To Zulu...

Or not to Zulu, that is the question! In reality, the question is what next? While I am still going to add units to my Sudan Armies, (Arab Cavalry/Camelry, etc.) what next should I do? Go to the Zulu Wars? Or to the Northwest Frontier and the Pathans??

After some thought, I decided to start work sometime soon on the Northwest Frontier (NWF), for the following reasons. The Khaki uniform works not only for the NWF but also the 2nd Boer War and everything else thereafter. I have some Pathans and some British in 25mm already, so it's a easy start. And the uniforms for the British are easy, it's just how much I want to do on the Pathans!

More to follow...

TTFN

From the Workbench

Here are three figures, the taller one is from Reaper's "Chronoscope" range British sergeant that is uniformed for the Zulu War, so I cut down and filed off the sleeve & pant embroidery and painted it for the Sudan. The other two figures, the bugler and sergeant are Perry miniatures.

A close up of the Reaper figure. It's almost done and will be used as a Sergeant-Major to go with my Captain when I field enough British troops to warrant a Captain & Sgt. Major (British Company -2 platoons). I still need a Colonel if I ever field a Infantry Battalion (2 Companies).

The two Perry minis - looking good - Almost finished!

Confederate Artillery being done on commission for a friend.

Confederate Artillery crews - photos not too good...

More reb artillery crews and their Commander. Then I have infantry to do. As of today the artillery crews & guns are finished and the infantry is almost finished. My first batch of Italians to upgrade my FOW Mid-War Italian Army are almost finished. I believe they need their black & brown wash. The next (and last) batch of HMG squads are primed and I'll start on them tomorrow. Then I have like 9 47mm ATG to do. The Italian list was changed in the newest NORTH AFRICA book adding a HMG & a 47mm ATG to each infantry group, So a full Company has 3 groups, so 3 HMGs & 47mm ATG a Company. I'd better double check how many Companies I have now & what I need again. I might be about to have a infantry Company w/ 3 platoons.

UP AGAINST A WALL

The other thing on my mind is how many 28mm Sudan figures do I need? I believe that due to numbers, I might be coming up against a wall as to how many 28mm figures I can get on a 4' x 6' gaming board. During the game at the February convention I noticed that having 5 Mahdists bands (20 figs/band x 5 bands = 100 figures) and 40 Anglo-Egyptian forces infantry figures plus a unit (12) of Cav the gaming board was a bit crowded. It maybe possible that around 200 figures maybe that wall. So I will have to go to 15mm to do really large scale games. And I have rules for that, "The Gatling's are Jammed" looking the best so far. "Patrols in the Sudan 1885" I don't thing can be used for massive games. I have a copy of "800 Fighting Englishmen" on the way which can be used for large games, but I don't know if it's for 28mm or 15mm or both. I can sell get more 28mm units that I use, like more British & Mahdist Cavalry & Camelry (Mahdist & British Camel Corp.) and another Gardner Gun and Mahdist Artillery to have for various scenarios.

TTFN

Orccon 2010

Strategicon, Orccon 2010 is over. My scenario went over well, both Saturday & Sunday. Here are some of the Saturday photos....
The set-up for the Anglo-Egyptian Forces-The Cavalry (10th Hussars) were moved outside before play started (shown in the next photo). The Anglo-egyptian forces need only last till the end of Turn 9.....

Opening moves - The Cavalry is seen in the top of the photo set up outside the Zareba. One band of Fuzzy Wuzzys have come on the board near the Zareba and moved in, each band having a torch in order to set it on fire. Another band have come on (Mahdist appearance was random around the board).

All of the Mahdist forces are on the board. In the top of the photo the Hussars have charged the Dervish riflemen, taking 2 casualties in the process. The Zareba has been set on fire and is burning away (each section burns 3 turns and the fire is rolled for each turn to see how far the fire burn each turn).

As the Zareba burns, the British & Egyptian forces re-form into squares to defend themselves from the inevitable Dervish charges when the Zareba burns away. Being in a square gives them a bonus in close combat.

The Fuzzy's charge in the instant a section of the Zareba burns away. Who will the close combat?????

The British!!! But many brave soldiers are dead or wounded. And more Mahdist forces are waiting....

Another band of Fuzzy Wuzzy wait for their turn as the section of the Zareba in front of them burns...

Another band gets ready to charge in on the left of the photo-a close up of a Fuzzy band.

The Hussars charge a band of Fuzzy's that were going to charge against the British. The Fuzzy's failed their roll to stand against the charge and fall back. "RUN AWAY!!"

The Egyptians get ready for a Ansar band to charge them. Their Officer gets them to stand!

The last of the British infantry go toe-to-toe with a greatly reduced Fuzzy band. They will lose this fight and the survivors will rout away.

The band that fell back from the Hussar's is rallied by their Sheik and charges them! "DEATH TO THE BRITISH!!"

Victory to the Mahdists! The Sheik looks on as he has won against the Hussars. Much of his band had lost the fight but were not killed, however the Hussars have bravely died to a man! (The wounded were killed when the Fuzzy-Wuzzy reformed after winning the combat.)

The Ansar Swordsmen charge the Egyptians as time is running out (On the last turn of the game). If they win this fight the forces of the Mahdi will win the game!

The Ansar appear to have lost! However, the mounted Amir, the over all Commander of the Mahdists forces and a single sword man continue the fight in the hopes of winning, Allah willing!!

Alone, outnumbered, the Amir, Afridi Nadim, fights on, Against the Egyptian Officer and the last of the Egyptian soldiers. Victory or Death!!!! The British CinC, Captain Smyth Crumpington, was in the melee, but was not killed, just fell back (lost the combat). If he had been killed or wounded, the British would have had to make a Major Moral check.

The Egyptian Officer has fallen in combat, but so has the Amir! Thus the Egyptian have won the day!!!! (And the game)! They also saved the reputation of Captain Smyth Crumpington (losing a fight and running away looks bad).

The Sunday game was good as well. Not quite the down-to-the-wire the Saturday was (game was won on the last turn) but the Mahdist players called it at the beginning of Turn 9 (game would end at the end of Turn 9) as they just couldn't defeat the remaining British/Egyptain's before the end of the turn. Just picked up two players both days, my Co-GM, Mark playing as well. Everyone had fun and after the game, I asked what was right and what was wrong about the game. It was all good, no negatives, which is good after all the play testing I did.

I will post these photos and more from the Con on photobucket soon. I think I will just play at the March HMGS day at Aero Hobbies (March 7th) and get something up for April. I am also getting back into painting in order to clear my painting table of past half-finished projects and the ACW figures (15mm) I am painting for Dave for $$.

TTFN

From the Workbench..and my Workbench

Those rocky terrain by Gale Force 9 "Battlefield in a Box" I gave some desert color dry-brushing and some flocking so I can now use them with my desert mat. I plan to use the large one shown for my game at Strategicon, Looking Good! And now my workbench....

My workbench is a mess. I have too many half-completed projects sitting around it that are driving me batty. So I am going to get them done & out of the way. Those LOTR Wargs are have painted and need to be finished and are underway. One picture shows the "Redneck Militia" that are 2 steps away from done, and those Basti (Wargods) that have been sitting around for a least a year now. And 2 Japanese pillboxes are waiting to be finished...and the list goes on. Not really that bad. Also show are 3 British Colonial figures that I can get done really quick. The figures on Popsicle sticks are 15mm ACW rebs, 15mm Italians for FoW and some 15mm Ansar Camel Cavalry.

TTFN

Last Playtest of "The Zareba"

The 10th Hussars exit the zareba

The last playtest before the Con in February of the scenario, "The Zareba" took place at Aero Hobbies on Sunday, Jan. 24th. I am using "The Sword and the Flame" for rules. This is a night battle, with normal shooting at 8" or under. Over 8" all targets (except the torch bearers) are Class IV targets (worst possible chance to hit). This time the Hussar's started in the zareba and exited without mishap, as the unit activations went for the British, so they closed the zareba behind them (no Mahdist units generated near the opening.)

Band of Fuzzy Wuzzy's w/torches move toward the zareba to set it on fire

The Mahdists forces did try to move in to set fire to the zareba without being cut down by either the British or Egyptian forces inside. As rough terrain doesn't slow down the Fuzzy Wuzzy or Ansars, it makes it easy to move out of it toward a objective.

Ansar swordsmen hide in the scrub

Another Fuzzy Wuzzy band moves in w/torches

A band of riflemen w/ a mounted Emir in rocky terrain

This band stayed inside the rocky terrain most of the game, to avoid being targeted by the British and shot at them and shot back by them outside 8" range. As they were the only Madhist rifle armed, this made sense.

"CHARGE!!" Hussars attack a Fuzzy Wuzzy spear band

The Hussars charged a Fuzzy Wuzzy spear band, but were themselves charged by a Ansar swordsman band, which spelled their end.

Reaching the zareba with torches, soon it will be on fire

Once on fire, the zareba burns in both direction d6"/turn. Due to the strength of the flames, all figures must move 3" away. The smoke from the flames also makes it impossible to shot through in that direction (night + smoke makes for poor shooting).

A band of Ansar swordsmen has charged into the Hussars after they routed the FW band

VICTORY!! The Ansar win!

The Hussars took some losses in their melee with the spear band and had to leave their wounded as the Ansar swords charged them. The lost that melee (really bad rolling by the British player) and in the end the last 4 figures routed. However, there were not some many of them left to enjoy that victory.

The zareba burns!

As the zareba burned, the Egyptian infantry re-formed to await the fire burning out and give the Fuzzy Wuzzy's a lead present when they charge in.

Ansar swordsmen attack through the zareba, engaging the British

This was one of the two pivotal close combats that decided the game. The Ansar moved though the zareba (getting shot up) to engage the British Infantry. They lost this close combat and routed back out of the zareba.

After the zareba burned away, the FW's charged the Egyptians

This was the other pivotal fight. If either the Fuzzy's or the Ansar won, it could make life difficult for the Anglo-Egyptian forces inside the zareba.

The Egyptians win the melee & rout the FW band

Dreams of a Mahdist victory over the infidel were not to be. The British had won their close combat and now the Egyptian had won theirs, routing the remains of the enemy. The remains of the Mahdists forces on the board were not enough to challenge the British & Egyptians. One band had already routed off the board, two band were currently running off and had yet to rally (and were either near or under half strength). The Mahdists do get some "bragging rights" for defeating the Hussars back at camp. So at Turn 5 (game would be over at the end of Turn 9) the Mahdists melted away into the night to plan their next attack....

I am working on my next game, after Orccon in February for the March HMGS game day at Aero Hobbies. I will miss it in February as it is happening on my birthday. More on that as it progresses.

TTFN

New Year, New Stuff & The Zareba Round 2

New Stuff!

I got a couple of the "Battlefield in a Box" by Gale Force 9. One was the small rocky hills and 2 of the Large rocky hills. As the rocks come unflocked, I can make them up for use on my desert map. A little dry-brushing here and there, maybe some sand, should look fine.

The Zareba, Round 2

On Sunday, January 10, Harold and I had a "Sword & the Flame" game at my place, playing "The Zareba" again, so as to get it together for the gaming convenation next month. This time it wasn't so close as the game at Aero. In a 3 hour game, Harold, as the British drove off 2 Mahdist bands out of 5 off the board.

In this photo, 2 bands of Fuzzy Wuzzys move toward the zareba and the Egyptians defending it.

The British Cavalry, the 10th Hussars, did much more this game than last. As a bands of FW's appeared in front of the Hussars, also with the Emir who was in overall command. After a couple of turns, a charge by the cav and the dust settled, that band lost the melee and beening so close to the edge of the board routed off, taking the Emir with them! This put me, the Dervish player, ina bad spot as I had to make a "Critical Morale" roll ever turn just to move anyone. I missed the first roll, made the roll the next turn but it gave Harold a full turn to do whatever he wished and I could nothing about it. The Hussars were then charged by another band of Fuzzy's, who also lost the melee, and again, being so close to the edge of the board, routed off.

The last 2 Fuzzy Wuzzys melee the Hussars...Good Luck!

I was a good game and many possible problems were addressed, hopefully we will have one more game before the con. I also addressed the problem of marking the figures, so people know what figure belong to which unit/band/platoon. Leader & key infantry figures will be re-based on 25mm rounds, mounted Leaders on "pill" shaped bases (like for 40K bikes for Space Marines/Orks) as 30 or 40mm rounds would be, IMHO, too big. I am ordering more bases from Litko, and have to see how many more FW riflemen I need to make a unit. Also how many Leader figures I need for each Dervish band, if I don't have them now.

TTFN