Another set of minatures rules that I have got the Halifax club to play by simply doing all the work myself. Naturally the rules also

require figures being designed for the Ros 6mms. I used Irregular figures which have quietly been re-modelled and are a lot better than

their originals although they still do not do any Indian infantry on the same base sizes as British. Note that some of the Fuzzy Wuzzy

figures are old designs and look it, Ashanti figures a pretty similar and way better sculpted. Too Much for the Mahdi has 2 rules books, 1 containing the whole system and the other an edited version for the players. The concept is that 1 player acts as gamesmaster and controls the Mahdists while all others control parts of the British or Egyptian force. The problem here is that gamers do not like to read rules, although DBM and DBR experts are prepared to learn the lot, making the shortened "Officer's Pocket Book" redundant. Another assumptiuon is that lots of players are available, 2 is the norm for figure gamers. This puts the umpire/Mahdist/figure-owner in the position of doing all the work and is the job I always get. The object is to follow through a campaign rather than just a battlewith the Imperial side making decisions about troop commitments and march orders. The end result after certain discussion and figure moving is hordes of natives heading for paradise. Using a 6' by 4' table and 6mm troops it is possible to show the core of an imperial force with it's baggage plus the distribution of scouts at the same time. A fair bit of figure moving is also saved by having the Imperial formation remain constant and moving the hills and such past them. With a bit of preparation I worked out scenarios for El Teb and Tamaai, 2 battles fought by the British against the Mahdists close to the coast of modern Sudan. These were inflicted on 2 different British gamers and the Mahdists were trashed both times. Interestingly the British losses for Tamaai were pretty close to those historically and although the course of events were quite different both Tamaais were near run things. Looked at in retrospect and ignoring the rules mechanisms these rules do a good job of recreating Sudanese battles. There is however a great deal of luck involved and the Mahdists are going to need plenty of it to any good. In brief an Imperialist that fires 5s and 6s on his D6s is invincible and the Mahdist must hope for 1s and 2s to really break through. Reasonable Mahdist morale means that casualties will break up and scatter attack groups. If the Mahdists get into melee they are equal but no better than the British requiring lots of live Mahdists to reach the British lines for a win.