The Loose Association of Wargamers

After last year's cancellation, my little group are very much looking forward to our local Show in August.We always stage a rather large wargame, using our 1/72 & 20 mm collections.

There's been some talk over which period as the ACW game we'd planned on, is no where near ready.

I'd prefer the SYW & the Battle of Torgau but there are several other proposals: most of the boys name the AZW second in their preferred periods so although a firm decision hasn't been made, this seems likely.

I have some thoughts on the structure of a possible AZW Show game & I place them here for your comment:

The real battle of Ulundi is a bit of a fizzer to game- too one-sided- but it does have masses of various British & colonial troops which we'd like to use in contrast to our usual game of a couple of companies of British infantry & a troop of Colonial Horse. Between us, we'd have 200+ British & Colonials and nearly 1100 Zulus (possible re-cycling needed?).

So, how is this for an idea? It’s the second invasion (post-Islandlwana) of Zululand. Chelmsford has learned nothing (very plausible!) & sends in two columns to take Ulundi. These start at either end of the longest table we can get. Ulundi is somewhere near the centre. The Zulus can be anywhere (positioned by map, prior to the game) & ambush is a genuine consideration. Both columns have supply trains & movement is tied to these slow moving wagons (which doesn’t mean the columns can’t send out mounted forces....a risky business?).

There can be a real rivalry between the two Teams of British players as to who gets to Ulundi first? Maybe only one of the group controls all the Zulus? Bit of a thankless task but possible Victory points for destroying units, slowing down the British etc. Ideal role for some one bloody minded enough. I'm assuming the British will probably win.

I'm thinking a Colonial version of Teutoberg Forest which could be nail-biting.

Obvious flaws? Positive aspects? Some interesting ideas to add?

donald

Sounds great, beware of BLM pickets.

How to make Ulundi more "gameable"?

1) How about ALL the British Gatlings jam, irrespective of where they are or whether they were even firing, if you DON'T throw a double?

2) A resupply of boxes reaches a unit that is low on ammo. Throw 2D6 - odd, they're full of bullets; even, they're full of biscuits - but not any old biscuits. These are M&S - errr, sorry - Army biscuits and are lethal if thrown, frisbee fashion, at anyone less than 10 yards away.

Not sure I'd choose a colonial game for a show - you might be safe in Oz though!

BaronVonWreckedoften wrote: ↑Fri Apr 02, 2021 2:20 pm How to make Ulundi more "gameable"?

1) How about ALL the British Gatlings jam, irrespective of where they are or whether they were even firing, if you DON'T throw a double?

2) A resupply of boxes reaches a unit that is low on ammo. Throw 2D6 - odd, they're full of bullets; even, they're full of biscuits - but not any old biscuits. These are M&S - errr, sorry - Army biscuits and are lethal if thrown, frisbee fashion, at anyone less than 10 yards away.

Good suggestions. I think a stack of Event Cards that highly favour the Zulus is in order.
Also, although the event covers two days, it might not be possible to reach the Ulundi kraal in time : Zulu win.
The whole ambush-thing means a degree of caution would be wise.

donald

valleyboy wrote: ↑Fri Apr 02, 2021 9:21 pm Not sure I'd choose a colonial game for a show - you might be safe in Oz though!

I was concerned - for no reason - when we did a Sudan game at the height of the ISIS business. Black flags, fanatics, Islamic crusades....the parallels were obvious to me but not a punter mentioned it.

Our group would be respectful of the Zulus. I believe there are gung-ho types who treat Colonial games as opportunities to belittle the native people. Not us.

I appreciate & support the aims of the BLM movement but a minor event in a bit of a back water like BrisVegas should not attract attention?....though Griz brought it up, too.

At any rate, I'll put this to the boys.

Thanks, donald

We played a game at Ayton a couple of years ago where the scenario was much as you describe.

Unfortunately, the gods of war hadn't read the scenario. Through no fault of the scenario or the players, the action all took place in a few square feet at one end of the table.

I suspect that having one side 'march on' is a recipe for disaster......unless it's Andy's army, in which case it's almost the law.

E

Thanks for the head's-up, Iain.

I think we could avoid this by stipulating the Zulu players can harass but not all out attack for the first X number of moves.

Reaching the kraal should be possible if not easy. I think the British Victory conditions should aim at pitting one British column against another (professional rivalry: who gets furtherest wins points, loss of units, loses points etc). I don’t think the Zulus need to destroy both or any British columns to win. Maybe points for the number of Turns they keep the British out + points for British units destroyed?

The biggest challenge, as always, is tailoring numbers.

donald

BTW consensus was reached: Zulus it is.

ochoin wrote: ↑Fri Apr 02, 2021 9:40 pm Our group would be respectful of the Zulus. I believe there are gung-ho types who treat Colonial games as opportunities to belittle the native people. Not us.

I appreciate & support the aims of the BLM movement but a minor event in a bit of a back water like BrisVegas should not attract attention?....though Griz brought it up, too.

That’s just Grizz being his usual fuckwit. We’ve run colonial games in London - I remember the black security guard at Alexander Palace taking a great interest in our Sudan game and suggesting better placement/rate of fire for the British troops. He hadn’t seen wargaming before, he’d just been a soldier. I also recall the white older gentleman who’d been an officer walking away in disgust when one of our club members used a racial epithet about the native troops. As you say, it’s the attitude of the players that counts, not the history of the game.

Except the history can also be very useful. Another security guard, also black and self-confessedly not interested in history at school, got interested in our Texan War of Independence game at Crystal Palace and was deeply amused at discovering it was caused by American illegal immigration into Mexico

As I have mentioned before, at "our" Show there are very few attendees who have ever heard of wargaming, apart from the Warhammer-variety (it's a model train event).

Quite a few of the public are fascinated in our attempts to model history in our games. We always get a range of questions & comments, over the 15 years we've been doing this, about politics, or social history, technology, religion etc. And being Australia, there will be a number of people from countries who will be delighted to recognize their ethnicity modelled - Germans who learned about Fred.the G. at school or a Pole who is thrilled by the Czapkas worn by some of Napoleon's Guard......though we have yet to get a Carthaginian to relate to our Punic gaming.

2021 was supposed to be the ACW & I was looking forward to people making analogies between what we were doing & the recent Capitol Insurrection. There will probably be South Africans present though who will have heard of the Zulu Wars & quite a few others who will have seen the movie.

It's commonplace to bemoan people's ignorance of history but I think quite a few people know some & are interested enough.

donald