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Author Topic: Armoured Trains & Herero Rifles in 1904  (Read 9397 times)

Offline Estorff

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  • Eine große Schnurrbart & Pickelhaube sind alle
    • Cornflower Blue & Corduroy: Wargaming the German - Herero & Nama Wars of 1904-1908
Armoured Trains & Herero Rifles in 1904
« on: April 06, 2015, 05:12:19 PM »
Esteemed railway wargaming enthusiasts;  My German colonial Southwest Africa blog has ventured into a multipart series on the initial fighting during the first days of the German - Herero War of 1904 involving the narrow gauge railway linking Swakopmund on the Coast with Windhuk in the interior.  The first post in this series is now up at  http://omaheke.blogspot.com/2015/04/we-have-fought-three-times-with.html, and deals with the Zwillinge or twin 0-6-0 locomotives that were in use on this feldbahn, some of which were armored during the initial crisis with sandbags and corrugated iron.  The Herero drove back such trains three times and the Germans took a number of casualties before breaks in the could be repaired and rail and telegraph connections were restored.  The final post in the series will address ways to adapt these skirmishes for tabletop wargaming, drawing on period documentation and certain German accounts I have translated into English.  I will likely develop a skirmish scenario for one of these engagements based on Roy Jones and Eric Alvarado's Herero Wars Scenario and Rules Book (itself a variant of TSATF), as Dr. Jones and I did last December for the Battle of Uitkomst.  Regards,
\"crushing the people like this was in equal measure cruel and insane.  One could have saved many of them and their herds, if one had spared them and given them refuge; they had been punished enough.  I suggested this to General von Trotha, but he wanted their complete destruction.\" - L. v.Estorff

Offline juergen c. olk

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Re: Armoured Trains & Herero Rifles in 1904
« Reply #1 on: April 07, 2015, 11:05:14 PM »
Great article.

Offline Michi

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Re: Armoured Trains & Herero Rifles in 1904
« Reply #2 on: April 09, 2015, 06:41:21 PM »
Very good research! Whoever can read German might find this additional information interesting:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwilling_%28Heeresfeldbahn%29
The engines were used by Prussian, Bavarian and Japanies armies...
And this is a great source as well (good photos too!): http://www.klausdierks.com/Eisenbahnen/
« Last Edit: April 09, 2015, 06:43:09 PM by Michi »

 

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