Friday 11 May 2018

Darkest Africa: Donnybrook

Another week, another set of rules - this week it was Donnybrook, from the League of Augsburg team - http://leagueofaugsburg.blogspot.co.uk/

I'm looking for a set of rules (a) to use for a display game at our clubs show (http://www.durhamwargames.co.uk/show/index.htm), and (b) to use as a generic skirmish set that we can dip into from time to time without having to spend time re-learning a complex set of rules every time we play.

I'd heard good things about Donnybrook, which seems to me to be a cross between Sharp Practice and Bolt Act action, with a mechanic that I particularly like which is the different dice sizes to match different abilities (d6, d8, d10, d12). Though it is period specific, apparently it started out life as a Darkest Africa set, and is readily amendable in true toolkit fashion!

I have added some more terrain and figures to my setup this week, including some native villagers, a corral and animals, a campfire and an extra foot of table (making 5' x 3') complete with dedicated village tile.

 

The game itself used some amendments I'd knocked up (liberally borrowing some ideas from the Chris Peers set 'In the Heart of Africa'.

The Forces

Natives:

1 x Native Chief (Character)
1 x Witchdoctor (Character)
1 x Warriors (in 5s)
3 x Spearmen (in 5s)
1 x Musketeers (in 5s)
2 x Archers (in 6s)
1 x Pygmy Archers (in 6s)

Explorers:

1 x Explorer (Character)
1 x Allied Zanzibari Sheik (Character)
1 x White Men (in 3s)
1 x Soldiers (in 4s)
1 x Heavily Armed Askari (in 4s)
2 x Askari (in 5s)
2 x Allied Zanzibari Askari (in 5s)


Unit Statistics

UnitsAbilityShootingCombatMoraleWeaponSpecial
Native Chiefd12d10d12d12Assegai: Heavy Weapon; Shield: ParryReroll misses in combat
Witchdoctord10d10d10d10Staff: Heavy WeaponCurse
Warriorsd8-d8d8Assegai: Heavy Weapon; Shield: Parry 
Spearmend8-d8d8Spear: Martial; Shield: Parry 
Musketeersd6d6d6d6Old Musket: Range 16"; Reload; Misfire; Hand Weapon 
Archersd6d6d6d6Bow: Range 12"; Move and Fire 
Pygmy Archersd8d8d6d8Pygmy Bow: Range 10"; Move and FireTreat soft cover as hard cover
       
UnitsAbilityShootingCombatMoraleWeaponSpecial
Henry Morton Stanleyd12d12d12d12Rifle: Range 30"; Hand WeaponDisciplinarian
Shiek Y'Abouted10-d10d10Big Chopper: Heavy WeaponRe-roll misses in combat
White mend10d10d8d10Rifle: Range 30" OR Pistol: Range 10", Move and Fire; 
Soldiersd10d10d10d10Rifle: Range 30"; Hand Weapon 
Askarid8d8d8d8Musket: Range 24"; Reload, Hand Weapon 
Heavily Armed Askarid8d8d8d8Rifle: Range 30"; Hand Weapon 

I decide to drop some of the dice a grade, to reflect some of the ideas I had about ability. The differences between Warriors and Spearmen in the native faction are there to reflect different styles of fighting...something I may tweak in future. Also, because the muskets were mainly modern, I judged that Misfire wouldn't be appropriate. We kept it for the poorly maintained native musketeers though, and reduced their range accordingly.

I made up a set of cards using a double-sided colour printer, and some Ultra Pro Regular Toploaders (set of 25) which were excellent for the purpose.

The Scenario

The scenario was essentially a rules learning exercise.

The explorers were looking for safe passage for their caravan, and a group of Zanzibar Merchants had offered to show them the way.....of course, the Zanzibar player had a side mission, in that they were really slavers, and had to capture some of the villagers.

The natives were aware of the slavers presence, and simply had to defend their village.

The Game




 
The natives deployed across a broad front, archers on the wings, with pygmy archers in ambush.

 
The Explorers and their Zanzibar allies entered the table in line, just in case their was trouble!

 
Stanley, and the group of white men (2 x pistols & 1 x rifle) accompanied the booty!

 
This is where the rules came as a bit of a surprise to one of the players - he had expected to get a shot off with his elite soldiers, but the random unit activation meant the natives were on him (they can really get a lick on, moving 12" - 6" move, and a further 6" in their charge phase)...three kills on contact (units charging fight first, a la Games Workshop/Bolt Action etc. Combat is simultaneous in future turns) before any response could be made, and the soldiers immediately routed...!

 
Progress for the natives wasn't as good on the other flank, and ta unit found itself surrounded by Zanzibaris.

 
Meanwhile, the supporting archers advanced into terrain, using their "move and shoot" ability to good effect.

 
On the other flank, the Zanzibari Sheik saw off all comers...

 
The villagers were oblivious to their impending peril!

 
The Sheik was finally cut down by the Warriors...specifically designed as character killers, with their heavy weapons.

 
The Pygmys sprung their ambush, advancing to shoot Stanley and the white men...

 
...and cutting down the white men with their fire!

 
Stanley faced the charge, as the Pygmys moved in for the kill!

 
The booty tried to get out of the way, not seeing the Witchdoctor in the forest...!

 
Meanwhile, Stanley beat off the pygmy attack...

 
The pygmys got their revenge by shooting Stanley down....he died peppered with arrows!

 
The Warriors, having cut their way through everything in front of them, killed the last remaining askari...

 
...and the booty was theirs...!!!
 
Conclusion
 
An excellent game overall, Donnybrook is fast, furious and exciting...like any character based game, you get out of it what you put into it. I thought that the Explorers firepower would give them an edge, but by failing to form a decent fire line, and allowing the natives to get into combat, they blew their advantage. It was brutal...!
 
Definitely a game we will play again!
 

Friday 4 May 2018

Darkest Africa: Smooth and Rifled

It's been a while since I posted...however, the truth is I have been pumping all of my time into making terrain and painting figures...so far I've completed:
  • around 150 figures, all from the Foundry range
  • 4' x 3' of terrain tiles, using the Sally 4th Terraformers range
  • loads of trees, all made using woodland scenic sprues and materials, together with some Gamers Grass from the Portuguese based company
  • some native huts, all from Grand Manner
There are a few things I still need to do over the coming weeks:
  • More terrain tiles (including a stream and a village base
  • native villager figures (these are done, I just need to base them!
  • domestic and wild animals
  • bric-a-brac....crates of food etc
  • oh....then there is a Force Publique army to paint up!!!
So I guess it is about time to start showing off some of the work, today using a set of rules called Smooth and Rifled, published by Dadi and Piombo, and available on Wargames Vault as a PDF.

There are also numerous period specific supplements all available for free on the S&R Blog.

The scenario was a simple one, as follows:

Scenario

The Explorers have made a friendly alliance with a Native Village, and are enjoying their hospitality. The Zanzibaris are aware of their presence and wish to capture their supplies.
Deployment
The Natives/Explorers must deploy within the central 2 squares of the 4’ x 3’ board.
The Zanzibaris move on table from any table edge (and a minimum of two table edges)
Victory
The Zanzibaris win by capturing the 4 x Bearers from the Explorer force. To capture, a figure must move into contact with the bearer, and lead him away. To lead him, he can only make 1 move per turn. 3 bearers captured means victory, any other result is a defeat.

The Table



The Forces

Zanzibar Force 1
AV=2/2/3; C=4; Impetus, Fast Mob
1 Leader, (Officer) small shield and sword, 24 pts
1 Leader, small shield and sword, 19 pts
5 Warriors, small shield and sword, Veteran, 5 x 17 pts = 85 pts
4 Marksmen, small shield and sword, Arquebus (16/3), Marksman, Veteran 4 x 24 Points = 96 pts
224 Points

Zanzibar Force 2
AV=2/2/3; C=4;
1 NCO (leader), muzzleloading rifle (30/2), sabre, 25 pts
6 Askari, muzzleloading rifle (30/2), 6 x 18 pts = 108 Points
10 Rugga-Rugga/Musketeers, muzzleloading musket (30/2), No Group Fire, 10 x 13 pts = 130 pts
263 Points

Zanzibar Force 3
AV=2/2/3; C=4;
1 NCO (leader), muzzleloading rifle (30/2), sabre, 25 pts
6 Askari, muzzleloading rifle (30/2), 6 x 18 pts = 108 Points
10 Rugga-Rugga/Musketeers, muzzleloading musket (30/2), No Group Fire, 10 x 13 pts = 130 pts
263 Points

Explorer Force
AV=1/2/3; C=4
1  Chief Explorer (officer-leader) with Breech-loading Rifle (30/1), 32 Points
1 Second in chief (leader), muzzleloading rifle (30/2), 22 pts
4 White Men, muzzleloading rifle (30/2), 4 x 18 pts = 72 points
1 Civilian, Revolver (10/0), 11 points (C=3)
7 Askari, muzzleloading loading rifle (30/2) 7 x 18 pts = 126 Points
4 Porters, 4 x -3 points = -12 points (Group Move Only with Leader/White Man)
Total = 243 Points

Native Force
AV=2/2/3; C=4; Ferocious, Terrain, Skirmishers
1 Leader (Leader/Officer), musket (20/2) 30 points
1 Young Leader (Spear/Shield) 22 Points
1 Witchdoctor (Standard Bearer / Musician), Curse (10/0), 24 Points
5 Warriors (Spear/Shield), 5 x 17 Points = 85 Points
6 Archers, Bow (16/0), 6 x 19 Points = 114 Points
Total = 271 Points



The Game

The game itself was an interesting affair, as we were learning, we decided not to use the morale rules....we would just finish when things looked bleak for one side!






The three Zanzibar commands entered the table on three sides, whilst the Explorers/Natives defended the village forming a perimeter round the Bearers.

Command inertia stifled the Zanzibar attack somewhat, but they were able to fire and reload from the treeline slowly picking off their opponents...however, a quicker re-loading time helped the defending shooters, and damage was done.






The Baluchi mercenaries charged home, and caught a few stragglers, however, they were shot down when stranded in no-mans land.

Eventually the Zanzibar Leader was shot down, and it was game over....but it was a close run thing!!!

Thoughts

On re-reading the rules post-game, I noted that We did do a fair few things wrong which we will correct for next time, however, the main error was in army list construction...it is clear that Officers as well as NCOs are needed to move the game along with group moves...the Zanzibar players suffered from this, 2 of their commands only having an NCO;

I also need to include the Superior Leader for a game as big as we did, to add the extra initiative where needed....this would also have helped;

I do think movement/range is too short, 12cm isn't a lot on a big table for movement...I would work in 1/2" increments rather than cm in future i think and will make measuring sticks up accordingly;

Evades are a bit odd, as it doesn't seem possible to catch evaders...unless I am mistaken (we forgot about the tests to stand as well for the natives who were Skirmishers, but Furious);

Conclusion

Excellent game all round though, with lots of promise...I have always enjoyed PiP based games (which is why I play ADLG regularly) and my regular gaming group enjoyed it too (there were 5 of us). We'll give it another go next week.