You can't talk about wargaming without talking about rules, and you can't talk about wargames rules without getting into, sometimes heated, arguments.
The year 1878 is covered by a number of different wargames rules. Firstly, there are the rule sets for what you might call the 'later horse and musket era', and then there are the colonial rule sets. The problem is, these are usually continents apart in terms of style and substance. What's more, it's far from clear which approach is the best one to use. The battles will be taking place a long way from the green fields of Virginia or northern France but will include a lot of more regular units than the usual colonial border squabble. That said, there will also be a lot of very irregular elements in the campaign, from bashi-bazouks to Afghan tribesmen.
Of course, you don't need to use just one set, you can use several. Indeed, one of the main reasons for fighting a campaign is that it allows you to fight a variety of different types of battle, from small skirmishes to larger battles, from battles against regular armies to ambushes by irregular forces. You can use one set of rules for when Wolseley meets Skobelev in Gallipoli, and another for when Lord Chelmsford takes on Cetswayo.
However, as I like a simple life, I intend to try use one set of rules for all the larger battles, and my choice of rules for this period is currently these by Neil Thomas. These rules aren't everyone's cup of tea, but they are certainly simple. They are inspired by the rule sets of Donald Featherstone and the other early pioneers of tabletop wargaming back in the sixties. As these were the books I borrowed from the library when I was starting out in the hobby this is certainly a plus point for me. Some of Thomas's earlier rules provide only the minimum of actual simulation, even though they did provide fun gaming, however, with this set I think he's finally found a period that suits his style.
But whilst they work for European battles, they really don't for most colonial conflicts. One of the main problems, and one you really can't get round, is the 'paper wraps stone' nature of the rules means they only work when everyone has an equal mix of troops types. There is, for example, absolutely nothing British infantry can do against Boer skirmishers except chase them around the board whilst being shot at, which might be realistic, but isn't much fun. A related problem is that the game is designed for at least ten battalion sized units on each side, whereas in most colonial conflicts the Europeans would be lucky to field more than one. However, for a divisional sized game between British and Afghan regulars, with assorted irregular hangers-on, they do the job.
Now the problem with simple, but finely tuned, sets of rules like these is that you tinker with them at your peril. That's why no DBA variant has ever matched the success of the original. Unfortunately, to get these to work in 1878, a certain amount of tinkering is required.
Rules Additions
As I said, you tinker with rules like this at your peril.
Unit Sizes
They are designed for the clash of large armies where the regiment of battalion is the smallest unit deployed. For colonial battles, where companies or wings (pairs of companies) are often detached to guard the baggage or 'crown the heights'. The rules don't work so well so single base units as they have effectively 'infinite' morale and can't fail a test before they are wiped out. Given the bravery of such company garrisons as the 24th Foot at Rorke's Drift and Hamilton's Guides Infantry at Kandahar, sometimes this might be appropriate. However, as a more general rule, for units that start as a single base they treat each 'hit' in the same way other units treat the loss of a base i.e. they dice for morale and if they fail they lose a second 'hit'. Detachments are immobile and may not move unless they are guarding baggage or acting as pickets, in which case they remain within one move of what they are escorting.
Partly because of the need to leave detachments to guard supply lines and camps, many battalions and regiments went into action well below establishment strength in colonial battles. A British cavalry regiment or infantry battalion in Afghanistan, for example, was considered to consist of 350 men available for action, whereas the figures for Indian units were 700 and 550 respectively. Some units will therefore start a battle with only two or three bases. However, no further rules modifications are required for this.
Related to this, outside of Europe you usually saw fewer and smaller guns. Rarely did batteries consist of a full six guns. Also, in 1878, the standard British field gun at home was the 13 pounder, but in India it was the 9 pounder, and on the Frontier it was usually a 7 pounder mountain gun. We are going to therefore have to have tables for the effectiveness of artillery based on the number and size of guns. See below.
Cover
The basic rules only contain one type of cover, that is woods. As colonial battlefields often consist of nothing but cover, this needs amending. Keeping it as simple as possible I discriminate between hard cover that provides protection from fire and soft cover that doesn't. These are further divided into hard cover that stops bullets but not shells and hard cover that does both, and soft cover that restricts movement and soft cover that doesn't. In addition zarebas provide 'cover' for units defending in melee, but not from fire.
The Russian bombardment of the Turkish at Pleven had no effect. On the Northwest Frontier the British were usually unable to drive tribesmen out of their sangars with rifles, but usually could with mountain guns.
Hard Cover
Troops in Hard Cover can 'hide' from fire if they do not themselves shoot in a turn.
- There is no Hard Cover from the fire of siege guns.
- Hard cover from field artillery is fortification and trenches, including dry rivers.
- Hard cover from small arms is the above, plus sandbags, sangars and brick or stone houses.
Soft Cover
- Steep hills, marshes, soft sand and woods provide cover and hinder movement.
- Bush, long grass and gentle hills provide cover but don't hinder movement.
- Zarebas and picket fences provide cover for defending units in melee only
Unit Types
Trying to make a set of rules for European conflicts work in Africa or Asia is clearly never going to work. However, as long as the more colourful colonial elements are kept to the fringe it is possible. Classifying Afghan hillmen as 'Skirmishers' just about works, and if we take into account the slow rate of fire of the jezail, and the lack of ammunition that characterised all tribal opponents, by assuming a 'base' of Afghans contains twice as many actual men as an equivalent base of Prussian Jager, we can sort of get by.
Skirmishers
Many colonial opponents, from wily Pathans in the hills to Xhosa's stalking the African bush, will be classed as Skirmishers in these rules. To reflect how these guerrilla fighters operate I give them a Conditional Charge and allow them and their opponents, one dice each in hand-to-hand combat. In practise this will mean they can only charge single bases of infantry, which reflects how they fought in real life: picking off isolated detachments guarding supply convoys or 'crowning the heights'.
Close Order and Loose Order
In Europe infantry were almost all fighting in Loose Order by the second half of the 19th century, but against native opponents who charged into contact this wasn't always wise, as the British found out at iSandhlwana. Regular troops therefore continue to have the option to fight in Close Order, although this too can be unwise as the British found out in the First Boer War.
Artillery
Machine Guns
Range 24cm. 3 Dice per base
Mountain Guns
Mountain Guns move as infantry.
They must remain stationary for a turn to change formation from Limbered to Deployed or back again.
Rifled Muzzle Loading Mountain guns
Range 32cm. 2 Dice per Base.
The Ordnance RML 2.5 inch Mountain Gun ('screw guns') introduced in 1879 have a range of 36cm
Smoothbore Mountain Guns.
Range 25cm. 1 Dice per Base (shot)
Range 8cm. 2 Dice per Base (cannister)
Field Guns
9 pounder guns use one less dice than standard artillery.
Horse Artillery
One advantage of lighter guns is that they can move faster. Some 9 pounder guns had larger teams and were horse artillery. Their standard move is 16cm, like Cavalry, but their movement restrictions are still as Artillery.
Siege Guns
Siege batteries usually consist of a mixture of howitzers and guns, which generally stayed smoothbore.
Siege Artillery
Range 48cm. 2 Dice per Base (shot and shell).
Range 8cm. 4 Dice per Base (cannister)
Transport
In European battles transport is something that can be left off-board, but in most colonial theatres leaving your transport unguarded will result in it disappearing. As a result most colonial armies will want to have it on table with them for safe keeping. This means it will need to be depicted by models and so we require rules.
Human bearers move like Loose Order infantry, but don't suffer a penalty for turns.
Mules, camels and elephants move like skirmishers.
Wheeled transport moves like artillery
Transport do not roll dice in melee. Morale will usually be Rabble, but could be higher for Voortrekkers or professional military trains.
Boer Firepower
The Boers are a challenge to colonial rule writers, The way they fought was like a twentieth century army rather than a Victorian one. It's not just that they shot better and took cover better, a close range their firepower actually reduces the firepower of their opponents by making them go to ground. This is going to require some special rules unfortunately.
Boers deploy on the table in battalions ('commandoes') of Loose Order Infantry. However, they move, including being able to move and fire, like Skirmishers. They can't interpenetrate. They may move in line and only count a '1' in melee in all circumstances. They are armed with Later Breechloading Rifles in the period 1878-1880. They do not receive the extra range bonus of Skirmishers.
When Boers are shot at their may make two saving throws for each hit they receive.
When Boers shoot they may place a Pinned marker on an enemy base for each 'hit' they score. A Pinned marker reduces the firepower of that base by one dice. Two Pinned markers prevent the base firing. if a base is lost from the Boer fire one less Pinned marker is placed. Units with Pinned markers may move, but a base with a marks counts as 'lost' when calculating Conditional Charges. A Pinned marker is removed in the opponents Formation Changes move on a successful morale check. Roll each turn for each marker.
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