Over the course of this weekend, I play-tested the 'Fugitives' Drift' game a couple of times. The first time I learned a lesson or two which I applied to the second - primarily it was about British strength and to remember that the British were meant to be fleeing and not fighting! The scenario was pretty much as posted in my previous. I'll post up the rules I used soon. They are basically a one-page convention set that we have been using and modding up for the past 7 years. The current version has been re-jigged for the Zulu wars as a grand skirmish set.
The 24 British soldiers start in the centre of the short edge of the table whilst two units, each of 10 Zulus come from each side.
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| It's a long Road to Fugitives' Drift |
The game was played down the length of a 3' by 6' table. Each cork tile is 12" square and represents a Zulu Deployment area.
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| The Zulu Leader - The Fat Induna |
The first couple of moves saw the British moving in steady 4" moves down the table. Their fire was particularly effective at this point, killing 13 Zulu figures in the first move and another 11 in the second. The Zulus attempted to form large units bu mobbing up the units that were coming on as the British moved into the second 'Zone" of the table.
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| Zulu Reinforcements |
Poor initial rolls for reinforcement allied with the slow British advance meant that Zulu numbers were initially quite low.
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| More 'reinforcements' |
The British have taken no casualties at this point. The British player, seeing an opportunity took his next two moves as full 8" moves with no opportunity to fire. The Zulus continued to bring on only moderate amounts of reinforcements, however, the further unit id Zulus was starting to wax dangerously large, reaching 17 figures by the end of the fourth move.
The British reverted to shot moves to allow some firing
It was effective
But it did seem the Zulus had a plan.
A cunning plan.
Although the British continued to move/fire, they were far enough down the table thatthe Zulus were now able to get substantial numbers of figures onto the table. The British lost heavily in their first round of HtH and never really recovered.
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| The last of the 24th succumb... |
As British numbers waned, those of the Zulus waxed mightily and although they displayed all the pluck in the world, it was no match for the now massively outnumbering Zulus who enveloped them from all sides.
Only a few men survived to tell the sad tale . As to the fate of the rest of the 24th, perhaps it is kindest to simply draw a curtain...
2 comments:
It's been a while since I've read anything Zulu-ish so going on memory here. 3 thoughts all probably irrelevant.
In no particular order.
1. Wouldn't any Brits fleeing to the drift by fleeing as individuals, probably mostly in panic but even if not, moving and fighting as individuals not as groups acting together.
2 How much ammo would they have had? Perhaps Brits should get limited number of shots?
3. Weren't many of the fugitives civilians and non combatants? Didn't the Zulus have orders to only kill guys in red costs? Could add some confusion.
Hello Ross,
I suppose this depends on where we are.
Are we in the vicinity of the camp? Has discipline broken down yet?
In it's current form, were the British to flee in small handfuls of figures, then that'd be it. The odds are very heavily against them. Perhaps to heavily.
I have a handful of Civvies/Boers I could add into the mix. Thanks for the suggestion.
Perhaps the British ought to get limited shots, yes.
Greg
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