Solo Colonial II

opposite & above: Two shotsol SudangamesstagedbJ)RaJBoyles, u/aryamesco-o inatot of the vntorian Military Sociely, "Patizan in Neh'atk.

SOLOCOIONIAI.II by Mark R. Elwen The Zulu commander hasseenthe carnagethat massed fire powercan do to his warriors;he is thereforenor preparedto The following scenarios are designed for the solo colonial sacrificeall in one madrushai the defenders. Time is not the wargameralthoughthey couldbe quiteeasilyadaptedfor two enemyandhe isprepared1okeepthe Britishguessingwhen and playersand/orotherperiods.The soloplayercontrols oneside at whicbpointshiswarriorswillstrike. whilstcertainchancefacton determinewhen,whereandhow manyofhis opponentstake part.The aim is thateachscenaio TheGam€ canbeplayedanynumberoftimes,butthateachtimethingscan To determinethe numberofdefendersshakethree6-sideddice (D6) and add 25 to the resuk.Add one nore to this for the go quitedifferently. figwerepresenting yourself- theofficer.(TheBoerscoutshave headedbackforthe maincolumn).Itis up royoutodecidewhat sizedefensiveperimeteris most suitablefor your needsand SCENAIIO1- ZIJLUDAWN'TlL DUSK(Fig.l) numberof men. Whateversize perimeteryou decideupon, Setting therewillbesufficientmealiebagsfor it to be waisthighall the Zululand,1879.a smallmissionstation-cum-farm whichstands

INTRODUCTION

on a supplyroutefor oneofthe Bitish colunnswhichhasnow Roll 1D6 to seeat what time o{ day the Zulus anive (1 = groundto a hahafterthedisaster at Isandhlwana. Themissionis 10am,2: 11am,3: l2noonandsoonupto3pm)thenrolllD6 situatednot far from a drift andconsists ofa smallhouse.a barn and multiply by ten to determinehow many Zulus arrive. I anda kraalwith alow stonewall.The househasbeenIoopholed would suggest armingapproximately onethirdof theZuluswith perimeterofmealiebagshasbeenconstructed. anda defensive firearms, though the rules should take into accounttheir poor Thebuildingcaneasilybeadaptedfor useasa hospitalalthough preferredto fire holdingtherifleat arm's accuracy. Many Zulus so far it hasnot receivedany casualties. A smallnumberof lengthbecause theydislikedthe recoil.For ease,asthe Zulus troopshavebeenleft to defendthe stationundercommand ofa take casualties as they advance,I alwaysassumethat the lieutenant.However,a force of Zulus, who havemanaaedto proportionof Zulus carying rifles remainsthe same.It also avoidthe cavalr]scoutsfrom the marncolumn.considerihisro preventsthe Britishjusi attemptingto pick off thesenen as bea suitabletaqet on whi€hto strike;not heavilydelendedand far enoughawayfrom the main column for reinforcementsnot targets,whichwouldbe unrealistic. UseD20 (numbered1 to 20) to seeat whichpoint the Zulus tobe aconcem.In onerespectthoughtheyounglieutenanr has enter the board. (The drift doesnot affe€tmovement,but a beenfortunate:the Zulus were spottedby two Boer scouts, figurecrossingat anyotherpoint movesat halfrate.)On move who, seeingthe way the Zuluswereheadinghavebeenableto one and every subsequent move pick one card from a well givea waming.The Britishnow awaitthe affivalof the Zulus pack pickednore Zulusappear, shuffled of€ards. If a Jokeris whosenumbershave been estimatedat aroundone to two so reDeat the carried out for the first arrivals. Dro€edure hundred.

if a Jokeris pickedon mo\e one.nlo groupsol Therefore. Darkncs!$ill fall at 6pm, and in SouthAfrica falls quit€ Zuluswill arri!'e.Eachcardas it is pickedis pul faceup on a rapidl\. Ii lou hale rulesfor nightfightingall well andgood,if separalcpilc; whenboth Jokershavebeenrurnedreplaceall not shake3D6. this givesthe maximumvisibilityin inchesif cardsinthc pack.shufileandstartagain. plaling in 20mm or 15mm.in centimelresif in 6mm. All The occasionmayarisewherelbereareno longeranyZulus movementis athalfrate.No onenay i;e beyondthemaxinum on the boardithe onesthal wcrc iherc havingbecn killcd or visibilityandall shoolingis penaUsed by -1 at shortrangeand retreatedoff. andDoncw arivals havingcomeon. If thisdoes -2 if anvfurther.Dawnbreaksat 5am. -a timewhentheZulushavedecided The battlecontinues happenthenthisisa'lull until rhepostis overrunorrhe Zulusfail to lakc a breather,tendtheirwoundedor just takestockof the to retumaftera lull. to lastonehour.On silualion.Eachmovein the lull is assumed Comments thetuslmoveofthe lullthe Britishmayattempt10carefor their Manyskirmishgameswhencompletedandthe movescounled \rounded.For eachcasualtlr shake1D6:a 1 or 2 andtheymay up translateinto just a coupleof minuresacrionon the table. woundedandmustbe returnto thewallrI or4 theyareseriouslf' This scenarioattemptsto try and aller this so that al rbe caredlor in themakeshifthospilal:5or 6 andthefigureisdead. you may "feel'as if your litile men havebeen conclusion lf rhereare any seriouslywoundedthen one fit manmust be boldingout.withor wirhoutsuccess, for severalhours. Thiswill designated asamedicalorderl) lo ieDdihem.Ifanyfurlherlulls not happeneverylime.indeedit maywellbeall overin lessthan occurrepeatthis procedureon the firsl inoveof the lull. Any a minute.it depcndson youanda little (alright,a lor) ofluck. lf aheadyseriouslywoundedmen are not shakenfor again.i.e. the Zulus keep on comingand neverstop you will surelybe theycannotrecoverduring1becourseof ihe batile. defeated.Nevenheless it canbe very entertainingwaitingand thisis the endofthe first hour. After checkingfor casualties hopingthat thcrewill be a lull in thefightingandlhat with a bit Picka cardfor Zulu arrivals;if nonearrivethenthisis a second of luck the Zuluswill not be returning.The mainpriorityis to hourofno fighting.Repealthisa third. fourthandfifth time.lf. concenlrate firepower1o rry and siop the Zulus reachingthe however.on the fifth attenpt no Zulus appearthen thef' are wallandhereiswheredecisions haveto bemade:canyouspare assumed to haveslippedawayand will not be returning.This menfrom one\rall to helpdefendanother? meansthelullcanlasino longerthanfour hours.Keepa noreof how long the pausehaslastedto work out the time of day. Ignoreanytirneactuallyspentfighting,asin a skirmishgame SCENARIO 2-GUERRILLARAID(Fig.2) thisusuallytranslates inlo no morethana fewninutes-Soiflbe batdebeganat llam andlhe firstlulllastedthreehoursit is now Setting South Africa 1901.The Boer War has entered its guerrilla war 2pm.

l8 stage as oposedto the large battles of earlier. A small comnandoof "Bitter Enders"are short of ammunitionand food; their only hope is to attemptto stealsuppliesfrom a Britishdepotbesidea nearbyrailwaytrack.A quickreccehas shownthe depot to be only lightly defended,but armoured trains frequently travel up and down the track. The Boer commandercannotrisk delayinghis attackuntil nightfallfor fearofbeingdiscovered bymountedinfantrypatroh,sohemust actimmediately.

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Th€ Game You commandthe Boercommandowhich numbers30menplus th€ scoreof 3D6. All menare mounted.Your smallforcewill enterthe boardat sectionsixteen.Your aim is to overun the Britishdepot and stealat leasttwo of the four wagonsthere without losingrnorethan 50y" of your men. The wagonswill eachtakefour rnenfivemovestohitchuDthe horsevmules and will requirea maneachto drivethem.The Boerswill leavethe Figl. "Zulu Dawn'til Dusk . Obviou:lythenumberof sections tableby the shortestpossibleroutes. ThenumberofBritishguardingthewagonsnumberstenmen theperimeterof thetableb dbided into canbe tailorcd to suitthe size of yow table. Othet scenerl, tees, rocks bushescan be pluslD6. Thecampconsistsofjustone buildingandadefensive perirneterwallofsandbags aroundthecampandwagons.There is alsoa stonekraalwherethewagonhorsesaretethered.Allow only onelhird ofthe Britishto be readyfor actionon the first move,thisincludestwo figureswho may be on picketduty on oneof the fourhills.To determinewhichhill shake1D6,ifthe scoreis 5 or6 thereareno pickets. Each movepick a card ftom a full set which includesthe

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KingofHearts- An armouredtraincomeson the board. King of Diamonds A mountedinfantry patrcl arrives. For theamouredtrainroll aD6: I or 2 it entersat DointA: 3 or 4 point B; 5 or 6 point C. For the numberof troopsit is carryingroll 1D6and add ten. In additionto thison ihe front truckbeingpushedby the trainwillbe a Maxin machinegun or light artillery piece.The numbersfor the mounredinfantry patrol will number the score of 2D6 only. Roll 1D20 to determinewherethey arrive on the board. Onceboth these cardshavebeenrevealed nomorecardsareDicked. , If the numberof Britishdefending the wagonsfallsto five or FiE2."Gueni d Raid" . lessand they are outnumbered2:1 and no lrain or mounted infantryhavearrivedroll lD6eachnove theyarefiredupon.A scoreofonemeanstheywill sufrender.TheBoersmayadvance onthe camp,disarmthe menandsecurethemin the building. Comm€nts This is probablythe mostdifficultofthe threescenarios. Her€ the decisionhas to be made whether to attack rhe camp straightawayand possiblysuffer heavy casualties,take up positionsin the surrounding hilh andtry to reducethe number ofdefendersbeforeadvancing, or a combinationof both. The longeryoutakethe greaterthe chances o{ havingtotakeon the train or mountedinfantry without havingeven reachedthe

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This is a scenariowhererulesfor spottingtargetsin cover would be of use.This would be of benefitto the Boers(and possiblymountedinfantry)so that they couldopen fire from cover.Their opponentswould haveto discovertheir position F " s3. KrualRsid" beforebeingableto returnfire aswouldbe the caseinreallife. makingtheirtotalnumber25men.Theiraim is to burna small kraal which the latesl scoutingreports have shown to be SCENARIO3- KRAAL RAID (Fis.3) virtuallydeserted,ihe men being awaywilh their impi, the Setting womenand childrenseekingrefugeat a largersettlement.It Like scenarioone, this is set in Zululandin 1879durinerhe shouldbe a caseof in andout - or so they believe.However, penodbelweenthe lirsr and \econdinvdrionsThe BirLrsh unbeknownto the Durbanstheiradvance hasbeennotedanda forcesarehakedandthevolunteerunits,especially, aremaking runnersenttoa closebyimpi whichhasnotbeend€tectedbythe useof the time to burn as manyZulu kraah as possible.One scouts.The impi hassenta smallpartyto try andinterceptthe suchparty has set out to do just ihis. They arc men of the raiders.The runnerhasalsocomeacrossseveralZulu foraqinq DurbanMountedRifles tosetherwith a few volunteerBoers Dafiieswhoalsomaketheirwavto the kraal.

The GaIn€ You commandthe forceofmountedrifleswhoenterthetableat sectionnine.Therivermayonlybecrossed at thed ft. Toclaim avictoryyoumustdestroyat leastseven ofthe eighthutsinthe kraalandleavethetableonlhesames;deby whichyouentered with at leasthalfyouroriginalnumberof men. As in thepreviousscenarios eachmovetum overa cardfrom acompletepack.Ifan Ace isdrawna pa(y of Zulusadve. Roll a D20to establish at whichpointtheyenter,thenroll1D12and 1D6andaddthetwo scores.TheD6 givesthe numberwhowill becarryingfirearms.lf aJokerisdrawnthismeansa largerbody of Zulushasarrived.In .hiscaseroll 1D6,multiplytheresultby ten and add fifty, thereforethe maximumpossiblenumber a[iving is 110.As in scenarioone, for simplicityassumeone thirdoftheir numberhavefirearms. The kraalwill havejust onegateway,whichin thisgamewill be a simpleopening.Whenthe filst riderreachesthe entrance turnoveranextracard,ifthe resultis anypicturecardor a. Ace thismeansthereare Zulus lyingin wait in the kraal.For their t{EwADD|T|O STOOUR20nn numberusethe samemethodfor ifan aceis drawnon a normal BATTLECROU D RAI{GE gamemove.As in the previousscenariothisis anotheroccasion wherea rule for concealmeni/spotting is useful.If you do not t960 !2050 havesucha rule thenthe followingis a suggestion for a sinple r5B RunedHouse wh detac&ue rcaf;idfr61flmr t960 a0s0 way ofdoing this. Obviouslybeinga sologameyou will know !840 tr780 tg Runed indlshalbuidins t960 D050 whereany hiddenZulusare. In the kraalthereare eighrhuts 18S R!n€!tuctory .himney wdrsmalattached outbuld0s e890 trg10 givinga totalofnine suitableplaces andoneanimalenclosure, padaqngphas-add Lr(post?nd 15% onodeElpto e5 and10% of orden@r os for theZulusto be concealed. Dividethe Zulus,ifany, amongst Acrlsslie ode6a nbehxed0rt0eohoned 75055? 0nC472 Mon+ri $ ir-6omplease quoteord exprydateForourI lslotedol2loqueseid!1 00o !s astimo€!addressed theseand give eachhiding placea number,l to 9. For each en€opeoEEs5customenpseend4 Rc sto trcoDerwhoentersthe kraalrolla D20:thescoreon the diewill HOVEIS,'I8CI.EBEROAD,SCAfiHO,GRIHSBY, correspond to rvhichhidingplacehelooksat andspotsaZulu.If SOUTHHU BERSIDE DIT352HL thescore ir l0 to20hespoLsnolhing. On Lhefollowingmove an) EOyaEsouhtllketovEn ouf cusaomeB aHaFpychflram2s trooperwho hasspottedahidingplaceis assumed to be ableto point thisout to anyoneofhis comrades who closeby hasnot observed thistarget. If the extracardtums out to be a joker whenthe first dder 5O,OOO+ SECONDHANDWARGAMESFIGTIRf,S reachesthe kraal, then usethe D6 x 10 + 50 fornula Gorfy Alwaysin stock.AII scales.Most manufacturers. aboutthealgebra!)exceptthistimethislargepartyofZuluswill SAE stating intercstsfot liststo: be waiting, in arnbush.insidethe kraal. In this instanceI A.J. Dum€low, wouldn'tworry abouttryingto hidethem.I{rhisdoeshappen, 53 StantonRoad,Stap€nhill, you'rein trcuble. Burton-on-Tr€nt,StaffsDEl5 9RP. Once insidethe kraal, assumingyou don't come acrossa Telephone:(02E3)530556. hundredveryangry Zulusanddecidethisis timeto beata hasty retreat,your purposeis to setfire to at leastsevenofthe hurs. nothingto stopyou adaptingthe scenarios to fit othercolonial To do thistakesone man,one moveanda scoreof6 on a D6. theatres.Scenarioone could be a French Foreign L€gion Thenall you haveto do is get awayby leavingthe tableat any outpostin Algeriaor Mexicoforexample. point alongthe edgewhereyou cameon. But rememberyou Finally,if you are unluckyand fail to survivethen do not canonlycrossthe rlverat theford. despair:you're a wargamer,you alwayslive to fight another day! Conmenas This scenarioagainreliesmoreon luck thanskill, but it canbe quitealot offun. Basicallyyouhaveto getto the kraalandback BIBLIOGRAPHY off the table as fast as possible.It is a raceagainsttime and againstany Zulus who happento be chasingyou. There are There are hundredsof excellentbooks on all the colonial somedecisions to makethough;will you retum to pick up that theatres.For anyonewantingin depthinformationon the Zulu trooperwho haslosthishorseorwill you l€avehim to hisfate? andBoerWars,or on colonialexpansion in Africa asawhole,l Will yougetgoingwhenyou haveonlyfiredsixhutsor will you would suggestlhe followingbookswhich are extremelywell wait,tryingdesperatelyto throwa 6? researched, but at thesameiimeeminentlyreadable: - DonaldR. Morris. TheWashing ofke Speats TheBoerwar ThomasPakenham. ANDFINALLY I hope,if youarea colonialwargamer,youdecideto givethese ]:heScronblefot Africa ThomasPakenham. scenariosa try. I have playedthem severaltimes and each In additionthereh aho thenewOspreyCampaign serieswhich occasion hasbeendifferent,but alwaysentertaining. looks at a particular battle or €ampaign.Colonial ones As for rules,well a setappearedin the January94 editionof publishedso far include, flre Zulu War, Omdurman^nd WI fot usewith 6mm figures(I forgetthe author'sname,but they were jolly good!). Thesescenariosshouldbe perfectly For a €ontemporary andinformative,but alsolight-hearred, suitablefor anysetofrules, the only alterationswhichmaybe look al tacticsandthe useofcoverandterrainin rhe BoerWar necessaryare ifyou haveasmallplayingareathenyoumayneed DulferyDrift by E.D . Swinronis a classic still, apparently,used to reducethe nurnberof figuresinvolvedslightly.Thereis also for rnilitarystudiestoday.

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