"Second Boer War Rules" Topic

I am looking for rules for the large battles using 6mm figures. I feel that the normal colonial rules involving natives are really not suited.

I am toying with possibly using Bloody Big Battles, having read the recent AAR of the Colenso battle, although there did no appear to be a lot of figures actually on the table.

In my searches I have come across "By Jingo"

link

and wonder how they play? It seems to be that the British are pre-programmed and the players are all on the Boer side but is there any reason why the rules cannot be used as "normal" rules with players on each side?

Any comments from someone who has the rules and played they would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

I can't comment on By Jingo

Battles for Empire has specific rules for Boers as opposed to Dervish, Zulu & Pathan forces

A couple of guys on the yahoo group have played several Boer War battles

The rules are set at company level but I have used them at battalion level for the RJW

See hotzartworks.com/bfe.html

Personally I've always thought that the best way to represent the battles of the Boer war was to have all the players on the British side and either an umpire or some sort of logic table to decide the placement of the Boers

Tell Richard from 2FatLardies to get those rules they were developing finished and released. I'm also keen. these were done for 6/10mm check out their forum/blog?
Cheers and here's hoping soon, Richard?

You might consider Square Bashing for your large battles.
It will allow you to use scenery of your choice and allows for many versions of army. We are at a lot of shows if you know which ones you might visit??

all the best

martin

In my opinion, the 'conventional phase' of the Boer War is best played using WW1 type rules, and for the Boers to be played by an umpire.
One cannot really depict the Boer War unless the Boer forces are able to be hidden, and the British player(s) only have an imperfect knowledge of the battlefield and the deployment of the enemy.
Do not fall into the trap of making the Boer forces super-human though – they should be prone to opening fire early (ie. through fear of British bayonets) and to abandoning their positions if their flanks are threatened / they've had enough. Also, they should not be expected to follow orders / advance under fire / counter-attack in the way that the Imperial forces should.
Its a very difficult balancing act to get right.

Zargon

I am on the case. We are currently at the open playtest stage of development with us looking to publish in the next few months. The rules will be specifically for the Second Boer War and cover all of the actions in the conventional phase of the conflict. It's our plans to have all the main battles provided as ready to run scenarios too.

Richard

Richard,

Sounds good. What sort of figure scale: how many stands per battalion?

Alan

Your on Richard, owe you a beer when your out this way again.
Cheers,
Hi Alan not sure of scale but I do remember about 8 stands per battalion which really made the units sizes feel right it looked good and of course 2FLs always makes the games thoughtful fun and with 'realistic' fun.
Cheers again

We've been playtesting them for more than four years at cons and in our weekly game sessions, and now they're finally available. "For Queen and Planet: The Imperial Wars of Earth and Mars, 1845-1930" is a set of mass-battle, colonial rules with a Victorian SciFi add-on for those who dabble in both periods.

Each player controls a number of units of roughly half battalion size (8 stands of 2 figures = a battalion), typically 3-5 in our games. Rules are easy to learn and teach. We kept tweaking the sequence of play until we were happy with how everybody stayed involved. The game mechanics are simple -- a unit attempting to roll less than its fire or melee factor on 2d6 to cause casualties to enemy units. Players can essentially run the game with one two-sided chart to double-check modifiers to shooting or melee. Morale is similarly straight forward.

Rules are available as a PDF download on Wargame Vault (print on demand will be ready to go soon). Our First Command website also has a battle report or two for you to check out if you're interested.

Purchase the rules here: link

First Command Website: firstcommandwargames.com

Feel free to ask any questions about them, too!

Mike Demana
First Command Wargames

This our first solo release as First Command Wargames.

Well, get those rules in print form, Mike! Looking forward to seeing them as I have an interest in the Egyptian phase of the Mahdist uprising.