The Attack on Birtarin

During our latest round in the Lost Continent, the Portuguese had three men who had just come to the Abyssinian frontier town of Birtarin. The young Ras, Iskinder Tefere (the seed of Alexander)  had just informed his guests that the "Black Men" had sacked his home (Birtarin) some 6 months earlier and had murdered his father. They had carried off numerous citizens presumably into slavery, for which they were infamous. Islander had convinced the Lion of Judah (Abyssinian Emperor) to send at least a few men of his regular forces to help defend Birtarin. And now the warning horn has been sounded...there are riders coming from the west and the desert...the "Black Men"!

The view from the west towards Birtarin following the first turn. The initial wave of raiders have just about reached the wall (all were mounted but I have 16 at this point, so the remaining 34 raiders are 'on foot':

The defending Abyssinians (23) are positioned at various locations in order to protect the villagers who have taken refuge in the church in the upper center. The Emperor's regulars were stationed in the two buildings flanking the front gate. The Ras with his personal bodyguard are seen in his large house left of center:

Ras Iskander Tafere; his bodygurards to the left:

The Portuguese explorer (bottom left) and his two men (right of center):

Several of the "Black Men" (yes, you may recognize the raiders as Taureg), have climbed over the wall   and engage a few of the regulars attempting to fall back to the church:

Meanwhile on the same turn, several Taureg have climbed on to the roof where their first shots would have wounded the Ras himself except one of his bodyguards took the bullet. Others try to force the blockade at the gate to the right:

On the following turn, the four Taureg who initially entered the town are all shot down although the Portuese themselves rolled terribly and inflicted no casualties. However the regulars failed their morale check and soon retreated to the Ras' house:

One intrepid Taureg ran down to behind the Abyssinians defending the barricade (where they dropped the first two Taureg attempting to enter) and quickly 'killed' both in melee:

Now the seccond Taureg element has moved up to the northern portion of the wall and is climbing over:

Another turn sees Taureg reach the steps of the Ras' house itself where the Ras has successfully rallied his regulars:

The second group of Taureg who vaulted over the wall near the western gaate are no more lucky then their earlier compatriots and two are already down while the others are shaken. They did however succeed in dropping the Portuguese explorer (can just make out his base on the roof at upper left):

Back on the northern wall, the Taureg have dispatched two Abyssinians trying to hold thier barricade and are moving on the next position:

The critical moment arrives as the first Taureg element saw it's morale break after passing three earlier checks. 50% was too much, and they are trying to escape. On the northern sector two Taureg reach the roof where they are engaged in melee... and both are cut down by the desperate Abyssinians! The morale of the second element also breaks!

The Taureg making their escape (although they will take a few more casualties from Abyssinian fire:

The Ras' men hold the town and capture several of the raiders. He has only one thing in mind...revenge for his father and to all but one he takes his sword and...One prisoner is despatched back to his people minus various body parts (it is a violent world!) Birtarin has held! The Taureg lost some 28 'killed' while the Abyssinians suffered 2 KIA and 10 WIA. The Portuguese explorer was seriously wounded, but The Ras now calls the Portuguese his friends!

All in all a nice little fight that took about two hours. One man with four hourses rode desperately toward the capital to inform the Lion of Judah the emergency! Stay turned, it could be interesting!