Lots to report this week. I'll begin with an update on the Jacobite project. I'm still on annual leave so progress has continued apace, and four British battalions are currently nearing completion and will be finished later today, basing has also begun. That will leave three more battalions of foot, and two units of dragoons and a unit of horse for the government forces; and lowland infantry and Fitzjames Horse for the Jacobites and the project will be complete. There may be additions if I get into a campaign as and when required.
Being off work has given me the time to tidy up the dining room, and sort out my gaming table. I'm pleased to have room to set up a 6 x 4 table. I found that placing the TSS tiles on a felt cloth and then a gaming mat on top gives a stable gaming surface.
Last night I played an Anglo-Zulu war game using The Men Who Would Be Kings rules with Peter, a longstanding wargames opponent. Earlier in the day, while preparing for the game I decided to make some pinned and casualty markers as my Zulu are multi based. I also prefer my table to look as nice as I can make it, and I've never been keen on using dice as casualty markers as I feel they ruin the aesthetic and therefore my immersion in the game. With this in mind I had fortuously seen a bag of spare plastic bits that contained spare Zulu shields while I was tidying up. However, true to form I couldn't remember where I put them, after an hour or maybe longer searching they were found. I quickly knocked up some casualty markers, with the number of dots equalling the number of casualties. I made the pinned markers by using off cuts from a door mat that I had cut up to make some broken ground/cover.
The game was using two 24 point field forces. The British has three 12 figure infantry units and a unit of 8 Regular Cavalry. The Zulus used the sample army from the book which comprised a force of 3 Veteran and 3 Fierce units. I also placed a leader with each unit as a marker, and to be removed if they were unlucky enough to be killed. The table was set up with the British making a stand in front of a small farm house. The game began with the British deploying in the open in front of the farm house. The Zulu force appeared and rapidly advanced with the Veterans on their left and the Fierce units on the right. The unit on the British left formed close order and waited for the Zulu advance, meanwhile the centre unit retreated behind the improvised wall of the farm house. On the British right, the infantry advanced to the edge to the broken ground, and the cavalry failed to move, horses spooked by the sound of the advancing Zulu. On the Zulu right wing three units surged towards the British, the first unit suffered significant causalities at long range and was destroyed by volley fire when attempting to close in hand to hand combat. The two remaining units managed to close in hand to hand but were beaten off and eventually destroyed, but not without inflicting casualties on the British line. The unit on the right of this attack had taken casualties from the central British unit during the advance and the central Zulu unit had taken some losses from the British unit it was charging. In the centre the British unit fended off an assault by a Zulu unit completely destroying them in short order. On the Zulu left as the cavalry continued to stall the Zulus attempted to advance at the double with mixed outcomes. One unit managed to crash into the British Line and inflict some casualties but not without taking heavy loses at the point of the bayonet. The second Zulu unit stalled briefly, finally making contact with the British line as the cavalry sprung into action. The British line held firm and repelled the Zulu assault, the broken Zulus fled into the broken ground only to be mercilessly ridden down by the regular cavalry. A comprehensive British victory. After the photos there are some thoughts on the rules.
Thoughts on the Rules
This is the first time I have played the rules, and as such my preference for a first game is a straight head to head clash with set points to get a feel for the mechanisms and the strengths and weaknesses of the set being used. From this some initial thoughts came from the game.
The British infantry are powerful once formed in close order and when using volley fire the Zulus stand little if any real chance. This isn't a criticism of the game mechanisms as I feel they do give a fair reflection of the realities of the weapons used at the time. However, from a game prospective this needs careful consideration in order to give the Zulus a chance of being victorious. The scenario is key here. Ideas to possibly include in scenarios are:
1. Limit the British ammunition, look at a mechanism to resupply the companies. This would work well with a defended position such as Rorke's Drift.
2. Keep the British moving, the classic escort scenario would give the British player the dilemma of stopping to fend off a massed Zulu attack and being able to use close order and volley fire, or pressing on and hope to make it safely away. The risk of more enemy appearing and overwhelming them has to very real for this to work.
3. Randomise the Zulu forces and vary the entry points.
4. Increase the size of the Zulu units. I'm unsure how much I like this idea, worth trying, but not sure how well it will work in these rules.
5. Decrease the size of the British units to 6 figure companies. Benefit of reducing the number of firing dice and makes the units more fragile. They would still benefit from close order in hand to hand with the Zulu only being able to engage on a 1-1 ratio in hand to hand.
All in all a good game, but like most games needs a good scenario to get the best from them. Will definitely play again. Lots to think about.