Scenario One: Randi and the Sacred Goat of Bhuna

Scenario One:

Randi and the Sacred Goat of Bhuna

"Greetings Sahibs from the Randi Ram, Sepoy of the 2nd Madras Battalion of the honourable East India Company.  Mr Kipling from Glorious England, journalist for the Queeg herself, has agreed to write my story down.

I joined the regiment in the1780s, as a young man.  My real name was Ranji, but the Officer Mr Lieutenant Grahame called me Randi after seeing me chase a  goat from the parade ground at Fort George one morning. It is a Sahib joke I think.

My first real skirmish was under the Sahib Ensign Beaumont, who we all called Gloria..."

Anglo Indian Briefing

A section of ten men of the 2nd Madras are escorting a gun being taken into Bhuna, to a fort  the Glorious British had (re)built.  The local Nabob, the Dahl of Bhuna was much annoyed at this encroachment, and as the British approached a village just inside the Madras borders they are traitorously attacked by his forces. 

Characters

Ensign "Gloria" Beaumont, leads this platoon of the 2nd Madras.  There are some very queer rumours about this British officer.  He is said to wear a sari in his spare time, and his irresolute nature translates to his men.  Still "Gloria" is a British Officer and a little madness always impresses the rankers of the 2nd Madras.  He is a Level 2 big man.  The Ensign commands a single platoon of ten men.

Havildar, Haidar Sikh, Level 2 Big Man is the real commander of the platoon.  He is a resolute man, of steely eye and lacking any sense of humour whatsoever.  He is a born soldier, but will give no orders while the Ensign is commanding.  He is there to reinforce discipline and to take over if, as seems likely, poor Gloria gets wounded or killed.

Lance Naik, Jaymin Gost comands the gun crew, five sepoys, five drivers and four bullocks, with an additional bullock cart for ammunition.  He is a level 1 Big man.  'Jay' loves his guns.  He has promised never to lose one, and spends a suspicious amount of time polishing this particular 6pdr which he has named Jamilla the Killer.

Randi Ram, a sepoy in the 2nd Madras, is in the this platoon.  He is not a Big man, but has an extraordinary gift for survival.  Even if the platoon is wiped out Randi will somehow, comically, make his way home.

Native Briefing

Enough is enough.  The Britishers and those deluded fools and traitors who kill for them are not going to ruin the traditional business of banditry, carried on since the time of the sacred ancestors.  Spies have informed the Bhuna that the British are bringing a gun from Fort George, with only a weak escort.  That would make an excellent prize!

You may hide your ambushers anywhere in the village, except the Temple, or can place them in ambush on the hills, or in the tope, a walled enclosure to the north of the track into the village.

Characters

The Bandit chief Tante Tooh, an old enemy of the 2nd Madras commands the native forces. He is a follower of the "Sacred Goat," an odd cult local followed only in the lands of the Bhuna.  He is a level 2 Big man.  He is less than ably assisted by ...

The Little Bhuna, son of the local Nabob is nominally in command, but is in fact a massive idiot.    There is much competition from his fourteen brothers for this rank, and the 2nd Madras have to this date killed four previous Little Bhunas.  He is a Level 1 Big man.

There are only two groups of twelve Badmashes making up the ambush, but with two big men it should be effective, even if one of them is the Little Bhuna

After the third turn of the blank card reinforcements will arrive in the form of the Bhuna of Dahl himself, from the road to the west leading ten native horse.

The Bhuna of Dahl is the local Nabob. He is immediately recognisable since he rides Buttercup, his favourite camel, and he dresses as the Sudanese Mahdist Khalifa.  He has also taken to speaking in a nasal Kenneth Williams style.  The Bhuna is a Lvl III big man.  When he arrives on the table he may command any groups he wishes.  He is a Nabob!

The Terrain

The tiny village of Badass has a walled tope on the approach road, and three buildings, two small and one larger. One of these buildings is a temple and off limits for ambushes.  The Badmashes may hide in any of these, or in the tope itself.  The village is in a valley and the Badmashes may choose to appear on the hilltop, but this is difficult going.   

Umpires notes.

The "2nd Madras are marching from Fort George and enter on the road on the Eastern side of the map.  They are creating dust from their march and gain no spare blinds, but are at -1 dice to spot during turn one. 

The natives may deploy in ambush within the tope or in/behind the buildings.  Their  reinforcements under the Bhuna appear some time after turn 3 on the road from Dahl to the west.   
On the turn of the random event card the Little Bhuna will react to a dice throw, either charging bravely out to offer fisticuffs (D6, 1-3) or skulking away to seek reinforcements(D6, 6)

If Gloria wins this fight he may continue the march to the outpost at Pornomalee.  If he loses he will withdraw back towards Fort George and then be sent back to fight this scenario again with thirty Sepoys instead of ten.

If the 2nd Madras are wiped out only Randi will survive, returning to Fort George to tell the story.  He usually manages this trick by stripping to his loincloth and pretending to be Gungy Dun, a water carrier servant.  He may also survive by running away very fast indeed if morale fails.  Even on those occasions when it has seemed that he must be dead, falling into the Chasm of Fire beneath the Temple of the Golden Goat of Doom springs to mind, Randi will later turn up, with a comedy story of how he, and usually he alone, survived.

Game Cards

British	Mysoreans	General
Ensign "Gloria" Beaumont  Lvl 2	Bandit chief Tante Tooh  Lvl 2	Tiffin
Havildar, Haidar Sikh  Lvl 2	The Little Bhuna Lvl1	Blank Card
Lance Naik, Jaymin Gost Lvl 1	The Bhuna of Dahl Lvl 3	Random event card
TwoGrasp the Nettle II	Two Grasp the Chapatti I
Sharp Practice	One Grasp the Chapatti II One Grasp the Chapatti III

From the "Tale of the Randi Ram."

"Tante Tooh, one of the Bhuna's own men had hidden in a tope, past which Mr Gloria had marched us before we would enter the village.  But Mr Gloria is a Soldiers Soldier, apart from the fact that he dresses in a Sari when off duty.  He lined us up ready to receive a charge.  We thought him sun touched.  Then we saw it, the villain Tante Tooh emerged from the tope chasing the Sacred Goat of the Bhuna, a mystical animal that is the emblem of the Bhuna.  The Typhoo Sultan may have tigers, but the Bhuna has a most attractive goat!  Badmashes and Wallahs followed him.  We gave them the volley..."