BACKGROUND TO THE BOXER REBELLION
The turn of the Century was a very busy time for Colonial powers both new and old. This
included the United States who had just acquired a series of colonies after emerging victorious in the Spanish American War. Within two short years from that triumph the United States would find itself, along with almost all the other Western Powers, in an armed struggle with the largest country on the planet, China. The collaboration of these nations is almost unique in history. However, the teamwork was short lived especially between the United States and Japan. The increasing antagonism over differing China Policies would eventually light the fuse, which exploded over Pearl Harbor and dragged the United States into WWII.
The long road to the dropping of atomic bombs, which ended Japan's participation in WWII, was only one chapter in the story of China's suffering. The de-stabilization, which originally began with the defeat of the Boxers, triggered the fall of the imperial court that let them loose. The Manchu Dynasty's demise would haunt China for half a century. Rebellion and counter rebellion by warlords, coups by the military, invasions by both the Japanese and the Russians would lead to the greatest revolution of all. By mid-century China was firmly under the grip of the Communists. Although Communist governments have generally ceased to exist around the world, China remains one of the last holdouts.
China has always been a fertile ground for secret societies. Historically Chinese governments have actively suppressed any formal organization. Dictatorships generally dislike competitors. That suppression continues today. Mix religion or mystical belief systems with political ideology and the results can be quite explosive. Add famine, unemployment and massive resentment of strange foreigners bossing you around, and you have a general understanding of the Boxer's motivation.
Background to the Scenario
Trains were a major component in Chinese dislike of foreigners. Trains opened up the interior of the country to new people, new ideas and reminded them of their poverty. Trains carried in bad things, like soldiers and missionaries, and carried out sacred things like minerals and artifacts stripped from mother earth. Trains were the focal point of the forced modernization of China. Trains caused deforestation all along their rail lines. They were frightful beasts to a nonindustrialized and very superstitious people. Trains shook the earth and despoiled the harmony of the resting ancestral spirits. Trains and their support facilities were often the target of the secret society, the Boxers.
Their destruction was a symbolic rejection of all things Western. I had to get a train into a scenario.
The relief of the 55-day siege of Peking is perhaps the most well known engagement ofthe entire Boxer uprising. However many engagements before and after the liberation of Peking occurred out in the countryside or near other townships. Since I have not either purchased the very expensive Peking Legation sets nor built many Oriental buildings I needed a small scale local as the set for the game. The battles for Yang Tsun were perfect.
Yang Tsun was actually the site of at least two major engagements during the campaign. Both were pivotal battles. In June of 1900 the original relief of Peking expedition under Admiral Sir Edward Seymour, faltered just north of Yang Tsun at Langfang. The Chinese had destroyed the tracks leading toward Peking. Seymour's force retreated to Yang Tsun and attempted to further retreat back toward the International Settlements at Tientsin. By this time Chinese forces had also closed in behind Seymour and destroyed more rails trapping the entire force in Yang Tsun. It was here that Seymour turned the tables on his attackers by commandeering boats, loading the wounded aboard them and conducted a fighting withdrawal along the Peiho River. During this episode the expedition stumbled upon the Hsiku arsenal. Realizing that defending from inside a walled city is better than being attacked without protection, Admiral Seymour ordered the capture of the walled arsenal. After seizing the structure with a daring assault the allies held out until relieved.
Yang Tsun again figured in the allied efforts to relieve Peking that same summer. By August the war was turning decidedly in the Allies favor. Among other victories, they had stormed the Taku Forts, relieved the international community at Tientsin, relieved Seymour at the Hsiku arsenal and re-taken the town of Yang Tsun in an extremely hard fought battle. Only this time instead of tying the expedition to the fragile train line the new commander, British General Sir Alfred Gaselee, paired his general line of advance to the river. Supplies were much more secure behind allied gunboats which were now available.
The scenario described in these article combines elements from both battles around Yang Tsun. I took the excitement of trying to escape by train while fighting off the Chinese hordes and used the troop mix more common by the later stages of the war. This allowed the use of United States Marines and Buffalo Soldier Infantry. The game also relies on some stereotypical national characteristics to give the game character. These idiosyncrasies would become evident when reading books, newspaper dispatches or articles from that period. Or you could just take my word for it and read the mission cards for each unit.
Scenario Design
This game was inspired after obtaining the Boxer Rebellion addition to The Sword and the Flame and made possible upon reading a letter to the editor of MWAN Vol. 116. The letter gave a description of several Goldlok train sets available at Toys R' Us and suitable for 25mm play. I went to the store, and after much computer searching, they determined that they had 3 different sets of Goldlok trains. I purchased the "Western Express" (No. 9668E) version because the cow catcher and engine shape would be usable with many "Turn of the Century" scenarios.
The train cars are compatible with Lionel train track. The kit-supplied track is marginal at best because it is limited in length and is designed to run in a circle. Lionel train track is usable as supplied however it has three rails when purchased. To make it look more life like I removed the inner rail by bending the thin metal supports and pulling out the track. More determined gamers may want to repaint the crossties and weather the track to make it look rusty. The only major modification needed to the train is to remove the tank car top and replace with a scratch-built flat bed. Other than that all that is required is to peel off the paper sticker signage and spray the entire train with a dull coat finishing product to make the train much more realistic in color.
Other equipment used for the game included some small terrain hills and liberal use of palm trees on a 6 feet by 8-foot table. We also needed a train station and some hasty barricades. The idea was to break up the table lay out to prevent "across the board" cannon shots. Breaking up the line of sight (LOS) also allows for some hidden movement by the Chinese Imperial and Boxer forces. This makes for more surprises as the attacking mobs reveal themselves. The map included illustrates the basic horseshoe shaped track pattern, location of the train station with waiting train and the entry points for the different units. There are several dummy locations on the map so as to hide the true location of some of the unit's entry points.
Last Train From Yang Tsun A Boxer Rebellion Scenario For The Sword and The Flame
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© Copyright 2002 Hal Thinglum
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