On those rare occasions that my friend, Francis Lynch, manages a weekend visit (perhaps annually), we do try to get in some serious wargaming. I also like to experiment with new ideas and test new (and sometimes old) concepts. One of the imaginative and innovative gamers whose work I enjoy reading about is Wally Simon. His work is always interesting and humorous. Nevertheless, I have seldom tried playing with any of his rules--partly because he sometimes neglects to include some minor but essential aspect and partly because he is totally dedicated to decimal dice and I have always found the traditional six-sided die easier to work with. Even so, it is thanks to Wally that I first heard of the work of Stephen Simpson and a long time back recounted two battles from the American War of Independence (Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse, to be precise) that Francis and I had played using an adaptation of Simpson's rules that I concocted from Wally description of the game he adapted. It was my friend Abbot Komminers who sent me a copy of the actual work of Simpson and my revisions of his ideas have been the basis of most of the games that I have played ever since. One of my seldom used armies is my British and Zulus (ESCI figures--with antique Airfix Civil War figures for the artillery and cavalry). I like the period well enough and am fond of the modification of the old Featherstone rules that I have done, but one must admit that they are rather labor intensive. The rules also include provisions for Boers (more antique Airfix figures-Confederates with appropriate slouch hats). When Francis comes we like to get at a game and get through to a conclusion and prefer to get on to another game or two as well. Whatever the reason, we had never used the British, Boers and Zulus. Shortly before Francis's last visit, Abbot had sent me an article by Simpson about writing your own rules and his own theories, preferences and "reasons why." The sample set of rules he provided in the article was for the First Boer War. Here I thought, was a chance to use the British and Boers (if not the Zulus). We would play some scenario using my version of the Simpson rules and then play out the same game using my modification of the old Featherstone rules and compare the two. What to play? The First Boer War is not as rich in scenarios as one might like: an initial ambush (who wants to be British?), a failed British attack against entrenched Boers holding a ridge line, another ambush and then the great humiliation of the Boers attacking up Majuba Hill and routing the cream of the British army (poor Sir George Colley). There were also the "sieges" of the various garrisons, but the Boers didn't go in for gallant attacks and they didn't seem like much fun (sieges usually aren't--remember, we wanted a fast moving game with lots of action). At this point I had another idea. I have always been annoyed at historians who belittled the British generals of the Second Boer War. There may not have been a military genius among them (certainly neitherRoberts nor Kitchener qualified for that, whatever their talents), but they were the first generals to come up against an entrenched for in the era of smokeless powder and indirect artillery fire. The Boers skill at camouflage made them a far more difficult foe than any regular army would have been. So I decided to take a scenario from the Second Boer War and use Simpson's rules for the First Boer War (which is what my figures were for--though the Boers could really serve for either). I decided on Modder River (most of the others involved attacking up a hill--sometimes having to cross an unfordable river first). The river was unfordable and could be crossed only at the bridge and at a dam near a farmhouse (see map for terrain and forces). Francis opted to command the Boers (all he had to do was stay in his trenches and shoot). I sent the North Lanes toward the dam (using the farm for cover) and basically sent everyone else toward the bridge. British rifle fire is pretty useless. It was the artillery that prepared the way for bayonet charges. It was not cheap (and gunners were picked off by Boer fire) but eventually the British captured the field in the sort of bloody and heroic soldiers battle that the newspapers loved. Whether it was a good simulation of the era, I can't say, but the battle could have gone either way and we had lots of fun. AElred Glidden's First Boer War Rules (adapted from Stephen Simpson) UNITS: Infantry units of 8 figures, cavalry of 4 figures, artillery I gun & 6 crew. TURN SEQUENCE: Toss for choice of first move, Boers win ties. 1. First side tosses for Command Control, moves and fires. 2. Second side tosses for Command Control, moves and fires. 3. Resolves melees. COMMAND CONTROL: Toss one die per unit--mounting or dismounting or limbering or unlimbering costs one point, fire costs two points, movement four points. MOVEMENT: Foot and unlimbered artillery = 6" Mounted and limbered artillery = 12" Boers may mount up or dismount (but not both) when combined with a move and artillery may limber or unlimber (but not both) when combined with a move. Terrain is designated as either impassable or half speed (note that this may vary with troop type). Units can move out of contact but may not fire. HITS TABLE: -1 from basic factor if target in cover, +1 to factor if mounted Number of figures in unit # Cavalry 1 2 3 4 # Infantry or artillery crew 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 Factor 0 0 0 1 3 Factor 1 0 1 3 5 Factor 2 1 3 5 H2 Factor 3 3 5 H2 H4 Factor 4 5 H2 H4 HH Factor 5 H2 H4 HH HH3 H = Automatic Hit. For additional numbers toss I die: 1 hit on 1, 2 hit on I or 2, 3hit on 1, 2 or 3, etc. FIRE: Artillery must score 4-6 to register, foot is automatic. Determine unit Fire Factor by type and range as below. Fire is by unit: Unit Type Ranges: 0-6 >6-12" >12-18" > 18-24" Boers (on foot only) 4 3 2 NA Infantry 2 1 NA NA Artillery 4 4 4 4 MELEE: Any unit except artillery and mounted Boers may move into melee, use the Hits Table above but use unit type Melee Factors: British artillery 2 Mounted Boers 0 British infantry 4 Boers on foot 1 British cavalry 5 Back to MWAN #97 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1999 Hal Thinglum 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