Shed Wars: Battle of Nyezane

Thursday, 14 June 2018

Battle of Nyezane

Its been a few months since the Shed saw any action from the Anglo Zulu war so it was about time that the figures came out to play. The scenario we opted for is listed in the Warlord publication Zulu as the Battle of Nyezane – fought on the same day as the Battle of Isandlwhana.

The action centred on the British Coastal Column, under the command of Colonel Pearson, whose orders were to advance into the heart of Zulu territory. To do so they had to cross the river Nyezane. A single ford was available for their wagons and supplies. The book details this game as an encounter (more of a what if rather than a historic engagement) with 6000 allied forces up against twice as many Zulus. The premise was simple the British forces had to get at least 50% of their forces over the river to win the game – the Zulus had to inflict 50%+ casualties on the invaders.

The Battlefield running east west

The battlefield was set up across the whole table – once again my Dunelm throws came into play with the desert hills placed underneath to create a rolling terrain. A river ran diagonally across the board running south west to North east. This was bisected by one ford along the track that ran North South.

We agreed that the banks of the river would count as soft cover. Any unit shooting across the river would treat their targets as if in soft cover. This would certainly be to the Zulus advantage if the British never crossed the river.

The river itself was fordable to all units bar artillery with a six inch movement penalty. All ranges and movements were reduced by 1/3^rd according to those listed in the BP rulebook

Finally we agreed that there would be no break point in the game – every unit on both sides would continue fighting until driven from the table, routed or shaken beyond the point they could recover.

The British would enter from the South, the Zulus from the North and Western edges of the table.

Another shot - you can sdee the ground is uneven

In terms of figure count the Zulus had about twice as many figures (approx. half of my AZW collection)

Four of us played the game splitting the forces equally on both sides – Mark and I would control the Zulus and Alastair and Anthony the British – Anthony was a first time visitor to the shed and I think he had some fun.

The scenario guide laid out both forces but having played the Black Powder rules a few times I decided to give the Zulus two more warbands than they were entitled to. We had some debate at the end of the game as to whether this addition created an imbalance or not. Personally I think the Jury is still out.

The British Forces were as follows

First Brigade

2 British Infantry Units (full strength)

1 7lb artillery piece

I unit of Royal engineers (small)

Second Brigade

2 units of Breech Loading armed NNC (I had to use my Boers)

1 unit of mounted NNC (small)

1 unit of Pioneers (small)

Third Brigade

1 naval Gatling Gun

1 7lb artillery piece

2 units of mounted infantry

A total of 12 units plus officers (ratings 9+) – approx. 140 figures

The Zulus had a total of 12 warbands (6 regiments) plus commanders (ratings 8+) – approx 288 figures

The Ford

The game started with all the units off the table. The British could field up to one third of their units on the North bank of the river (the vanguard) with the remainder entering from the back edge near the track. Our brave British commanders decided that none of the troops would be foolhardy and cross the river in advance fearing that they might be cut off too soon.

The British started the game and with their 9+ commanders swiftly marched up to the riverbank.

It was time for the Impis to move forward. Each Impi could only enter on an odd number rolled on a d6, meaning the Zulus could only feed in troops as the dice were rolled. Unsurprisingly the wings of the Zulu army appeared first. Two warbands entered from the West and the North eastern edge.

Rather alarmingly for the Brits these units both thundered forward and could be threatening the allied forces the following turn.

The Zulu Left Wing almost engage

The British second turn saw them repositioning their forces along the southern bank of the river and opening fire with little effect on the lead elements of the Zulu army.