Last game in 2023 - Aboukir 8 March 1801 (part 1 of Aboukir & Mandara)

 The last game of 2023 was put on by the excellent Mark Smith from his forthcoming Africa Scenario book - Aboukir & Mandara.  

These linked battles are the amphibious assault upon the French in Egypt and subsequent start of the march towards the Egyptian capital of Alexandria.  

The British forces were led by Sir Ralph Abercrombie and featured good inter-service co-operation on the British team between the Navy and the Army, meticulous planning and professionalism for one of the most complicated military operations that can be undertaken - invasion of an enemy occupied coast.

Firstly, here's the map - we used the bottom half for the Aboukir game.

On the day we used the bottom three rows for the Aboukir game, with the French lurking in the sand hills in the middle of the map, the Army assaulting from right to left, backed up by the British fleet firing over the top of the assault boats.  Very D-Day Normandy.....

Here's the set-up:

British boats lined up ready to start, the single 3 decker represents the Navy giving covering fire.

Row boys, row!  Boats could travel using the normal BBB rules - full move 9" and 6" half move, with a low risk of swamping and taking casualties.

The British have reached the shore and some units are already charging inland, whilst others are still arriving.

Once ashore, the British piled into the French.

The centre British unit took casualties on the way in and then got hammered by the French, so have retreated into the surf to recover.  More of this later.

The French retreating away from the beach.

This part of the game was completed in 4 turns and resulted in a British victory.  It was not one-sided, as the boats took casualties going in and once they had landed, especially as the French could avoid the Naval support by staying on the land side of the dunes.

It was a really fun game, with plenty of excitement and interest as the boats crossed the bay and the Brits stormed ashore.  Apart from the ships and small boats, all the troops were standard British and French models.

So - on to part 2 ....