Rules Playtest

I had a couple of hours spare this afternoon so finally had a run-out with my rules Maxims & Mausers. It was a small affair with 2 British units trying to dislodge 2 Boer Commandos from a kopje, this is how it went:

The Boers occupied a strong position with the Scruby Commando on the left,
the Newline Commando on the right, and the centre covered by a pom-pom.

The British line - The Suffolks on the left with the Coldsteam Guards on the
right. To the rear is the 4.7" Naval Gun

The Naval Gun is a good bit of kit under my rules as you throw 8x D6 every
time it fires. To counteract this it only fires on alternate turns. Its first shot
actually took out 2 Boers (the only Boer casualties of the game) although this
was due to me applying the wrong saving throws rather than spectacular
shooting.

The Boer pom-pom was already in range at the start of the game and lost no
time in opening up and, rather unsportingly, concentrating fire on the Guards.

The Guardsmen starting dropping at an alarming rate but their stiff upper lips
kept them moving forward.

The Boers now opened up with everything they had. Those Scruby's look
like they mean business.

The Guards luck was running out. The white counter means that they have
closed ranks making them more of a target, the two red counters are pin
markers. In the next turn they managed to rally off both of the pin counters
which has led me to tweak the rule for this slightly.

By now the Guards were down to 9 figures and had to retire. Meanwhile the
Suffolks pushed on although they had taken one pin counter. This reduced
their movement by 2" and rendered a charge against the Boers impossible.

Commandant Ross is jubilant - his men have seen off the cream of the British
Army with no loss to themselves.

The Suffolks run out of steam and pull back. Their casualties have been
relatively light, just 5 figures and no officer losses. They are determined to
have another crack at the Boers soon.

Although the game only lasted 4 turns it was very enjoyable and I was able to tweak the rules further. I’m hopeful that I will eventually end up with a set of rules for the sort of solo games I have in mind.