A question about force composition - Force Publique

[Fanis]

Hello everyone,

I am putting together a Belgian force for the Congo using Mr. Peers' In the Heart of Africa rules and I have a question if I may.
It says in the rules(well in the army lists book to be exact) that the leader for such a force must be a White Man.
In light of that do I have it correct that in such a case the Leader may be accompanied not only by his 3 attendants but also by a gunbearer (as all White men are)?

Thank you all

[Plynkes]

I would agree with your reading of it. He's a Leader so he gets the three attendants (extra lives, if you will). He is also a White Man, so is entitled to field a gun-bearer too.

Nothing I can see in the rules says otherwise.

[Fanis]

cheers Plynkes; that is exactly what I wanted.

I am going to do a test game this coming weekend with mostly unpainted figs to see how the rules play. I have to say I like how they read though. Quite a bit excited about them in fact.

[axabrax]

Your reading is correct.  You'll find it makes white men extremely hard to kill. I had one German white man in a Colonial expedition hold off 18 Masai warriors in hth combat for about 6 turns once. They are also good shots, but because of the "extra lives" tend to be stronger on defense than offense when they are alone. I like to use them as force multipliers for other units. Have fun--these rules are at once simple and yet tactically deep with great flavour! We love them.

[Fanis]

lads we had our first ever game with the rules this past weekend. I have to say I loved them. I didn't take piccies as 2/3 of the minis were unpainted but the game did give me impetus to get along with painting them.

Just in case someone looks for something of the sort in the future and they find it useful I am posting my list for my Belgian colonial force in the Congo:

---LEADER (has to be a White Man) - 1 figure
          accompanied by 3 Followers - 3 figures
                           and 1 Gunbearer- 1 figure
40 points

---STANDARD BEARER                     - 1 figure
50 points

---WHITE MEN (only two may be fielded as the whole force can't have more than three white men leader included) - 2 figures
                            accompanied by 2 gunbearers - 2 figures
80 points

--- ASKARI UNIT 1 (must have 2-9 men as these are classified as soldiers in the rules)
                             my unit will have the maximum- 9 figures
180 points

--- ASKARI UNIT 2 (must have 2-9 men as these are classified as soldiers in the rules)
                              my unit will have the maximum- 9 figures
180 points

---------
the above will form the nucleus of any basic Belgian force. Armies can have up to 700 points. The one above is 530. You basically have another 170 points to dispose of.

You can add a cannon which is 50 points or a machinegun. Or you can add Bangala musketeers which cost 4 points each and come in units of 8-20something figures. Or a third Askari unit with 8 figures. Using a Scout which costs 50 points is another choice to consider.

Any more experienced players please feel free to comment on the list above, correct it etc.

         

[H.M.Stanley]

Why thank you Fanis. Saves me doing the work now for ITHoA as well as DitDC [grin]

[Fanis]

You're welcome mate. 

[H.M.Stanley]

Sorry, i don't have the book handy. Can the two additional WM also have gun-bearers?
Thanks
James

[Fanis]

Yes mate they can. All White Men come with a free gunbearer. That is assuming you have ranked them as such. A white german officer whom you've ranked as a Regular for the purposes of the game doesn't get a gunbearer. They have to be White Men in the sense of the term that the rules introduce. 

[n815e]

I don't have the rules in front of me, but I'm fairly certain those gunbearers cost points to have them.

[H.M.Stanley]

Hi guys,

I've checked the rulebook (In the Heart of Africa)

Gunbearers are free for a White Man [EDIT: Wrong!! they're 20 pts [slaps own forehead]]. In the basic lists in the RB, the Colonial Expedition force, which can be used for Belgiums etc, may only have 0 - 1 White Men [EDIT: white men - plural!]

The ItHoA Army List supplement may be different.

These things aren't carved in stone. In my usual 300pt games for ItHoA i'd be minded to have one WM (FP Officer) with one or two NCOs as Regulars** even though the basic list in the RB says Belgiums can't use Regulars

Thanks

James

**My NCOs just got upgrades to Whitemen 

[Fanis]

Quite right James.

Oh mate just in case it's not clear when it says 0-1 White Man it means a group of white men. If you have gunbearers accompanying your white men you can have a total of three white men figures (including the leader) in your army. If you don't equip them with gunbearers you can have a total of four white men figures i.e. the 1 White Man group will comprise 3 white men figures and the leader will be the fourth. This is written in the army lists book; don't know if it is also included in the main rules; can't remember. 

[H.M.Stanley]

Ahh, i see - thanks Fanis

I like to think that i covered myself in glory in this thread. Not only did i get it wrong on the Whitemen, Gun-Bearers also cost 20pts (tucked at the bottom of the points list) 

Thanks, James

[Fanis]

Look on the bright side mate! You helped me as well! I have read through the rules 100 times and not once did I notice the fact that gunbearers cost points instead (erroneously) thinking they came free with White Men!!! To put it another way you just added 60 points to my Belgian contingent! 

[H.M.Stanley]

Happy to have helped mate [ducks] ...