Saturday 17 October 2020

Elandslagaate – The Game


The British advance begins. The Imperial Light Horse are followed by the Gordon Highlanders with The Manchesters on their left.

The Devons move off supported by two batteries of Field Artillery. The job of the Devons is to pin the enemy to their front so that the flanking movement may succeed.

Generals French and Hamilton watch as the attack begins.

The Boers await developments on top of the ridge. The fence section was scratch built for the game, really I should make a few more.

The Boers only have one under strength Battery in this scenario which is good news for the British.

Actually not such good news for the Devons who are in the direct line of fire.

This is the situation by Turn 3. The Devons are taking fire however the other British units are so far unscathed.

The 5th Lancers move up to support the Devons who are under pressure.

After several attempts, The Royal Artillery knock out the Boer guns.

But now the Mausers have sprung into action adding to the Devons losses (including 2 Officers down).

But it's not all one-way traffic as the Boers are taking losses too.

The Manchesters press forward and start to take casualties.

The Devons are now prone (blue counter) and have taken two pins (red counters) but they are doing their job.

With cries of "Remember Majuba!" the Manchesters surge forward and cause the Ross Commando to break and Flee!

It would appear that Ross and his lads have remembered an urgent appointment somewhere else.

The jubilant Manchesters carry the Boer line.

Meanwhile on the right, the Newline Commando wave a sneaky white flag at the Imperial Light Horse who come forward in a gentlemanly way to accept their surrender only to receive a point-blank volley. Fortunately the Boers roll low and only 2 casualties result.

The Newline Commando holds its ground despite the loss of the Ross Commando to their right.

"Charge 'em lads!"

The Manchesters wheel to their left and launch another charge this time directed at the Jacklex Commando.

Who are forced to retreat from the ridge.

At the same time, the Imperial Light Horse charge forward and see off the remaining Boers. It is a text book victory for the British in just 5 Turns.

The first battle for the Gordon Highlanders and they didn't even get a look-in. The war will definitely be over by Christmas.

A convincing win for the British, which was a relief to be honest, although it was always going to be a tough one for the Boers. By flanking the Boer line, the British were able to avoid the massed rifle fire experienced in the Talana Hill game allowing them to close with the bayonet.

This was the first time I had properly played my Melee rules, and they proved to be both dramatic and fun, although I did make one mistake with a charge move that benefitted the British but we don’t need to dwell on that.

16 comments:

  1. Great game, nice to see your collection in action.

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    1. It was great to get the figures into action although it's already looking like I need a bigger table!

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  2. Gawd Bless the Empire!

    As for "I did make one mistake with a charge move that benefitted the British" I say "Bunkum!"

    It's called Divine Intervention old chap.

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    1. I was in no way biased towards her Britannic Majesty's forces, no, er, really...

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  3. Splendid pictures, congrats to the British!

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    1. Thanks Phil, we don't get much good news these days so I'm running with this one!

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  4. Great win for the British- good work there IAN. Your figures are excellent- well done. Regards. KEV.

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    1. Thanks Kev, the troops went some way to redeem themselves after the debacle at Talana Hill!

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  5. Hmphh I remember when the Rednecks followed the rules, dressed in red and marched in straight lines! Next time......

    However, it all looks great and read like an enjoyable game. The barbed wire is especially good.....(if you should accidentally make a few feet of it at twice the desired height, let me know...)

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    1. The game was fun although short and too be fair the odds were stacked against the Boers. I bought the barbed wire many years ago for a long defunct WW1 project, the base is MDF and the posts are cocktail sticks!

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  6. Sniff... well my boy it seems you have learned a lesson from your earlier mishaps perhaps there's hope for you yet. Now about rounding up some of the pesky Boer laagers?
    Those rules do seem to capture the flavour rather well.

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    1. Thanks Rob, I do hope the lads carry the lessons learnt into the next battle!

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  7. I stumbled upon you blog by accident and I'm very happy that I did! I also wargame the Boer War, but in 15 and 54mm. I also refought Elandslagaate - it's a classic! I am going to give your rules a try, they look just the thing for the period. I have not been satisfied so far with any of the generic colonial period rules.

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    1. Nick, if you send me an email request I will happily send you a copy of the most recent version of the rules (my email is on my profile).

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  8. Just found your blog. Great stuff! I have a small 15mm collection, tried lots of rules but never been totally happy. I lived out there for years so got to walk some of the battlefields, especially the smaller ones. I will follow with interest. Keep it up!

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    1. Thanks Dave, I hope to do another battle soon!

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