Congo in the Caribbean

[SteveBurt]

Having read the ‘Congo’ rules I’m keen to try them, but of course I don’t have any Darkest Africa figures (apart from a pack of Foundry explorers bought for reasons which now escape me)

But then I thought:
Steamy jungles. Greedy foreigners in search of loot and slaves. Cannibal natives. Hey, that’s the West Indies in the 18th century.
So instead of White Men expeditions we have a Naval landing party, and instead of Zanzibaris we have Pirates, and of course the local Carib Indians helping both sides.

Game report to follow!

A shot of the table set up:

[MaleGriffin]

Brilliant! I'd love some after action reports!

[Hobbyone]

very good idea. Pictures please...
Fred

[dinohunterpoa]

 

[axabrax]

Interesting. I have been thinking something similar--using Congo for expeditions into South America, the Caribbean, or even Borneo, The Philippines, India, or Central Asia. Basically you need a colonial column, a low tech indigenous culture, and something akin to mid tech level Arabs. This is surprisingly easy to map to many different 19th/early 20th century locales.

[SteveBurt]

Well, it worked really well! The two columns were:
Naval Landing Party (White Men expeditions)
Explorer, Retired (Naval) Officer
4 Marines (soldiers)
4 Sailors (trained askaris)
5 Armed Settlers (askaris)
5 Young Warriors (carib indians)
6 Archers (carib indians)

Pirates (Zanzibaris)
Emir, Brute (a Foundry chap holding a severed head)
5 Pirates with muskets (Zanzibaris)
5 Pirates with muskets (Zanzibaris)
5 Fierce Pirates with Cutlasses, belaying pins, etc (Baluchis)
5 Young Warriors (Carib Indians)
3 Scouts

We played scenario 1 - the last Queen of Aksoum, so the naval party started in camp, with the Pirates blocking their route off table (apart from one group which was deployed behind them to sack the camp). The fierce pirates started off table, ready to intervene at the right spot.
Exhaustion took its toll early on (two groups had panic tokens, and a couple took casualties), then the firing started as the pirates blasted away from cover. The Naval party responded, then sent in some of their Indian allies to flush the pirates out, destroying one group which was led by the Brute, but not before he had decapitated a couple of men.
The party of warriors who were supposed to sack the camp were delayed first by a panic caused by exhaustion, then by the appearance of a puma near them (no lions in the new world!). Meanwhile, the soldiers, led by the explorer, who was carrying the mask, had started a desperate rush toward the table edge. The retired office went down in a hail of cutlasses fighting the fierce pirates, but the resulting stress on them reduced their effect. The explorer's group was whittled down first by musket fire, then by an attack from warriors allied to the pirates; they killed the explorer and ran off with the crown! A chase ensued, but the triumphant pirates finished with the treasure (along with loot picked up from exploring).
A great game really enjoyed it, and you certainly don't need Darkest Africa figures to use these rules; they are very thematic for pirates!

[Romark]

A great idea,love it 

[Captain yapudo]

GREAT IDEAA...."MOUSSAILLONS"...

[Argonor]

This kind of 'thinking out of the box' is exactly what the hobby needs LOTS of! 

Dave and Mila (Pulp Alley) have set a good example, directly recommending the use of their rules for various settings, and this example is right up my alley, as I like to use the minis I have (or can get a bargain on), instead of having to start a new collection every time I find a new set of rules I really like.

[joroas]

Easily translatable to the FIW too, then?

[Argonor]

Easily translatable to the FIW too, then?

I have only played a single game, and do not own the rules, yet, but from what I have seen, yes. Anything with natives versus natives, or natives vs motley crews of europeans, etc., set in a period with muskets/rifles and bows/spears should work.

The Zanzibaris/Baluchis could probably be represented by settler militia, or more well-equipped native tribes/nations.

[SteveBurt]

You could probably do FIW, yes. I have lots of figures for that period as well, but I'm happy with Muskets & Tomahawks and Sharp Practice.
The 'pulp adventure' theme of Congo really fits well with pirates, as does the jungle/savannah setting. You'd want to adapt things a bit for North America, I'd think (e.g. the random events tables).

[Timmo]

Really like this. Very cool. I've thought about doing Up the Amazon or similar with Aztec and Incas plus Pirates. I don;t have Congo rules so not sure how it would translate. I've wanted an excuse to paint some Foundry Aztecs for years.

[dinohunterpoa]

This kind of 'thinking out of the box' is exactly what the hobby needs LOTS of! 

I like to use the minis I have (or can get a bargain on), instead of having to start a new collection every time I find a new set of rules I really like.

YESSS!!!