Fighting Down Under

[Bezzo]

A year or so ago I picked up a small book (the text is only 122pp) called “The Australian Frontier Wars – 1788-1838” by John Connor. He attended the University of New South Wales and the bulk of the book was his PhD thesis, which has now been published by UNSW Press, 2002.

The subject is not the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous people which is such a stain on the early history of the colony but militaryactions during the period. Often these were minuscule expeditions of a dozen soldiers, marching off across rivers, jungle, swamp, and desert to fight tiny encounter ‘battles’. Sometimes no fire was exchanged when the enemy melted away or the expedition got lost! And not all fights were one-sided as the aborigines had local knowledge and could pick their moment of combat. They had victories but were bound to lose the war.

All it would take to recreate this warfare would be a few surplus Napoleonic brits, and maybe 20 aborigine warriors. That would be a true-life scale of 1:1, real skirmish wargaming.

I was wondering if anyone had tried this? Especially LAF’fers Down Under tired of the Eureka stockade and Ned Kelly. I can see the potential for some great rules to simulate the “mystical” ability of aborigines to appear out of, and vanish back into, the bush.

[Smokeyrone]

Interesting.  What rules?

  SATF certainly covers the number of figures, but I don't know.   Never really played SATF derivitives were all troops were using muzzleloaders.  (they do have nice stats for what would be the aboriine forces of the time, though)


 If it wasn't muzzleloaders, Gutshot (with some of the mystical rules addendums, for NA Indians, applied and adapted to your aborigines) might be good?

Were there similar battles in later 1800's (kinda "Quigley, Down Under" like times)?   THAT would be a good candidate for Gutshot, or SATF  (remember the British troops in Quigley?).   

(Gutshot  just happens to be our pet western rules, and great for small unit skirmishing, I don't work for Mitchell and Murphy,    )

[carlos marighela]

Must say it has never really caught my fancy. Too much of the squalid, piecemeal genocide aspect outweighs any desire to game the skirmishes. The more representative skirmishes tend to be one sided massacres like Warrigal Creek. For obvious reasons it tends to be a fairly sensitive subject in Oz. I recall there was some 'debate' over rules and figures on TMP some time back. It's not that I'm terribly PC, I am happy to represent Brazilian Indians in games and the history there is just as baleful. Of course in those games teh odds are more even and I'm more interested in the Indians as allies of the variosu European colonial powers.

Eureka stockade? Nope, nothing but an unsightly brawl with some tax evaders. I've always laughed at the mythic nature this has achieved in Australia. Maybe people would view it in a different light if it was explained to them that Peter Lalor was the Hugh Morgan of his day and it's akin to Western Mining, Rio Tinto or BHP saying they don't want to pay mining royalties.

Ned Kelly to mind mind is mostly notable as the complete perversity of mythmaking. Murdering thief who got his just desserts.

[Plynkes]

I seem to recall once some aborigine figures in a nicely-done setting running around with their tackle hanging out. I don't remember seeing any Europeans, though. I think the fellow that made them had skirmishes between rival native bands more in mind than colonial conflict.

Can't remember where I saw this though, sorry.

[Lowtardog]

I seem to recall once some aborigine figures in a nicely-done setting running around with their tackle hanging out. I don't remember seeing any Europeans, though. I think the fellow that made them had skirmishes between rival native bands more in mind than colonial conflict.

Can't remember where I saw this though, sorry.

I think they are either Blaze Away or Cannon Fodder miniatures (cant rmemeber exactly but they are the ones who do Irish War of independance and Frei Korps post 1918) they do Aboriganes etc

[Plynkes]

It is both Blaze Away and Cannon Fodder, the one is the 28mm retailer for the other (though I forget which way round it is).


I don't think these are the ones I was thinking of, though. I think they were conversions or scratch-builds by the chap who posted the pics. It was a long time ago, on TMP maybe.

[Lowtardog]

It is both Blaze Away and Cannon Fodder, the one is the 28mm retailer for the other (though I forget which way round it is).


I don't think these are the ones I was thinking of, though. I think they were conversions or scratch-builds by the chap who posted the pics. It was a long time ago, on TMP maybe.

Yup you are right Blazeawy do a few Aboriganes and Ned Kelly and the gang only

http://www.blazeaway.com.au/Australian%20Colonial.htm

If I recall the police force had a distinctive helmet very much like a Prussian one.

[starkadder]

I'd be going for Carlos' view.

The Eureka Stockade has a significance far beyond the actual event which was nothing more than a squalid drunken brawl with a few guns. From memory it was a couple of volleys and around 10-15 minutes and home in time for handcuffs and crumpets.

The spin of the time predisposed people to accept the plucky miners against the heartless troopers.

I don't know why it is but Carlos' unease at the "Frontier' encounters is quite common in Australia. I share it. We seem to be far more relaxed about belting up little tin people in all sorts of other contexts but not here (Oz). Go figure.

Having said that, I have long advocated a range of bushranger figures. Some of those blokes are seriously interesting. And Ned Kelly was a prat.

[Smokeyrone]

I think some folks have an aversion to certain games, even when the negatives of said are to be found in similar games, and that's fine.  Just a personal perogative.   

I think Bezzo's scenario is interesting.  Then again, I thought of doing a Haitian Independence game (with French and British) but for some reason, all that atrocities by everyone, and all the horrible deaths by Yellow Fever, just didn't sit well with me.  No problems gaming lots of other, equally appalling episodes, that particular one just turned me away. (I have a romantic view, and I don't like gaming "sick troops".  All my figures, native, European, American, whatever, are in shiny new uniforms, healthy and tanned, and just all around "neat" ) 

I don't consider it any different than eagerly selecting , or not, a period based on liking or disliking the uniform/army style/weapons and tactics/historical interest.



Don't think Carlos has a problem with others  playing this, he just won't. (sorry if I misinterpreted you, C  )


Anyhoo, Bezzo, what rules would you use?  Could the rules be used for other British engagements (skirmish, obviously) during that time?  (Trouble in India, West indies, etc.?)  There are plenty of great scenarios in that period, that are 'black powder" era AND skirmish, and thus not SATF condusive.   Thanks

[Smokeyrone]

Any sort of Horse and Musket skirmish rules. When I have done skirmish games I still fall back on variations of the ones in Don Featherstones book, and use percentage dice.

The usual approach is to view each situation as it arises,  guesstimate the %age of the options and roll the bones. More than most games I think skirmish games benefit from "getting into the spirit" and arriving at a result that seems 'right' rather than referral to cross-indexed tables. 

A mis-fire on a musket might cost you the game but if that figure survives his escape becomes part of his "history". When each miniature is an individual that aspect takes on its own life. You begin to move them around just a bit more cautiously.

That sounds good.  I have Featherstones book.  I play around with "Stand To", which is by Steve Winter.  A neat, short, free rules system that focuses on individual figures, making quick decisions, in turns lasting @ 15 seconds in scale    time.  (It might take three or more turns to see a threat, decided on a reaction (duck, no choice, its a reaction to a bullet or spear whizzing by,  then consciously draw a weapon, then aim, and   fire)  Might work in this type setting (it works for 5-10 five man team, vs 12-20 natives awfully well)


Take a gander.  Only a handful of pages, and some useful stuff to adopt for anyone's rules:

http://home.comcast.net/~tsrstevew/StandTo/standtopg.html

(I esxpecially enjoy the signalling/commands aspects (hand signals, verbal commands, etc.  and the "history" as you mentioned, represented by "experience/reactions" here.)

[carlos marighela]

Smokey is right, I don't really mind what other people choose to play, that's their prerogative. Matter of personal taste.

As I said in Australia the topic is rather sensitive. In part that's because bound up with the 'history wars' of last decade where competing views of Australia's indigenous history were aired. The right wing revisionist view was championed heavily by the most unpleasant Prime Minister in the nation's history a diehard racist and a highly divisive character.

My own aversion comes from reading accounts of settler inspired massacres. In the 1970s there was a discovery along the 90 mile beach in Gippsland of skeletal remains, including those of women and children, whose arms had been bound and then were shot or clubbed to death. This was vestigal evidence of the terrible massacre of the Kurnai people. For what it's worth this sort of thing was against official colonial policy and involved no troops but then again that's true of much of these incidents.

There's a mini industry of authors and aspiring academics to fashion 'new' history due to a perceived lack of it in  European Australia's relatively brief existence.  There was a rash of documentaries and books trying to elevate a minor prison rebellion at Vinegar Hill into some sort of Australian bunker Hill.

[AzSteven]

Not really all that familiar with early Australian history, specifically related to colonists or regulars in pitched fights with the aborigines.  My impression is that the aboriginals retained a much more stone age nature in the face of the colonists than was the case for native americans during the colonization of this continent.  I would think, from a gaming standpoint, the one-sided nature of the fighting would be a problem. 

By contrast, a North American in that same rough time period or earlier has two sides with relatively comparable strengths - for example on a French and Indian War scenario the colonists are maybe a bit better armed, the indians and their French allies are maybe a bit more numerous and woods-crafty.  Weapons are not too overpoweringly different between the two sides.  I don't know if that dynamic would apply for Australian history.

[Plynkes]

Turns out the ones I was trying to remember were 15mm:





>>>Link<<<

[Smokeyrone]

Turns out the ones I was trying to remember were 15mm:





>>>Link<<<

YESSSS!  Plynkes has joined the 15mm Colonial Revolution!  How does it feel, to embrace the one true scale? 

  Climb aboard, plynkes!  Get in Smokey's train! 

 

BTW, thanks, that is a good looking game.  Looks very Australian, the terrain I mean. 

[Poiter50]

At the IWF tournament in 2005, one competitor ran an Australian Aborigine army in 15mm, a very interesting group. I think the only major or significant result was against a Polynesian or Maori army. I can't remember where the figures came from but they may have been the same source as Plynkes.