Saturday 9 February 2019

Battle Cry Isandlwana with 54mm toy soldiers

The new year has seen a long awaited return to playing games with toy soldiers, give or take a day it was the 140th anniversary of the Battle of Isandlawna so it seemed only fitting to recreate it on the table.  Anthony has been diligently building up a superb Zulu War collection made by Little Legion Toy Soldiers and found a scenario for Isandlwana on the internet using the Battle Cry game system devised by Richard Borg.  We were joined by John, a long standing enthusiast of H G Wells "Little Wars" who acted as umpire.  Here's how it went:

The Zulus deployed in traditional "Buffalo Head" formation, the main body (chest) formed up across the donga while the horns work their way around the flanks. The British infantry form up in line behind the donga, with Durnford's Natal Native Horse on the left flank and a gun in the centre covering the right flank.

The Zulu line makes an impressive sight, they have no firepower but if they can close to contact their units have greater resilience in hand to hand combat.  The Zulu also have a slight advantage in command control to reflect their mobility and tactical use of terrain.

The British depend on being able to bring their superior firepower to bear.

A few of my Zulus, produced by "A Call to Arms" made up the numbers, painting the laces on Zulu shields is a most laborious chore. 

The British line waits steadily for the onslaught.

The Zulu right horn falls on the British left flank and steadily wears it down.

Durnford's troopers attack the Zulu left horn and stall the advance on that flank but are wiped out in the process.

With the main action taking place on both flanks the Zulu centre waits to see the outcome.

The British line moves up to shorten the range and fires off a volley forcing some of the Zulu units to fall back.

With the flanks being steadily overwhelmed by the horns, the chest surges forward in an all out attack.

The British line fragments, and suddenly it's all over.

The game played out surprisingly similar to the historical narrative, which is the mark of a well designed scenario and what we always aim for.  It took about three hours to play (including a break for beer and bacon butties).   

LITTLE WARS REVISITED GAMES DAY 2019

The above event will be held on 16th March 2019 in Woking and you can find all the details on the Group Forum here: LWR Forum 2019 Games Day  Anthony plans to put on another game using his Little Legions Zulu War collection at the event and will be using the Portable Wargame rules devised by Bob Cordery.  So if you want to watch or take part in some great wargames played using 54mm toy soldiers why not come along for the day.


16 comments:

  1. Very, very impressive!

    As I get older, I have to fight the urge to build-up my collection of 54mm figures ... which is mainly made-up of modern Britains figures. Seeing games like this make it difficult to resist that urge.

    All the best,

    Bob

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    1. Give in, give in, Bob. Join us in 54mm Land! Log on to the Little Wars Revisited forum ... you know you want to. Resistance is useless, etc etc.

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    2. I do have quite a few Britains figures, and some of them have taken part in Funny Little Wars battles ... and I have a set of Prinz August 54mm moulds that I could use to turn out British Infantry. The problem is that I am beginning to run out of room, and taking on a new project is just not viable ... at present.

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  2. Temptation has ever been the curse of the wargaming classes

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  3. Great looking game,see you in March.
    Alan

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    1. Looking forward to seeing you too Alan, it's been quite a while.

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  4. Beautiful looking game. I have been looking at the Little Legion catalogue you mentioned for shiny toy soldier painting inspiration.

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    1. I find these toy soldier sites save me a lot of time in uniform research and often give me ideas for conversions.

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  5. Excellent efforts all round. Can't wait for March.

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    1. It looks like there will be some interesting games and great figures to see at Woking.

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  6. The Zulu War does seem particularly suited to toy soldier gaming. This looks like a very enjoyable game.

    (hmm, a mounted inDuna...hmmmm)

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    1. It must be something to do with the shiny red tunics.

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  7. Brian, thanks again for your wonderful hospitality and excellent photography. I'm looking forward to the next game!

    Ross, I don't know how accurate a mounted Induna is although I note that most 28mm Zulu ranges have one. I did come across a reference to a mounted Induna at Rorke's Drift in a book on the Zulu War by Saul David but can't vouch for its accuracy.

    Best wishes, Anthony

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    1. Thanks for a great game and bringing along your superb collection.

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  8. What a magnificent game Brian! The figures and terrain, everything is just wonderful! An excellent way to start off the new year! Thanks for sharing!
    Take care, Brad

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  9. Thanks Brad, our gaming schedule has been thrown out by building works at home these last few months but hopefully we can get back on track now that it's finished.

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