Zulu wars-Crossing the Nyezane

[DintheDin]

Last Saturday Miltiades and I played the Nyezane crossing scenario, borrowed from the Matakishi’s blog which is for years our constant source of inspiration:

http://www.matakishi.com/zulusgamereport.htm

with some tweaks as the game was played with Miltiades’ colonial rules

A lot of inspiration we had also from Matakishi's   The crossing of the Nyezane river thread:

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=80767.0

22 January 1879

History: The British coastal column moving up the north coast towards Ondini via Eshowe, crossed the Nyezane River and was about to commence its advance up the track towards Eshowe when the Zulu army was observed. The British launched an attack and the Zulus retaliated but the British were able to repulse it.

Here is the map as drawn from Matakishi and a copy of Miltiades' colonial rules

[DintheDin]

ZULU! Scenario: The crossing of Nyezane

Terrain:

-Table 1,80x1,20cm
-Nyezane river. Crosses the West and South table edge. Has one single crossing
-A Zulu Kraal at NW edge
-One road crossing the table from S to N.
-Two hills, 60x30cm each side of the road at the North
-Five bush clumps
-Three tree clumps (woods)

Forces:

British:
North of the river:
3 infantry units (16 figs each), 1 cavalry unit (6 figs),  one Gatling gun (4 figs)
South of the river:
1 infantry unit (16 figs), 1 cavalry unit (6 figs), 1 artillery unit (4 figs), 2 wagons (4 figs), 3 mule wagons with supplies (4 figs). Cavalry can dismount and fight as infantry

Zulu:
10 impis (20 figs each), one of them is Veterans, Half impi (10 figs) guarding the Kraal and
4 rifles units (8 figs each)

Victory conditions:

British:
To exit 2 out of three supply units (mule wagons) from the North edge of the road or to destroy the Kraal. For the Kraal to be destroyed at least 6 British figs must be inside, (infantry  or dismounted cavalry) without hand-to hand fighting for at least 2 rounds.
Or to destroy 10 Zulu units

Zulu:
To eliminate 60 British figs, or to have destroyed all three supply wagons.

[DintheDin]

Gatling scenario rule:  1: no kill. 2,3,4,5 kills respective number of figs. 6: Gatling jams

Troops deployment:

British:
North of the river: 3 infantry units and the gatling, up to 30 cm from the crossing. One cavalry unit up to 40 cm from the crossing.
South of the river: 1 infantry unit, 1 cavalry unit, artillery unit, άμαξα νο1, wagons. Each round, one unit passes the river and is obliged to stop at the edge of the opposite side. Which unit will pass the river, is at the option of the British player.  The last unit to cross, must be the infantry.
 
Zulu:
6 impis or rifle groups are set at NW and NE corner (near the white arrows) as well as the guards in the Kraal. Each round after the third, one D6 is thrown. 6: One Zulu unit enters from both arrows. 2,3: one unit from SW. 4,5: one unit from SE. 1 fails. Which unit enters (regular impi, veterans, rifles) is decided by the Zulu player.

Terrain-Visibility:

At the start, all Zulus are invisible. The Zulu player has 10 counters, 6 of them real, (impi or rifle units) and 4 dummy. He sets them up near the white arrows and moves them.
The British player can spot the real Zulu unit strength either if he approaches at 15cm distance or if the Zulu unit shoots. Then the Zulu player reveals his counter . The dummy counters symbolize a few scouts, with no fighting strength, who have been sent there for decoy. Then the counter is withdrawn and the Zulu player deploys his real force around it.
Bushes, woods and the Kraal offer soft cover from shooting. 
Any figure fighting uphill or defending the Kraal  fence, gets a +1 hand-to-hand bonus.

Zulu morale:
Whenever a Zulu unit reaches more than half of its figures lost, a D10 is thrown. If the number is greater than the figures remaining, this unit flees and is eliminated next round. Exception: If the fleeing unit is 15 cm from the Kraal, seeks refuge in it.
But in no case the Kraal may contain more than 20 Zulu figs.

Here are the counters I made for the game. The reverse shows an impi. The face: 7 regular impis, 1 veteran, 4 rifle units and 4 dummy.   

[DintheDin]

The British troops North of the river and the Zulu Kraal

[DintheDin]

As Miltiades is always seeing the Queen in his sleep, he took the British and the bad guys remained for me.
I started spreading my counters left and right, trying to envelop the head of the British column.
 
The rightmost counter in the first pic (the right horn) were the Veterans, among the rest counters were four dummies and two rifle units who would stay under concealment behind the bushes.

[DintheDin]

The British advance. One more impi enters from the Northwest corner.

[DintheDin]

First contact: Zulu riflemen reveal their presence from the bushes and two British fall. The British volley sends two Zulu riflemen to the other world.
The Veteran impi rushing to attack!

[DintheDin]

The British fanning out to take full advantage of their devastating firepower...

[DintheDin]

As the British approach the bushes and the woods, more and more Zulu units are revealed!
Moreover, I managed each round to bring one more Zulu group from NE or NW...

[DintheDin]

Hundreds of Zulu warriors emerge from the woods in a wild charge!

[Malamute]

Splendid stuf, it's great to see the story unfold.

[DintheDin]

Splendid stuf, it's great to see the story unfold.

Thank you! Hold your breath, the end is a thriller!
The two first impis to emerge, as well the Veterans, were decimated and fled, but the British had their own toll...
One time, I was afraid that Miltiades was possessed by the Queens spirit, after bringing a handful of aces-deuces, he banged his hand on the table and shouted that he'd never allow the British to lose and that my scenario tweak was favoring the Zulus...  The real truth is that I made some economy to my forces throwing the impis is successive waves, sacrificing the first, so the second remained intact, plus some devil's dice I had in some rounds 
 

[DintheDin]

But also Miltiades used a clever tactic. Shooting, falling back, dressing his lines, shooting again...
The cannon made a carnage and the gatling never jammed, but I managed to neutralize them and my last impis are entering the table...

[DintheDin]

The wagons are still crossing the river. One more British infantry unit will be the last to cross.

[DintheDin]

The peak of the fight!