Friday, 4 August 2017

Horns of the Bull

I have spent a lot of time over the last few weeks reading my growing collection of books on the Anglo Zulu War of 1879. I've also been collecting as many rule sets as I can find online, hoping to come across the 'perfect' system for wargaming this period in 6mm. There are a lot of great rules out there but many are not suited to 6mm and in my desperation I am considering writing my own set of rules! 

One thing I was struggling to decide on was basing of units and to that end I decided to experiment with some unit tokens printed 'to scale' for me to test the rules before I buy and paint any figures. I found some suitable 'overhead' style unit markers for the period and printed a full British Infantry Battalion of eight companies and enough Zulus to put the wind up any colonial troops. My initial idea was for a figure ratio of about 1:5 so this lot represents a little under 900 men and officers while the Zulu units represent approximately 6500 warriors. 

The Horns of the Bull curve around the British line



I'm still looking at existing rule sets for inspiration so all options are open. I'm currently reading The Men Who Would Be Kings by Daniel Mersey. I quite like his rules for leadership and the system in general seems simple and easy to play but I'm not sure it would translate for 6mm gameplay. I haven't made a firm decision yet, but its definitely a contender and until I make my mind up i'll continue to get my own ideas down on paper. 
Posted by at
Labels: ,

12 comments:

  1. Benoit4 August 2017 at 11:15

    Hi Lee,

    I was exactly into the same situation rule wise !

    Than I found an previous "Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy" issue (#61), an adapation of the SAGA rules (with specific army lists and boards). Looking at the number of bases you would like to handle, this may be THE solution.

    Kind regards,

    Benoit

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BigLee4 August 2017 at 13:39

      Thanks for the suggestion... I'll look that up.

      Delete
    2. Benoit4 August 2017 at 19:10

      Lee. If you give me your email...

      Delete
    3. Benoit4 August 2017 at 19:50

      OK. Noted. You can delete. :-)
      Benoit

      Delete
  2. Mike Strefford4 August 2017 at 12:08

    Is there a colonial adaptation of warmaster anywhere? the command system from that would be excellent for Zulus.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mike Strefford4 August 2017 at 12:12

    actually after a quick websearch, it looks like Black Powder by Warlord is based on Warmaster. Might be worth a look?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Clint4 August 2017 at 13:38

    You have a lot of painting ahead. Having painted a Zulu army I do not envy you.

    Rules for Zulus are tricky, it all comes down to personal choice.

    For me Black Powder just did not work in a colonial setting
    The men who would be kings does work after a fashion. BUT you really do need to adjust the Tribal unit sizes DEPENDANT on the terrain used. (almost Game by game)
    As the "Modern Rifle" is so devastating in the rules that you need to provide the British SEVERAL targets at once. By doing this you are pretty much throwing the point system out.

    So I wish you well and Look forward to your thoughts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BigLee4 August 2017 at 13:40

      Thanks Clint. I know I have a challenge before me!

      Delete
    2. SteveHolmes114 November 2017 at 09:29

      Re: The Men who would be Kings. It's firmly aimed at a 1:1 representation with standard forces ranging between extremes 24 and 120 figures.
      I saw a very critical review of the rules, where the reviewer had used it for a single large Zulu battle, and then decided the rules were broken.
      I'm suggesting that they may not work well for you when used this far out of their designed parameters.

      Things I'd look for in a set of rules.
      a) Something specific to the conditions of the Zulu War - a generic Horse and Musket set like Black Powder, designed for Ramilles and Wargram, is almost bound to disappoint.
      b) Something that works at the scale of your chosen armies - don'e scale up a skirmish or scale down an operational game and expect them to feel right.
      c) This is very important - anything that allows the redcoats to stand and fire while the Zulus manoeuvre in the open across the whole rifle range will see you collecting up the Zulu casualties with a dustpan and brush (Like Stephen Fry in Blackadder) - a remarkably dull way to spend an afternoon.
      You ideally want the Zulus having some stealth capability, while the redcoats have some incentive to manoeuvre to attain objectives.
      Part of this is down to the rules, but much more hinges on interesting scenarios.

      Delete
    3. BigLee4 November 2017 at 13:38

      Thanks for your input, its always good to get another gamer's perspective. I did buy The Med who would be Kings and enjoyed reading it, but have decided its not right for what I want to do. I'm exploring other options and collecting loads of great rule sets in the process.

      Delete
  5. Ray Rousell4 August 2017 at 18:45

    Well you don't have to paint the bleeders now you've got the card version do you?
    As for rules?? Have a chat with his nibs next door......he's probably got every set going.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Eric the Shed4 September 2017 at 09:17

    Black Powder delivers some great Zulu Wargames - check out my blog Shed wars for details

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving a comment. I always try to reply as soon as I can, so why not pop back later and continue the conversation. In the meantime, check out my YouTube channel Miniature Adventures TV

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)