"Zulu War - Big Battles - Realistic Rules?" Topic

Rules for the Zulu War are usually more fun than realistic, as that would result in a turkey shoot. However, that is, what I'm looking for. I would rather have the Zulu player change tactics instead of having rules which make inadequate tactics function. Any suggestions?

I'm sure that you'll get a lot of suggestions. We use Battles For Empire II for our Sudan games, but there are rules and a scenario in the book for the Zulu War. It uses the Fire & Fury movement system, which works here as the natives have a "lava-like" movement as they close. The natives can go to ground as well and you never know when several of them will rise up for a fanatic charge! The firing and melee systems seem to work very well for the Colonial periods. Finding the rules right now might be a challenge as I have not heard if there will be a 3rd edition coming or not.

Battles for Empire II is a great set of rules. Last month, I ran Isandlwana and Nyezane using them.

If you are looking at a lower level, Death in a Dark Continent is a brilliant game where the ‘native' player has a better than even chance of winning,,

I primarily use By Battalion Volley Fire – a fast play style convention style game related but with some key differences than The Sword and the Flame – By Larry Brom

link

Battles for Empire I with some mods from II is also played on occasion by our group

Thanks for the suggestions so far everyone.

I think, Death on a dark continent is not the unit level I'm looking for.

Question about Battles for Empire II: How is it different from Battles for Empire I?

Haven't heard about By Battalion Volley Fire. And it's hard to find much about it using google. Found a review anyway. Wonder if I would be able to optain a copy.

Put the link in (above) on where to purchase By Battalion

BFE II added a lot more detail and rules – great resource and has some decent rules – but took away a little from the faster play aspect

Larry Brom wrote a set of rules for larger-scale battles for the Zulu War than TS&TF could handle easily. I've gone blank on the name, but I bet someone else here can remember them. I even have a copy in a stack in a cabinet but since a recent house move it would be difficult and time-consuming to dig for them. Still unpacking.

The other set I believe he used for the Zulu war is Every Man A Briton – also available at Sergeants3

DisasterWargamer: With utmost respect I think the "Big Battle" version of TSATF DisasterWargamer you had in mind is, "EIGHT HUNDRED FIGHTING ENGLISHMEN (the Colonel and the Band)" -- often referred to as 800FE. "Every Man A Briton" is another TSATF variant where all players are on the British side and the Zulus are controlled by mechanics built into the rules.

One more vote for Battles for Empire 2.