Binky looked westwards towards the Gates on Anakrum.  Here he intended to enter the remote kingdom of Abythopia.  The heat was oppressive; the pale areas of the Shard Desert reflected the sun with glaring intensity, hurting his eyes even through his smoked glass sand goggles.

The terrain here is expanded polystyrene packaging shaped with a hot knife.  The pale areas are formed by a sand coloured bed spread bought cheap in a sale. 

The party advance from the dunes.  The horses and most of the mules are left behind under guard.  Adrian and his veterans lead the way.

The figures are mainly Foundry with Eureka and others thrown in.

Closing up to the northern pass, Binky saw a flash of light.  Was it a reflection from a rifle?  Over to his left he saw an oasis.  The party was in need of water and shelter as the hottest part of the day was fast approaching. 

Just outside the oasis lay the ruins of a small camp and on closer approach, the oasis seemed to be populated with dead bodies.  There was ample evidence of a fierce fight here.  Spent cartridges, discarded equipment and the stench of death pervaded the atmosphere.  

The "grass" is a greenhouse mat cut into sections, the reeds are made from a fish tank bedding grass and the trees are from a "dinosaur" and from "Blackbeard's Treasure Game" sets.

Gerald led the exploration of the oasis.  He confirmed that all the bodies were dead except one, an almost crippled warrior called Maina.  Maina provided information that there were bandits in the area and that they were well armed.  Meanwhile Adrian had set up a flank guard position in some rocks after driving out the baboons there.

The party split into teams to secure the oasis and its surrounding area.  No sign of the hostile brigands was found.  Gerald found a message from Cynthia bringing hope that they were closing the gap on her abductors.

With the oasis securely held by Adrian, Binky set off to climb the slopes flanking the pass.  Just as he reached the top of the first false crest two shots rang out.  Binky and his askari fell wounded and rolled back into the track.  The rocket that they were carrying fell beside them.

The others provided covering fire while Binky first bound up the wound of his askari before turning his attention to himself.  Despite the covering fire the brigands continued to lay down an accurate fire wounding another askari.  

As all this was going on, Gerald led his party to the left.  He intended to get above the snipers and deal with them.  As he did so he came under fire from the rocks at the top of the cliff.   Quickly deploying his Nordenfelt, he dealt with this opposition.

The combined fire of rifles, the Nordenfelt and a rather inaccurate rocket, silenced the snipers.  The advance could proceed.  Binky ordered a halt for a few hours until the heat of the day passed.  During this interval a brigand chief Ruba bin Qstard called upon Binky to pay a tribute for safe passage.  Binky bargained with him but ultimately, he refused to pay.

After a while the column assembled for its trek through the pass.  Binky set up a covering position on the cliff top with his Nordenfelt.  A wise move as it was to turn out. Adrian and Gerald led the way.  Cautiously they advanced searching the rocks ahead for any signs of movement.  All they found was the occasional scorpion or snake amongst the rocks.  It was very quiet and everyone spoke in whispers. 

The pass was quiet. The column was struggling over the loose boulders.

Suddenly, a cannon fired.  A shell screamed over the pass bursting close to Binky.  Rifle fire burst upon the column from all sides.  Bearers, animals and askaris alike fell.  Binky turned the Nordenfelt upon the cannon and its crew and in a long burst silenced them.The battle raged on and casualties on both sides mounted.  Maina picked up the spears of the attackers and hurled them back with such obvious hatred that his allegiance was no longer in doubt. 

At the head of the column, Adrian had, despite their cover, shot several of the enemy without wasting a single bullet.  Suddenly, he fell, to lie still, blood streaming from a bullet wound to his head.  Hassan, tried to reach him but he, too, was shot. At the end of the shooting, 6 askaris and bearers lay dead or severely wounded around Adrian and Hassan.

As suddenly as it started, the ambush was over.  The bodies of 14 brigands were found amongst the boulders.  Adrian was able to thank his lucky stars.  The bullet meant for him had struck the rock he was sheltering behind.  A large splinter was broken off and it was this that had gashed his head and knocked him out.  Hassan’s wound was severe flesh wound that looked a lot worse that it really was.  He had hit his head on a rock and was unconscious.  Unfortunately, the others hit were not so fortunate. 

After dressing the wounds and collecting up some of the discarded weapons the column moved deeper and on to the Abythopian plateau.  Maina, impressed by Adrian’s fighting ability, helped carry him.  He was now armed with captured Abythopian weapons.  The search for Cynthia continued.