Schutztruppe Deutsch Ostafrika
The Battle of Tanga
November 1914

Tabletop Tanga:
Wargaming the Battle

by Dennis L. Bishop and Holger Doebold

Quite a few manufacturers make figures that are suitable for the battle. Indian and Sikh units can often be found in the Middle Eastern or Palestine portions of WW1 ranges.

10mm
Pendraken www.pendraken.co.uk/

15mm
Freikorps www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~freikorp/
Peter Pig www.peterpig.demon.co.uk/
Minifigs www.minifigs.com/

20mm
Raventhorpe www.rlbps.com/RLBPRav.htm#Col

25/28mm
Reviresco www.tin-soldier.com/
Renegade www.renegademiniatures.com/
Battle Honors www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~tpope/miniatures/battlehonors/
Irregular www.irregularminiatures.co.uk/
Warrior www.warrioronline.demon.co.uk/

Tanga is a challenging battle to translate into a tabletop game. The confusion, the ineptitude of the British, the skill and luck of von Lettow, and the constricted battlefield each contribute their own brand of difficulty.

Just about any good set of WW1 rules could be used; by “good,” of course, we mean rules that don’t focus on trench fighting. Tanga was similar to other early-war battles in which the field was still dynamic and open to maneuver. “Over the Top,” the WW1 installment of GDW’s Command Decision series, contains a detailed, ready-made Tanga scenario. It calls for a German force of 65 stands and a British force of about 165 stands, although the British are unlikely to get all their forces into the fight at one time. This clever scenario allows the entire, three-day contest to be staged on a 5x8 table. Don’t expect to play it in an evening.

A more manageable approach is to pick one portion of the fight and concentrate on recreating it. Good candidates for such treatment would be

  • the initial attack of the 13th Rajputs on November 3, with its just-in-time arrival of reinforcements and devastating flank attack;
  • the penetration of the German line held by 6 F.K. along the harbor by the 2nd Kashmir Rifles and 13th Rajputs on November 4 and subsequent fighting around the Kaiser Hotel;
  • the vicious, close-range fighting in the streets of Tanga on the afternoon of the 4th;
  • or a man-to-man skirmish of the chance encounter between von Lettow’s and Meinertzhagen’s patrols during the night of Nov. 4/5.

Each of these presents opportunities for both sides to carry out bold attacks and doesn’t require one side to flee in utter panic in order to wrap up historically.

Key Points

In all cases, it’s important to remember certain key points. First, the German lines were relatively thin but well supplied with machine guns. The advantage in machine guns was more than simple numbers. The German MGs were deployed and ready to fire at the enemy’s approach. British weapons were generally broken down so they could be carried forward more easily, with the result that they often were forced to set up while under fire. Second, through a combination of inexperience, fatigue, and seasickness, the Indian troops were distinctly unsteady (all but the 2nd Kashmiri Rifles and, to a lesser extent, the 3rd Kashmiri Rifles). Third, the Germans were protected by a railroad cut and trenches, and their positions were often obscured from view by brush, allowing them to open fire on unsuspecting targets during the early stages of the fight.

Schutztruppe Deutsch Ostafrika The Battle of Tanga, November 1914

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