Well the Friday night game came around and it was the much anticipated 28mm Rorke’s Drift. It was a good turnout with 9 of the Band of Brothers in attendance. One popped his head in to say hello but went home early due to illness. He should have stayed to defend the hospital! Of course most of us have seen the movie Zulu far more times than we’d care to admit and I went to Youtube and had the theme tune and some Zulu war chants open and playing alternatively to set the mood!Half of the Brothers had already decided which side they wanted be on. Chris said ‘I ‘m a Redcoat- don’t argue and do be quiet, you’ll upset the lads - there’s a good gentleman.’ In fact for the whole night he continued to finish all instructions, questions or requests with ‘there’s a good gentleman’.
He ended up as CSM Bourne. Ross was Bromhead and Nick was Chard- who was there only because he came to build a bridge.THE IMPIS ARRIVEThe Zulus were commanded by Richard and his offsiders were Roger and Geoff. Paul and Phil also took the side of Cetshaweyo’s impis. And I was umpiring. For further atmosphere, Nick and Chris suggested that all the Zulu players should play just wearing loin cloths but Ross said that, given our rather stout physiques, that was a disturbing mental image.
So for atmosphere we stuck to the theme and warchants. Initially the action pretty much followed the historical version with the Zulus launching attacks against the hospital and the mealie bags to its front. Ross, in command of that sector put up a very stout resistance and the troops in and around the hospital took a terrible toll on the attackers who proceeded to climb onto the roof. At the back of the hospital, some of Phil’s Zulus broke down one of the doors only to find that it was a dead end and insultingly failed to knock down any more before they became casualties. The Zulus then set fire to the thatched roofing.
Rather than attempt to stop the flames, the British cleared the intruding Zulus from the roof (they couldn’t do that AND put out the fire) and by then it was too late and Chard (Nick) reluctantly gave the order to evacuate the, by now, fiercely burning hospital. THE MISSION STATIONIt was at this point that an enormous cheer went up from the Zulus as they inflicted their first casualty on the Redcoats. There were pats on the back and some cries of 'Usuthu' and 'Zulu' as Roger took the honour of killing the first redcoat. In the next melee Roger killed two more and was being hailed as the next recipient of the Cetshewayo Cross (the Zulu equivalent of the Victoria Cross) as he proceeded to storm the barricades in front of the burning hospital. In fact by turn six, 84 Zulus were dead and 5 men of the 24th- all courtesy of Roger’s troops. But the pressure was building.
THE REDOUBTThe barricade in front of the hospital became the main focus of the Zulu attack and Geoff’s Zulus accounted for two more redcoats as the hospital roof caved in killing another five who had been forgotten inside! There were cries of ‘Shame!’, ‘Scum!’ ‘Irish building standards!’ and ‘Disgrace!’ hurled across the table by the redcoat commanders. This was accompanied by the jeers and cheers of the Zulu players- the impartial umpire, yours truly, of course said nothing- only to be accused of bias against white men (by Chris), against black men ( by Phil ) and against all humanity by Paul who claimed that I was making the rules up and pulling clauses out of my nether regions.
THE ZULUS ATTACK THE HOSPITALAs the pressure built up on Ross (Bromhead), Chard (Nick) decided to withdraw his portion of the defenders to the redoubt and Ross exclaimed in exasperation ‘What the #$%@ are you doing?’Nick responded by saying he was moving his troops back because ‘We’re gonna watch!’Richard cheered, nudged Ross in the ribs and said “You’re f&a.%d now mate!’Ross merely shook his head and soldiered on.Things weren’t going the way either side had planned and the British were being forced back and many Zulus had entered the compound. But at horrendous cost. By turn eleven, 12 redcoats were dead but the Zulus had suffered just over 200 casualties.
As the casualties mounted the evening wore on and when the Zulus had lost 293 man and the 24th Regiment had lost 16 we called it a night. It was a great game and the clock beat us rather than one side beating the other. The after game brief revealed that the Zulus couldn't coordinate themselves to hit several places hard. The redcoats were happy with their efforts although many blamed poor dice rolling on wet powder!!
So to the rousing tunes of 'Men of Harlech', it was agreed that a rerun was in order- but that's another blog.MORE PICTURES. What started out as a group of 2-3 mates playing games once a week now has the makings of a platoon! To all the boys who regularly make the long trek to the far North West Frontier this blog is for you!And although we number few,let us not lament all those who sit abed on the nights when titanic battles rage,and we would not have one of those who wish not to push tin figures across a miniature landscape-for the glory is ours,(and reads my blog)(With apologies to Henry V and William Shakespeare!).
In an interview with the old Strategy & Tactics Magazine, the late Bob Coggins (co-author of Napoleon’s Battles and a personal friend of mine) noted that historical miniature wargaming was not a lazy man’s hobby. He was correct, and one big reason is that research is considered to be an integral – and fun – part of the experience. At least for most people.I find it enjoyable, but also know how frustrating it can be. Although conflicts from about World War I and prior can be researched online for free now that Google has digitized the planet, there are nevertheless holes that remain. Maps in the back pockets of official histories continue to be neglected, much of the material is in other than English and a lot of the information is simply not what wargamers crave. And then there is the learning curve on how to do this. Now add in the fact that smaller conflicts, such as the Anglo-Zulu tussle of Chard and Bromhead fame is not well covered, although the subject is quite popular in the UK for obvious reasons.
Isandlwana and all ThatThe good news is that there are several wargamer’s guides in publication, and if Martini-Henry rifles or Assegai are your thing, Pen and Sword Military has you covered. They have just released by Daniel Mersey, 113 pages of just the information and detail gamer’s need, supported by several pages of full color glossy photos of miniature armies in battle. The cost is but $ 16.95 US (and it’s on sale right now), so any way you look at it the book is an exceptional value for what it provides, complete in every way. Well, almost. Books like these are supposed to be a one-stop shopping destination, the only resource you will ever need for the subject at hand. In this regard Mersey has provided a top tier, very solid product, yet one that falters just short of the iron crown and ultimate victory.
Here are my musings as to why.At 100 yards, volley fire!A look at the table of contents pretty much shows what this book is all about. There is an introduction followed by chapters covering the history of the war, a chapter on army organization and equipment, a chapter on the key battles of the conflict, another on creating a wargames campaign to play, one listing the various sets of commercial rules available that cover the period followed by another list on the various miniatures produced, then finally a full chapter of ready-made scenarios to play.
Of the latter, while historical battles are covered, there are also several included for generic pick-up games such as an ambush in the brush or the death of the French Prince Imperial (or his Zulu counterpart). Rounding out the book is a very useful bibliography and – wait for it – a complete index. I swear sometimes I think publishers simply do not realize how important an index is to the reader, so I hope Mersey has a cold one on me for including one.There are several reasons why this well written book stands out in my opinion. The first is that it covers the entire conflict and many lesser known battles, not just Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift. This means in both historical background and wargame scenario you will find entries on Nyezane (22 January 1879), Hlobane (27 March 1879) and Khambula (29 March 1879).
If you’ve not heard of these engagements, well, then that is sorta the point. I did find it odd that some of the other battles of the war were not included, particularly Ulundi (4 July 1879) where the war ended in crushing Zulu defeat.
The battle was also the largest in the war with some 5200 Imperial and native troops and a good 15,000 Zulus, so I know 15 mm gamers would love this. Perhaps the author figured that after the turning point of Khambula (and the British discovering the Zulus ought to be taken REAL serious) it was all downhill for the indigenous folks anyway.The other strength of the book is the second chapter, the one covering army organization, equipment, weapons, tactics, uniforms and just a whole bunch more, even painting tips. The chapter is literally page after page of good, hard wargamer style information in text, table and chart. Here we are talking some very detailed data that I imagine would be hard to find otherwise. Thus the reader can find a complete order of battle for the British columns that invaded Zulu territory, official estimates of rifle effectiveness at various ranges, uniform data on native contingents supporting the redcoats, even a complete chart listing the shield colors and patterns for each Zulu regiment. Hell, I didn’t even know there was an official system for something like this.
I also thought that including Lord Chelmsford’s November 1878 analysis of the Zulu military as the primary description of this efficient military force was an excellent way to get the point across. Wargamers have the advantage of hindsight, so seeing what the man on the ground and in charge in 1878 thought is really the way it should be.Horns of the ImpiIn most cases less than glowing comments about a product really boils down to personal preference and nothing more, so I always try to let the reader know that up front. Yet there is one issue with this otherwise exceptional work that to me seems to go a bit beyond that. Now I’m actually reviewing a pre-publication markup here, but I do have to question the quality of the book’s maps. Or at least I would if there were any.
That’s right; a book full of historical battle reports and wargame scenarios has not one map. Really, not one. I think that most people are pretty visual when dealing with a subject like this, so I would be curious to hear the reasoning behind this omission.Otherwise, I do have some personal preference recommendations that might do well for future, similar publications, and I do hope this book is not the last.
First, I might include some actual color uniform plates to make sure the text descriptions are well understood. True, the color photos of the miniatures included do help, but somehow words don’t do justice to Zulu shields and native contingents were such a hodge-podge that pictures would be useful. Likewise, a good description with image of British regimental colors would be helpful given that by this time many were loaded full of scrolls listing battle and campaign participation. Finally, while the author has an absolutely exceptional list with commentary for both available rules sets and miniature lines supporting the Anglo-Zulu War, adding in Internet URLs would have been extremely beneficial. As an example why, Old Glory 15 mm figures are neither owned nor produced by Old Glory, and they have not been for years. Instead the US Firm out of Wisconsin keeps the line going, but if you didn’t know that.OK, one more thing. I’d like to see a pronunciation guide.
Take the Zulu regiment named Ndhlondhlo (has a red shield with one white spot, 43 year olds, and about 900 very well drilled, uber disciplined spear chuckers). Seriously, just looking at the word caused irreparable damage to a couple million brain cells and at my age, I need all I can get.Men of HarlechIf you remember, ( ED: Greatest film ever made) you know this tune played at the end credits, and likewise we come to the end of this article. My bottom line is that this is still an excellent publication and a great value for the price. Yes, A Wargamer’s Guide to the Anglo-Zulu War does suffer from a puzzling lack of maps, but fortunately Wikipedia seems to have most of them available as free downloads.
Zulu War Wargames Rules 2016
It’s not a deal breaker and neither are some of the other little nits such as the lack of URLs. Given what it does contain, particularly the huge amount of wargame friendly data in the second chapter, the book is an excellent investment and time saver to boot.It didn’t capture the gold, but trust me, silver isn’t bad. Highly recommended.