Monday, June 04, 2018

Musket Action in Zulu Land

We experimented in taking Musket Action into a Colonial War period.  Both sides ca 1,350 pts.
A British column approaches a Zulu kraal with orders to destroy it to teach the Zulus a lesson.

The column has crossed the river & is deploying with dismounted colonial infantry checking both the flanks & discovering that it's not going to be as easy as they thought as Zulu appear everywhere.
The British prepare for the onslaught.
Zulu charges from both flanks are mown down by Martini Henry fire or cavalry countercharges - all except for the attack on the left of the Norden gun. 
Another wave of Zulu attacks takes out another British coy & the Norden gun.   The Brits when they do lose it matters so much more. 
Another British coy has gone down & both sides are on their last legs.
Both sides are down to 3 units each, but 1 on 1 the Brits should win & do.  Another volley of Martni Henry fire & a another cavalry charge finish the Zulus.

The battle ended a bit farcically with the last 2 units of each side fighting it out.  A bit more thought on scenario victory conditions could have avoided that.  Bolt Action doesn't have an army break test to prevent battles degenerating into a fight between the last survivors, but the 6 or 7 turn limit usually means that the battle is decided before that happens.  As this scenario required a long approach march, a turn limit wasn't applied, but in hindsight a break test could have been appropriate for this scenario.  The period specific rules we added for the occasion worked pretty well, though with that experience we can see some room for improvement.  In this game the Zulus died in droves in frontal attacks - it looks like a bit more subtlety in their tactics could make it very difficult for the Brits.,

1 comment:

BigLee said...

Good looking game.