Another TMWWBK Playtest Game

[Ray Earle]

Mostly not out of choice this is usually how my troops end up when playing

Historically accurate then. 

[guitarheroandy]

One more point:

At the level at which the game is pitched it would be extremely unusual to see more than one type of infantry on the NWF. You really shouldn't see British troops at all if less than a brigade is being fielded, and then there'd normally be one battalion, and two or three Indian battalions.

Thank you. Yes, I am fully aware of troop composition on the Frontier. I have read widely on the subject. However, as I said earlier, gaming this is about period feel and fun for me, not about recreating exact campaigns, orbats, etc. I have Sikh, Gurkha, Guides and  British models. Why on earth wouldn't I field them on my gaming table? You'll note that i have 1 British to 2 Indian units to match the battalion strengths you mention above in an attempt to get something 'right' (ish!)

I do realise and fully understand that some people want to be 100% historically accurate with all this stuff and that's great - just look at Atheling's attention to detail in his Sudan project. It's just brilliant attention to detail and will look absolutely great when it's finished (it's looking blooming good now!!).

However, I can't be bothered with any of that. If the British soldier model has a pith helmet and puttees, he'll do for me. E.g. For Boer war (2nd Boer war) games, I'll be using my Khaki painted Empress models, my Artizan  Afghan war models, my Perry Sudan Highlanders...oh...and my Foundry Boer War Maxim crew! It's what I have and it'll do for me, preponderance of wrong rifles and wrong kit being irrelevant. Similarly, I just want to get the feel of the NW Frontier with a mix of Brit and Indian units. I realise that for some people, that makes me a kind of a heretic...sorry....  

[Ray Earle]

Nah, you sound like exactly the same type of gamer as me Andy. 

The moment Mike gets round to adding the Bengal lancers to his range there'll be some winging their way to my collection to fight alongside the Leicestershires and Guide infantry. Damn the historical accuracy!  Why collect a period with such an amazing range of troops in a wonderful range of uniforms if you can't include a little bit of everything?

This looks like just the game to allow me to do it too!

[guitarheroandy]

Spot on there Ray! I think you'll enjoy these rules...

[Leigh Metford]

Do I take it that historical accuracy isn't a concern, then?

For those for whom it might be, one could easily get around the problem by using a set of rules that employed individually based 28mm figures, but which set the battalion as the basic manoeuvre unit, for one's mixed troop type games, and use only one troop type with TMWWBK. 

[Atheling]

Thank you. Yes, I am fully aware of troop composition on the Frontier. I have read widely on the subject. However, as I said earlier, gaming this is about period feel and fun for me, not about recreating exact campaigns, orbats, etc. I have Sikh, Gurkha, Guides and  British models. Why on earth wouldn't I field them on my gaming table? You'll note that i have 1 British to 2 Indian units to match the battalion strengths you mention above in an attempt to get something 'right' (ish!)

Quite right too- if you want to field such units, you shouldn't need a major reason.

I do realise and fully understand that some people want to be 100% historically accurate with all this stuff and that's great - just look at Atheling's attention to detail in his Sudan project. It's just brilliant attention to detail and will look absolutely great when it's finished (it's looking blooming good now!!).

Thank you Andy. I love to mix the historical with my collections. to me that is part of the hobby. Emphasis on to me.  Andy knows me well enough through former WAB Campaign weekends and various fora to know that I get caught up in the details and get a bit of a kick out of it.Having said that, what is wonderful about our hobby is that it allows for everyone to make their own interpretations and decisions about what they would like to field. Each to their own as the saying goes.

However, I can't be bothered with any of that. If the British soldier model has a pith helmet and puttees, he'll do for me. E.g. For Boer war (2nd Boer war) games, I'll be using my Khaki painted Empress models, my Artizan  Afghan war models, my Perry Sudan Highlanders...oh...and my Foundry Boer War Maxim crew! It's what I have and it'll do for me, preponderance of wrong rifles and wrong kit being irrelevant. Similarly, I just want to get the feel of the NW Frontier with a mix of Brit and Indian units. I realise that for some people, that makes me a kind of a heretic...sorry....  

And of course, this 'angle' is just as valid and valuable to the hobby as my own.

Darrell.

[guitarheroandy]

Do I take it that historical accuracy isn't a concern, then?

For those for whom it might be, one could easily get around the problem by using a set of rules that employed individually based 28mm figures, but which set the battalion as the basic manoeuvre unit, for one's mixed troop type games, and use only one troop type with TMWWBK. 

It depends what you mean by 'historical accuracy'. I have one Brit unit to 2 Indian. That's 'historically accurate' at the appropriate scale, but obviously I have 'played fast and free' with the unit scale. Thus far all my playtests have given historically plausible results and that's always an acid test with me for any rules.

If I was planning a convention demo involving a re fight of Maiwand (for example) I wouldn't use these rules and I'd approach my model collection very differently. But yes, you could easily field, e.g.  3 Sikh 'sections' as an army on the Frontier with TMWWBK. Very easily. That's part of the joy of it. One can enjoy games using whatever models one already has ( which is what I am doing) or one can plan specific forces as you suggest.

This way, everyone is happy.