Zoutpans Campaign

I'm very aware that it's two and half years since I last played a game with my Boer War troops. This seems like way too long so I'm intending to do something about it before the end of the year. I enjoyed my last solo campaign and have an idea for another one. This time it will be set in the fictitious Zoutpans District of the Transvaal.

The map is AI generated and should provide a good basis for a campaign. All I need to do now is to put together orders of battle for both sides and then get playing.

Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders

We had a trip to Stirling castle today, never been before and I highly recommend it - it's a much bigger site than I thought and you could easily lose four or so hours there. The castle is the home of the Regimental Museum of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders and this monument to the men who fell in the Boer War is right by the entrance.

No Boer wargaming going on at the moment but I hope to return to it in the autumn.

Time for a Parade

While the troops catch a bit of a breather I thought it might be a good time for a parade. First up the Boers.

The army totals 95 pieces. They are a mixture of Newline Designs, Jacklex, Raventhorpe Miniatures, Strelets and Scruby. They have all been painted by me except for the Scruby figures donated by Ross. There are:

4 x 13 Commandos (foot)

1 x 13 Commando (mounted)

2 x Field Guns

2 x Pom Poms

1 x Long Tom

1 x Wagon

2 x Command Stands

And now the Soldiers of the Queen...

The army totals 259 pieces. They are a mixture of Newline Designs, Jacklex and Raventhorpe Miniatures. They have all been painted by me except for the cavalry and the firing 'Guardsmen' painted by Matt G. There are:

6 x 27 Infantry Battalions

2 x 13 Half-Battalions

1 x 13 Lancers

4 x Field Guns

2 x Limbers

1 x 4.7" Naval Gun

2 x Maxim Guns

5 x Command Stands

Take a bow lads!

Dannhauser - The Aftermath

The British lost a total of 45 figures during the battle which was quite a way under their break-point of 67. The losses to the Boers, whilst smaller, are probably more critical including the Long Tom and a Pom-Pom wiped out. The breakdown of casualties is given below:

I carried out die rolls for casualty recovery and then redistributed figures from disbanded units to other units as follows:

9 figures from the King's Liverpool were added to the Gloucesters and the remaining 6 to the Manchesters.

3 figures from the German Corps were added to the Boksburg Commando.

Having totted up all the VPs for both sides incredibly it stands at a draw of 15VPs each!

I hope to return to the campaign in the future but for the moment I will be taking a break. Thanks for your interest and all the comments as these really do help motivate me in a solo project like this.

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!

Battle of Dannhauser - Part 2

 

Turn 3 and the Boksburg Commando come under shrapnel fire for the first time. Their 'flee' test saw the maximum 6 figures take to their ponies and together with casualties this reduced them to break-point. One Commando down two more to go!

Heartened by events French pushes forward urging the Manchester's on.

Meanwhile White's command fails to activate for a third turn although they are taking a steady stream of casualties.

The two British Brigades that have managed to activate are gradually closing the distance with the Boer lines.

At the foot of the kopje the Manchester's come under heavy fire that forces them to stop and lie down.

Hamilton's Brigade are also out of steam and have ground to a halt.

But on the plus side the Naval Gun and British field artillery have knocked out both Long Tom and one of the pom-poms.

The Utretch Commando are reduced to break-point and withdraw. Two Commandos down and one to go.

Although reduced in strength Hamilton's men are hanging in there and delivering withering rifle fire back at the Boers.

The Black Watch have now passed through the prone ranks of the Manchester's and are within striking distance of the Boers atop the kopje.

A round of firing from the German Corps fails to inflict any PINs on the Black Watch.

And then it happens! The Commandant of the Pretoria Commando fails his 'fallen leader' test by rolling a 1. Because their Commandant is down the whole Commando must take a special morale test - another 1 will see them all flee, well you guessed it! Three Commando's down and a British victory.

As French's men were so close I couldn't resist playing the Melee phase of the next turn and a die roll of 6 meant a spectacular bayonet charge by the Black Watch cleared the kopje of the enemy.

A great victory for the British although you have to feel a bit sorry for the lads in White's command who failed five activation die rolls. 

Let the church bells of Great Britain ring out!

 

Full battle report to follow.

Battle of Dannhauser - Part 1

I had some time this afternoon to play the first two turns of the game and it is shaping up to be a good one. Here's what's happened so far:

Hamilton and French both activated their brigades on turn one and moved forward allowing the supporting off-table regiments to come on. They immediately came under fire as the Boers let rip with everything they had.

White's own brigade failed to activate so could only stand where they were and take it.

The Gloucester's paid a heavy price for being the lead unit of Hamilton's brigade as the men fell under fire from rifles, artillery and the dreaded pom-pom's.

One bit of luck for the British - Long Tom fired at the 4.7" Naval gun rolling 10 dice needing a 5 or 6 to hit and not a single one was successful!

The Pretoria Commando on the kopje were able to fire over the heads of the Boksburg Burgers in the trenches below adding double the weight of fire on Hamilton's line.

Turn two and the British artillery zeroed in on Long Tom and some excellent shooting reduced the gun's strength to just 1SP - one more hit and it will be out of action.

White's men failed to activate again but at least they could shoot. Some good dice rolls plus supporting fire from the 18th Field Battery killed 2 Boers of the Utrecht Commando and forced 2 more to flee.

The Manchester's leading French's brigade were forced to check morale and the Major-General put himself at risk to stop them picking up a PIN marker. Fortunately he survived the Fallen Leader test.

The situation at the end of Turn 2. French and Hamilton are making progress but the casualties are starting to mount particularly in Hamilton's already depleted command.

I'll keep you posted on developments.