Zulu War: Second March on Ulundi

This will just be a brief post: time is too short for a fuller one (plus I only took two photos), but this game was too good not to record.

Last week Anton gave us his "First March on Ulundi" scenario that encompassed both the disaster at Isandlwana and the heroic stand at Rorke's Drift. This week he followed it up with "Second March on Ulundi".

This second march was the expedition mounted four months after Isandlwana that culminated in final Zulu defeat at Ulundi. It involved two British columns: Brigadier Sir Evelyn Wood's "Flying Column" approaching from the west and the main column under Chelmsford invading from the north.

Historically, the Zulus waited outside the Royal Kraal at Ulundi, hoping to negotiate peace. (They were disappointed.) Anton's scenario explores a more aggressive what-if option in which the Zulus advance to take on the separate British columns before they can rendezvous and combine.

Here are the two photos. Sorry they aren't the best and I didn't take the usual full-table shot to orient you better.

The Flying Column (left of pic) has a lot of ground to cover. The Zulus' Left Horn comes to meet it. Note the small unit upper right: that is Wood's cavalry, which in this game managed to slip through the Zulu army to rendezvous with Chelmsford. Top right corner, you can just see the long mountain that Chelmsford's column is moving down.

 This time the Zulus had some rifle-armed units, which added variety to the tactical interactions (even if they didn't actually hit very much). No redcoats because I don't possess any, sorry - my Balkan Wars Greeks had to stand in for the Brits. Virtues of 6mm scale!

The main British column, moving south along a mountainside, turns to face the Zulu Right Horn intercepting them from the east. This was slow progress with much carnage.

Anton, Phil and I played this game through twice in a short afternoon. In the first, the Zulus were very aggressive, managed to overrun some NNC and capture a gun battery, but exhausted themselves in assaults so that the British were then able to proceed through the wreckage with relative ease. In the second game, the Zulus adopted a more patient strategy, feeding impis in gradually to keep the British pinned down and play for time. This produced the same result in the end, but the end came a bit later and with fewer British casualties.

Reflections

Never Charge Zulus! In the First March game, Mark J charged a Spent Zulu impi with part of the 24th, then came to grief when more Zulus charged his disordered line that had come off its cosy hill. In this one, Phil charged a Zulu impi in the flank with his colonial cavalry and NNC, then came to grief when more Zulus charged his disordered lines ...

The Death Star. As in the First March, the scenario special rules for squares or laagers were overpowered: British troops in this formation got 360-degree arc of fire, and a bonus when assaulted, and no penalty on movement to compensate. Anton and I discussed a few possible ways to mitigate this and I'm sure he'll hit the sweet spot.

Choices, Choices. The scenario structure is simple but brilliant in giving both sides several strategic options, hence multiple possible ways the game could go. It puts the Zulus in a Bonaparte-style central position where they can concentrate against one or the other column and potentially give it serious grief. Other approaches are also possible. Our two games were quite different and both were good fun and thought-provoking. That alone would be enough to make it a Saturday well spent ...

Victuals. ... but the post-battle phase is important! Going for a curry afterwards was the icing on the cake. If you see what I mean.

That's All, Folks. For today, that is. More soon, though: tomorrow I'm hosting one game at home during the day, then going to the club the same evening for another. You may expect reports on these too.