We played the Battle of Gqokli Hill using expanded DBA.
I set the game up on a 4x4ft table (I have plastic Zulus on 25mm bases) with some rough terrain on either side of my Gqokli Hill; this funnelled the Ndwandwe`s command as they advanced uphill.
I found this was a solution to the historical problem of representing a curved line of battle with rectangular bases!
Anyhow the forces were as follows:
Zulus: (28 elements)
1st line:
Right horn: 6 spear/1 Psiloi
Left horn: 6 spear/1 Psiloi
Centre/head: 6 spear
C&C: only 1 d.6 for 20 elements – this seems reasonable as the Zulus were on the defensive.
These groups had separate morale with 50% breakpoints.
Reserve: 8 spears. 50% breakpoint.
C&C: 1 d.6.
Ndwandwe: (54 elements)
Right Column: 12 Auxilia/1 Psiloi – 4 elements breakpoint.
Left Column: 12 Auxilia/1 Psiloi – 4 elements breakpoint.
Centre: 20 Auxilia/2 Psiloi – 7 elements breakpoint.
Reserve: 6 warbands – 50% breakpoint.
C&C: 1 d.6. per command
After some discussion by the Ndwnadwe players on strategy and tactics the whole army was ordered forward…
The Ndwandwe left came across the worst of the disordering terrain and being slowed down, the Ndwandwe right and Centre struck the Zulu line first.
For four or five turns the two lines alternated in pushing each other back. But in each turn, with the uphill advantage (which I decided to use because of the historical factor of the crushing of diverging commands anyhow), the Ndwandwe were losing 2-3 elements in each go and for this the Zulus had only lost one Psiloi element on their left.
In spite of making the Zulus refuse their left, the Ndwandwe Right was broken first and then as their Left became engaged their centre lost its seventh base and was routed.
As the left wing of the Ndwandwe army approached the Hill it found the Zulu reserve moving down the slopes towards it… it was now apparent to the Ndwandwe players that the only hope of victory was to use their reserve shock troops.
Zwide`s Reserve was in a column of two elements wide – so that the warbands had two supports each.
Unluckily the die rolls were not kind to them in the two rounds of combat that remained in the game.
Attacking the Zulu centre, at first, both were pushed back and the Zulus then counter-attacked.
Being "doubled", the Ndwandwe completely lost the second combat on their left; 50% of the reserve was destroyed, and the other half had recoiled!
Game Over, Zulu win.
In a solo testing of the scenario which I did the day before the game, The Ndwandwe had more luck, with one Zulu horn being weakened, the Ndwandwe also broke through the Zulu centre and was stopped by the Reserve and some flanking attacks from parts of the first line.
I guess i could have rated the Zulu horns with a 3 instead, or made them warbands?
