Rules Review: The 1879 Anglo-Zulu War by Richard Tory

Just because a set of wargame rules are old and complicated does not mean they have no value. 'The 1879 Zulu War' by Richard Tory is over 40 years old but Is still a fascinating and useful reference book with plenty of data and ideas in it that can be worked into your own rules. If nothing else it is a very interesting read and shows just how far rules design has come in four decades. 

 

The 15 minute wargamer: Turning even short period of time into hobby time

Sometimes we don't have hours to spend enjoying our hobby, but that doesn't mean we can't make even the shortest period of time, hobby time. Breaking down tasks into smaller pieces means we can tackle the largest of projects, watch the longest of videos, or even play big games, even if we only have 15 minutes to spare.

RE-PLAY - A new and exciting wargame event at the Royal Engineers Museum

Posties Rejects will be at the new RE-Play event at the Royal Engineers Museum tomorrow. Our game has been chosen because there is a link with the Royal Engineers so please come along and see if you can find Captain Wynne and his men from No2 Company. 

Confirmed Clubs running games at this event:
The following list is accurate at time of writing but I guess as this is a 'new' event it could be subject to some last minute changes. 

• Shepway Wargames Club, Hauhausen '89, Cold War gone hot.
• Skirmish Wargames, The First LRDG 1916-1917, British Empire vs. Turks at a desert oasis.
• Medway Wargames Society, Gladiator arena, 2 tables (P), Star Wars Shatterpoint skirmish
• Tunbridge Wells Wargame Society, What a Tanker! WW2 tank skirmish
• Maidstone Wargames Society, Dogfight '69, El Salvador vs Honduras, "The Football War"
• Friday Night Fire Fight, Last Argument of Kings, large scale fantasy skirmish
• Fire When Ready UK, Star Wars Legion Grand Army game
• Posties Rejects, 6mm  Zulu Wars, The Battle of Inyezane 1879
• Rainham Wargames Club, 1/600 American Civil War Ironclads
• Real Time Wargames, The Glittering River, Naval actions from the Russian Civil War, 1/600
• Milton Hundred Wargames Club, The Battle For Villers Bocage, Rapid Fire WW2

Confirmed Traders at this event:
Again correct at the time of writing. For such a small venue and new event this is a pretty good selection of traders. I have my shopping list prepared! 

• The Pit Gaming Shop
• KR Multicase
• Sheppey Models
• Debris of War
• Brigade Models
• Cuirassier Books

As always please come along and say hello. The Rejects are a friendly bunch and love to chat so if you have any questions about the game, the figures, or about us, please don't hesitate to ask. 

Quick Strike AAR's - What shall I do next?

Earlier this year Little Wars TV challenged wargaming vloggers to make video AAR's that were shorter and more concise than the usual format seen on YouTube. The brief was deceptively simple but also devilishly difficult; to have a full battle report with a running time of 10 minutes or less but with some historical context, a scenario summary, and a recap of the game at the end. Given that normal video battle reports often run for over an hour, the concept of editing that down to just 10 minutes gives you some idea of the challenge.

20000 Bullets: The Battle of Rorke's Drift

January 1879 and in Natal a little over 150 men defend a tiny collection of buildings against what seems to be overwhelming odds. I played this game earlier this year and the resulting battle report was split into three parts with a total running time of over 90 minutes. But I decided I would give my Rorke's Drift game the 'Quick Strike' treatment and get it down to just ten minutes.

Just think of this video as a 'Directors Cut'!

If you want to watch the longer version of this game check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 on my channel. 

AHPC XI - Week 13 - This is the End

The 11th Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge finished in the early hours of Sunday (for those of us on GMT) and my-oh-my what an incredible week it has been. I cranked out four entries this week, completed the Chambers of Challenge side quest and even revisited my Anglo-Zulu War project and painted some figures that have been taunting me from my Lead Mountain for at least three years! 

The Snowlords Treasury - Different Treasures

Two adventurers have found a pile of unguarded treasure and each feels their hearts skip a beat. Treasure! But while one gathers up the spellbooks and tomes of ancient knowledge for the other it is the glint of gold that mesmerises him. Each to their own, and at least they aren't fighting over the treasure this way! 

I had several models I could use for this room but in the end, I decided to use two of them and make a special base to hold them. As before I based the figures separately so they can be used in games and modelled the base from Milliput on a large round MDF base. 

Both figures are from Midlam Miniatures, so they are about 25mm rather than 28mm, but the quality of the sculpting is wonderful. They were fun to paint up and I'm sure I can find plenty of use for them in my games. 

Witch Teleport - Shieldmaiden

The postman finally delivered my long-awaited parcel with my figures for the Laboratory chamber... but too late. I'd already nearly completed this offering to the Witch of this level for a second teleport, and I have started work on my figure for the next chamber The Hall of Heroes. I'm not too upset though because I will have a couple of extra female figures for my Frostgrave games and my Hero for the next room is a wonderful model that I have been wanting to paint for some time. 

This is another figure from Bad Squiddo Games and once again is a wonderfully sculpted figure of a Shieldmaiden. When I got this model it has a round shield with it but try as I might I couldn't find it, so I found an alternative from my bitz-box. The shield is clearly influenced by Celtic designs but with a suitably 'fantastic flourish idea for a fantasy setting like Frostgrave. 

The model is 28mm and as with my previous purchased from Bad Squiddo, it was nice and clean with no flash or moulding needing to be removed before prepping. 

The Hall of Heroes - Northern Barbarian Hero

As someone who grew up reading the works of Robert E Howard, it's probably not surprising that when someone mentions a Hero I naturally think of a windswept northern barbarian striding across the tundra of Hyboria. And this figure is very inch the heroic archetype. The sculpting of the furs, in particular, is exceptional and far better than one would typically get on a 28mm model I think. Although it has to be said he's about 32mm to the eye so he's a big fella!

This metal figure is suitably chunky and has a real heft to it when held in the hand. Call me old school but it feels much more satisfying than an equivalent resin or plastic miniature. 

From here I am heading towards the final chamber the Lair of the Spider before braving the Snowlords Challenge. I can hear ominous scuttling from the darkness ahead...did someone way the spider wasn't there any more, because I'm not so sure...

Lair of the Spider - Spider Scorpion

The description for this penultimate chamber in the Chambers of Challenge says that the aforementioned spider has been scared off by something worse. Well, I think a Spider Scorpion can definitely be described as worse! This fearsome critter is as creepy as a spider but with an added reason to be wary. Both insects give me the creeps at the best of times, but combined this model was a challenge just painting it.

This is a Ral-Partha figure that I picked up on eBay some time ago. It has been sitting - no, Lurking - in my lead pile ever since just waiting for a chance to pounce. The tail is cast separately and I had to do a bit of work to make the joint fit properly before glueing it together with a strong Epoxy glue to give it some resilience. 

I have a confession to make though, this wasn't my first choice for this room. I have a large Beholder model that I was going to use here and I got as far as priming the figure but I couldn't face it (no pun intended). Despite looking forward to painting it for the last thirteen weeks, when it's time came Eye just couldn't find the motivation (pun definitely intended). Thankfully the Spider Scorpion was waiting in my lead pile to replace it. So there it is, I have battled my way through the Chambers of Challenge and now I stand before the Snowlords alter awaiting instructions. What devilish tribute will be demanded of me I wonder? 

The Snowlords Alter - 17th Lancers in Zululand

With my recent shenanigans with the Royal Mail, I wasn't sure I was even going to finish the Chambers of Challenge, let alone have time to work on the Snowlords final challenge. But a change of plan and a sudden burst of productivity (that surprised even me) meant I completed the chambers a couple of days ago and I was able to get started on my final Challenge. Curts instructions were as follows 

"For the SnowLord’s Altar let’s look into your collection of unpainted minis (Notice how I just assume that you, like me, have a pile of shame sitting in the wings!) and see if there is anything that you’ve been neglecting or avoiding to do. Maybe it’s because it’s intimidating, or you’ve lost steam on the project, but let’s see if we can use the Altar to create a challenge for you."

In previous challenges, I have painted a lot of 6mm stuff ranging from Alexanders invasion of India, the Pyrrhic and Punic wars and the Anglo Zulu War. This year I haven't painted any 6mm miniatures (apart from some buildings)  so I thought it was time I revisited one of my older projects. So I hereby present the 17th Lancers as they were in the latter half of the Anglo Zulu War. Their white plastron tunic front has been turned around to show the darker blue reverse side although they couldn't do the same for the white cuffs on the sleeves. Their helmets have been dyed tan like the infantry to make them less conspicuous. The trousers were dark blue with a double white stripe down the outside and while I didn't do a double line my hand was steady enough to paint in a single stripe... they are 6mm after all! At this scale, the OR's uniform looks very similar to the officers except for the white belts and pouches. On the officers, I have used gold to highlight the pouch belt which crosses the chest and is distinctive from the OR's pouch belt which would have been white. 

I've been avoiding them because they are tricky to paint at 6mm. The dark uniform and crisp white kit doesn't leave a lot of room for mistakes. To make these look good I would need my steadiest hand and smallest brushes. Now that they are done I'm pretty happy with how they have turned out. I have arranged these in groups of four with a dice holder on the back of the base. I've been playing a lot of solo AZW lately and I'm in the process of altering my older bases to include these dice holders. I have been using TMWWBKs but being flexible with how many figures are in a unit (the rules suggest 8). So these bases could represent three companies of lancers, or I could change the unit sizes to 16 or 24 figures that can take eight casualties before breaking. It depends on the size of the engagement I want to play. I've used TMWWBK's like this for big battles and small skirmishes alike with a lot of success. 

So that's it, my passage through the Chambers of Challenge is complete, and this will also be my last entry for Challenge XI. Its been huge fun as always and well done to all the Challengers that have taken part this year, its an honour to be included in such hallowed company. Congratulations and thanks must of course also go to Curt for running this madness every year and well done also to the minions who help keep this brilliant enterprise going. 

Rorke's Drift Part 3

The third and final part of my Rorke's Drift video battle report is available to view on my Youtube Channel. A couple of weeks ago the first video reviewed the history of the battle, my terrain choices and some special rules I implemented for this game. I'm using The Men Who Would Be Kings with some adaptations to make it suitable for this battle and my 6mm figure collection. Last week the battle commenced and the Zulu's were eventually able to gain a foothold inside the Hospital, although they had failed to breach the barricades. Then there was a brief lull in the fighting that gave the defenders time to reorganise. More Zulu's were working their way around the perimeter and fresh attacks are now imminent. 

Here are a few teaser pictures from the second half of the battle. The video is about 30 minutes long and I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I did playing it! 

Fresh Zulu regiments move into position as dusk appraches. 

The British have consolidated their position, but they are still few in number.

The uNdloko assault the front of the site.

Repeated attacks continue from all sides as the flames from the hospital cast an eerie glow across the site. 

More Zulus work their way around for an assault on the Krall. 

With the British spread thin on four sides, they quickly reposition to defend against another attack. 

The final Zulu assault on the beleaguered British. Will this be enough to overrun the mission station after a long hard fight? Or will the defenders win the day and earn their VC's?

I hope you enjoy this concluding video, I certainly enjoyed making it. 

Rorke's Drift Part 2

Last week I posted the first of a three-part series on my recreation of the battle at Rorke's Drift in 1879 using my 6m Anglo-Zulu War collection and The Men Who Would Be Kings. I discussed the history, the terrain options I went with and the house rules I adopted to make this ruleset work with my figures for this particular engagement. This week the battle gets underway and I finally see if the changes I introduced work as intended, or whether they unbalance the rules. Will the British hold the mission station again, or will the Zulu's overrun the tiny collection of buildings at Rorke's Drift in a spectacular overturning of history?

The video is a little over 30 minutes long, and the concluding part of the game will be posted next Friday. In the meantime here are a few 'teaser' pictures to whet your appetite. 

The first Zulu's to arrive approach the Hospital

The battle for the Hospital turns into bitter hand to hand fighting.

The Zulu's begin to lap around the site looking for a weak point.

British casualties are light, but with every man down their ability to defend the barricades is diminished. 

More Zulu Regiments move around towards the front of the Mission Station.

Battle Report Rorke's Drift in 6mm - Part 1

Several years ago I started building a collection of 6mm figures for the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879. I've playtested a variety of game systems with my figures and even had a go at writing something myself (unsuccessfully I should add) but in the end, I settled on The Men Who Would Be Kings by Daniel Mersey and published by Osprey. Now, this ruleset is not designed for 6mm games but I realised that with a few small changes and some house rules, I could get a workable game system for use with my 6mm collection. Last year I did a couple of solo games to test this out and earlier this year I posted my first couple of Battle Reports on my YouTube Channel. All of this has been building up to a battle that I have wanted to wargame for years; Rorke's Drift. 

Today's video is the first of three covering my preparation for the game and the battle itself. This week I discuss the history of the battle, highlighting some key details that stood out for me when I prepared for this game. Then I discuss my interpretation of the terrain, based on several maps, some contemporary some more modern. Then at the end of this video, I run through the house rules that I introduced that enabled me to adapt TMWWBK's for my 6mm figures and terrain. 

Next Friday part two of this battle report will cover the opening phases of the game and we get to see if the British can repeat history or if the Zulu's can overrun the small garrison defending the mission station at Rork's Drift. 

30-Minute Batreps - Ntombe Drift

After the success (apparent popularity) of my Anglo-Zulu war battle report video last weekend, I decided I would do some more videos in a similar style. My aim (and this only an aspiration) is to do at least one battle report video per month, depending on which games I have played and if they make an interesting film. As with my other Quarantined Wargamer videos, the style will incorporate the brevity I have tried to make the 'selling point' of my channel (not that I monetise any of my output, but you know what I mean). So these video battle reports will be 30 minutes or less rather than the much longer battle videos that we normally see on youtube. I'm not denigrating these longer videos at all, but I definitely think there is a need for shorter 'bit-sized' wargaming content on youtube and that is what I am aiming for. 

I'll definitely be doing more videos on my use of TMWWBK with my 6mm Ango-Zulu War collection. I've been tweaking the rules to fit my scale of choice, and at some point, I will write a longer article discussing the changes I have opted for. In the meantime I hope you enjoy the video and please let me know if you have any questions, suggestions or just general feedback. 

UPDATE: Here are a few teaser pictures from the video...just in case you needed encouragement 😊

Anglo-Zulu playthrough with TMWWBK

This week The Quarantined Wargamer is doing something different on the channel, so instead of the usual short video of me rambling on I decided to have a go at a game. I've been trying out various rules systems for my 6mm Anglo-Zulu war collection for a while now (including a shoddy attempt to write my own) but I have more or less settled on The Men Who Would Be Kings. It's a simple system that is easy to play and, with a little adaption, works well with my figures. I've done a few small scale test games but this is the first full-sized game I have played and I think it went pretty well.  

At 39 minutes it's a lot longer than my usual videos, but as the first attempt at this format I'm pretty happy with it...well, aside from my repeated use of the nonsensical term "Mounted Cavalry" when talking about Mounted Infantry!! 🤦 If the video proves popular I will do more like this in the coming months. 

British Officers for the Anglo-Zulu War

I am currently flitting between a wide range of projects at the moment but I have managed to get a little bit of painting done. The latest finished work is a new addition to my Anglo-Zulu War collection. When I painted up the companies of infantry - a couple of years ago now - I never made enough leaders for my British troops and so I decided to get some done at last...better late than never! These are from Baccus and compliment the foot officers I already have. 

The cliched image of the British officer during the Anglo-Zulu war is one of a bumbling idiot. Certainly, the ruling classes and their offspring did not cover themselves in glory during this campaign. They vastly underestimated their enemy and paid a hefty price as a result. But the British army was changing and the Cardwell reforms meant that more and more officers were being appointed based on merit, rather than their ability to buy a commission. However, change was slow as many officers had bought their commissions before the reforms and because new appointments still had to be able to fund the lifestyle of an officer. However, on the whole, the quality of British officers did improve during this period. It's true, leadership at the battle of Isandlwana was poor, but it shouldn't be forgotten that the same day, later in the afternoon a different quality of leadership was on display at Rorke's Drift. I think it's fair to say that the quality of officers in the army during this campaign was a 'mixed bag'.

Officers leading three columns of troops (which I painted a couple of years ago). 

I will no doubt paint some more officers at a later stage but these are ideal for the time being. 

Rorke's Drift in 6mm

Last week I treated myself to the Rorke's Drift model by Leven Miniatures. This resin set includes all the buildings and mealie bag defences needed to recreate this iconic location on the tabletop in 6mm. Once again I had excellent service from Mike at Leven Miniatures, with the parcel arriving within days of placing the order. As always the resin is excellent with not a single flaw or bubble in any of the pieces. A quick wash and scrub with detergent to clean the surface and it was ready to be primed with minimal effort. 

Getting all the pieces out to check them over. No flaws or faults of any kind. 

Painted and mounted on a temporary base made from craft foam.

Cattle in the cattle pen. 

Closeup of the Redoubt

Zulu's...thousands of em!

"If it's a miracle, Colour Sergeant, it's a short-chambered, Boxer-Henry . 45 calibre miracle."

"At one hundred yards. Volley fire, present. Aim. Fire."

"If 1200 men couldn't hold a defensive position this morning, what chance have we with 100?"

I want to be able to get maximum utility from these terrain items, so I didn't want to stick them to a base but I did want something for the pieces to fit into when in Rorke's Drift 'configuration'. I used a sheet of craft foam and marked out the layout of the buildings and barricades then applied grass and gravel. I think the end result looks pretty good and it means I can still use the buildings in other settings... of course, I need to finish my rules and have some games for that to happen! 


I have also posted a bit of video showing this model in all its glory on my youtube channel here so please pop over and take a look. 

More from The Quarantined Wargamer

So a few weeks ago - back when all the brown stuff started hitting the fan here in the UK - I decided to revive my old YouTube Channel and started making some videos under the sobriquet The Quarantined Wargamer. Its been an interesting experience and I have been learning from video to video how to make a better job of my humble output. I'm no internet celebrity, and I'm no wargaming guru (far from it) but I am trying to make something that is interesting to listen to and maybe fun to watch...only time and viewing stats will tell! 

I won't be investing huge sums of money in the production of these little videos, but I have bought a few items which, combined with technology I already own, are slowly improving the quality of the rubbish I'm producing! A new collar microphone arrived today and that will hopefully solve the sound quality issues I have had. I've also invested in a really simple video editor so I can trim and insert multiple videos into a single edit. Not rocket science, and not (yet) top-quality production, but this is a learning curve and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. 

I hope you found that interesting, or at least amusing to watch. The very concept of this old geezer trying to get to grips with YouTube has proved endlessly funny to my daughter. What she doesn't realise is that I abandoned any pretence of normality or decorum years ago and I have no plans to change my ways any time soon! 

Needless to say, if you feel the urge to Subscribe to my channel that would be greatly appreciated (thanks to those that already have) and if you have any comments or suggestions please let me know either here or via the comments on youtube itself. 

Until next time, stay safe folks. 

Natal Native Mounted Contingent

Earlier in the Challenge, I painted some Natal Native Contingent and described how they were given relatively little equipment and their uniform consisted of a red bandana to wrap around their foreheads. Fortunately, there were some native troops that were better equipped. The Natal Native Mounted Contingent were relatively small in number and were formed into six Troops of approximately 50 men each, lead by a European Lieutenant and a native NCO. They were largely recruited from the amaNgwane (a tribe from Natal) traditionally hostile to the Zulus.

These troopers were much better equipped than the Native infantry; troopers wore a tan-coloured European style uniform, their mount had full equipment and each trooper was issued with a breech-loading carbine. The European officers usually wore a blue jacket, brown trousers and white helmet although there was some variation. I decided to give one of my officers a soft hat similar to the troops under his command. This involved cutting the pith helmet off, then filing down to the brim and using a tiny dab of greenstuff to form the new core of the hat. A bit fiddly on a 6mm model, ill grant you, but it means my two officers look a little different to each other. 

Five troops were present at Isandlwana under Colonel Durnford. They fought well against the Zulu's, but late in the battle Colonel Durnford dismissed them in order to save as many of his men as he could as the battle descended into chaos. Being mounted they had a much better chance of escape and many are credited with having stopped to give rides to desperate British Soldiers fleeting the massacre. Around 200 NNH survived the battle and were reformed later in the war. 

The newly formed Troops of the NNH went on to see action at Hlobane; the Battle of Kambula; and at the Battle of Ulundi. After the war, the NNH was retained as a police force in conquered Zululand, and saw action during the Zulu civil wars which began in the early 1880s. They were finally disbanded during the Second Anglo-Boer War, due to a growing fear that they could side with the Boers.

I have painted these as both mounted and dismounted troopers. There are 32 mounted troopers, 4 mounted officers/NCO's and 32 dismounted troopers. By my math, that should net me 52 Points.