The road to Khartoum

British: (Mike & Mark): 8 infantry, 2 cavalry, a rifled cannon & a Gatling gun plus 4 Egyptian infantry & 2 Egyptian cavalry.
Mahdists (Jim, Chris & Steve):  12 warbands (4 of them fanatical), 4 skirmisher units with muskets, 14 cavalry.

The Anglo-Egyptian force is on its way up the Nile & find their route blocked by an enemy force nearly twice their number  But the Allies have technology & discipline on their side.

At the start the only Fuzzies visible are some cavalry down the road & some infantry around the village beside the Nile.

The Allied advance in a wedge formation as Mahdiist skirmishers move out of the village towards their right flank.

Suddenly the Mahdi's main army appears from behind the ridges in front of & on the left of the Allies.

The Egyptian infantry & British cavalry on the Allied left turn to face the oncoming horde of cavalry.  But the Mahdi's 3 infantry brigades are slow to get moving.

The Egyptian infantry hold their nerve & see off the first wave of cavalry on the far flank.  In front of the angle in the line, the Allied cavalry are desperately holding their own under a converging attack.  Left of centre the Mahdi's fanatic brigade has closed with the British heedless of casualties.

The Mahdi left flank brigade has finally got to grips with the Brits.  On their right, a fanatic warband has broken their opponents & made a hole in the British line.  The Egyptian cavalry is still stubbornly holding on in the centre.  The Mahdi's right is still refusing to resume the attack on the Egyptian infantry

The Fanatics are trying to expand the gap in the British line, but manoeuvre is not their strong suit & their comrades on their left have been broken.  The last Egyptian cavalry unit is still just surviving on hot dice.

The last Allied cavalry unit has finally been broken, but it is too late for the Mahdi.  His right did finally made another attack on the Egyptian infantry, but it immediately failed.  British rifle fire & a bayonet charge has broken the Mahdi's left.  A last forlorn hope cavalry charge on the Allied angle was too little too late.  The Mahdi's army is broken. 

The Mahdi's best chance was a quick defeat of the enemy cavalry so he could make a converging attack on the angle of the Allied line.  But while his local tactical & numerical advantages there prevailed in the end, good allied dice delayed the win there while the breach loading rifles of the Allied infantry won the battle on the flanks.