Introduction

Schutztruppe East African Guerilla Warfare, 1914-1918
designed by Jim Bumpas
1st edition: Simulations Design Corporation, 1975
2nd edition: Flying Buffalo, Inc., 1978

Components

1 ziploc bag
1 22"x34" hex-grid map of Tanganyika
1 40 die-cut, single-sided counters
1 eight-page 8˝"x11" rules folder
1 one-page 8˝"x11" play accessory sheet, consisting of an order of battle and a turn record chart
1 one-page 8˝"x11" sheet of tables, charts and historical notes

Flying Buffalo says:

“This game is designed to simulate only a part of the four-year campaign in German East Africa.The ‘Schutztruppe’ scenario we have designed begins in January, 1916 and runs to the end of 1917 ... The fall of 1914 saw the disastrous Allied defeat of their attempted amphibious landing at Tanga. This one defeat boosted the German forces in both morale and material, and so deflated Allied morale that no Allied offensive of major proportions was launched until Jan Smuts arrived with South African forces to launch the campaign which we simulate here.”

The reviewers say:

“Basic movement/combat system, but ZOCs only for British. RR movement, and RR cutting by Germans; fairly debilitating CRT; Special German Retreat Before Combat rule; German infiltration tactics; Allied command and supply problems; amphibious assaults; some unit tactical-differentiation; victory points based on the number of troops Allies are forced to divert to Africa.” Richard Berg Briefings, S&T 51.

“The game is challenging to play (particularly for the British player) and illustrates the difficulty of defeating a guerilla force with no real strategic base ... The game does justice to the memory of Paul von Lettow Vorbeck and his classic campaign.” Rob Land, F&M 18.

“The game works very well, and ... is a fine addition to any game collection” Dave Burba, Campaign 104.

Collector’s Value:

Boone lists low, high and average prices of 8/36/19.80 at auction and 35/75/52.67 for sale.

Jim Bumpas designed four games that were published commercially before his untimely death. His games have two important characteristics: they were printed in modest numbers of about 500 for each title; and they were simulations of events that were definitely off the beaten path and overshadowed by other concurrent events. Neither of these is part of the recipe for commercial success. Nevertheless, although his topics were not mainstream, they were well designed and developed. The production quality of his games was not much lower than the standards of the time. The complexity of his designs was moderate so learning to play them was easy, but each managed to capture the essence and feel of the events.

Other Games of This Type:

Sideshow (WWW S&T 135).

Other Games by Jim Bumpas:

Bay of Pigs; Tatchanka: Ukraine 1919-1921 (Jim Bumpas Games); Doro Nawa (Paper Wars Game Co. & Quarterdeck Games); Tarawa (never published).