The November 1965 issue of Jack Scruby's "Table Top Talk" contained a short rules set that kept up my interest in 19th century colonial warfare for 30 years. That was how long it took before I finally acquired a collection of Brits and Dervishes (Scruby figures as it turned out) to use them with. Indeed, you might say that this was the set of rules that brought me back to active miniatures wargaming after a quarter century hiatus. With that background, it's understandable that I'd have a soft spot for them.

The rules use the Morschauser Roster System for keeping track of casualties. Since I've always had an aversion to casualty caps, rings or other props on the wargaming table, a roster system's paperwork has seemed like the lesser of two evils to me when playing with stand mounted figures. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, a roster system simply records casualties on a piece of paper, with stands removed from the table as sufficient kills are noted. Actually, I find that it supports a bit of fog of war in playing, as the strength of opposing units isn't always obviously apparent from what one sees on the table. A roster sheet could be made up of lines like these:

Unit : Killed Figures ("x" each dot as 15 kills are taken)
90th/A . . . . . . . . .
90th/B . . . . . . . . .

uThwlana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Morale Status is noted after fire fights and "Remainders" is the note pad for jotting down leftover kills after casualties are divided by 15 -- the number each dot represents. Another aspect of the rules that I liked is the basic simplicity. All you need to play is displayed in a chart that is about the size of this page. Minus some extraneous introductory material, the rules themselves are only two pages long. Yet they seem to capture the ebb and flow of a colonial battlefield as regular troops stand firm against hordes of native warriors, or suffer horribly if their firepower isn't enough to avoid hand-to-hand combat.

I've adjusted a few items and filled in some gaps where Scruby assumed a basic familiarity with wargame rules structures, but what follows is very much in the spirit of his Unbalanced Equality War Game Rules.

Mounting

Scruby used moving stands of 10 figures, representing 100 soldiers, for most of his forces. There were exceptions for some native troops and cavalry, but the actual mounting isn't really that important. I use stands of 20 figures for my 5mm Zulus and stands of 3 figures for most of the British forces. Each figure is equivalent of 15 men, which also reflects the ground scale. In my play testing, this doesn't seem to make much difference in the flow of the game. Plus, 10 soldiers per figure is easy to calculate.

The Brits are arranged in companies of three stands, each representing 45 infantrymen. Cavalry are represented by stands of two figures equal to 30 troopers. Artillery, however mounted, counts as 60 artillerymen. Zulu iButhos (regiments) are groups of 5 or 6 stands of 20, so they vary from 1500-1800 warriors in size. For my 15mm armies, I'm mounting all the figures on magnets so stand sizes and groupings can vary depending on the rules I'm using, or more importantly, the mood I'm in!)

However they are mounted, stands are removed as enough casualties are recorded to equate to a stand, i.e., 45 for a British infantry stand, or 300 for a Zulu stand.

Movement

Movement is simultaneous. Regular infantry moves 2" in open/skirmish formation and 1 " in closed formation. The difference is simply whether the stands are touching (within an eighth of an inch), or not. Formation affects firepower and morale, so it is an important feature. No other troops have formation considerations. Native spearmen and riflemen move 3", and the spearmen have a special Fire and Charge move of 6", which must be declared at the beginning of a turn and will be explained under Fire.

Artillery moves 2", or 1 " if it is to be fired in the same turn.

Mounted infantry move 4" when mounted, or 2" when dismounted. They may combine the two by moving 2" while mounted and then dismounting and moving a further 2", or vice versa, to mount.

One figure in 4 must remain as horse holder. (Note: mounted or dismounted status may be noted on the roster sheet, or (I hate to say this) by a marker, or even by separate dismounted figures). All other troop types movement allowances are noted in the Table.

Fire

Fire effects vary with distance. There are short, medium and long ranges for small arms and artillery. Spears have only one range. The basic kill ratio, normally 1 kill for each 10 soldiers, is figured at medium range with long range fire killing one half and short range fire killing twice as many enemytroops. Small arms kills area function of the size of the unit firing (Combat Power), distance, defensive positions and, formation (for regulars). There is no random factor. For the purposes of firing, regular infantry is considered to be in closed formation if it is touching at least one other stand in its company or another's (if it is the last remaining stand in its company).

Independent stands are always in open formation. Artillery fire results are determined by dice rolls, with defensive positions and formations of targets affecting the results. Artillery firing against other cannon or maxims may choose to kill the crews or hit the gun. 4 hits must be scored on a gun to destroy it. 1,2, or 3 on the die are considered as hits. If a gun crew is killed, it may be replaced with 60 infantrymen, but then fire effects on troops are cut in half, and hits on enemy guns are only made with a roll of 1 or 2.

Native Spearmen have a special Fire and Charge rule. At the beginning of the movement phase they may declare a charge. If the target troops do not choose to evade or cannot move far enough to avoid the charge, the spearmen move half the distance to the enemy and throw their spears. The opposing unit(s) may return fire. After casualties and morale checks are made, the spearmen continue to move into contact and melee.

To simplify matters calculate firepower by multiplying the number of remaining figures on the roster sheet by 15. Ignore the odd casualties (the less than 15 kills cumulated as "Remainders."

The resulting figure is the current Combat Power. Firepower of all units is cut in half when the unit falls to half strength, as measured by casualties, not figures. For example, a regular infantry company (9 figures) starts with 135 soldiers and kills 27 at medium range in dosed formation (2 per 10). When it reaches 67 men, it would kill only 6, instead of 13, in the same situation, i.e., 1 per 10, rather than 2 per 10.

Defensive positions (in cover, uphill) give added protection to the defending troops by cutting firepower in half.

Morale

After suffering casualties from fire, all native troops must test for morale. Results vary based on the distance from the firing troops. Roll one D6. At short range, a roll of 1,2, or 3 is a failure. At medium range, 1 or 2 fails, and at long range a roll of 1 fails. If fired on by a single regular infantry stand, subtract 1 from the die rolls.

When a unit fails, all stands in the unit are affected. They must immediately fall back the equivalent of two full moves. Morale failure can either be noted on the roster sheets or represented by facing the stands away from the enemy. At the beginning of subsequent turns, each unit rolls to see if it may return to combat. A roll of 4,5, or 6 allows the unit to move back towards the fight. A 1, 2, or 3 forces them to stay in place. Units can be fired on and driven back farther if they fail the morale roll again.

All troop types have Morale Values (MV) assigned, as shown on the Table. Regular Infantry and Mounted Infantry Morale Values change depending on their formation or mounted status. Forces in a defensive position (in cover, uphill), add one to their Morale Value. They also benefit by subtracting 1 from the morale die roll when fired upon.

Melee

When forces come into base to base contact, melee occurs in 3 phases:

A. Both players determine their total combat value by multiplying the Morale Value by the current Combat Power in the unit(s) involved. If units of different Morale Value are participating, separate calculations must be made for each type. Compare the totals of each side. The larger total wins the combat. The winner loses 20% of the forces in the units involved in the melee. The loser adds one third to this number to determine its casualties.

B. Taking the combat strengths from before the combat was fought (Morale Value x Combat Power), each side multiplies this number by the result of one D6 roll. The highest number is the winner of the melee, even though it may have suffered more casualties. The loser is forced to retire.

C. The winner of the melee now has the option to force the loser retire either four moves to the rear (with no pursuit by the victor), or two moves with the winner following, locked in combat. In the second case, the melee continues in the subsequent turn. Both sides may reinforce the melee. However, if the loser is unable to reinforce, its Morale Value is cut in half.

If Artillery/Maxims are caught in melee, all figures are killed. The opponent loses half of the number of crew figures killed.

Victory

Scruby's rules didn't include a method other than the extermination of the enemy's army for determining victory. One option is an army morale feature. When 25% casualties are incurred, a die is rolled. If a 1 or 2 is rolled the army must retreat from the battlefield, fighting its way, if necessary. This morale check occurs each turn after the level is reached. If both armies reach this level, then a draw results.

Sequence of Play

1) Recovery from Fire results
2) Movement
3) Fire
4) Reaction tests after fire
5) Melee
6) Army morale check, if used.

SUMMARY

Morale After Fire: Native troops retire after roll of 1 at long range; 1-2 at medium; 1-3 at short. -1 in defensive positionst fired at by regular infantry stand.

Melee:

A) CP x MV. Winner loses 20%, Loser adds 1/3 to that for losses.
B) Original CP x MV x die roll. Highest wins.
C) Winner of B forces loser to retire 4 moves, or to retire 2 moves while remaining in Melee.
Artillery/Maxim crews are killed, opponents lose 1/2.

Unit Morale: Remove remaining stand(s) at 75% casualties; mark as 100% killed.

Scruby's Table
Unit Type	Combat Power		Morale Value	Firepower	Movement	Range
(-)	(varies with mounting 15/fig)	(+1 indefensive position)	(1/2 at long range 2x at short range 1/2 vs. defensive 1/2 at original 1/2 CP	(1" min. normal / rough)	(Long/Med./Short)
Brit Infy	45	open order 3	open=1k/10	2" / 1"	20"/10"/5"
		closed ord 5	closed=2k/10	1"	same
Native Reg Infy	45	open order 2	same	same	same
		closed ord 4	same	same	same
Brit Mounted Infy	30	mounted 2	mounted=1k/10	4"/2"	same
		dismtd. 5	dismtd.=2k/10	2"/1"	same
Brit Heavy Cav	45	5	1 kill per 10	4"/2"	same
Native Heavy Cav	45	4	1 kill per 10	4"/2"	same
Brit Light Cav	30	4	1 kill per 10	5"/3"	same
Native Light Cav	30	3	1 kill per 10	5"/3"	same
Native Spearmen	300	3	1 kill per 20	3"/2" (fire & charge adds 3")	3"
Native Riflemen	45	2	1 kill per 10	3"/2"	20/10/5
Zulus Spears	300	3	1k/20	3"/2" (fire & charge adds 3")	3"
Zulus Rifles	300	3	1k/20	3"/2"	20/10/5"
Maxim Gun (Brit Crew)	60	3	10 kill per shot	2" no fire 1" and fire	20/10/5
Maxim Gun (Native Crew)	60	2	7 kill per shot	same	same
Cannons	60	Brit 3	(see below)	2"/1" & fire (no move & fire)	30/15/10
Cannons	60	Native 2	(see below)		30/15/10

Artillery Fire Table
Crew Type	1	2	3	4	5	6
British crew	Miss	Kill 5	Kill 10	Kill 5	Kill 20	Kill 30
Native crew	Miss	Miss	Kill 5	Kill 10	Kill 15	Kill 20
4 hits to destroy a gun (rolls 1,2,3 are hits) Kill 10 extra if firing at infantry in Closed Order