A Fight in the Mountain Home of the Bandits

     Feeling the losses among the Boers and Scots the British no longer rejected the offered troops. Two units of Irregular foot were provided by the Governor. Still sniffing the air for trouble the English commander assigned these troops to the advance guard  with the idea that they were best placed in front of the British guns, just in case they went turncoat.

     Breathlessly climbing the ragged mountains on the interior the British troops pressed the bandit army as it fled. With each step the mountains towered higher above and the air became thinner but they pushed on with but one thought in their minds; the rescue of their captive brothers. Spurred by a righteous sense of vengeance they clambered over scree covered hillsides and jagged outcrops of stone until they came to the highland valleys that were the home of the bandits. The Scots felt oddly at home looking at the towering mountains that cradled the little green valleys; that is until they began to take fire from those same mountains, "Back to work Laddies, there is a battle to fight here" shouted the Sgt Major.

seen from the Bandit side; learning a lesson from the last encounter with British firepower the bandits used the ample cover to conceal themselves from the enemy

Vengance on Vectis! (Or; Feel Her Majesty's Wrath!)

        Rightfully wroth at the treatment given to Her Majesty's surveying expedition the Full Might and Righteous Anger of the Britannic Forces were brought to bear against the "bandits" that were responsible. Deep suspicions about the way in which the "bandits" had acquired a cannon in the last battle were set quietly aside (no doubt these will be addressed soon!) on the theory that you can only solve one problem at a time.

     Spurning the offer of a couple of regiments of local troops the English began to hunt the bandits. By a series of rapid marches the British were able to trap the Bandit army before it could escape to its mountain fastness; the speed of their retreat was shown by the fact that the Bandits discarded their cannon during their flight. All was to no avail as they were trapped in a narrow valley just miles short of their mountain home. Knowing that escape was now impossible they turned like cornered rats to face the Fury of the Sons of Albion.

 

the bandit army deployed to cover the escape of its baggage train their flanks were well secured

 but the vast open area between the armies did not bode well against the firepower of the Brits