Ambush to the caravan

This weekend I could playtest my addition to the Wargaming in the XIX Century Europe by Neil Thomas. This addition expand the possibility of using Zulues and British in south Africa during the colonial wars.

 The basic additions are:

  Zulues move 12cm per turn, they fight as bearing muskets, using their spears (Assegai), they defend like Infantry in Column formation and for shoots they are considered Loose Infantry.

 Now, let's begin with the AAR.

 A British caravan must cross a conflictive zone transporting some goodies. The caravan is escorted by two Natal native horses battalions and a foot battalion. The Zulu side doesn't deploy any troop, however, it has six ambush markers hidden in the mountains and in the forest in the sides of the caravan path. During the first turn the Zulu side roll 2d6 and if any 6 is scored appear 1 riflemen unit or two Warrior Regiment (not elite) deployed per 6 scored. During the second turn the Zulu side roll 4d6 and acts in the same way that I explained before. With the third turn, roll 3d6. After this, each turn that the Zulu side win the Initiative, the player roll 1d6 and if gets a 6, appear one Zulue unit  in a random token.

So the Skirmish started in this way

 The white tokens where the possible Zulue troops.

 The British troops advanced, and front a side, begin the shoots form the skirmishers while another unit Zulu waits behind the brushes

The cavalry turns for assaulting  the skirmisher, but they shoot against the chargers causing two wound in the Cavalry unit.

So, they fall back

The British charge against the skirmishers and, this time, defeat the skirmishers 

The Zulus advance against the caravan, and the battle begins.

The yellow dice is the number of stand that remain in the Zulu unit

At the end, both armies are very reduced, so the Zulus quit the combat and flee from the combat.

 A interesting battle where the British Calvary had problems of manoeuvrability because of the small space, and the Zulus could not eliminate the  Cavalry and the British infantry punished hardly the Zulu troops.

 I am happy with the game and the development of the battle.

Totally recommendable.

Gaslight - A first Test

 I'm back!

The other evening I had the opportunity to try the classic game Gaslight, my friend Michi, had prepared an introductory game in which a British platoon was heading to an Arab village to make a search.

  A party of Arab rebels on horseback, appeared on the west, and the North, there was movement of troops, it seemed that the visit would be rowed ...

    British troops entered the area, and were prepared to protect the rebels tried to deploy the Gatling, but nerves played a trick on the settlers.

   The askaris fell under the powerful cavalry charge, while the regular troops got rid of the first wave of Arabs, while the Gatling was not working.

 

  In the end the heroes were taken prisoner, and the askaris who survived fled to the gaming table ...

  A victory for the rebel troops.

A review,
  The rulebook seems interesting, works very fluid with large groups of miniatures, and is very adaptable, but its steampunk setting seems to center between the seventeen and early years of twenty century.

  The troops have three basic characteristics: Melee, Shooting and Saving Throw, which can be expanded with special abilities, and other characteristics if you play RPG version of Gaslight.

  The activations are carried out with letters, giving randomness to the game, and are required to charge checks, receive loads and not to suffer low morale in the unit, which makes the player has no control over the troops.

  Although the regulation has some very simple rules, has a lot of additional rreglas, that can represent dogfights between Aeronefs, land ironclads. Allows creation of vehicles, weapons and characters, with their own point system, or a system of random rolls.

  I hope to try this new regulation, to see if the British are luckier.
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¡He vuelto!

La otra tarde tuve la oportunidad de probar el juego clásico Gaslight, el amigo Michi, había preparado una partida introductoria en la que un pelotón de británicos se dirigía a un poblado árabe para hacer un registro.

 Una partida de árabes rebeldes montando a caballo, aparecieron por el Oeste, y por el Norte, había movimiento de tropas, parecía que la visita iba a ser movida...

  Las tropas inglesas entraron en la zona, y se preparon para protegerse de los rebeldes, trataron de desplegar la Gatling, pero los nervios jugaron una mala pasada a los colonos.

 Los askaris cayeron bajo la poderosa carga de la caballería, mientras las tropas regulares se deshicieron de la primera oleada de árabes, mientras las Gatling seguía sin funcionar.

 Al final los héroes cayeron prisioneros, y los askaris que supervivieron huyeron de la mesa de juego...

 Un victoria para las tropas rebeldes.

Opinión:
 El reglamento parece interesante, funciona muy fluido con grandes grupos de miniaturas, y es muy adaptable, aunque su ambientación steampunk parece centrarse entre el s.XVII y los primeros años del siglo XX.

 Las tropas tienen tres características básicas: Cuerpo a Cuerpo, Disparo y Tirada de Salvación, que pueden ser expandidas con habilidades especiales, y otras características si juegas las versiones de RPG para Gaslight.

 Las activaciones se llevan a cabo con cartas, lo que da aleatoriedad al juego, y son necesarios chequeos para cargar, recibir cargas y no desmoralización al sufrir bajas en la unidad, lo que hace que el jugador no tenga control total sobre las tropas.

 Aunque el reglamento tiene unas reglas básicas muy sencillas, dispone de una gran cantidad de rreglas adicionales, que permiten representar combates aéreos, entre aeronefs, land ironclads. Permite la creación de vehículos, armas y personajes, con su propio sistema de puntos, o con un sistema de tiradas aleatorias.

 Espero volver a probar este reglamento de nuevo, para ver si los británicos tienen más suerte.