Tantrapur: Gunga Din

It's on to the great classic, Gunga Din. I've chosen the attack on the sergeants MacChesny, Cutter and Ballentine and their attempt to restore the wire at Tantrapur. That is stopped by the Thuggi, which had been eliminated (or so the British thought!) some 50 years earlier. It commences with three prisoners being brought out into the square. There's Cutter on the right with sword and Thuggi axe ( or if you prefer, Cary Grant); Ballentine on the left holding a pistol upright (or Douglas Fairbanks Jr.). Finally in the center with his back to the camera, is McChesney with sword and pistol (Victor McLaglin). There are 20 Indian soldiers with the 3 Sergeants and 2 waterboys inc Gunga Din. Suddenly a shot rings out and one of the Indian soldiers drops to the ground. Let the recreate begin:

A group of Indian soldiers are working to repair the telegraph at the bottom of the page while the Thuggi begin running up the hills and out from some of the buildings in town.

Turn 1:
The prisoners attack their guards and two are struck down and 1 is shaken. The Thug on the roof is also shaken by return fire. MacChesney orders the cart (with three loads of dynamite!) to the courtyard entrance for a stand. The other Indian troops gather up the stacked rifles to form a firing line. As a group of Thuggi come at them from behind the buildings, they fire defensively and even with the movement penalty (-1) they kill two and another is shaken. Good shooting! The Thugs only succeed in downing one additional Indian. *Note: green caps denote reloading. End of Turn 1:

Turn 2:
The Thuggi get the initiative and the second group now charge from the hills and fire as well. They only get a Red. MacChesney and one of his men fire defensively and the Indian drops a Thug. The Indian then proceeds coolly in hand-hand to drop another! The Sergeants and their group fire at the Thuggi on the roof but they all miss. This will be a reoccurring theme! Ballentine goes to the aid of one of his men and kills the Thug. The first group of Thuggi reload and continue to move from around the buildings. The last group of Indians open fires and drops two more of the Thuggi.

Turn 3:
The Thuggi get the initiative again! Those on the roof shoot down into the street, and kill 3 including one of the waterboys (but not Din). Those on the ground charge into contact. The defensive fire misses entirely and in the melee, 1 Indian and 2 Thugs go down. 6 Indians shoot at the roof and again all miss! The +1 for the wall and good defensive rolls of the Thuggi keeps them in cover. The next group of Thuggi shoots and drops an Indian on the roof and the others charge MacChesney, Ballentine and 1 Indian. MacChesney and Ballentine each drop one and then Ballentine drops two in the resulting melee! *Because of their hero status, I gave the 3 Sergeants two actions each turn. They can shoot and melee, with automatic initiative. Remember, this is Hollywood! Unfortunately for one of the Indians who made a great leap from one roof to the next was caught by a Thug and killed in another melee. Maddeningly, all shots on the roof miss again. Cutter reaches the cart and grabs the dynamite. Casualties so far: 10 Indians (inc the waterboy) and 16 Thuggi. End of Turn 3:

Turn 4: 

3 Indians come on to the roof and the square house and drop one of the Thugs, but the others in their group all miss yet again! Din makes it to the courtyard. The Thuggi in one group all shoot at Ballentine, but miss. There's the hero for you. The last Indians fire at the roof and get 1 Red while Cutter tosses a stick of dynamite at the same and also misses! Those Thuggi must have pleased Kali! Ballentine shoots and misses, while MacChesney and 2 Indians run up to the roof of the long building and the sergeant calmly downs another Thug. A Thug on the square house melees with an Indian and kills him, but the remaining Indian shoots and kills the Thug. Bloody fighting there. End of Turn 4:

Turn 5: 

The Thugs shoot first and they get another Indian on the roof. Melee follows and a Thug goes down. A Thug charge MacChesney and he drops him with fire. 3 more charge at Ballentine who misses this time with his DF. He kills the first two, but receives two of his three wounds (again the hero status). He misses on his next attempt and...the last Thug kills Ballentine! There goes Fairbanks's career! A brave Indian leaps onto the roof of the large building, but along with 4 of his group, they all miss yet again. He is quickly killed by the the return Thuggi fire who get a Shaken as well on the men in the courtyard. Their wall must not have been as high. Melee with MacChesney sees another Thug go down while shots miss Cutter moving to the courtyard. 3 Indians and MacChesney fire at the rooftop Thugs and...miss again! Cutter throws his second stick and misses as well. This doesn't bode well. Casualties up to this point: 13 Indians and Ballentine, and 25 Thuggi. End of Turn 5:

Turn 6: 

Cutter sends Din to the roof to find a line of retreat; while he and the Indians in the courtyard fire unsuccessfully at the roof. MacChesney and the Indian with him on the roof of the long building each drop a Thug. They then try to charge the sergeant and he drops him in melee. Other Thuggi in the group charge down the street towards the courtyard. Indian fire on the street does better and they get 2 Thuggi. Finally! A last Thug climbs up onto the square house fires but misses. End of Turn 6:

Turn 7: 

MacChesney gets an important initiative but the first attempt fail, even for the sergeant. They get only 1 Shaken. But Cutter comes through with his last stick and blows 2 Thuggi apart in the street next to Ballentine's body. The Indian with the sergeant leaps down into the courtyard only to get dropped by Thuggi fire form the roof along with another of his friends. The Thug on the square house kills the last Indian outside the courtyard. total Casualties: 16 Indians and the Sergeant and 33 Thuggi. End of Turn 7:

Turn 8: First group of Thuggi make the mistake to Charge MacChesney who drops both of them, one by fire and the other in melee. He is quite the soldier! He then coolly drops into the courtyard. Din has informed everyone about a river behind the building and the retreat is ordered. One Thug who entered their building is shot down on the stairs, while they finally get revenge of the rooftop Thuggi and score 2 kills! The Thuggi fire back and drop 1 Indian. Another Thug is killed inside the building, this time in hand-hand. The Indians seem desperate now. Cutter drops another Thug as well. Fantastic round for our heroes as the score for this turn alone was 7 Thuggi and only 1 Indian. End of Turn 8:

Turn 9:

The sergeants and two Indians get first shot and all miss. Will their luck now change? Thuggi return fire drops one of the Indians. 2 Indians and Din get ready to jump into the river (just following the movie). Other Thugs reload.

Turn 10:

MacChesney gets the initiative and orders his men into the river. Thuggi pour into the lower floor of the building but all shots miss. Cutter and MacChesney both fire at the rooftop but miss again. Ready to go they are. End of Turn 10: 

Turn 11:

Amazingly MacChesney gets his third consecutive initiative roll and the men jump to escape into the river. What a fight. 40 Thuggi went to meet Kali, while 15 Indians failed to return. And of course there is Ballentine. I guess he won't get married. But you'll have to watch the film to see how it all turned out! Want to send out a special thanks to Bob Murch of Pulp Figures for the Sergeant Three. They are great castings, especially Cary Grant. Check them out. Lots of interesting choices there. Thanks again, hope you enjoyed. Remember leave your comments as they will be appreciated.