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.

Continued -

Another breakthrough into the hospital building occurs when Zulus force another door killing the 2 artillerymen defending it. They surge into the captured room and are then countered by 3 men of the 1/24th who attempt to drive them back out of the building.

On the left an injured member of the 1/24th retreats out of the room leaving Sgt Wilson and 2 fit men of the 2/24th who continued to hold off the Zulus.

During the Zulu phase Wilson is wounded but the Zulus themselves are shaken by the determination of the British defenders. 

To the right the 3 men of the 1/24th successfully drive out the Zulus before they can get established resecuring the door.

On seeing the huge number of Zulus approaching the front side of Rorke's Drift, Sgt Bourne runs over to join the north wall in the absence of Chard and Bromhead who are heavily involved in the melees defending the back wall.

On the back wall the British enjoy a great deal of success destroying 3 Zulu warbands. in combat.

With one exception! The British section holding the barricade next to the hospital wall is overrun by Zulus who now pour over the mealy bags. 

Dalton again succeeds in holding the barricade at the hospital corner destroying a Zulu warband. His moment of elation is quickly quenched on seeing the great mass of Zulus moving towards him.

Total losses this turn 120 Zulus & 7 British. Running total:  Zulus 260, British 8.5

Turn 8

The 2 men of the 2/24th heroically push out the Zulus from the hospital and is now free of Zulu incursions.

Bromhead leading the reserve section charges into the Zulus that had breached the barricade (on right of photo) as more Zulus charge into sections to their left.

The Zulus are destroyed allowing Bromhead to regain the barricade. On their left the combats continue.

On the opposite side of the hospital another Zulu attempt is made to gain entry. A warband charges a side wall door defended by 2 men of the 2/24th who successfully prevent access but the combag will continue.

Another warband charges Dalton and his section holding the hospital corner.

The daunting scene as more and more Zulus swarm towards the front of Rorke's Drift.

Dalton's section is overwhelmed, and although he survived there is nothing he can do to prevent Zulus from swarming over the barricade.

Total losses this turn 100 Zulus & 6 British. Running total:  Zulus 360, British 14.5

Turn 9

A triple activation by the Zulus allows them to swoop around to the front wall. The defending British fired off 2 closing shots and although a couple of warbands were disordered none were prevented from charging home. Chard had already taken a section off the back wall and with them had reinforced the front.

Another view of the great mass of Zulus descending on the defenders.

The defenders fought tenaciously repelling all but one of the attacks. 

At the back wall the British were similarly successful forcing back the 2 warbands still in contact but failing to destroy either. Casualties had been so heavy the Zulus decided to pull back for now.

Another Zulu warband seeks to gain access to the hospital when it charged a door defended by 2 men of the 2/24th but they held firm with more hard fighting in the next turn.

Dalton pulled back a section from the barricade at the hospital to counter the advancing Zulus. The British section was wiped out with Dalton narrowly avoiding the same fate. The situation around the hospital was fast becoming critical.

Total losses this turn 0 Zulus & 6 British. Running total:  Zulus 360, British 20.5

Turn 10

The British took the opportunity in the lull of combats to pour fire into the Zulu warbands massing to their front. Such were their numbers that they absorbed the punishment without so much as a flinch!

Dalton pulled his section behind the inner barricade to protect the flank of the main British line. The Zulu warband that was about to charge him received shattering fire from the hospital destroying it in the process.

The main Zulu body surged towards the front wall unfazed by closing fire casualties. Sgt Bourne and Lt Chard are in the front line manning the barricades.

Another view with the sections including the NNC corporals nearest the camera firing on the approaching warbands.

The reprieve for Dalton was short-lived as fresh Zulus struck his small barricade 

With the barricade cleared, Zulus charge headlong at the hospital doors fighting the desperate occupants.

Fortunately for those occupants, it was the 6 healthy men of the 2/24th section defending the 3 doors affected. None of the 3 attacks succeeded in breaking in.

This proved to be a highly successful turn for the British. Dalton's section threw back their attacking warband in a shaken and disordered state. Another warband attacking the hospital was destroyed.

The main front wall line broke almost all of the warbands attacking it for little loss.

The loss of 2 more warbands lead to the last surviving Zulus that had been attacking the rear wall pull back seeking to put some distance between them and the murderous Martini-Henry's. 

Total losses this turn 200 Zulus & 0 British. Running total:  Zulus 560, British 20.5

A brief note on another rule tweak: I had overlooked what happens to one of the commanders if they are with a section that is destroyed. He would also be destroyed as per the rules. However, to increase their survivability I altered the risk to them.

If they are fighting in a combat they add their stat as an additional unit. The Zulus allocate one of their combat dice to that commander and he tests in the normal way for morale. Any hits on him are added to the section total to determine if they won or lost the combat. If the section fails a subsequent break test and is destroyed then the commander conducts his own test to determine if he is killed (a break result).