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!

8 comments:

Robin Sutton said...

Looks like great fun, and a wonderful write-up. I'm in the process of painting up my own Brits for a VSF army for HotT...

Thanks for sharing
Cheers
Robin

Peeler said...

MrF, that looks like a wonderful game, good terrain too. Thoroughly enjoyed the read, thanks.

Anonymous said...

Lost again Mr F? Tut, tut, You do insist on playing against opponants with more experience & cunning don't you?

Seriously though, I really enjoyed the write-up (and the pics). I know I'm always in for a good game when I log on to your blog.
Cheers,
Steve.

Robert (Bob) Cordery said...

Yet another exciting and well presented battle report.

I so look forward to reading your write-ups of your games. Please keep them coming!

All the best,

Bob

James said...

Hi
OK so its 9 years since you posted this report but I only read it today so this comment isn't late ha ha! Love the Brits and Zulus and spookily I'm just about to embark on my own campaign using very similar figures (a mix of Essex/Irregular/Minifigs/Galia.

Even more spookily my army is also lead by Lord Cholmondly-Warner except I can never spell it correctly so have reverted to writing Chumley-Warner instead :)

Anyway I'm off to peruse the rest of your battle reports when I really should be working.

James

MrF said...

Hello James

Good stuff, I'm glad one of our games provides inspiration!

KISR DBC rules gave a sound base, but there are other similar fast play rules out there.

Alas, I don't get to play as much these days. Though we do have a Brit versus Sudanese scrap coming up using Donald Featherstone's rules.

All the Best
MrF

Sgt. Guinness said...

Good stuff indeed sir! Nice AAR and table.

MrF said...

Cheers Bud

It was a while back now, but we will have to rn a follow up game soon...
I don't know, "Return to MBoto"... What do you think.

Cheers
MrF