Bungwalliland A Misguided African Expedition

[Bob Murch]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1066miniatures/steam-pulp-zulu-war/

A dispatch from the Bungwalli-Station Telegraph

Niles Joins Zulus

A messenger arrived from the Zulu Colony of Bungwalliland bearing a letter from Major Ozmond Niles of the Bungwalli Station Post Office Rifles. In this letter, Major Niles relates that he and the Rifles were instrumental in assisting the Poona Zulus defend their Krall against a rampaging herd of rhinoceros, intoxicated on the infamous hallucinogenic jumba weed. The beasts were trampling crops and property and, most disconcertingly, sleeping in Chief Bonginkosi great hut thereby preventing the business of government from proceeding in an orderly fashion.

As a result, the Poona Zulus have adopted Major Niles and his men as official members of the tribe. Part of the adoption requires the men, now warriors, of the Post Office Rifles to be married to maidens of the tribe in a ceremony this coming week. Major Niles, who normally resides in Bungwalli Station with his mother at their cottage on Primrose Lane, requests that his best Sunday suit be sent with expedient haste. Mrs. Niles was unable to make a comment as she was taken up with a panicked flurry of activity pertaining to wedding invitations and the procurement of an appropriate cake for the occasion.

[FifteensAway]

A decent dose of hilarity is a proper ingredient in most any war-game - and there seems to be a modicum of it about here.

[Bob Murch]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1066miniatures/steam-pulp-zulu-war/

A dispatch from the Bungwalli-Station Telegraph

Skyward Concerns
 
Lieutenant Biddle of the Duke of Gildersleeve’s Own Regiment of Engineers, currently stationed in the Cape Colony, has arrived in Bungwalli Station to carry out a survey for the establishment of an airship refuelling depot. It seems that our absent resident Sir Harry Bottomly, egregious progressive and breeder of the winning cucumber varietal at the Imperial Agricultural Exposition in London, had signed an agreement with the Royal Airship Company to make our peaceful community a key stop in the new aerial route to the Subcontinent.
 
This news has caught the governing body of Bungwalli Station completely by surprise. When reached for comment, Major General Percival Pinwheel Flunderton stated, “Might not a bunch of unreasonably large gas bags hovering over the region interfere with the grouse shooting?” Mayor Carstairs Fleet was more strident, “Harry had no right to do that. Those airships might bring in all sorts of undesirables. I understand those Americans are all about flying hither, tither and everywhere these days.”

As the Queen’s Hotel is suddenly closed for renovations, Lt. Biddle can be contacted at his bivouac in Mrs. Gusset’s sheep pasture outside of town.

[CC2IC]

This is the link for our video reveal of our new logo. A gameplay video is to follow and then more of the project plans. Stay tuned.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_U-ZSqC9VeE&pp=ygUOQ3J1Y2libGUgY3J1c2g%3D

[CC2IC]

At the Top of the World or A Night Stuck in the Pass

The Peni Pal Pass, Bungwalliland Province, Bungwalliland – It was with great sucking breaths that we continued up into the pass that lead to Peni Pal. The heat was oppressive and due to continued water breaks the speed of the column slowed to a crawl. It was at this point that Dame Esmeralda Bottomly, who had met Henry Morton Stanley in Boma, during his trip across Africa in October 1877, called a halt for the night. 

“Surely the bedding on the gosh darn hard stones, I say, of the peepee pass shall be wholly and truely and completely uncomfortable for the men, but I may just willy peete sleep in the saddle. Wouldn’t be the peeled off darned first or second or perhaps even, brrrm hooom last time I will,” piped in Major General Percival Pinwheel Flunderton, who you all will remember won the prestigious Top Score of 1868 at the Oxfordshire Shooting Club.     

As night fell on the pass and the piquet's were placed out in front of the column, strengthened as Dame Bottomly suggested by a fallback position of mealy bags within the first set of sleeping soldiers. No tents were erected as the men found themselves in impossibly close quarters. 

It wasn’t too long dark before the first shots were fired at the piquet’s, who promptly fell back on the forward defensive position in accordance with the orders issued for the conduct of outposts in case of night attacks. Four of the piquet had caught up their rifles and run to the rear of the column, with the sudden panic common among young soldiers when first exposed to night attack. They were placed in arrest for retiring without orders. The matter would not have been worth a moment's notice had not a grossly exaggerated account of the affair been telegraphed to England by a correspondent, who was, in consequence, at once recalled. Not this fellow I assure you. 

Earlier in the evening Major Ripperton himself, owner of the sailing ship “Twice Galled” which is famous for making the trip around the Horn of Africa in twelve days, had taken a small patrol of the Post Office Rifles up the pass to attempt to make it to the harried defenders of the Peni Pass Station. It was determined by this small group of courageous men that the end of the pass was indeed infested by a “tremendous amount of scruffy looking gentleman, clamouring for a dust up.” They returned to the column without success in their mission but prepared the officers and Dame Bottomly with the best information about the situation they had up until this point. 

When asked Dame Bottomly, who you will remember was with Thomas Edison when he demonstrated the phonograph to Scientific America in December 1877. Edison remarked at the time, “the ability to hear the silky tones of Esmerelda's voice when she is off on one of her jaunts kept me at the work until we had an answer.” She replied to me with, “They don’t like it up in em, these fuzzy chaps, and we will show them a right resounding Irish Canadian welcome on the morrow.”

 

With the writing of this article, for your enjoyment, I am looking forward to running the “Relief of Peni Pal Station” Scenario this week. We have set up a game for our shop on Friday to complete this playtest. I have spent months on painting the appropriate figures. The rules have been playtested to a point where we are getting great results, and they are ready to be run for a new crowd. This will bring the project one more step forward in preparation to bringing them out for public consumption. Thanks for all your support so far for our Steam Pulp project. 

[CapnJim]

With the writing of this article, for your enjoyment, I am looking forward to running the “Relief of Peni Pal Station” Scenario this week. We have set up a game for our shop on Friday to complete this playtest. I have spent months on painting the appropriate figures. The rules have been playtested to a point where we are getting great results, and they are ready to be run for a new crowd. This will bring the project one more step forward in preparation to bringing them out for public consumption. Thanks for all your support so far for our Steam Pulp project. 

Yes, well, with the writing of this reply, for your amusement, I, as well as others, of which I am most sure, am looking forward to news regarding the running of the "Relief of Peni Pal Station" scenario this week...

[CC2IC]

As an aside old chap, we have posted the video of the Colonial Crucible rules. It is a brief run through showing one turn of playing the game. It's purpose is to give you an idea of how the game is played. Please let us know your thoughts.

[CC2IC]

Peni Pal Battle - After Action Report
Peni Pal Pass, Bungwalliland Province, Bungwalliland - It is with great trepidation that I bring you the report on the battle that occurred in and around the British Station at Peni Pal. Lady Bottomly, who, as you are all aware, was a letter writer for the Manchester Society for Women’s Suffrage, marched her column in dizzying array out of the pass and onto the plateau at Peni Pal. The Dame herself led the column with her scant but plucky Poona Poona warriors or her right. On her far-left Major Ripper Ripperton, resplendent in his blue officer's uniform which he obviously chose for the day, led the Postal Rifles in a firm line forward. Next to the Major and between him and the Dame came the Bungwalliland Militia. These local fellows, led by his very own self Major General Percival Pinwhee Flunderton, also resplendent in his blue officers jacket. These lads were grim and determined in their desire to defend their new colony from the unwanted intrusion of a mad Guru gone amok. Coming up behind, in the column, the company of the 83rd Irish, three platoons strong and led by Major Royce Adelbert Connaught, of the Munster Connaught’s. The column made a fine display as it fanned out into drill order and moved forward, coming to a halt at the site of thousands of tribesmen barring the pass and in between the column and the poor 9th Lancers led by Lieutenant Arnold Chelmsly Helmsford who were surrounded in their outpost by the riled tribesman. 

As the enemy came into view Flunderton piped up to his men, “What did you gentlemen expect, tea and crumpets! Let’s get this rolling, I hear the curr’s don’t like it up in ‘em. To it!” To which the men answered a rousing hurrah! It was the clearest I had ever heard the old man speak.


The Second Bottomly Expedition, laid out before the game.


Most of the Mad Guru forces, laid out before the game.

Turn #1 – The Column Advances


The game started with the Initiative for the Bottomly Column. They marched on in order and pushed their tribal warriors out in front of the English soldiers. This was to cause a bottle neck in the pass as the Tribal Warriors had no fire arms.

The column quickly observed the guns on the small hill to their front and fire was effectively directed against these dangerous weapons. The mad Guru commented, “If I had known the rules better I would have set my guns up further back.”


In their half of the turn the mad Guru’s forces came on the board from the two flanks, entering and turning toward the column in order to bring the weight of their forces to bare against the advancing column.

Turn#2 – Ready, Aim, Fire!



In the second turn the men of the column had the tribal warriors charge forward in order to clear their lanes of fire and bring more units under the effect of their scalding rifle fire. The tribal warriors ended up getting into two tussles with two different units of the Mad Guru force. They held their own but were definately taking the worst of the fights. Meanwhile the men of the 83rd and the local militia units were able to bring two of the mad Guru’s units under withering fire.



The two most forward of the mad Guru's units were placed well under cover which served to keep some of their figures alive to return fire on the British Column. The mad Guru’s forces continued to close the gap toward the column, and it appeared a big donny brook was going to occur in the upcoming turns.

After Action – We didn’t get through many turns before a large snow storm whipped into the area and we called it a night. The scenario needs some work as the British felt no impetus to move more than eight inches on the board and start blasting away. Probably the safest of strategies but did nothing to relive the men the in the station. This may be solved by placing a turn restriction on the game. We did not play the action at the station, due to lack of players, so we just sawed off one mad Guru unit to stand as a guard over the cavalry unit and garrison at the Peni Pal station. This seemed to work well for our purposes.

We will be playing this game again on the weekend and I will follow up with a second AAR at that point. 

[CC2IC]

Peni Pal Battle Redoux

We played this scenario again on the weekend. This time with a larger crowd and some new players. They picked up the rules and were running their own action by the end of the day, so that was a good result. They absolutely enjoyed the background to the scenario and the various names of the characters were a hit. It's good to have a good backstory. They did not like the rolling to determine which figure was hit. So that will have to be streamlined. We ran into an interesting situation where a cavalry unit charged out of Ambush to flank a British Unit which then formed square. The cavalry beat the square, but only marginally but it was stuck exposed to flank fire in the next British activation. It worked but seemed like it might be missing the follow on and we may have to work that in. We will discuss. Heck this is what playtesting is for. Other than that a good time was had by all but we didn't get a full resolution. This is a heck of a scenario and needs the opportunity to play it out. Lots of figures involved and lots of excitement going on. So on with the show!

The British defenders of Peni Pal station, stand too as they realize help has appeared to relieve the siege.


The 2nd Bottomly Column marches onto the table in a ready to form square procession.
You can see Major General Flunderton in the middle of the square. The Bungwalli Station Postal Rifles are in Skirmish order and will pay the butcher bill in the upcoming fighting.


The Besiegers Stand Ready at their guns!
They have a Bombard in place for the siege. We had to come up with damage rules as the Bombard hit the walls.


Some Mad Guru Baja Tribal warriors made it into the compound, throwing back their Egyptian opponents off the wall.
The Egyptians on the wall ran off into the desert after a viscous close combat with these fanatical warriors.


The Column, taking some casualties, made it half way up the table, but not before the enemy was within Peni Pal Station.
The Column was going to make it to the station, but would anyone be left alive?


Lady Esmeralda leads the troops forward, but much too slowly for Lt. Helmsford and his men in the station.


The Mad Guru's horde rounds on the column, ready to do more damage as the game came to an end.


Up next is a new video to explain our Colonial Crucible Steam Pulp Phase Two project. I am filming that tomorrow. After that I will be down for a bit as I go off to my surgery. However, I will return with more Crucible Crush goodness after that. Thanks for your continued interest and please let me know if you have any positive suggestions.