The Battle of Nyezane 1879 - Men who would be King.

Nothing like a large club game to get the gaming juices flowing... we last played this encounter over the the Wyvern Club perhaps 8 years ago..... where does the time go... it's a great scenario lifted from the Colonial Skirmish books.

The British briefing.... with a little help from Co-pilot

Gentlemen,

We stand on the threshold of our advance toward Eshowe. The Tugela is behind us, and the Nyezane River lies ahead. Intelligence suggests that Zulu forces are operating in this region in considerable strength. Their movements are swift, their discipline admirable, and their intent unmistakable. We must therefore proceed with vigilance and cohesion. 

Our task is to escort the supply convoy and secure the road to Eshowe. 

Your objective in this exercise is simple:

 • Protect the convoy

• Maintain formation under sudden attack

• Repel Zulu forces and secure the high ground 

Zulu strength in this sector is estimated at 4,000–6,000 warriors, likely from the iNgobamakhosi and uMbonambi regiments.

Thanks to Andy who carved us plenty of high ground for the Zulu's to watch the river. The British started with a number of units on the left bank of the river, with no Zulu's in the near vicinity a few scouts were seen far off in the distance but nothing to worry about.

The remaining British forces queued at the crossing, with only one wagon and one foot unit allowed to cross each turn, it would be a while before the full column was across. 

The Zulu's had there own challenges, they started with a few units on the table but then had the choice to either bring on 2 units a turn or wait until they rolled under the turn number to bring on 10 units in one go.... we opted to wait.....

The plan was a simple one use one of the horns to draw in the British slowing their push for the high ground whilst we wait for the main chest to appear on the table. Experienced warriors with their white shields headed into the donga and the benefit of hard cover.

Turn after turn we failed to roll low and the clock was ticking, the British had set up a firing line and with their free fire action were slowly chipping away at the Zulu's who had gone to ground, their mounted infantry were pushing forwards..

Seeing that the right flank of the Imperial forces was being weakened and still no main body we pushed forwards a little to pull the defenders back in to the fight.

The main body appears... each unit was 16 strength points but we had them on the table in 24 man units to give that sense of mass.

Counting rifles.... it turned out sending a single unit forwards into a massed rank of regular line and artillery does not work.... 1 point to the British for wiping out a Zulu unit, they also had 3 wagons across the river also worth 3 points - if they could get to 12 it would be a British victory.

As the British pushed forwards the main Zulu force was moving quickly through the tall grass that restricted visibility and long range fire.

The lead British unit were caught too far out in front and they were wiped out by the advancing horn 1st point back for the Zulu...

As the British shifted position the left horn saw an opportunity to punish the invading column catching the irregular horse and driving them backwards. The Artillery would need to work over time to keep the Zulu at bay.

Lots of finger pointing and not so much laughter from the Crown players as the seriousness of the situation started to dawn on them. The main body of Zulu's was closing fast but the let horn was not being slowed by the artillery or rocket troops and the NNC were no use with outdated rifles.

The main line ripped into the advancing Zulu pinning the first free units but the remaining Zulu pushed on...

The last Pic of the day before the journalist and his sketch booked headed to the drift... the left flank saw the gun and a whole company overrun and with the main body now in hand to hand with the Zulu chest - the 8 points amassed for the British started to be eroded.... Talk about being saved by the bell...

As the Zulu player we had taken a battering but had pushed the British aback and broken their line... it very much had a Zulu Dawn feel to it :-)

To watch the confidence of the British player erode and bemoan the need for that last company held up and the drift to plug the flank was very satisfying. But to be fair they had the same when our probing unit was destroyed in the early rounds.. we did not make that mistake again..... 

Great fun 'The Men Who Would be King' Rules easily handled the large number of units on the table and whilst the rules were new to a couple of players they were quickly into the mechanism after 2 turns. Great to get so many toys on the table and get to a reasonable result in an afternoon.

An early contender for game of the year......