It is not a widely known fact, but even when British rule in India was at its height, nearly a third of the territory and a fifth of the population of the sub-continent was not under direct British rule. There were nearly 600 "independent" states within India, ranging in size from the substantial to the tiny, still ruled by their own princes (with the help of British political officers and advisers who ensured that these princes did nothing outrageous or damaging to British interests.) Many of these princes had their own armies, which varied considerably in size and efficiency. In 1885, a Russian invasion force defeated the Afghans at Penjdeh, sending shock waves of panic through India. For a while, the British were in daily expectation of Russian troops appearing at the head of the Khyber Pass, ready to sweep down into the Indian plains. It never happened, of course, but during the few weeks of panic, several of the independent Indian princes offered their troops to serve alongside the British. The offer was readily accepted, and British officers and NCOs were sent to some of these states to help train and update these private armies. Christened "Imperial Service Troops", these units were to eventually serve with distinction as far afield as China, Somaliland, Palestine and Flanders. At first, however, the effort of training some of these outdated and anachronistic armies must have caused many a British military adviser to question his chosen career. And I, ever on the lookout for ways to make things more difficult for myself, decided that this might make the basis for an interesting game....... The following ideas should adapt easily to whichever set of rules you prefer to use. YOUR ORDERS: You, as an experienced army officer, are seconded to the army of our ally, the Maharajah of Cukbuk, to train and update his forces to a suitable level to serve alongside our own troops if this should prove necessary. You will have a number of drill NCOs to assist you. THE RAW MATERIAL The Maharajah's army consists of 6 + D6 units, chosen at random from the following list: (Choose by dice throw or pick out of a hat): 1 30 Bandsmen, dressed in bright traditional costume. 2 3 large brass cannon (circa 1615) drawn by elephant, 3 gunners, 48 labourers. 3 100 cavalry in chain mail with lance, sword and shield. 4 As above. 5 200 light cavalry with lance and shield. 6 As above 7 200 light cavalry with sword and shield. 8 200 light cavalry with sword and jezail. 9 8 elephants with matchlock armed crew. 10 200 light infantry with bows. 11 400 light infantry with spears. 12 As above. 13 400 infantry in mailshirts with spears. 14 400 light infantry with sword and buckler. 15 As above. 16 4 light brass guns (circa 1700), 4 gunners, 48 labourers. 17 200 infantry in mail shirt with sword and buckler. 18 200 infantry with matchlock muskets. 19 As above. 20 200 infantry with flintlock, muzzle loading muskets. 21 4 rocket tubes with pack animals and crew. 22 200 light cavalry with flintlock, muzzle loading muskets. 23 100 infantry with breech loading rifles. 24 200 camel riders with sword and buckler. Throw a D6 for each unit to determine from which race its men are drawn: 1, 2 or 3 = Race A, 4 or 5 = Race B, 6 = Race C. Then throw a D10 to find out what A,B and C represent: 0 = Brahmins 1 = Hindus 2 = Hindus 3 = Dogras 4 = Punjabi Muslims 5 = Punjabi Muslims 6 = Rajputs 7 = Pathans (Muslims) 8 = Sikhs 9 = Sikhs All units start as D class and count as poor shots - deduct 2 from their firing factor. THE METHOD First, you have 2 Average dice x £ 1000 to spend on equipment (Consider it a technical victory if you keep this and desert to the Russians!): To recruit extra men £ 5 each Flintlock muzzle loader £ 5 each Muzzle loading rifle £ 10 each Breech loading rifle £ 20 each Uniform native clothing £ 1 each European style clothing £ 2 each 2.5" RML screw gun £ 500 (up to 2) 12 ponder gun £ 800 (up to 2) Bayonet £ 1 each Barracks for 200 men £ 1000 1879 Gatling gun £ 1000 (one only) To recruit band (native instruments) £ 50 Bhang (a stimulant drug) for 100 men £ 35 Pioneer equipment £ 1 per man Native footwear £ 1 per ten men. European footwear £ 1 per two men Draught animals, followers, etc at no extra cost. Next, organise a training programme for each unit. You have 12 moves to whip the troops into shape. Choose one of the following options for each unit for each move and set them out in the form of a table. Infantry Cavalry Artillery Close order drill Close order drill Movement Marksmanship Marksmanship Care of equipment Route marching Charging/reforming Gunnery Speed marching Skirmishing/use of ground Gunnery Skirmishing/use of ground Hand-to-hand combat Hand-to-hand combat The training table will look something like this: Unit: Gwalior Rifles. Move 1: Skirmishing. Move 2: Marksmanship. Move 3: close order drill. And so on..... THE PROBLEM There are all sorts of things which could disrupt your training programme: the religious observances of the various races, the weather, etc. For each move in your programme, take a card from the event pack and amend the training table accordingly. The following are examples of cards from the event pack, but you could easily add your own: Monsoon season: Ground becomes muddy, causing troops marching in native footwear to lose it in the mud. As the troops have to pay for replacements, this precludes any marching this move for troops without boots. Diwali Pujah: (Festival of lights) All Brahmins with firearms blaze off their ammunition into the air - no shooting training this move. On 1,2 or 3 on D6, Hindus do the same. Rumour has it, all cartridges are greased with pig fat. All Muslims with rifles refuse to use them this move. 3,4,5 or 6 on D6 to resume training each succeeding move. Ramadan: A time of fasting for Muslims. No Muslim can train in speed or route marching, or moving artillery, this move. The celebrated Granthi, Kumar Singh, preaches war against the Muslims. If the army has Sikh and Muslim troops, neither do any training this move. Muslims lose D6 x 10 men per Sikh unit. Monsoon season: No cavalry or artillery training as ground is too soft. Inter-tribal war on the frontier. Any pathan units lose D6 x 10 men to desertion. Hindu soldier dies and his relatives wish to perform suttee. (burning his wife on the pyre) This has been outlawed in British administered territory and your British staff are outraged. What are you going to do? Stop the ceremony and all Hindus will strike on a 1,2 or 3 on D6 and refuse to train. Let it go on and British will strike on 1 or 2, and no-one will do any training this move. A pathan soldier steals 10 rupees from a British officer. The soldier should be dismissed, but this might upset the men. What will you do? If soldier is dismissed, all Muslims strike on a 1,2 or 3 on D6. If you don't, British will strike on 1 or 2, and no training is done. A Brahmin is manhandled by a British sergeant. All other Brahmins join in the purification ceremony. No training this move. Race riots in Punjab: If the army contains Rajputs or Dogras and Muslims, smallest group loses D6 x 5 of its men. If army has artillery, firing scares horses. No cavalry training this move, until new training grounds are found. Rumour has it that all cartridges are greased with cow fat. All Hindus and Brahmins with firearms refuse to use them this move. For each succeeding move: 3,4,5 or 6 Hindus resume training. 4,5 or 6 Brahmins resume training. A Muslim soldier (Dice for which unit) sees a British soldier sunbathing with his feet towards Mecca; he is so incensed, he shoots him. What punishment do you suggest? Shooting by other Muslims - men strike on 1 or 2. British on a 1. Blowing from cannon - men strike on 1,2 or 3 Nothing - British strike on 1,2 or 3 Jail - British strike on 1 or 2. Men on a 1. Correct diet not available. Brahmins refuse to eat and cannot train this move. 1,2 or 3 on D6, Hindus follow suit. THE RESULTS The effect your training programme has on individual units when they get to battle is as follows: Any unit which has trained for more than ten moves, improves to C class. (If native uniforms provided, add one move to training record; if European style uniforms, add two moves.) Any unit which has trained for more than ten moves and has barracks provided, improves to B class. If army has a band, add one move's training to marching or drill. Any troops who have done six or more moves close order drill can fire in two ranks instead of just one. Any troops who have done four moves skirmishing count as scouting points. Cavalry who have trained at charging for more than four moves, deduct one from number of moves needed to reform; If eight moves or more, deduct two. Troops who have done four moves at hand-to-hand, add 2 in melee. After four moves marksmanship or gunnery, improve to average shots; after eight moves, improve to good shots. If any troops were given bhang, 5 or 6 on D6 means they have some left when they get to battle; go to A class. After four moves speed marching (or movement if artillery), add one inch to each table move. After four moves route marching, ignore all difficult terrain. If artillery have not had three moves training in care of equipment, each gun will break down during battle on a throw of 1 on D6. (At the most critical moment, of course.) TESTING There is only one way to test the army that you have trained; by leading it into battle! As I said earlier, the Russian threat after Penjdeh never came to anything, but Imperial Service Troops were blooded against hostile tribesmen on the North West Frontier, so, once your training is completed, undertake a punitive expedition into the mountains, and good luck! The system as set out above is obviously pretty specific to Indian troops, but it can easily be adapted for use in campaigning anywhere. I used a similar system for determining the level of training for newly raised English companies in my Irish campaign. Convert moves into campaign months and start with a month's 'basic' training; after that, you decide what the training priorities are. And, if the situation at the front gets desperate, dare you throw your partly trained units into battle? Or do you order your veterans to hang on grimly until training is complete? Back to Table of Contents -- Lone Warrior #123 Back to Lone Warrior List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Solo Wargamers Association. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com