Pony Wars: The Homestead Turns 1 - 8.

The first outing for Pony Wars rules which has been languishing for a couple of years now having completed all the figure painting required.

The rules were originally written in 1980 and recently updated. They are firmly aimed at the earlier Hollywood version of the Wild West rather than historical accuracy. Written primarily for 15mm figures, Baccus now have a range of 6mm tailor-made for these rules. 

A table size of 8' x 6' was recommended for 15mm figures with all measurements in inches. I have selected a 6' x 3'9" table for my 6mm collection with measurements reduced to two thirds. A suitably sized 2/3 ruler can be downloaded from the Pony Wars website which I have printed off for use.  

4 scenarios are included with the rules, the first being 'The Homestead'. It seemed as good a place to start as any and should allow for a decent test of the rules.

In this scenario, there are 5 homesteads scattered across the board, each with 5 civilians occupying them. 4 of the 5 are situated near passes which provide shortcuts but with the risk of an Indian ambush.

For ease of reference, looking towards the fort is north, left west, right east with south in the foreground.

Fort Laramie is situated at one end of the board. They have received word from scouts that Indian war parties are on the loose placing the homesteads at risk. It is the task of the US to round up all civilians, including any that appear as a result of cards drawn, and to escort them safely to the fort.

The appearance of Indians, civilians and US reinforcements will be determined by drawn cards and dice rolls will indicate where on the board they enter. 

Victory points will determine how well the US did with the game ending when there are no civilians left to save.

Dice rolls are made to ascertain the US cavalry strength at the start. The garrison consists of 10 infantry, 2 x 6pdr cannon with 4 crew each, and 9 cavalry with the General commanding. The cavalry and General are a reserve and may be deployed from the fort but at a victory point cost. 

It was my original intention to break the segments down reporting on turns 1 - 12, 13 - 24 and 25+. This neatly aligned with level 1 and level 2 relating to the relevant card details on reinforcements etc. with turns 25+ being no further cards drawn unless the drums were beating. 

It was also my intention to be more brief on the action report. On that I failed and with wargaming time in short supply over the past month have decided to limit this first segment to 8 turns which should be more digestable. 

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Zulu War: Rorke's Drift 22- 23 January 1879, Turn 23 - Conclusion

 Turn 23

3 combats are conducted during the British turn. On the left the Zulu assault on the redoubt is inconclusive and will continue.

Immediately to the right of that combat the British section successfully repels a warband but has left it shaken.

Bad news for the British on the right which saw the destruction of Dalton's section. Dalton himself narrowly escaped and has joined the section at the foot of the redoubt. The victorious Zulu warband is both shaken and disordered preventing any further progress. 

The hospital is engulfed in flames but with all occupants having evacuated there were no casualties.

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Zulu War: Rorke's Drift 22- 23 January 1879, Turn 19 - 22

 Turn 19

The fire continues to take hold on the hospital roof but as yet has not spread or become more severe. Combats continue with the 2 men of the 2/24th on the right doing a good job holding the external door.

More dramatically on the left, Zulus have broken through the internal wall and Sgt Wilson with the Private from the 2/24th find themselves having to defend themselves against 2 attacks. The Private fights off the attack on the door but Sgt Wilson is killed fighting the second attack. 

Lt Addendorf with his 4 NNC corporals charge into the warband that had breached the wall. The fresh attack on the shaken and disordered Zulus proved too much for them and they were ejected from the defences.

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Zulu War: Rorke's Drift 22- 23 January 1879, Turn 15 - 18

 A combination of family commitments and unseasonably hot weather has resulted in a delay in gaming but finally got around to the next batch of moves:

Turn 15

A brief respite allowed sections to pull back from the front wall and move towards the stores building and the biscuit box barricade. 

3 more patients of the 1/24th successfully crossed the open area and closed in on safety.

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Zulu War: Rorke's Drift 22- 23 January 1879, Turn 11 - 14

 Turn 11

Another break allows the British to pour fire into the Zulus as they prepare for another attack.

Lt Bromhead organises the 2 sections moved into reserve from the back wall.

Another Zulu incursion into the hospital. 2 men of the 2/24th are pushed into an adjacent room.

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Zulu War: Rorke's Drift 22- 23 January 1879, Turn 7 - 10

 Turn 7

A great mass of Zulu warriors swoop down towards the Hospital. The main body has arrived.

At the hospital corner, Dalton and his section fire into another body of Zulus who then clash with them at the barricade.

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Zulu War: Rorke's Drift 22- 23 January 1879, Turn 1 - 6.

 Turn 1 - 2

On seeing the approach of the Zulus, the Stores building is quickly occupied by Daniels, Sgt Mabin and the Chaplain on the left, with the centre room occupied by the 3 Commissariat men. Along with the hospital orderlies on the right they prepare to fire through loopholes made in the wall.

A ripple of musketry erupts from Shiyane Hill inflicting a casualty on the unprotected troops manning the front wall. As soon as the Zulu warriors move into range several of them fall to the rifle fire from the back wall, who have now been reinforced by a section from the front wall, and the hospital.

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Zulu War: Rorke's Drift 22- 23 January 1879 - Introduction

4'6" x 3'9" table.

As a young boy I saw the film 'Zulu' when it was released in the cinema. It fired my imagination and played a major role in kickstarting my interest in wargaming. It remains my favourite war film and I promised myself that one day I will wargame the battle. The problem I had was space. How was I going to play it through using a 1:1 figure ratio?

I naturally looked at scaling it back but felt it was never going to do it adequate justice. Then came 6mm! There were still hurdles to overcome. Primarily basing and not making it too fiddly, particularly with regard to the room to room action.

Zulus were less of a problem. I remained close to my standard basing but with a 6mm frontage per figure rather than 5mm. This gave base sizes of 18mm x 18mm each with 5 figures. The British also have an 18mm frontage but with a depth of 9mm and containing 3 figures. 

The original intention was to use rules that cater for figure removal and I have a number of figures based singly to allow for that. I have since reconsidered and have decided to use Black Powder with amendments recommended in the Zulu supplement and also my own.

One of the most notable changes are to unit sizes. A standard Zulu unit consists of 20 figures on 4 bases with a 2 base frontage. The British equivalent will be 6 figures on 2 bases with the same frontage. In circumstances where smaller units come into play, particularly within buildings, I have introduced stats for British 4, 3, 2 and single figure units (the latter being Tiny, the rest versions of Small).  For the Zulus, 2 bases is a small unit, 1 base a very small unit (basically adjusted stats), and less then 1 base (4 figs or less) a Tiny unit. 

I have less than 1,400 Zulus painted and with therefore recycle units up to the estimated 4,500 present at the battle. 

Another problem surfaced, that of the Rorke's Drift model. I originally purchased that produced by Leven Miniatures but it was clear that the footprint was far too small when playing 1:1. I have therefore opted for a 10mm model by Old Glory. Bearing in mind that Baccus figures are closer to 8mm the difference in scale is not too obvious. It has the additional benefit of removeable rooves with individual rooms represented. Ideal for action within the hospital. 

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AWI: White Plains/Chatterton's Hill, 28th October 1776 - The Game

 Turn 1

McDougall was the only American commander to successfully activate his troops enabling him to move the entire brigade onto Chatterton's Hill.

Rall successfully rolls for 3 activations allowing him to get his Hessian brigade across the ford making good progress along the road.

Elsewhere, the 12pdr section fires its first round at Haslet's brigade but fails to score any hits. 

Maitland has failed his roll to arrive on the table the next turn.

Continued -

AWI: White Plains/Chatterton's Hill, 28th October 1776 - Introduction

This scenario is taken from the British Grenadier! AWI Scenarios book 1. A brief background to the battle:

In the summer of 1776 an Anglo-German army under the command of General Sir William Howe attacked the Americans on Long Island commanded by Lt General George Washington. He made a demonstration against Washington's strong defences while sending a powerful force to turn his flank. Howe managed to wrong-foot Washington several times but failed to destroy his army.

By the third week of October, Washington's troops had been forced to concede New York and began to prepare a defensive position to the north of Manhattan island. Washington chose ground at White Plains and prepared earthworks in the hope of defeating the redcoats. Howe had no intention of storming the earthworks and instead identified Chatterton's Hill, wooded high ground to the right of Washington's position, as a target for turning it. 

Washington, belatedly realising the weakness of his deployments, rushed reinforcements to Chatterton's Hill. Command of the attack force was given to the Hessian Lt General Philip von Heister. Upon reaching the Bronx river his Germans started building a bridge. Maj General Leslie decided this was too slow and discovered a barely useable ford to the German brigade's left. He drove his men threw it and attacked the American position.

Table Size - 4'6" x 3'9"

Figures - Baccus 6mm

Rules - Black Powder

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