COMMAND DECISION
Skirmish in India January 1859
Chasing Tope: an Indian Mutiny conundrum. Can you avoid capture?
Each Command Decision aims to offer a series of playable options in timeless military scenarios. Command Decision is designed so you can read the situation and figure out your own command decisions if you were leading the troops on the ground. You can either work through the various options or use the mechanics to create the precise circumstances of the table top engagement. The scenarios may have particular historical themes and settings, but you can easily adapt the mechanics to suit your own preferences and collections.
SITUATION REPORT
The Indian Mutiny is reaching its end. The battling female figurehead, the Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, has been killed at Gwalior on June 17, 1858. The war is not over, the dangerous rebel leader Tatya Tope is still resisting in Central India. General John Michel has chased him as he fled towards Sironj (to the north of modern day of Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh). The rebels split their forces with Rao Saheb heading for Jhansi and Tope’s larger force making for Chanderi (an area with hills, forests and lakes). By October, the two forces recombined and were soundly beaten at Chhota Udaipur. They slipped into Jaipur and were beaten twice again; this forced the remaining rebels to head for dense jungle where they might shake off the British pursuers. It seemed that Tope was hoping he might disappear into Nepal and elude them altogether.
ROLE & COMMAND
You are Ramchandra Panduranga Yewlekar, born in 1814. Your childhood nickname was Tatya and you acquired the name Tope (meaning commanding officer) later as an official in the Nana Saheb’s court in exile at Bithoor near Kanpur. You led rebel forces in the northern plains with little success in 1857. Nana Saheb fled and by January 1858 you moved to aid the Rani of Jhansi’s uprising. Only your leadership saved your army following the defeats at Konch and Kalpi. Gwalior’s army defected to you, but the British stormed the city in June 1858. Since then, you and your 15,000 men have been playing cat and mouse with the British. You have always avoided a set piece engagement. Each encounter sees your forces dwindle. You determine to spread the rebellion wherever you go, but the British are close and there is much danger.
GAMING THE ESCAPE
As Tope you must aim to escape the British by reaching the jungles with most of your men intact. You must decide whether you are more important than your men and as such, the more men you have with you, the slower the pace of the march.
If you choose to keep your forces intact, you will move at a rate of one square per turn. If you jettison the artillery and baggage, your speed increases to two squares per turn. In the event you choose to leave the artillery, baggage and the infantry behind, your cavalry can move three squares a turn.
The more men you have, the more supplies you will need. This means you have to move from village to village in order to feed your men. Remaining on a road increases movement by one square per turn.
Crossing a river with artillery and baggage takes a whole turn; this can only be achieved at a ford. Infantry and cavalry may cross the river at any point. According to British, they were able to keep up a fairly steady rate of 10-15 miles a day during the pacification campaigns in Central India (and these were mixed formations with baggage).