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On Sunday October 23, seven members of the St. Crispin’s Irregulars showed up at the Muzeo in Anaheim for The Queen’s Gallery Exhibit to showcase the Siege of Khartoum using the incredibly colorful and extensive 25mm collection owned by Rod Galati, supplemented by the talented craftsmanship of Frank Patterson and RJ Galati who both developed and built the terrain, boats and many of the buildings. Rod’s amazingly well-painted figures were the talk of the museum as people came through and admired the exhibit set up in the museum theater. The thoroughness of the St. Crispin’s Irregulars in setting up a miniatures tabletop war game display worthy of an H.G. Wells campaign as described in his book “Little Wars”. Her Majesty Queen Victoria herself was awestruck at the fine display of her forces in action against the enemies of her Empire. This may have been an actress playing the part of the Queen, but with a Time Machine on display nearby in the Steampunk: History Beyond Imagination exhibit nearby we could not be sure.

Hundreds of people came through the room throughout the day and spoke positively about the attention to detail and realistic appearance of the layout. Yet Khartoum wasn’t just a tabletop display, it was a full game ready to play. When told it was a game; many of the younger crowd were eager to jump in and start playing. Due to the enthusiastic attention that the Khartoum tabletop was receiving, the battle didn’t get to start until later when the crowds thinned out a bit.

Once they did, four young men followed in the footsteps of many a Victorian-era gentleman by taking command of the elements of both sides to see if History would be repeated…. or changed.

The battle started out well with Her Majesty’s troops gaining the initiative. They manned the walls of Khartoum, watching as the Dervish came into view. Meanwhile, orders went out to the Red Sea Force to move in, and the Nile River Force to start down river. You can see here the troops and their supplies starting on the southern voyage to try and relieve the beleaguered city.

From Rod Galati’s fine 28mm Sudan collection (painted by himself). Steamboats crafted and constructed by the gifted Frank “Bama” Patterson. The British River Force departs from camp at Korti and begins its 400 mile journey – negotiating treacherous cataracts on its way up the Nile to rescue Gordon trapped in Khartoum. The advance guard of the River Force under General Earle, is led by a 9 pounder artillery piece on the bow and a Gatling machine gun on the top deck. The 42nd Highlanders (The Black Watch) man the decks and are in tow.
The Steamboat at Meddina also made steam as she headed out to help evacuate the civilians from the city before the Mahdi’s forces arrived. meanwhile, far across the desert sands, the British Camel Corps were venturing out into the Sahara on their way to the Oasis in an attempt to get some forces to Khartoum as soon as possible.

The Camel Corps, desperate to quench their thirst, makes a determined push for the Wells at Abu Klea driving off a Dervish scouting party. The Camel Corps, led by Gen. Stewart, was an ad hoc formation of hand picked troops from each of the best regiments in the British Army. Their mission was to cut across the desert and make for Metemmeh, along the Nile and board Gordon’s pre-positioned steamboats and make the last hundred mile dash to rescue the city.
The Mahdi meanwhile was doing everything he could to stop the British from thwarting his attempts to make his way to Jerusalem via Khartoum. He sent some of his Dervish across the desert and down the Nile in little skiffs to try and delay the British.

The Hadendowa tribe (Fuzzy Wuzzies of Kipling’s poem) led by the Turco-Sudanese Slave trader, Osman Digna, makes a ferocious attack upon the Red Sea Force as the Brits try and force there way through the rugged mountain passes to gain access to the Nile and then on to relieve Gordon of Khartoum. General Graham in Scarlet tunic upon a white horse leads men of the Naval brigade (Royal Marines & sailors) Scots Guards and Bengal (India) Infantry.

Things were not looking good for the British as the enemy Dervish swept across the barren sands on their way to the walls of Khartoum. The rabble force stretched across the horizon as they swarmed onwards toward the defenders of the city.
Fierce fighting broke out as Her Majesty’s troops engaged the oncoming enemy. Meanwhile, behind them, the Red Sea Force was able to wipe out one of the Mahdi’s units, causing the rest to cower in the sands as the Red Sea Force pushed onwards. In the east, the Camel Corps fought through a number of ambushing Dervish to gain the oasis where they rested and prepared to move on into Meddina to gain more transport upriver.

Alas, it was too late for Her Majesty’s defenders on the walls. The Dervish managed to breach the walls and flooded into the city, causing the remaining British troops and their Egyptian allies to fall back to their internal fortress where General Gordon tried to hold out.

Eventually though, General Gordon managed to fight his way through to the steamboat at the docks to escort the civilians to safety while the city burned behind him. As the sun set on that day’s engagements, Her Majesty’s troops started a slow pullback while the Mahdi’s forces continued their rampage in the abandoned city of Khartoum.
There were so many people at the Muzeo who wanted to see this display again; most of them were just as eager to see the game played through. Special thanks goes out to Rod Galati once again for his generosity and support of this endeavor through the use of his extensive collection of miniatures. Maybe soon another opportunity to replay the History of Khartoum will come to the Muzeo again. The Kabel Gallery is available for the HMGS/PSW to exhibit games in until the end of the year. Please contact VP Harmon Ward for information. If you don’t have an army or know the era very well, please volunteer anyway. We always need a lot of members available to speak to the public about historical miniature gaming.

The Dogs of War set up an incredible game set in Africa at So Cal Smackdown in Anaheim. The 25mm terrain and miniatures were fantastic and photographic. One of the great features of the table was this extraordinary battle flag that let everyone know the name of the game, their club and their organization affiliation. These public games are a great way to get the word out about the HMGS/PSW and the flag allows them to get that information even when we are on coffee break! Thanks everyone for a great show. Attendance at Hobby Day in Anaheim yesterday set a record and was a gigantic over post convention attendance last year. At least 10% of the new attendees heard about us at Smackdown, so I guess advertising works. I think we should make “Best Battle Flag” a future Centurion award category.

Friday night at Gamex there was a large scale General Quarters WWII cruiser battle host by the Hong Kong Cavaliers. Harold Hildebrand hosted Coral Sea using Victory at Sea rules. In both battles the USN discovered that the Japanese Long Lance torpedoes were pretty deadly. There were demo’s of Uncharted Seas and Full Thrust. Mostly everyone was settling in and checking in and playing some pick up games. The HMGS/PSW members were attending their third convention in four months! Tomorrow is the big day. The So Cal Crusaders are bringing out a huge Warhammer 40K Apocalypse battle on a 16 foot table. Dave Maupin of the HMGS/PSW is laying down a great looking 100 Years War battle and the is a National Qualifier Flames of War Tournament.
On Saturday the gaming began early and participation grew throughout the day. Eric came by at 2:30pm and mentioned that we were already at last years  attendance of 1,000. There was a great WWII Squad Skirmish game hosted by Rob Boyens, and a Flames of War tournament. Harold set down a great Warhammer Ancient Battles tournament with an Age of Arthur theme. Preliminary reports indicate that attendance exceeded last years numbers by over 10%. It appears that our long winter may be coming to an end. Thanks to all of the volunteers who did such an outstanding job hosting an extraordinary event.