Cartington at the Helm

The expedition at the start; Frederick centre-front .

I've used the last week to continue painting up my Sudanes Arab types and to fit in a another adventure into the wilds of Jimland with Cartington leading another expedition. Knowing I had a wedding event to attend (and very good it was too) plus a clinic visit, hobby-time was a bit limited, so I endeavoured to do two hours of painting a day and an hour's play of the Jimland Adventure (the whole adventure taking just over four hours to play out to a conclusion!).
With just over 120 photographs to  go through, crop, photoshop etc. this adventure will have to span over several posts.

From the Journal of Frederick Cartington, in Jimland:

The planned route

"With the success of my leadership in the last venture, I decided to lead the largest, most ambitious expedition that Jimland has ever seen. 
I scooped up the entire available bearers and the six Askari that were available.
Next I convinced Henry to accompany the expedition as Scout and of course Al and Bertie were keen to join us too. With 20 day's of rations, we set of in good mood. 
The plan was simple, we'd retrace our steps to where we first encountered the river  (the Mto Mweusi according to the bearers) and follow it westwards to wherever it took us and as always with an eye on our food supply for the return journey."

Column, ready for the attack (blue circle), 4 slavers bottom right and 5 top right

"Reaching the end of the trail we had forged previously, Bertie informed me he had found a new plant species, which I thought very familiar and in any event I was far more interested in the Slavers Henry had spotted trying to lay an ambush for us!". 
The action was swift and deadly, I devised a plan to form a firing line on the rough ground to our left whilst the bearers made a dash for cover. The Askari would immediately open up on the enemy as and when they could.
By concentrating fire on the larger group of five Slavers  we could demoralise them swiftly."

Four slavers with carefully concealed rifles, rushing through the undergrowth

The slightly larger group of slavers rushing for the cover of the jungle...

...and the Askari facing them

The firing line forms (bottom centre), whilst those that can move out of the stream, skedaddle

 

The Slavers open fire, dropping three Askari,

We return fire with deadly accuracy

The firing continues apace, with another Askari lost, whilst two more Slavers are dropped.

 "The firefight was swift but brutal, we lost three of our Askari, but gave as good as we got, bagging all five of the enemy which seemed to be enough for them as their friends disappeared into the undergrowth very swiftly.
Taking into account our losses we now had more food per man than we started - every cloud etc.
The next day, Henry stated he couldn't find a way through the jungle but I think he's a bit shook up by the experience of the first day.
We get on the move again, going SW then NW, blazing a trail as we arrived in the grasslands.
Over the next two days, Henry once more states he's a bit bewildered by the terrain and can't find a route North.
I now suspect he's definitely jittery and losing it."

"When we finally got going again we encountered another familiar sight of an ancient ruin of some sort, with a village of friendly Natives. The latter don't seem to understand bartering and made off with $3 (the entire cash I had on hand), probably thinking it a gift. Finally we encountered the river and followed it to the Northwest, incidentally encountering a rather bizarre new species of primate."

And if you're still with me at this point, that was the first week of the expedition with three cards indicating "lost", meaning we stayed put, munching away on our rations!
The battle with the was quite tense as they're about as good a shot as the Askari, but our first shots of two '1s' and and a '2 ' helped!

Thanks for taking the time to visit and I hope you've enjoyed this latest adventure into Jimland, even if it's just to look at the pics!
As always your comments, criticisms, questions, queries and anything else are always welcomed (I take brickbats as well as bouquets) are always welcomes and truly appreciated.
More next week folks !