Darkest Africa

The latest issue of Wargames Illustrated, #292, has a number of original articles on Darkest Africa by Chris Peers and Mark Copplestone. Only the other day I was wondering if the age of the hobby magazine was passing, since there's so much information available online. It seems there's life in them yet!

One article, In Darkest Africa, deals with gaming encounters between natives and European expeditions. I'll use this for Willoughby Pond's foray into the bush in search of a site for his new trading post. Hopefully, I'll be able to play out the game using a mix of Chris Peer's and GASLIGHT rules sometime this week.

The latest batch of figures to clear the painting block are shown below. Africa's curse was/is slavery, with the Zanzibar Arabs being very active in the evil trade just about everywhere in the continent during the 19th century. These figures are by Eureka Miniatures.

New characters & a tembe

We've had a quiet couple of weeks, looking after my mother-in-law during her illness. My model-making, gaming and figure painting has had to take a spell on the back burner, but I found time to finish the figures I bought on eBob a while ago. 

I also completed a tembe for sale on eBob right now. I'll make another one for the upcoming game once I get my gaming room/studio back.  Here are a couple of photos showing the external and internal appearance.

 Colonel Trollope watches Private Lewis in action. 

 Zanzibar warriors garrison the tembe against upset natives.

Both doors to the courtyard open. I omitted the interior doors, as this is a gaming model.

And now, a few pics of the newcomers to Daftest Africa.

They're all Wargames Foundry. I've seen most of these in more than one collection over the years. My favorites are the red-bearded sea captain in his pea-jacket, holding a pistol behind his back, and the gentleman with the walking cane standing next to him. A few names for these folks are suggesting themselves to me already...

I did write earlier that I planned to use the linked scenario idea, as published in one of the hobby magazines. This I'll do, but a prequel suggests itself in the form of Willoughby Pond's latest scheme. For this scenario, I'll give the GASLIGHT rules a try. I hope to play it out in the next couple of weeks.
 

My next game

Some Darkest Africa gamers might know the article (I believe it originated in Miniature Wargames) detailing a mini-campaign against slavers. A page of the article is shown below.

Basically, one Major Wilkinson is in command of a column of troops detailed to march upriver to a tembe (a fortified structure used as a refuge), where a band of slavers is holed-up, and destroy them. The course of the game is controlled by the drawing of four cards, each giving a table layout with events and encounters, the results leading on to the next until the fifth and final card - the tembe - is reached.

This fits in nicely with the current state of affairs in Ukraziland. The British are ready to expand into the hinterland and establish control there. A mission to destroy a rumored slaver hideout is quite feasible. The randomness of the terrain and encounters suits solo play, too.

I've got a few more weeks until the gaming room is available again, and I'll use the time to make a tembe for the game. The scenario mentions Sikh infantry, which I don't have, but the doughty Barsetshires will do just as well. 

Zulus Finished

My Zulus are now finished - painted and based. I decided to mount them in pairs to ease deployment on the tabletop, whilst still retaining enough flexibility for skirmish purposes. They look good in mass, and can serve either as hostile natives, or, with white officers, as a kind of Natal Native Contingent.

And now for a kind of Public Service Announcement. There's a chap on eBay US selling a twenty-figure lot of Copplestone Zanzibari Regulars. These are quite rare, being out of production. I'm in no position to bid for them myself, so I post the notice here for any who would like to try for it.
 

Wargames Factory Zulus - almost there.

A shot of the work in progress, showing my Wargames Factory Zulu warriors. They're now glued in pairs onto thick plastic card bases using ordinary polystyrene cement. All that remains is to apply the groundwork. 

On the whole, I like these figures. They were relatively easy to assemble, take paint well, and the variety of poses is good. I've varnished them with Klear/Future, which gives them a glossy shine. Since certain African tribes had/have the practice of oiling their skins to protect them from drying out in fierce heat, I intend to leave the figures glossy for the most part, applying matt varnish to the hair and loincloths.

The group of four to the right of the shot are musketmen, some of the optional poses available in the pack. I added a straw hat to one, and an animal pelt jerkin to another. The whole I've painted up in a semi-Westernized style, so they can act as native tribesmen, tribal levy, mercenary askari, or wangwana. 

One of these days, I'll get around to making a model something like this...

It's a vehicle made entirely of wood, constructed around an early petrol engine by the two gentlemen seated within, sometime in the early 1900's. Although I don't like to speculate how comfortable it was, rattling over the veldt and kops with those wagon wheels and no suspension, hats off to the fellows for their enterprise!

* * *

On to the fate of Private Hare. Colonel Trollope has decided circumstances are such that a full Court Martial is unwarranted. After giving the matter due consideration, he has ordered Pvt. Hare to be subject to a month of kitchen patrol, followed by a transfer elsewhere as his punishment for fleeing from the enemy.

Hare has been a soldier of good conduct to date, and the Colonel is disposed to be lenient.

Old Year - New Year

So. Another New Year dawns. Personally, I hope it's a bloody sight better than 2011. Last year certainly had its ups and downs. As for 2012, for a number of reasons which I won't go into here, I sense interesting times ahead...

 

Wargaming does help deflect a lot of cares and woes. It gives me - and others, I'm sure - the chance to escape the pressures of life and work and delve into our own, highly-controllable worlds. Being a wargamer on a (very) tight budget has its moments, though. I'm not so much a gamer with 'champagne tastes on a beer budget' - more like 'beer tastes on a tap-water budget!'  

On the gaming front, I did manage to get my Daftest African campaign started. Three games made it to the tabletop, and were duly recorded here. Figures-wise, I managed also to pick up a few more odds and ends to expand the forces involved. One find was the Wargames Factory hard plastic Zulu figures for $9.99 via eBay.

Love 'em or hate 'em, the plastics do offer a useful way of expanding armies for less than the cost of white metal figures. Wargames Factory are compatible with Eureka Miniatures, and a shade larger than Wargames Foundry. They fit my collection nicely.

I began painting my Zulus over the holidays, and an experiment conducted with the cheap and cheerful Craft Smart acrylics had a happy outcome. These figures take the paint with no trouble whatsoever. Craft Smart are available in just about every hobby store in the US. Since an 8 ounce bottle costs about the same as a 17ml bottle of model paint, economically, it's well worth it!

*

As No. 1 Stepdaughter is residing in our spare room (my studio/game room) for another four weeks, I won't be able to play out any encounters in Daftest Africa for a while. Still, there's nothing to stop me planning out further encounters in and around the troubled areas of  Yabhouti and Ulraziland.

One such idea concerns the arrival in Yabhouti of a chap from the Colonial Office. Now Great Britain has secured her hold on the town, it becomes necessary to expand her power into Ukraziland itself, which will require diplomacy. The Colonial Office will be at the forefront in dealing with the tribes encountered. Inevitably, not everything will go peacefully, but the diplomat has the comfort of being backed up by the military might of the Barsetshire Regiment.

That louche character Willoughby Pond will also resurface, somewhere along the line. Then there's the arrival of an adventurous Dutch damsel, one Callida van Wert. What does she seek in Ukraziland? Time will reveal all...

I'm also contemplating a VSF foray into the area, using the GASLIGHT rules. One of the most appealing aspects of Major-General Rederring's site was/is its prolific use of landships, airships and sundry VSF goodness. Since these are things I can make without breaking the bank, it'll be full steam ahead - once I get my workshop back.

So, there it is. A Happy New Year to all. May your dice roll the way you want, when you want them to in gaming - and in life! 
     

Happy New Year!

A Happy New Year!

 

Xmas recruits

A modest increase in my Darkest Africa collection arrived just after Xmas via eBay.

At the top we have a row of Wargames Foundry characters. Two are in uniform of some kind with fezes, one is an excellent ship/steamboat captain posed with a revolver concealed behind his back, one is a gentleman in a broad-brimmed hat, and finally we have two doughty and well-armed ladies. I can already picture several roles for them all.

In the row below them are Eureka Miniatures slave figures, four men and one woman. These will certainly play a part in the campaign to stamp out the iniquitous crime of slavery.

All have been deflashed, washed and rinsed, ready to be glued to the painting rods. The Eureka figures came without "slotta" bases, but since I don't like the things anyway, I'll make my own.

Next up is a progress shot of the Wargames Factory hard plastic Zulu figures. These stalwart chaps were also an eBay purchase (for $9.99 - bargain!) and have been a work in progress since before the holidays. At last they're all assembled and awaiting the next stage.

They come as a pack of thirty torsos, and a heap of extra limbs, heads and weaponry to achieve a goodly number of poses. They're relatively easy to assemble, and have great customizing potential. Several separate Martini-Henry rifles will definitely find use for British casualty figures. Their hard plastic will make it easy to glue to plasticard bases. At the moment I'm thinking in terms of mounting them in groups of three and four.

I did find it awkward to pose the arms holding muskets in anything like a realistic fashion. The thinking behind it is to represent warriors inexperienced in using firearms. Fair enough, but none of the left arms in the pack allow the musket to be held in a firing position without cutting and gluing. I'm also not keen on the gaps evident between neck/torso, and some of the arm/shoulder musculature. 

This batch will see some work with Milliput to make the warriors look somewhat like Hausa tribesmen. The musketmen will get semi-Westernized clothing, making them suitable for a tribal levy. 

All being well, I'll get them all painted within the next month, ready for adventure. Africa awaits...

* * *

There are only three days remaining to vote in the poll to decide the fate of Pvt. Hare, the man who ran for his life in the recent Battle of the Barracoon. Is he guilty as charged, or a victim of circumstances? Check out the poll to the left, and voice your decision!

I hope everyone had a happy and peaceful Xmas Day. We had some excellent ham for dinner, followed by a traditional Danish Christmas desert called Risalamond. Delicious, and I really didn't feel like eating until this morning.

* * *

Back to the doings in Yabhouti. The final muster is in concerning casualties.

Killed in action:

Cpl. George Gedge.

Pvt. Higgins, Daniel.

Pvt. Buckley, Edward.

Pvt. Stanton, Charles.

Wounded, invalided home:

Pvt. Burke, William. Pvt. Dyer, Arnold. Pvt. Desmond, Charles.

Wounded, returned to unit:

L. Cpl. White, George. Pvt. Hayes, Christopher. Pvt. Warren, Phillip. Pvt. Monk, Lionel.

Replacements:
L. Cpl. O’Reilly, Francis. Pvt. Yeats, Richard. Pvt. Alder, Frank. Pvt. King, Albert.

Pvt. Hewitt, Oliver. Pvt. Jones, Victor. Pvt. Murray, Andrew. 

* * *

In recognition of his sterling work in planning and executing the attack and occupation of Yabhouti, Frederick Wilberforce Pike has been promoted to the rank of Captain.

For conspicuous leadership and gallantry, Sergeant Albert Nugent St. Clair Harrington has been promoted to Company Sergeant Major, in line with new Army regulations concerning the granting of the Queen's Warrant to deserving NCOs.

For general good service in the field, Lance Corporal George White has been promoted another step, and can wear a second stripe. He will replace Corporal Gedge in command of the reconstituted 2 Section.

All three will continue in service with Baker Platoon. 

One question remains - What to do about Private Geoffrey Hare? The sole survivor of the devastating ambush lived up to his name and ran like a hare for the safety of the town walls, leaving wounded comrades on the field. This he did in full view of Colonel Trollope and his company commander.

I hereby put it to the vote: Should Pvt. Hare be Court-Martialed for cowardice in the face of the enemy? Enter your verdict in the poll provided.

Baker Platoon Muster.

Captain Frederick Pike.

Bugler Bates, Ronald.

1^st Section:

CSM Harrington, Albert.

L. Cpl. O’Reilly, Francis.

Pvt. Rose, Henry
Pvt. Hayes, Christopher

Pvt. Lewis, Jack

Pvt. Bishop, Harold

Pvt. Lipton, Thomas
Pvt. Harrison, William
Pvt. Bell, John
Pvt. Moss, Frederick

2^nd Section:

Cpl. White, George

Pvt. Hare, Geoffrey*

Pvt. Warren, Phillip.

Pvt. Monk, Lionel.
Pvt. Yeats, Richard.

Pvt. Alder, Frank.

Pvt. King, Albert.

Pvt. Chapman, Oliver.

Pvt. Jones, Victor.

Pvt. Murray, Andrew.  

3^rd Section.

L. Cpl. Powell, Frank “Nosher”

Pvt. Watson, Geoff

Pvt. Brooks, Malcolm

Pvt. Hooper, Henry

Pvt. Wilkinson, Alfred

Pvt. Braithwaite, Frederick

Pvt. Baldwin, Albert

Pvt. Sullivan, Patrick

Pvt. Clark, Henry

Pvt. Hudson, Percival

* Awaiting a verdict upon his fate.

The Barracoon - thoughts

Here are a few thoughts on the recent Battle of the Barracoon game. I'll include some methods used to run the scenario.
 
My games are fought solo. The set-up for each scenario derives from the previous one, and so on back to the original idea for a landing to capture a slaver port. The terrain suggests itself, following what I can research online for East Africa around Zanzibar, without being too specific, and allowing for what terrain items I have available or can make. I then analyze the whole idea behind the game from the point of view both sides. I aim to be as impartial - read equally bloody-minded - as possible toward both sides.
 
My reasoning for the Barracoon action ran that there are few secrets that an occupying power can hide from local natives. Eyes and ears are everywhere, and loyalty to the deposed Sheik Yabhouti still ran fairly high in the town. Sahid Lohar, the Sheik's representative in the area, would soon hear of the British plans to destroy the barracoon, and set out to prevent it. If he could inflict a severe defeat on the British, so much the better.
 
I laid out the terrain, with the features shown in the photo below. Next up, I decided how many groups of warriors would be available to Sahid Lohar, apart from his own group of Yabhouti musketmen. One roll of a d6 later and it seemed the Ukrazi were not impressed with his blandishments! The effects of British firepower had been felt most keenly in the previous action, and the local chieftain felt leery about suffering a repeat of the drubbing handed out then. He therefore provided a mere two 12-man warbands. Sahid Lohar would have to be canny in the way he deployed his forces - but that decision wasn't up to me.
 
Several ambush locations suggested themselves, so I assigned each a number and rolled a d6. The potential points were as shown below.
 

I considered it unlikely any warrior groups would be posted near to the town gate, so I assigned the two nearest ambush spots low numbers of probability. The results gave the hiding places for the three groups. Sahid Lohar set-up in location #1-2, a warrior group each in locations #3-4, and #6. Interesting results. 

Under the Sharp Practice rules, I rated Sahid Lohar as Big Man level 3. The tribal group behind the barracoon was led by a Big Man level 2, and the last group near the gates by a level 1.

The British had a level 3 Big Man in the shape of Sergeant Harrington, and a level 2 in Corporal Gedge. The former wangwana didn't have a leader per-se, being more or less herded into action by the Corporal's efforts.

I ruled the weather to be fine, with a steady sea-breeze from the South-East, courtesy of an 8-sided compass points die picked up at a wargames show some years ago. This had a bearing on the way smoke from the barracoon would drift, with its potential to conceal movement.

The burning of the barracoon is handled by the Sharp Practice rules for tasks, requiring a score of 10 on cumulative dice-rolls for fires to be set. Since the wangwana scored this on their first turn in the structure, it showed they were eager to get the job done and be out of it!

The Arabs were all musket-armed, and the tribal warriors rated as "Wallahs with big choppers" to account for their close-combat prowess. They also gained advantages for "aggressive coves" under the rules, giving them farther advantages in fisticuffs.
The British soldiers, of course, excelled in sheer firepower. The rules give a "Sharp Practice" card in the deck to any group possessing above average competence in musketry. To reflect the British use of breechloading rifles, I included two more Sharp Practice cards in the pack. This proved vital, and increased the period flavor of the game. Where the natives could come to close combat, they tended to inflict damage. Where the British could "slosh 'em with Martinis," the natives tended to suffer.

As for quality, the Yabhoutian Arabs and tribal warriors I rated as Average, the British as Good to reflect the experience gained in the previous actions. The Arabs were a step up in quality compared to their previous efforts, to reflect their status as bodyguard to Sahid Lohar. This had a major bearing on the firepower they were able to bring to bear from ambush, with serious consequences to No. 2 section. 

I nearly rated the tribal levy as Poor, since they were far from enthusiastic about helping the slavers, but in the end I thought it would weaken them too much.

Before the Barracoon game even began, I had a feeling it would prove a bloody little action for the British. The presence of a warband in ambush so close to the gates indicated action would come swiftly before Harrington's men would be entirely ready for it. One of the things I like about the Sharp Practice rules is the card-driven system, which allows for solo play. The fog of war and Richard Clarke's beloved "friction" descended on the game from the start.

Although the British won the action, they suffered four dead, with three severely wounded and subsequently invalided home. No. 2 section will have to be rebuilt. More on the aftermath and current situation vis. Yabhouti soon.