Friday 29 January 2010

DBC British vs Zulus - The Battle of MBoto Gorge

Right here we go, The Battle of MBoto Gorge, DBC style.  1879, the British invade Zululand, a column under the command of General Cholmondley-Warner heads for MBoto Gorge.  Scouts inform the hapless General that a sizeable Zulu Force is waiting.....

The Brits (me) would approach from the North East and head towards the gorge. The Zulus (amy) would have the main force on the table, however she would also have some forces off table that would arrive in a few rounds.  DBC allows the Native player a random amount of extra forces, keeping the British off guard...


The initial set up

View from the main Zulu force.

The long British column.

Lancers & Mounted Police guard the flanks.

We're off, quickly I try to arrange a defence.

On come the Zulu's.

Zulu Shooters sneak up...

Ooops back go the British Skirmishers.

Oh.. I send out the lads to deal with the pesky Zulu Shooters.

Oh Hoorar to the British!

ZULU! On come Amy's extra forces...!!

OH! More Zulu's arrive....!

The British are confident of success!

However the Gatling Gun comes up short - 600 Paces range.

The Mounted Police deploy to slow up the Zulu's. 
In DBC, Light Horse can shoot & evade...

The Zulu's close the gap.

In DBC you can have 'Heroes', a few snazzy rules for the classic Victorian British 'Errol Flynn' type.  Off goes Captain Nolan to 'Thrash the Natives'!

Pot shots at the Zulu.

The British form a defensive position.

More Zulu's fall to the British Rifle!

In goes Captain Nolan, kills some natives & withdraws earning 1 Victory Point for the Brits...

ZULU! ZULU!

Even though DBC has rules for forming a square, I come up with another formation. 

Come on, those Lancers are waiting.

The Zulu's close with the Light Horse, but I succesfully Evade...

General Cholmondley-Warner pitches in.

The Zulu's pile in!

The British Guns ring out, but on comes the Zulu!

Pips elude Amy on this side of the Battlefield.

Bah! A British casualty.

Just when I place my faith in the best piece for 'mowing Zulu's'......
The Dice come up in the same old style!


Quickly I form a tighter defence line...

But the Zulu's close....!!!

Captain Nolan joins the Lancers & ready a charge...

More Zulu's

On they come, will the Brits survive...?

Amy's laughing, I'm crying.... AAAAAAArrgghhh!!! GAME OVER...


A typical result, I curse my luck, but do wish I'd formed a 'proper' square earlier....

The DBC rules worked very well, I like them.  They do make the game easier for the Native player as Natives Quick Kill Rifles on a winning a combat - in the DBA 1500-1900 Extensions it's the other way round...  I liked the Hero optional rules, it's adds something else, a bit of fun.  I also liked the 'Evade' rule, it worked well.  All in all, we recommend the DBC rules... Well done to KISR!

Wednesday 13 January 2010

DBC British Army 1879

Here's our Zulu War British, De Bellis Colonial style.  Could also be used for the first rumble with the Boers as well.  Looking at the army lists, looks like we should of added another Native Shooter to make the Army 'legal'.  Extra additions to the Army can be Boers in the form of Mounted Skirmishers and Elite Rifles.

Zulu War British 1879
4-6 Rifles, 0-2 Rifles(Elite), 2-4 Native Shooters(Poor), 0-2 Skirmishers,
0-1 Mounted Skirmishers(Boers), 0-1 Cavalry, 1-2 Light Horse, 0-2 Artillery



A British column ready to conquer the Zulu for Victoria!


Cavalry, Rifles, Skirmishers, Shooters and Artillery.


...and again but with Light Horse.


The splendid chaps


British Skirmishers


The rank & file.


Lancers and Mounted Coppers.


Artillery and a lovely Gatling Gun.


British Camp elements.


Sunday 10 January 2010

DBC Zulu Army 1879

One of the new rulesets is De Bellis Colonial from KISR. I have been eager to get to grips with this one after seeing Peelers Zulu Game using a test copy of the rules a few months ago.

http://peelerswargamespage.blogspot.com/2009/10/british-have-another-go-at-zulu.html

http://peelerswargamespage.blogspot.com/2009/08/britishzulu-dbc-game.html

DBC covers battles of the British Empire against the hordes of natives during the Age of Victoria. So what better than to create a Zulu War game, especially over Xmas! To be fair, we’ve been collecting Zulu’s for ages, but never got round to finishing them off. A little effort and re-basing to match the DBC basing conventions and there we are.

Natives are the main element for the poor enemies of Victoria. They are based on a 40mm x 40mm base (for 15mm), which at first seemed VERY big to me. Shooters, again on 40mm x 40mm, are natives with guns.  One base of 'Natives' in DBC represents around 300-400 men.  There are a few Cavalry types and even provision for a GunBoat & rules for forming Squares.  A nice extra touch is some rules for individual british 'Heroes', we've got to try them!

There are Army Lists for Zulus, Mahdist Sudanese, Boers, Afghans and the Brits.  They  are based on a points system as well.  If you want to know more, then buy the rules. Well worth the money in my opinion…

http://www.dbnwargaming.co.uk/


Zulu 1879
10-15 Natives, 0-2 Elite Natives, 0-3 Shooters



A 17 Point Zulu Army, 12 Natives, 2 Elite Natives and 2 Shooters.


Zulus in Regiments with painted shields.


ZULU!!


Very impressive...


Zulu Shooters - That grass was a right pain to base. 


At the front a two base Zulu Regiment nErmunthingamebob

and another nThistimewithredleather