This Great War Spearhead
battle report follows a re-fight of the Battle of Shaiba using the scenario
written by Robert Dunlop, and available in the Files section of the
Great War Spearhead Yahoo Group. The introduction below comes from
Robert's own introduction to the scenario. Robert had compressed the
actions of three days into the one scenario, creating a well balanced
and very exciting game for both players.
"Meanwhile the
British had landed the 12th (Indian) Division, which managed to get a
brigade across the flooded area to the town of Shaiba. They built a
fortified encampment at the entrance to one of two flooded walkways that
could provide access to Basra from the Southeast. This defensive force
was all that stood in the way of the Turkish outflanking maneuver"
The battle was fought
between Andy Gorman and Robin Sutton, in Christchurch, New Zealand, in
July 2005 using 20mm figures from their collections.
Forces of the 12th
(Indian) Division wait in the fortified encampment for the
Turkish attack to begin. Looking towards the Indian positions
from the Turkish side of the table the Indian troops are seen
deployed in shallow trenches, with a company occupying a
fortified position immediately behind the front line. The town
of Shaiba (represented by a village block in this scenario) is
to the left of the position as seen in this view. An Indian
Cavalry brigade, held in reserve, can be seen at the top of the
picture. At the time this scenario was played I still hadn't
developed a workable trench representation on the table,
although I had experimented with trench sections of the type
shown in the special features page of this site. Here painted
card sections are used to show the trench line.
The Turkish commander
decided to assault the town directly with the mass of his force,
while keeping the British forces in the encampment occupied with
a feint carried out with two weakened Turkish regiments on the
Turkish left. The Turkish commander was supported by a large contingent
of Arab irregular cavalry whose commander demanded that his
forces be the ones to attack the town directly. With such forces
behind him, the Arab commander was not going to be denied the honor
of liberating the town, and the Turkish commander agreed,
sending his two strongest regiments forward in support. The
Turkish commander has set up his supporting artillery in a gun
line seen at the top left of the photo. While they were grouped together,
they could not be brigaded, as historically they were used in
the direct fire role.
One of the Turkish
right flank regiments can be seen making it's diversionary
attack against the Indian fortified encampment. One stand has already
been suppressed by Indian fire, seen by the suppression marker
against the stand. Andy was prepared to sacrifice this regiment
in order to hold the defenders here, preventing them from
supporting the Indian Brigade defending Shaiba itself.
The size of the
Turkish forces can be well appreciated from this view as they
advance towards the waiting Indian battalion defending the front
of the town. Indian forces were hurriedly passing behind Shaiba
to take up positions defending the Indian right flank (the left
of the picture as seen here from the Turkish side). Two of the
three supporting Turkish regiments can be seen to the left, while the
Turkish divisional command stand can be seen at the bottom right
of the picture. The Arabs are the HaT Bedouin figures, and .. if
you think you are seeing Russians and Germans in the swirling
mass of horsemen, you are right, we didn't have quite enough
Arabs for the forces required!!
Without waiting for
the supporting Turkish attackers to 'soften up' the defenders,
the Arab commander ordered his cavalry straight in to the
attack: 'crunch time' for the Indian battalion defending the
town, three companies at the front supported by an MG detachment
positioned in the 'town' (an outskirts in Spearhead terms).
The first Arab charge
is repulsed in a swirling melee of horses and men. Gaps are
created as stands are destroyed, and others suppressed. The Arab
forces took fire not only from the defenders to the front of
Shaiba, but also from Indian troops on their flank in the encampment at
the bottom of the picture. These forces were also supported by a
battery of 4.5" howitzers, and another of 18 pounders,
deployed within the encampment. The combined firepower was
too much for the Arab cavalry.
Meanwhile three
Turkish regiments pressured the Indian right (defending the
flank of the forces to the front of Shaiba). The first outlying
battalion of Indians has been over-run, although their MMG
detachment can be seen on the hill holding out against the overwhelming
odds of the attackers, while a second Indian battalion takes up position
in the forest area forming a second line of defense, supported
by a battery of 13pounders.
The Arab forces are
weakening in the face of determined Indian resistance after
repeated charges. Massive melees have occurred around
Shaiba as Arab horsemen repeatedly hurl themselves at the
defending Indian troops. The Turkish commander advances
his gun line towards the Indian centre to apply more pressure,
and to try to prevent the Indian commander from withdrawing
troops from his centre to support his right flank.
Finally the Arab
forces are defeated, and the Indian troops defending Shaiba can
rest. Indian cavalry can be seen at the right of the picture
passing through the village in preparation for an attack on the
right flank of the Turkish regiments advancing at the top of the
picture. These Turkish forces are the ones putting the Indian
right flank under huge pressure. One of the Turkish stands is already
suppressed: again a suppression marker can be seen on the stand.
The last straw!!!! The
Turkish commander launches an assault with his strongest
regiment against the remaining Indian right flank defenders.
Here he assaults a suppressed Indian stand (just to the front of
the yellow die). It was symptomatic of Andy's luck in the game
when he launched three stands against the one suppressed stand:
one of his stands was pushed back suppressed by supporting fire,
while in the assault Robin threw a 4, and Andy through two ones
for both of his remaining assaulting stands!!! (This was the
third time in the game that Andy had thrown in at least two assaulting
stands against a suppressed Indian stand, and come out the worse
for wear!! But with his gun line deployed in the centre, and too
few MGs, he just couldn't get the supporting fire in place to
finish the job). We left the dice in the picture to tell the
story. With this the remaining Turkish forces began a
withdrawal, too weak to continue the assault. Shaiba, and Basra,
were safe for now, but Andy vowed to be back!!!
