Qurnah December 1914 - BBB

This battle was fought on 27/12/17. Haim played the Empire and I played the Turks. All the kit on display was painted by Haim. I supplied most of the terrain but the buildings belong to Haim

1915 Map of the battle area. Notice the different spelling of "Kurnah". Note that Fort Snipe was built after this battle in January 1915

The battlefield looking north up the Tigris. The village in the middle is Muzairan. Off picture to the immediate left where the rivers meet in Qurnah. In the scenario the location of the Turkish pontoon bridge is drawn on a map and kept secret from the Empire player.

The Turkish positions at the start of day one. Note that Qurnah is largely unoccupied which was a slight error on my part

38th Division HQ in Qurnah - alone!

The Royal Navy arrive. Haim's lovely semi-scratch built gunboat.

From the other side

On the first day the 16th Brigade attacks Muzairan on its own. The Turkish defences look formidable but the Turks are Tactically Incompetent, Passive and Fragile i.e. not very good. They are also Raw - which means the loss on one stand makes them Spent and pretty much unable to move. The blue counter denotes Spent

The Turkish commander forgot about the Royal navy and paid the price. Launches put the 104th Wellesley Rifles directly into Qurnah. The 38th Division HQ was forced to flee.

The immediate Turkish counter attack failed, as the battalion outside the town ignored the order to move

At the end of the first day of combat, Qurnah is contested but the British are low on ammo and out of supply. The Turks hold on to Muzairan by their fingertips.

The start of day two. The 18th Brigade enters the fray. A lonely Turkish artillery battery guards the Turkish flank

The 16th Brigade renews its assault on the denuded defenders of Muzairan

Aware that reinforcements are forming up outside the town, the British make a daring close assault, which promptly pays off and ousts the Turks.

At the same time Muzairan also falls to the Empire. The Empire forces in Qurnah have spotted the Turkish pontoon bridge.

The Royal Navy reinforce Qurnah by boat. Empire forces attack from Muzairan and push towards the pontoon bridge.

At the end of the second day the 18th Brigade lines up to attempt a crossing during the night (interval)

Having built a bridge and crossed a battalion to the other bank overnight, the 18th Brigade pushes south in order to help their comrades in Qurnah

The Turks get reinforcements. The 114th Regiment arrives from the north. However being passive and lacking any sort of brigade command its uncertain how quickly they will move.

Finally a battle the Turks can win! The Engineers are outnumbered 4:1, and they are tactically incompetent like the Turks. What's more the Turks' divisional commander has joined them to spur on the attack. What could possibly go wrong?

Those engineers are tougher than they look. Although they took a casualty they halted one Turkish battalion and outfought the other in the close assault. Another British battalion is crossing the river so things look grim for the Turks

The 120th Rajputanas take the hill above Qurnah. The only bright spot for the Turks was repulsing the Empire forces' attack over the pontoon bridge from Muzairan. Artillery fire destroyed the bridge and forced the Empire infantry to remain on the far bank.

At this point the Turks conceded. Those outside Qurnah surrendered and the 114th retreated north. A clear Empire victory, the Turks were soundly trounced. Although the Turks are the absolute worst possible troops allowed under BBB, they were numerically stronger than the Empire and were defending. If Qurnah had been adequately defended the result may have been a draw rather than a Turkish loss.