Boer War rules

[james27]

Hi guys,
I'm looking into the Boer War, does anybody know a good rule set to use?

[Luddite]

I ditched my Boer War project precisely because i couldn't find any decent rules for the asymmetric nature of the battles.

The closest i could find were perhaps Principles of War, but i didn't like the way the base sizes looked.


Good luck with your search and let me know if you find a decent ruleset that does the job.   

[Jerrylee]

Could you not use Black Powder?

[mollinary]

I think Realistic Modelling Services sell one, produced by Real Time Wargames, the same people who produce the To the Last Gaiter Button FPW rules (which I strongly recommend).  That said, I have not played their Boer War stuff, so cannot give a direct recommendation.

Mollinary

[Luddite]

Could you not use Black Powder?

How would BP model 4000 Boers fighting in open skirmish lines from concealment at 1000+ yards against 17,000 British in moderate and close order, with the Boers utterly destroying the British (as at Colenso)?


The problem with the Boer War is that almost all the battles were asymmetrical, with the Boers technologically and tactically outclassing the British who hugely outnumbered them.  I've not yet found rules that effectively model those differences.  Principles of War are the closest, as each unit represents the 'effectiveness' of the troops as much as their numbers/organisation, but there are too many Boers on the table so it doesn't look right.

Of course you could downscale, and to skirmish to tactical level gaming and it'll work ok, but i wanted to run the large battles.

[Bernie]

Hi

Depends upon the phase of the war and the scale you want to fight.

For the big affairs of "Black Week" when Imperials were defeated left, right and centre in a series of set piece battles were very different from the late war affairs which though they involved many more Imperials troops tended to be fought at company level or less as they tried to hunt down the "bitterenders" kommandos of perhaps a few hundred men or less.

Starting with the last first we have been working on or off with a skirmish game of the later stage of the war trying to concentrate of the sweeps of the Imperial as they tried to drive the Boer Kommandos against the blockhouses that were set up to ensnare and force to surrender the last Boers. As it stands this is a normal two sided game.

As mentioned earlier: how do you game the assymetry of the set-piece battles. Hidden Boer units, blundering Imperial attacks in Close Order, ineffective artillery as they cannot see the enemy etc. Then add in the fact that after lovingly painting the Boers they are all hidden from the enemy and not deployed on the table. Well after all of 5 minutes we came to the conclusion - do not bother playing the Imperials. Everyone is a Boer player and then look at the problems they had - variable quality units from the excellent ZARPs to the foreign volunteers, no proper command system and lots of friction between the Army commander and the senior Boer Kommando leaders. For the non-played British we draw a set of cards which gives them their forces (always outnumber the Boers but a mix of infantry, cavalry/mtd inf and art) and style of attack (Close Order: will press on but take heavier losses or Open Order: will go to ground if take losses). This means all the figures can be deployed on the table making for a nice looking game and the tension for the Boer players is still kept because they can abandon their position if things look tough as preservation of their men was far more important than holding a piece of real estate. As Mollinary mentioned earlier set is called "By Jingo" from Realistic Modelling Services

See link below for some pics of a representative game from Keith Warren's extensive Pendraken collection

http://s1213.photobucket.com/albums/cc461/BernardGanley/By%20Jingo%20Boer%20War%20Rules/

[alanl]

I am intending to use Bloody Big Battles for the Boer War in 10mm.  There are mods and scenarios on the BBB Yahoo group.

[Shedman]

Bloody Big Battles has historical scenarios and specific rules for the Boer War in the scenarios

[Leman]

I too would go with Bloody Big  Battles. There is a growing number of free Boer War scenarios to download on the BBB Yahoo group. Incidentally there are a huge number of other free downloads for the rules stretching from the Napoleonic Revolutionary Wars through to WWI. For the very late C19th and early C20th centuries not only are there scenarios for the Boer War, but also the Sudan, the Russo-Japanese War and the Balkan Wars (these are very thoroughly covered). 

For a different approach you could try the Peter Pig Square Bashing rules - these use 6" squares so do not require any measurement. The rules are in one book and army lists (from the Spanish-American War to the Chaco War) are in a second volume. Each army list also includes the events in a campaign leading up to your battle, which can affect your troops on the field, reserves and army assets, also on the army list  - these include things like barrages, balloons, shock assault, hasty defences etc. There is even provision for the British to use an armoured train in the battle.

I thoroughly enjoy both these sets of rules. They are also ideal for use with 10mm figures (despite Peter Pig being a 15mm manufacturer) and have given my gaming experience a real boost over the last four or five years.

[rim66]

I'd suggest a look at A Mere Question of Pluck from TooFatLardies in the 2016 Christmas Special (I think).

Kind regards,

Richard

[Chris Pringle]

Since people have been kind enough to mention BBB, let me list the Boer War scenarios already available from the files of the BBB Yahoo group:
https://uk.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BBB_wargames/info

Modder Spruit (Ladysmith)
Magersfontein
Colenso
Spion Kop

The Paardeberg scenario is also finished but will not be posted until after playtesting.

I may say that Anton's scenarios really do capture the asymmetric feel, without making the Boers "supertroops". Some AARs on the BBBBlog:
http://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.com/search/label/Boer%20War

Chris

[alanl]

For BBB Boer War games, I am thinking for a base of infantry to have a row of 4 figures with 2 skirmishers in front of them on a 25 or perhaps 30mm wide base, 25mm deep.  This would be to suggest a main body with skirmishers thrown out to the front.  For cavalry, 3 figures in a row on the same frontage.

How do you think this would work in 10mm: woukd the base be too crowded?

[FierceKitty]

While I was flirting with my ancestors' killing each other in the Transvaal, I tried asymmetrical victory conditions: Brits were almost certain to sweep the field, but lost victory points for casualties at a rate that made Boer shooting a major fear, since the attackers could score a tactical victory but a strategic defeat.

It wasn't altogether unsuccessful, but not exciting enough to keep the project alive, and the Boers all learned to sing "I Wish I was in Dixie" a little later (they didn't find it too uncongenial).

[steve_holmes_11]

How would BP model 4000 Boers fighting in open skirmish lines from concealment at 1000+ yards against 17,000 British in moderate and close order, with the Boers utterly destroying the British (as at Colenso)?

Simples..

Rate the Boers as light infantry (able to adopt open order) and Sharpshooters.

Light infantry in BP are super-troops compared to their Napoleonic performance:
Zip about, incredibly flexible shooting, very difficult to pin down, no discernable disadvantages.
Sharpshooter adds to their firepower, stick em in cover and they're all but invulnerable.

I can't promise it will yield an interesting game, but the discrepancy in firepower will certainly manifest itself.

[fred.]

But with BP wouldn't you have the problem that the British could just move very quickly into to hand to hand combat where they will be at a big advantage?