Zulu - Rorke's Drift Battle in a Box!

Every now and then you get to play a fun wargame that leaves a marked impression, and a game that seemed a bit different from the usual stuff.

This month at the club, Mel and Lee travelled down from their home in Bournemouth to put on their second game at the club since running their great rendition of The Battle of Pelennor Fields using War of the Ring, back in March 2020 just before we and the rest of the world got used to a new normal and our regular gaming meetings got put on hold. If you missed the report on that excellent game, enjoyed by all who took part, just follow the link below.

Devon Wargames Group - The Battle of Pelennor Fields

Remembering the fun we had and the recollection of the effort and attention put into that game I was very interested and looking forward to seeing what they had come up with for our excursion into the Zulu War of 1879 and more precisely the famous Battle of Rorke's Drift, an action we have played previously at club with various rule incarnations, but this time we would be using Lee and Mel's very own rules designed around the set up seen below which forms the prototype for a potential new game in a box, perhaps complete with figures rules and terrain for those of us who love this colonial wars theme. 

The Rorke's Drift layout complete with prototype buildings lacking roofs at the moment while the game is in testing.

So what's different about this particular rendition of such a famous action, you might be thinking, as indeed I was when I sat down to assume the role of Corporal Allen and his brave section of twelve stout hearted lads ready to do or die for Queen and Country.

Stanley Baker and Michael Caine in Zulu 1964

Well first off the game is designed to very deliberately recreate the film driven images this battle has taken on ever since the release of the iconic film Zulu made in 1964, perhaps one of the best British war films, if not one of the best war films ever made and now a staple of most Xmas or Bank Holiday viewing with a stellar cast of character actors headed up by the late great Sir Stanley Baker as Lieutenant John Chard, Royal Engineers and the up and coming new star back then, Sir Michael Caine in the role of Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead 24th 'South Wales Borderers' Foot.

Given how most modern wargame audiences familiar with the battle would immediately think of the film and all its memorable moments and catch phrases that have become common parlance, certainly among British wargamers gathering around a table for Rorke's Drift; such as the brilliant portrayal of Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne, by another great English character actor, Nigel Green when asked by one of his nervous young privates on sight of the Zulu horde before the ramparts 

'Why us sarge?' 

'Because we're 'ere lad, now face your front and mark your target.'

Perfectly capturing the stiff upper lip, determination in the face of a desperate situation displayed by the defenders that day in 1879 and their courage no doubt bolstered by a reliance on discipline, drill and training epitomised in the words 'face your front and mark your target'.

Zulus are sighted in the hills around the Rorke's Drift post and the bugle sounds calling the men to arms

The second interesting aspect of the game is that all the players involved assumed the role of key characters from the battle and indeed the film, with each of them having their own particular characteristics to influence the fighting in their area of the table and with the soldiers under their direct command as well as having their own unique combat skills and abilities together with the occasional personal mission, such as Corporal Allen using his personal initiative to rush to the aid of the men trapped in the hospital when set on fire later by the Zulus.

Each of our player characters came with their own unique set of stats to facilitate their personal role in the battle and capture still further the filmic nature of our game.

In addition my character Corporal Allen would contribute directly to the combat efficiency of his twelve man section, by the addition of a red (discipline) and blue (combat) dice added to the twelve white dice rolled by his soldiers when shooting or engaged in melee, with a successful score causing him to add to the enemy casualties with his own effective shooting or bayonetting but also making it more likely for his men to cause more casualties by directing their efforts, indicated by a lower score on the white dice needed for their effectiveness at killing the enemy.

Lieutenant Bromhead oversees his reserve section ready to deploy to a threatened sector as needed

Finally the actions of the Zulus and the impetus of their attacks on the defences was all controlled by Lee and Mel as they ran the game, seeing cards drawn to determine British and Zulu special game events each turn, that could cause a positive or negative impact to either side that turn and generate the arrival of Zulu regiments from different board edges throughout the game.

The results of combat would see the effects on the Zulus referred back to Lee as he could check to see what each unit would do in response to being shot at or casualties received, whilst we as the defenders could only look on and wait and see what the reaction to our efforts would be and prepare our response to the Zulu reaction accordingly.

The great thing about the card sequencing of play is that it enables aspects in the film to take effect, nicely modelling the seemingly random attacks by relatively small groups of Zulus early on in the battle as the defences were tested for weak spots, finally ratcheting up following the historical eclipse of the sun that confirmed to the Zulus that victory was theirs for the taking and causing multiple attacks to suddenly generate from multiple directions all at once.

The first attacks tested the defences for weak points but were limited and allowed a focussed response

The attacks soon built up and stretched the British line to hold them

As players focussed on managing the various sectors of our respective perimeter the tension built and calls would go out for support from other less hard pressed sectors or for an encouraging shout from a charismatic leader to help bolster the discipline and therefore capability of a hard pressed unit.

Another enemy group thrown back with heavy losses but look at the the thinned out defenders before them

Groups of Zulus could range from two, four or six bases each with eight figures per base and with the game based on a what you see is what you've got, one figure to one man ratio, the small thin line of redcoats could suddenly look rather hard pressed, raising the tension another notch.

Firing on newly appearing Zulu warbands could provoke an immediate charge to a standing chant by the warriors clashing their shields in imitation of the distant train so well imitated in the film.

Knowing when to fire and hold the position or to fall back as supporting units fired on large groups clambering over the mealie bags became a required skill, made more tense when the  'low on ammunition' card came out prompting Commissary Dalton to have to make his way to the affected sector dragging the necessary ammunition boxes to keep the line firing.

Nine men down from the section of twelve and things are looking a bit concerning!

Of course success in driving off the attacks was one thing but if our player characters were to imitate their historical ones we needed some heroics to be rewarded with the bucket load of Victoria Crosses the actual action merited and so managing to disperse a Zulu attack was rewarded with a VC and all the players were able to encourage their commands with additional medals as 'the general public don't like to read about too many defeats in their morning papers - bad for morale' card delivered said encouragement and we all rolled for additional gongs for the men - great stuff.

Allen's sector holds firm but he can do little to help those men caught in the hospital as the fire takes hold

What we as players didn't know, rather like the real life defenders and as depicted so artfully in the film, was precisely when this battle would be all over - you remember the scene as the chanting and singing starts from the Zulus on the cliffs above, leaving our heroes thinking their time was up, only to be told by the Afrikaner Adendorff that they're saluting you! Its all over!

Each game will have its own predetermined ending and so ours reached its ultimate climax as multiple large Zulu attacks crashed into the perimeter from all sides with Colour Sergeant Bourne up on the parapet delivering well timed bayonet thrusts and Corporal Allen forced to abandon his barricade to help the defenders on the other side of the perimeter forced back in the last attack and now down to a handful of defenders.

Allen successfully delivered a telling volley that stopped the Induna led six base Zulu attack right on the perimeter to then have to turn his men about to deliver yet another telling volley that drove out the Zulus that had just charged in on the section of defences he had just pulled back from.

Then just as it looked like the outer perimeter would have to be abandoned with the last escapees evacuating the burning hospital, it was over and the station was held heralding a Zulu withdrawal and for us a well earned pint. 

What a battle and with ten VCs awarded for bravery over and above in the face of the enemy we could take time to tend the wounded and prepare for all those after dinner speeches that would be required once back home. 

Colour Sergeant Bourne up on the parapet winning his VC in the thick of the action as the last big attack was held

Mel and Lee are to be congratulated on designing such an filmic and fun game capturing all the narrative that this iconic battle deserves and frankly I'm surprised no one has come up with a similar idea previously.

Having played several of these Rorke's Drift battles with other systems this was by far the best and most immersive of them and that's saying something, as we have had some cracking games at the club and reported about them here on the blog. You can get a feel for the game in a short clip of it below as the action started to intensify as the hospital caught fire.

The rules themselves would also likely lend themselves to a big battle version for doing the larger field battles of the campaign and the Zulu activation and response method pioneered by systems such as Pony Wars and Peter Gilder's Sudan rules really work well for these kind of native irregular armies and I know, talking to Lee, that he sees the rules very much as a tool kit designed to have some of the rules used for certain game types and not for others depending on what is needed for that particular game.

I wish Mel and Lee well with developing this idea further as the work they have done to get the game to this stage is impressive and I would certainly be interested in it as the kind of game you could put on quite easily with a group of friends, with no two games ever likely to play out the same and with loads of narrative to chat and laugh over with a beer when the shooting is done. 

Infamy, Infamy! - Romans versus Goths

Infamy! Infamy! was released in the middle of lockdown last year which means it's not been able to make much of an impact at club meetings. Being a contrarian I hadn't gone for any of the armies in the book but had instead, used the release of the rules as an opportunity to paint up the Late Romans and Goths that I've had hiding in boxes in the garage. Having toiled away all summer it was time to get all my toys out on the table.

  

Clotted Lard 2021 in Support of Combat Stress

This year saw the return of the club's annual Lardy event, Clotted Lard, following the disappointment of having to cancel last year's show in the wake of the global pandemic.

We had a fantastic day with the show well supported by the Lardy community and an opportunity to welcome back previous and new guests to the club to enjoy a day of Lardy games as reported here on the blog back in September.

Devon Wargames Group - Clotted Lard 2021, We're Back!

As well as having a great day of wargaming, the show has traditionally allowed the club and our guests to support our veterans by contributing the monies collected from it to Combat Stress who, as well as providing specialist mental health care for those military personnel that serve the country, today and since 1919, also rely very much on public funding to support their vital work with over 75% of that funding coming from charity raising activities, which as you might imagine was badly affected by the social restrictions imposed by Covid 19.

Thus instead of running marathons and such like, the wargaming hobby is only too happy to show its support in our own inimitable way by doing what we do best, having fun with our hobby and enjoying the great social activity that is historical wargaming captured so well by the rule sets offered by Too Fat Lardies and their own ethos of promoting having fun with our games.

In previous years the event has gone from raising £250 in 2018 to £400 on the last two occasions, with all those planning to attend our cancelled show last year very generously passing on their pre-paid contributions to the charity.

This year as you will see the final tally came in at £700 which was absolutely fantastic, and with a growing interest in attendees and folks wanting to put on games at Clotted Lard we are very hopeful of maintaining this trend in charitable collecting.

Many thanks to the Devon Wargames Group club members, the management of the Whipton Institute, Nick Skinner and Richard Clarke from Too Fat Lardies and all our enthusiastic Lard loving guests who support and make our show the great day it has become in the club calendar. 

Here's looking forward to Clotted Lard 2022.

Shoot-out in Paradise - “Mad Dogs with Guns”

Paradise, Illinois, a small city near Chicago during Prohibition was run by two gangs. In this game the two gangs have organised a meeting with their accountant. However the Police Department and Feds also wish to join the meet.

The rules used are “Mad Dogs with Guns” a card driven game. Each player was given a faction worth $1,200 plus transport. In addition each player had three objectives, mostly to do with the accountant and his bag.

The game started when “The Dude” and his gang picked up the Accountant from his digs. There was some concern that a truck parked opposite might be suspicious so the gang kept a watch on it. The Accountant got into the car with “The Dude” and his “Nice Girl”, she commented that he looked very much like Fred Jones from Scooby-Doo.

They travelled uneventfully to the Diner where the meeting was to be held, they pulled up, the gang spread out, and the Diner was given the all clear. At this time all weapons were hidden as it is against the local law to carry guns. The truck had followed the gang but this was not considered suspicious as each player could move the Civilians and Trucks. During this phase the movement of Gangs was disrupted by citizens getting in the way, the most disruptive being the “Sisters”.

Now things warmed up. The Dude's gang were suspicious of some characters across the square. Shouting out to them to keep away they responded that they were Feds. To this the Piano Man uncovered his Tommy Gun. Unfortunately for him in the suspicious truck were Cops who opened fire. There ensued a gunfight which went on until one of the Feds shot the Piano Man in the back.

A general firefight now started the Dude's gang taking on the Cops and Feds. The Dude with top gang members exited the back of the Diner. The first escape route was blocked by the Feds, so they ran the other way towards Ken's Gang (who had their heads down and guns hidden so far). This however was blocked by the Cops who started to arrest the gang members and shot the Dude and Accountant. 

This all happened down a back lane, no one saw what happened but the Cops report was that the Accountant took a gun from a Beat Cop and shot himself. The Chief of Police Si, was pleased he had now achieved one of his objectives.

The game now changed into what resembled a American Football Match. Ken's Gang open fire and his wheelman runs down some Feds, his car crashes and goes up in flame (yes these rules are that detailed). A Cop picks up the Accountants Bag and starts to run, closely followed by a Fed. He is tackled, the Fed now runs back, he passes a hiding Hood who shoots him, drops the bag. A Cop now picks up the bag but a nearby Fed with BAR drops him (unfortunately also takes out a citizen). One of Ken's gang is now running with bag, but then a Fed gets it off him and makes it to the Car. Before he can start the engine, Ken's Hood is grabbing the Fed through the window. As these two fight it out a Cop with carbine stands by watching. Ken's Hood wins the bag, he turns around and gets shot........ End of game.

As all that was going on Cops had rounded up the rest of the Gang Members and Arrested Feds for shooting innocent civilians.

There were other side story's that played out during the game, one of Ken's hoods was beaten up by a Nun. Nice Girl tried to escape using her purse gun to name but two.

This was a fast moving and well set up balanced game thanks to Vince who was also umpire today. Steve M was in charge of the Feds and Si the Police. Ken controlled the Italian Gang and I was the Dude (hence there being more detail in my report about my actions).

Technical Bit

The rules as mentioned above were “Mad Dogs with Guns” and they play well and have lots of period detail. In addition they have a well thought out campaign system, which a group of us used during the first lock down to get our wargaming fix. 

Figures are mostly Blue Moon and Copplestone with a few Pulp Fiction thrown in. Buildings were from TT Combat and Armchair General.

Target for Tonight, Op Eight - Dusseldorf

 

The final Op to Dusseldorf flown on 3rd-4th November 1943 was the last game of eight to be played in our Target for Tonight, Battle of Berlin Campaign and what a game it proved to be to end on, with Bomber Command desperate to make up for the consequences of misplaced Target Indicators on the previous Op, that snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and left the campaign teetering on a German minor victory.

The Mainforce turnout for this next Op to the Rhur city of Dusseldorf saw maintenance crews pulling out all the stops to produce the number of aircraft seen above for the five groups and with only four crews not rated as veteran or better and with two crews rated as second tour elites.

Thus with good weather over the target, a short flight to the Rhur Valley, well within Oboe range for precise navigation and a very heavy bomb load, things all looked set for an opportunity to pull the campaign back in favour of the RAF, but would the Nachtjagd have something to say about that?

As with the previous games you can find out how this one ended with a full report on our game on JJ's Wargames together with links to the previous seven games leading up to it.

Halifax Z-Zebra tangles with a nightfighter north of Aachen in our final campaign game

Many thanks Bob, Steve and Ian for helping to finish things off on a high and for your enthusiastic playing, help and input into what has been a very fun time and to give an idea on how our games have progressed over the campaign you can see a short clip below of this one with the guys getting the bomber stream moved, with Bob trying his best to crash R-Roger and Steve explaining the delights of dodging nightfighters on the bomb-run!

To read on just follow the link below.

JJ's Wargames, Target for Tonight - Op Eight, Dusseldorf

Granada 14th December 1856 - The Filibuster War

William Walker (President of Nicaragua) was on board his Steamer "La Virgin", watching what what was happening to his forces trapped in the church of Guadalupe. They had been given orders to burn the city down, but unfortunately they found some alcohol and when they woke they found themselves trapped by the Nicaraguans. 

William Walker, self-proclaimed American President of Nicaragua 
from 1855-57 after he invaded the country and occupied it

However fate intervened and more Filibuster reinforcements arrived, it was therefor time to save his brave lads.

This is where our game starts. Juan and Carlos were in command of the city they had put an iron ring around the church, anyone trying to escape would be cut down (think Butch Cassidy and Sundance).

Other soldiers were scattered around the town and on the water front. They had a plan, that was to let

the Americans land and move inland, then the defenders would appear from the side streets and cut them off.

Walker had two brave volunteers, Gregory an American Patriot and Vince a British mercenary. They brought the steamer up close to the docks and let loose a terrifying volley, the dock guards ran away. The Americans then disembarked unopposed and formed two columns.

Gregory took his men up through the back gardens until encountering a large unit of peasants. There was then a long one sided firefight, the Peasants could not shoot back, however neither would they run away.

The other column lead by Vince advance cautiously up the high street, using long range fire to drive back the militia. On the flank was a fort held by some regulars, here there was a long range firefight by the American steamer guard which included a cannon. This too went bad for the defenders as the regulars refused to activate then finally ran away.

Things were basically going wrong for the Nicaraguans, poor discipline of the militia and peasants meant they joined the battle piecemeal and were shot to pieces. Units were even pulled out of the church guard but still could not change the run of the battle.

At this time Juan and Carlos thought it was time to pack up.

Now for some technical stuff.

Rules were Rebels and Patriots, these give a fun fast moving game.

The Americans were classed as well armed light infantry, they provided their own weapons and were not well disciplined.

The Nicaraguans consisted of standard Line Infantry, Militia Line Infantry (-1 discipline and poor shots) and Peasants (Natives with-1 discipline).

Figures, 28mm, Americans Alamo to ACW/Cowboys ranges. From manufacturers such as Boot Hill, Perry, Redoubt Enterprise, 1st Corps and Wargame Foundry.

Nicaraguans were Napoleonic Spanish Guerrillas, South American Wars of Independence, Maximillian Mexico plus Mexican Cowboys ranges. Manufacturers most of the above plus Orinoco Miniatures.

In conclusion, the game played well and the Filibusters victory was due to their good tactics, playing to their strength and not letting the Nicaraguans use their advantage of numbers. If they got in close the game would have ended differently.

In case you were wondering, the game gave an historical result.

Thanks to Gregory, Vince and John for playing and letting me cross another battle of my to do list.

The Filibuster War

O-Group, WWII Battalion Level Wargaming, After Action Report

Whilst Ian and I have play tested this set of “Guidelines” ourselves many times, and, also, with a few other mates, this is the first outing at our club.

We have set this game up as a multiplayer Battlegroup game so that we can show, what we hope, is the

full gamut of what it has to offer. We also tried to introduce as many different weapons and situations as

we possibly could. We thus hope to entice as many followers to O Group as we can.

The scenario came from my head and is an attack and defend situation. The British are in the process of

establishing a bridgehead over a river which is just a little bit east of somewhere a little bit to the west.

The British 1st battalion is moving into the town to the north whilst 2nd Battalion is crossing the bridge to the south. Each battalion is split into three Companies each of three platoons which have three sections each, plus MMG’s and AT sections. There are Anti-Tank guns, 6pdr and 17pdr with tows. They have been allocated three rounds of off board artillery. However, one company from each battalion is in reserve along with limited armour and can only be brought on if the situation warrants.

The Germans have been ordered to counter-attack in line with Hitler's “die for me you cowardly swine”

order. They have been allocated two rounds of off board artillery. They also have two battalions made up in a similar fashion to the British. One company from each battalion is held in reserve. They do have a significant advantage in armour. There were no constraints on when they could employ their reserves.

There are some things to understand at this point. The Battlegroup commander is responsible for the

allocation of Regimental and Divisional Artillery at battalion request. Battalion Mortars can be used at any time but not if off board artillery has been gained as they use the same FOO. They throw for initiative using the sum of the Battalion HQ orders plus the score of 2 D6. The Battlegroup orders do not come into this. The town is split up in to four Built Up Areas (BUA). A BUA is not a single building but a group. There are six other single BUA’s on the table in the form of farms.

The British “Forward Defensive Line” (FDL) is 12” on to the table and the German “Start Line” (SL) is also 12” on to the table.

There were no objectives in this game as it was all about seeing the mechanics of play to new players of

the game. The winner was the one who inflicted the most FUBARS and had control of the table at pack

up time.

Deployment Phase

First the Battlegroup Commanders dice for their level, 1 = Poor = 4 Dice, 2- 5 = Competent = 5 Dice and 6 = brilliant = 6 Dice. The results converted to 5 dice per BG commander.

Dice scores of 6 only count. The Battlegroup orders can be distributed to the Battalion commanders, if

their HQ orders are fewer than six, to influence initiative. The British threw as Defenders their dice which included 6’s (two each) allowed them to note two ambush units each. However, 1st Battalion also threw three ones which meant that the Germans had the opportunity to interdict any deployments for the first three turns. All the 2-5’s meant that they could put combat patrol (CP) markers behind the FDL.

The Germans threw as Attackers scoring one 1 each. This counts as a pre-bombardment, and

consequently the British lost one platoon each. The sixes were converted to units on table behind the SL

and the remaining were converted to CP’s, also placed behind the SL.

The Battalion commanders now threw their deployment dice. The attackers, the Germans, had ten dice,

whilst the British, as defenders, had nine. The deployment dice determine the initial setup. How any units can be deployed on table, how many ambushes can be had and much, much more.

When all deployment actions were taken the Battlegroup commanders diced again and started their

accumulation of dispersible orders, remember, only 6’s counted, to a maximum of six.

The Game

The battalion commanders then diced again, battalion orders were noted, once again a maximum of six

only allowed, and company order chits piled high. At this point the game looks easy as you tend to have

an excess. Any company orders not used in a turn are lost. Later in the game, lots of things to do but no

orders to do them with. You can use you battalion orders to supplement the company orders, but this

may influence the initiative throw. So many chances to screw things up.

The initiative was gained on turn one by the Germans and CP’s were fired out in all directions, but as no deployments can be made on moved CP’s in the same turn, the only units on the table were those from the initial deployment. So many orders left over.

The British left flank commander responded in his turn by targeting one of the German units on the edge of a wood with his Battalion mortars, managing to inflict one shock. A good start. The British commanders sent their CP’s out as well, but they were hampered by not being able to have them within 8” of an enemy CP.

The first four turn’s initiative was won by the Germans and consequently they were in the driving seat in getting units deployed and into action. Mortar fire was exchanged causing minimal damage.

Now the action was joined in earnest as deployed units exchanged fire causing shock and suppression.

Where the chuff are all the orders I want?

On the German right flank, a succession of Hesitant Company dice throws (three ones on battalion order throws) caused them to falter in their advance. Typically, as all bad workmen, the commander blamed his tools, in this case the dodgy blue dice he had been provided with. He bitchedrightly complained about them until the end of the game. Oh, for a quiet life as an umpire.

His bad fortune was not mirrored on their left as they reached their consolidation point and over the next couple of turns managed to deploy the 3rd company.

Under intense pressure, and with suppressed units all over the place a British divisional artillery request

was made to try and ease the situation. He gets a Medium Battery. Next throw for accuracy. What’s that

he’s thrown? A double one. Oh, poop he say’s (well close) as this is a Danger Close and the total of three D6 towards the nearest friendly unit means he hits his own platoon, causing one stand to be removed.

I should note here so that I don’t get comments saying I am wrong. As a House Rule Ian and I decided

that British 6 and 17 Pdr AT guns would get two rounds of APDS giving a +2 on firing, this would include any vehicles mounted with one of these guns, i.e. the Firefly. All towed AT guns were also restricted to two rounds of HE. Tanks were not affected by these HE restrictions.

Armoured vehicles were now deployed by both sides to help their attacks with direct HE Fire Support.

A Panzer IV H appeared on the British right flank and was targeted by a British Towed 17pdr firing APDS. The result was inevitable, and the German tank brewed on the spot. Boyed by his success and seeing suppressed units in front of him the British commander brought on his Churchill and opened fire with HE. The next turn, much to the consternation of the German commander, he discovered that this was not an ordinary tank but a Flamethrower (Crocodile). Casualties were inflicted, but eventually the Churchill was overpowered by Jagdpanzer IV’s and was destroyed. The British right flank was beginning to crumble under the pressure of the German advance.

On the German right despite his initial hesitancy, the advance continued. Stug III’s appeared to give fire

support and the weight of numbers started to take effect. The British brought on a Cromwell with a 95mm Howitzer to try and help his beleaguered troops, but this tank was quickly despatched by the Stug’s AT fire. Those German 75mm long guns are lethal.

Weight of numbers of the Germans now told on both flanks. The Pub was calling. So Ian and I called a

German victory and we packed up and went to the pub. Well Bob and I did.

There were three people playing this set of rules who had never played them before and one who had played twice. The overall impression was very positive, and I think that they will be playing them again.

I would like to thank Ian who co-umpired, very essential with so many newbies, Bob and moaningthe very polite Jason, our Germans and Nathan and Chris, our British.

The terrain cloth was by Tiny Wargames. The figures and vehicles came from all over the place, and I can’t remember where now. Building by Hovels and a company which is no longer in being. Trees mainly from Buffers of Axminster and the walls and hedges from ebay. The BUA’s I made from bits and bobs I had lying around. I made them generic so they can be used for other eras.