the Northern Front Podcast

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Episode 6 of the Northern Front Podcast dropped this week and I finally realized that I have yet to actually post it on the blog.  This is a Podcast that I have been doing for 6 months now with my fellow Wisconsin gamers Brian and Aaron.  We discuss different historical wargames and do some pretty detailed look at a rules sets in between our banter. Kati hasn't been on it yet but there is talk of her appearing as a guest.

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Pearson's raid: ZULU war 1879

Pearson's Raid: Zulu War Black Powder

Tonight Kati and I tried a homemade scenario based on a raid that Pearson had his men do while in Eshowe.  I have been doing research trying to find some unique battles or skirmishes from the war.   What follows is the Scenario that I wrote up Using Warlord Games Black Powder ruleset, then a brief battle report of the two times we tried it.

 The raid on the Fortified Kraal of Dabulamanzi

During the siege of Eshowe, Colonel Pearson felt he needed to lift spirits and break up the monotony of garrison life so he approve a series of raids out of the mission. The first of which was burning the nearby kraal of Dabulamanzi. This was carried out by a small group of troops relatively easily.

Rather than fight out the successful burning of the Kraal, this scenario represents the fighting escape the British made from the raid as described by James Grant in his contemporary account of the war. After burning the Kraal, the British raiding force was pursued by a large Zulu force through a wood (among other terrain ). While the man body of Zulu followed directly behind another smaller group attempted to attack the flank of the unit which was replied by a group of mounted scouts who were noted for how accurate their fire was and they were able to hold back the flank attack. After this a running fire was kept up until the fort was reached.

British order of battle

100 men of the 3rd and 99^th regiment (50 each)

25 men of the Naval Brigade

1 Gatling gun(naval)

group of mounted scouts, Rowden's crack shots

Zulu

2000 men

Black powder Order of battle

British

Commander (8)

Company of 3^rd: regular

Company of 99^th: regular

naval brigade: Small unit

Rowden's scouts: small Cavalry

Gatling Gun

Zulu

Main force

Brigade 1

commander(8)

3 units regular

Brigade 2

Commander(8)

3 units regulars

Flank attack

Commander (8)

2 units skirmishers

Setup and Rules

the board is a 6x4 table with sporadic tree cover and dungas

8 turns

The British are in column and arranged as depicted on the map

the Zulu Flank Attack enters on turn 1 24” in on the north/top side of the table from the east/right side of the table.

the Zulu Main force may enter on a odd number d6 rule starting turn 2

Objectives

the British player most exit on the east/right side of the table with at least 50% of his force

The Zulu must destroy at least 51% of the British force

The Zulu go first

British Army stats

Unit	Type	Armament	Hand to Hand	Shooting	Morale	Stamina	Special
3rd & 99th	Inf	Breech-loading Rifles	6	4	4 up	3	Steady, Stubborn
Naval Brigade	Inf	Breech-loading Rifles	3	2	4 up	2	Small, Steady, Stubborn
Scouts	Cav	Breech-loading Carbines	3	2	4 up	2	Small, sharpshooter Marauder
Gatling Gun	Arty	Gatling Gun	1	Special	4 up	1	Stubborn

Zulu stats

Unit	Type	Armament	Hand to Hand	Shooting	Morale	Stamina	Special
Zulu	Inf	Spear and Smooth bore Musket	6	1	4	3	Bloodthirsty, Warband
Skirmishers	Irreg	Rifled musket and spear	5	2	4	2	Skirmish

First test run(super short)

This is the step up we did for the first run of the game.

The Zulu skirmishers entered the table and I dismounted my scouts to lay down some fire

They quickly made short work of my scouts, but as you can see the column moved right along.

The main Zulu force arrived...just in time to see my men roll a 3 for a command roll and walk right off the table.  Game ended on turn 3 and looks very similar to the real life events.

Test run 2

For this run we moved the British back a bit and gave the Zulu main force the chance to arrive starting turn 2.

Skirmishers enter as planned.  But this time my scouts refuse to move to intercept.

Thanks to another botched command roll the column ends turn one looking like this. the 99th and the Gatling gun moved and everyone else stalled out.  Will the Zulu enter on turn 2?....I hope not.

Half of  the main force enters and attacks the column.

Now surprisingly,  this melee will last 3 turns as the British hold their ground thanks to auto passing their first break test.  But alas the Naval unit breaks followed by a zulu unit and finally the 3rd falls.

On the other side of the table the rest of the column makes a run for it.  If I can get them off the table I can still win.

The Skirmishers take advantage of my staying in column and hit the Gatling gun.

Then they surround the column ending this game with a very different outcome than real life events.

So after 2 runs we think it turned out just OK.  We need to work on the extremely random movement that comes with the BP command system.  We are also thinking about trying it using Sharp Practice because it might play better.  Either way it was fun to research a little known raid from the Zulu War. 

Defence in Depth: Sharp Practice v2 AWI

Defence in Depth: Sharp Practice v2 AWI

As Sharp Practice is still the "shiny new ruleset" in the Cook house we decided to break it out again this week.  This match will pit my Hessian force against a Rebel force from around 1776.

We set up a pretty standard board; some fences, fields, woods, a stream, road and two hills.  Kati rolled defender and decided to defend the side of the table(long ways) with the hills.  The scenario basically gives the defender two 12 inch bands to place deployment points in, to represent a two line defence.  the attacker gets two deployment points on the other end of the table.  

Objective is simple, the attacker needs to capture the rear deployment point.

Kati's rebel force including a glass of wine for the commander consisted of:

Leader 1 status II

2 groups of State line

Leader 2 Stat II

2 groups of Militia(ten men each)

Leader 3 stat II

1 group militia skirmishers

Leader 4 stat II

1 group militia skirmishers

Leader 5 Stat II

1 group continental line

and Leader 6 stat I

Light artillery 

A lot of guys 

Opposing them was my Hessian force of:

Leader 1 stat III(musician) 

3 groups of Hessian regulars

Leader 2 stat II

2 groups of Hessian Grenadiers

Leader 3 stat I 

1 group Jaegers(marksman)

Leader 4 stat I

1 group Jaegers

now to the game

Turn 1

The first  turn saw 2 rebel command cards drawn followed by my leader 3 with his Jaegers on my right behind a wood near the northern hill.

This was followed by the Rebels leader 3 who deployed at the rear deployment zone and then the tiffin card ended the turn

Turn 2

Turn 2 saw my second group of Jaegers deploy which for me looked awesome.  My Jaegers out ahead of the column scouting the ground.

And that was followed by both of my line infantry formations entering the table.

 Kati does get to deploy her leader 1 before the tiffin is drawn.

We both use command cards to move up our leader 3s and move on to the next turn.  This puts all the Hessians on the table.

Turn 3

 Turn 3 can be summed up pretty quick.  My Leader 3 and his Jaegers move up and fire missing all but one shot, they needed 2s (dice roll in picture) and Kati deploys some skirmishers on the other hill.

Turn 4

Turn 4 starts with my second group of Jaegers trying their luck at peppering the Stat line troops scoring 2 kills and a shock. Just as an FYI we use the cotton puffs to show the unit is unloaded.

 Kati deploys more troops, including the cannon and answers my peppering with a volley from the State line formation that kills a Jaeger and puts 4 shock on the group. Now my Jagers use 2 command cards to reload out of turn and when leader 3s card is drawn they fire back putting 2 kills and some shock on them.

Then leader 1 orders his men ahead 11 inches. Tiffin.

Turn 5

Turn 5 is a short one.  one command card is drawn for each of us, my grenadiers cross a fence and the tiffin card is revealed.  Kati then uses her Command card to have her State Line formation throw another volley into my Jaegers forcing them to withdraw.  I use my card to reload the other group of Jaegers.

Turn 6

Turn 6 sees my grenadiers go into column formation and 2 rebels units move forward. Then the State Line get one last volley into my Jagers before they move behind the wood to lick their wounds.

My Jaegers fire another inconsequential volley as the turn ends...but Kati has a command card.

The cannon fires at my Jaegers on the fence (hidden behind their smoke) surprisingly this only results in 2 shock.

Turn 7

Turn 7 is another turn with not a lot of action and a lot of moving (not a bad thing, it's what makes the game interesting).  My leader one takes fire as it nears the fence getting 4 shock from a great long range volley from rebel skirmishers. 

The turn ends with my plan starting to become obvious.  my men are all pushing south only problem is can my Jaeger continue to keep the rebel left in check?

Turn 8

Trun 8 sees me using a couple of command cards to make my leader 1 status 5 to remove shock and get over the fence.  While that is happening, my leader 4 and his Jaegers take the a volley that will basically put them out of the game.  My only plus at this point is that Kati loaded canister into her Cannon and I am still out of range.

If you have being keeping tabs on leaders you have have noted that rebel leader 2 has only moved once this whole game, poor guy just never got the luck of the draw.  But he finally formed up into column and prepared to move to a position behind the hill as a last line of defence.

The 2 groups of skirmishers lay down fire as my hessians trudge across the field.

Turn 9

Turn 9 starts with my grenadiers practically running down the road with a 13 inch move. 

Which is followed by every gun available pointing at my boys in the field.  11 shock shuts you down fast!

But the Hessians answered in kind with a controlled volley up the hill before the turn ends.

Turn 10 and 11

Turn 10 and 11 see my attack grind to a halt.  My hessians in the field build up 15 shock thanks in part to a canister shot, and I know that there is no saving them.  While I still have my grenadiers, night is fast approaching (10pm is my bedtime) and I have to call off the attack.  Leaving Kati and the rebels with the field in withdrawal.

This was a fun game that taught us a few things. First I think a second leader should accompany any formation larger than 2 groups just to control shock accumulation. Skirmishers are best keep as far away as possible as one good close range volley will put them out of serve. I also find is strange that Hessians to not get the Sharp practice characteristic. I actually used it then had to back track and unto loading my guys. The Hessians were pretty famous for their fire drill so this surprises me.