TMWWBK Zulu War Pt. 4

Another exciting round. Turns 8,9 and 10 provided some major ups and downs for Mr. Babbage's warriors. Starting with the near elimination of the Naval Brigade infantry. Despite their 'close order' 4+ in H-H combat, they rolled horribly. While their counterparts rolled all successes. 

The Zulu unit, that were on the rear flank of their victorious comrades,  decided it was enough for them. Not wanting to "wash their spears", rolled a 1 for activation then a 2 with the result "bye bye". And off they went.

The Native Horse crossed the ford and took position.  On their right,  the Natal Mounted Police held the flank. Remnants of the NNC close behind. Can they hold?

Well, it took a series of brutal volleys from the Colonial forces, to make it practically impossible for the Zulus to rally from and gain any ground to close with their enemy.

As a courtesy, I felt obliged to allow Mr. Babbage to change his dice. For not once, twice, thrice, but FOUR times consecutively, that ONE Zulu unit wasn't having any of it. Rolled a 1 and slunk away, allowing to come back again at long rifle range the next turn. Well, there was nowhere further to go. Feeling sorry for Mr. Babbage (He looked rather peeved at his performance). I took the initiative and moved the unit around the hill so maybe it will have better luck on that side of the table. Too late I'm afraid. Cautious activations and devastating firing from the Colonial troopers forced me to pause the game. To be honest,  I had envisioned an heroic last stand on the banks of the ford. Not a very dramatic ending,  but perhaps a to-be-continued?

I have to admit, I really enjoyed this game. Mr. Babbage was just having a bad day and I'll gladly play him again. Honestly, at first, I felt the Zulu forces to be too strong for this scenario. Unpredictably was the spice. If I were to play the Zulu role as well, without Mr. Babbage, the contest may have been different. I would have been much more aggressive resulting with an inevitable bloodbath. The cautious nature the Zulus displayed, gave the game some immersion and some rational thought. It developed a theme, caution throughout. Probably a more accurate outcome?

This battle may offer another scenario later on. Wait...I hear bagpipes. Pictures not in order.

TMWWBK Zulu War Pt. 3

"Theatre of the Mind" is a must when playing Mr. Babbage. Turns 5,6 and 7 have been a whirlwind.  Mr. Babbage and his Zulu forces are being very cautious. Almost too cautious. Perhaps the warriors are veterans of Islandlwana, Rorkes Drift and the like, so they know the lethality of their opponents firearms? 

These past few turns have seen all Zulu forces appear with two "slinking" away the next (hilariously rolling consecutive 1's for activation), then only to return at "long rifle range". Two more activate but advance cautiously. The first two to be engaged in battle suddenly "go to ground" as soon as they are on the heels of their opponent.

Some lucky breaks for the Colonial forces. They are getting closer to the ford (the main objective). Once there, if they can get to the mountain, and ALL successfully form 'close order', it's just a matter of fighting off the Zulus until reinforcements arrive. Right now it's getting to the ford in good order.

The initial warrior combats were somewhat passive-aggressive. Charging, losing combat, withdrawaling. Charging again, winning, but not following up and retreating again only to go to ground. Mr. Babbage is full of surprises! Perhaps that's his plan. Conserve lives, and pick away at the edges until a coordinated thrust can be made. 

TMWWBK Zulu War Pt. 2

Turns 3 and 4 are going the Colonial troops way...so far. Hearing rifle fire and war cries on on their right, and not having any targets to shoot at since the Zulus "went to ground", the Native Horse pulled out of the rough terrain to regroup. A good thing. Just as they moved, the Zulus, or Mr. Babbage, made a dash at them. Luckily for the Native Horse troopers, the Zulus did not have enough steam to make contact. Probably the cattle in between the forces slowed the warriors down.

On the right, the Zulus felt bold enough to charge the NMP. However, their enthusiasm was cut short by stiff resistance and loss of warriors, 2 to 4 to the NMP. And seeing NNC troops and Naval Brigade infantry rushing to aid their friends, the Zulus retreated back to the brush and rocks.

Again, no appearance of Zulus to the center of the column.  Mr. Babbage rolled low again. So far a clear track to ford. The Zulus definitely need some reinforcements soon.

TMWWBK Zulu War

I always start off a new year motivated to post more of my modeling projects and wargames then enthusiasm wanes. This year maybe no different, but I'll take shot and see what happens. 

In honor/remembrance of the Battle of Islandlwana, I recently played a game using Black Powder Rules, It surprisingly worked out really well. I used the scenario in the Warlord Games Zulu War supplement. Naturally it was a Zulu victory, but the "victory" points" (I'd preferred calling them 'honor points') earnings gave each colonial unit an incentive to stay and fight while supporting their brother units. It gave the game more flavor with a tad more tactical decision making.

Fighting a controlled withdrawal was harder than I thought. The Brits, with their native allies, fought hard but the never ending recycling of Zulu forces was too great. Some heroic last stands, and a Double 6 Blunder, forced a Brit company to make a sacrificial bayonet charge to allow other companies a game turn to get one step ahead of the Zulus. I did manage to get 2 of the 6 colonial units off board without too much damage.

Anyway, with that inspiring game, I am motivated to stick with this period theme. I really like the Osprey blue book series of games. 'The Men Who Would Be Kings', is a good set of rules. Rather quick and bloody mechanics and easy to grasp.

I'm using a made up scenario. It's pretty simple. The Brit/Colonial forces are tasked to secure a ford and get a foothold on the base of a hill, that will likely be used as a signal station, either for a heliogrph or wig-wag flags.

The ground is broken on both sides of a worn trail with dongas, brush and rock outcroppings.

The Colonial force consist of units from the Native Horse, Natal Mounted Police, rifled armed NNC and a unit from the Naval Brigade.

For those familiar with TMWWBK rules, Mr. Babbage will be my opponent. I played him once before but wasn't satisfied with experience. I am going to give him another try. I don't mind playing solo and being my own opponent. To me, it's about immersion, not "winning". But having a Mr. Babbage AI mechanic can give the battle some juice.

First two turns have started out to be somewhat exciting. The Native Horse have spotted cattle unattended in a donga. Being suspicious, the troop advances cautiously. Once in full view of the cattle and what lays beyond them, a group of Zulus open fire on the Horse inflicting one casualty. On the other side of the column, sensing ambush, the NMP scan the broken ground to their right. So far quiet. Actually, Mr. Babbage rolled low and decided to stay out of site.

Turn two: the full compliment of Native Horse return fire on Zulus with no result. The NMP however were getting stuck in right off with Mr. Babbage deciding to appear at short range and charging. The results forthcoming. 

Oops, photos posted out of order.  Start with bottom up.

French v. Brit and Allies Part 1

 Setting up another Napoleonic wargame using Osprey's 'Honours Of War' by Keith Flint. It's another fictional scenario.  This time using my British and Allied forces against my much used French.

I used a card driven, random terrain generator.  I've used this "function" in the past and has yielded some interesting battlefield features. I'll show how I use these cards and their makeup in a future game.

Once the terrain was laid out, I rolled to see who would be the defender. Thankfully, the French won. I really didn't want the Allies to be the defender...it would look too Hundred Days campaign.

Happy New Year!

Aside from my five year hiatus from blogging, I thought I'd start it up again with documenting some miniature wargaming. I am experimenting with adopting Keith Flint's wonderful set of Seven Years War centric rules 'Honours Of War' and using it with my Napoleonic collection.

With a little tweaking,  it worked out OK. Not for me however...My son and I used a scenario from Neil Thomas' One Hour Wargames rules set. The scenario was inspired by number 30,  "Last Stand". My son played the Russians who occupied two fortified hills with his back to the river. His force consisted of 5 infantry units, one artillery battery and three cavalry units. I played the French with equal amount of units.

Since I was designated as the "Attacker", I  moved first. Starting with a cavalry action on the French left. It didn't take long for a the French to drive off the Russian two cavalry units. Thankfully, I picked one unit as 'Superior' before the game stared. That played a decisive move along with some good dice rolling. After that, it went down hill for the French. It war far from a "last stand" for the Russians. I was about to get my butt wooped.

Yeah,  attacking fortified positions, no matter what rule set you use, is never a good idea. The French payed a hefty price for this maneuver. They persisted however. But after a few volleys of musketry and blast of cannister at close range, it was a done deal. Even when rallying, the French could not overcome the Russian's strong positions. 

The French carabiniers were poised to exploit a potential French breakthrough, but alas, the infantry were driven back and broken.  The battle was too one-sided at that point and lost for the French.

The game lasted about an hour and a half. Since it was my third game with this set, there were some moments of page flipping for rules clarification. Despite the loss, it was a fun game.  Any time I get to roll some dice with my son, it's a bonus. As for the rules, I think with some tweaking, it can be adopted to other "horse and musket" periods. If your looking for an easy, quick playing ruleset, you can't go wrong with Honours Of War. I have to say, this rules QRS is one of the better layouts out of all of the other Osprey blue book series titles I own.