus '-1' - we know what is going to happen here! Five arabs are out of further action, two Force Publique and the remaining 4 arabs are pushed back (Now joining with Kambui's force nicely in line behind them.) |
 Melee under way, Eight Force Publique with two officers take on the leaderless Bena Musua's force. The figures wearing curtain rings, of which there are five in this picture, are casualties to previous shooting and take no further part in this game. |
| Turn 3 The first card gives the Belgians an action which they use by charging Kambui! Between the devil and the deep he opts to stand and meet them in melee. Melee runs to three rounds. 1. Two Force Publique are pushed back to four arab casualties and four pushed back. 2. One FP pushed back to 1 arab casualty and 3 pushed back. Leaving Kambui for round 3..... |
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| .....The end game Last man standing, Kambui, the leader of Blakatt Arabs takes on Scherlinke, the Force Publique Officer and two of his men. Dice throws of 6, 1 and 1 for Force Publique (each plus 1) and 1 for our arab (plus 1 for leader) see each of the three combatants with a final total of 2 wounded and out of the game. With the leader down, the beaten arabs from the Jigge action retire from Tshile also. Final tally, 14 arabs down from a force of 30, |
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| Link to the Battle at Kasongo Luakilla 30 December 1892 | |