This is a tale of defeat turned into victory - not so much on the tabletop (though we did have a see-saw game), but in terms of scenario design.
Three years ago, we playtested the first draft of Anton's scenario for the battle of Diamond Hill. This was one of the last set-piece battles of the Boer War, which festered on for another couple of years but was essentially a guerrilla war from then on. As my report from 2022 shows, that first attempt was rather abortive. The main reason was simple - it turned out that there had been a miscalculation of the figure ratios, resulting in there being more than twice as many Boers on the table as there should have been. No wonder the poor Brits got mown down in heaps.
The psychological pain of this debacle was such that Anton couldn't bear to return to Diamond Hill until I finally prompted him into action this month. Apart from correcting the order of battle, we also rejigged the map, framing it so that it was no longer a simple frontal assault but allowed the appropriate manoeuvre room on both flanks and beyond the Boers' front line. This made all the difference and produced a far more interesting game, a far more even contest, and a far more satisfactory scenario all round.
Before plunging into the photos and reflections, I'll repeat the scene-setting paragraph from 2022:
"The situation is that the war is approaching its end; Pretoria has been taken; Louis Botha's Boers are being pressed back eastwards towards Portuguese East Africa (now Mozambique) and have established a long defensive position on a line of hills. The imperial forces are aiming to breach this line and press on eastward down the road towards Middelburg."
Reflections
Ups and Downs. I like a game to tell a story. This one did, with a proper dramatic emotional rollercoaster for the protagonists. At first it was toilsome for the imperials, inevitably so, as they tried to manoeuvre into position while being fired on by an intact Boer line. Then, hooray! We started to make inroads on the flanks. But then, dismay! As ambushes were revealed and took their toll in casualties and delay. Hooray again! As our numbers and outflanking finally told, the Boer line was diminished and in disarray and objectives began falling to us. High drama! As multiple assaults went in on the last turn. Will they/won't they? Yes and no - a classic BBB down-to-the-wire draw.
Cavalry Doing What Cavalry Should Do. The imperial force was horse-heavy, over two thirds of it being cavalry (or, really, mounted infantry - though they did actually execute a proper charge or two on the day). As Anton observed, with the revised scenario offering space to manoeuvre, the cavalry was able to do its thing properly as it should and did: using expansive mounted manoeuvre prior to contact, threatening flanks and rears and taking objectives without a fight if possible, but dismounting for an infantry fight where necessary.
The Ambushes Worked. As a game mechanism, I mean. BBB scenarios almost never use hidden movement or deployment. However, for this particular scenario, it seemed appropriate. It did indeed work well, seeming to produce the right game effect and without being overly complicated.
Withdrawing vs Pursuing. Granting an Objective for exiting units on the last turn is a device Anton has used successfully in some of his other scenarios. The twist in this one is that the pursuers can also negate one Boer objective by exiting troops off the enemy edge. (Hardly a unique innovation - plenty of other scenario designers have used some version of this, I'm sure - but that's not the point.) The pursuers don't have to do so - it's a choice - but including that choice adds an extra dimension to the game to make the scenario distinctive.
Playtesting - The Pleasure and the Pain. Although Anton has a great record of writing near-perfect scenarios, his first draft of Diamond Hill was a rare exception. Three years ago it gave us a game that really didn't work: it bore little resemblance to the history, it was frustrating and not very entertaining for the players, and therefore disappointing and discouraging for Anton. So much for the pain. The next part of the process was reflection and rethinking by Anton and me: we worked out where it went wrong, did the necessary major revision, re-drew the map entirely, and played it through all over again. This time, the game was great. It played out as it should, it fitted with the history, all the players had enough choices to make and our share of moments of glory or despair, and it had the perfect climactic finish. The pleasure was made all the sweeter by the preceding pain. I hope this helps readers to appreciate just how much we labour and suffer to bring you elegantly designed, nicely balanced scenarios.
Bloody Big Battles in AFRICA! This game was significant beyond the one scenario. Diamond Hill completes Anton's set of Boer War scenarios. That is important because we intend these to form the core of a BBB scenario book, Bloody Big Battles in AFRICA!, on the same model as the Bloody Big Battles in INDIA! volume. There are a few playtests and revisions of the other scenarios still to do (eg, Mark wants to rewrite his Adua scenario), but the main roadblock is out of the way now and enthusiasm for the project is high again. I think we may be able to publish this before the end of 2026. No promises, mind - but you might want to start painting up your Boers and Brits now (not to mention Fuzzy Wuzzies, Italian colonials, Zulus ...)