Queensland mounted infantry

Here is week 6's turnout. 10 Australian mounted infantry. the Queensland Mounted Infantry were involved in several important fights and were rightly feared by the Boers. The figures are old glory. I am a little unsure of the composition of a MI unit, whether it followed an infantry or a cavalry TOE. If infantry I will paint another 10 figures to round this unit out. totals are now British 28 Boers 32.
As a side note The osprey book on the Australian army shows a Khaki with a greenish tint which I liked. I painted part of the unit with this color and I also used a darker khaki that was more typically use in late war.

More Boers

Here are 8 more Boers. Just finished the last of my initial purchase of Boer infantry. I painted 3 figures with orange pugrees. I now have 2 commando 1 Orange Free State and 1 Transvaal. each is 14 figures. Totals now for week 5 are 32 Boers and 18 British.

The Sword and the flame

this is the first play test with the sword and the flame rules. I have owned the rules since 1986 and this is the first or maybe second time I have played with them. The rules are straight forward and I enjoyed the card drawing system for hits and the variable movement rates as well. The fact that I only skimmed the rules and haven't read them though in years also says something for their ease of play. we did not do hidden movement and I used all figures I had painted by week 3 so this gave a decidedly pro Boer to the set up. we had 1 British platoon dived in 2 attacking 1 battery of artillery and 24 Boers.

middle game

The long range fire is having an effect on the British wearing them down. they do however make all morale checks and keep advancing. The Boers have a longer range of fire than the British but are weaker in morale so less likely to accept the same causalities as the British. The British do make a key hit on the boer leader which will further complicate morale issues is they come about. I found the middle game to mimic some of the historical issues that we have read about without being overly complicated.

Charge!

this is the end game. after taking 70% losses our gallant half company is within range and charges the Boers. However a dice role determines how many figures find their way to the rear. I rolled a 2! so only the officer makes the charge! will he win the VC? alas, no he is cut down with the Boers fire phase so is unable to make war gaming history. All in all I like the rules and look foward to more games with a lot more figures.

references

Since I didn't know a Boer from a boar when I started this period here is a list of books I have found helpful. When I start a period I like to follow similar research techniques. First, Uniform help then a broad overview no more than 150 pages just to get a feel for the period. A indepth work is next then books about individual's or individual units.

Uniform help Osprey makes several books. I have found the most useful Ian Knights volume 2 Of his Boer war books. Good plates and text divided between campaign history and equipment/ tactics. highly recommended 4/5 stars. Other osprey books I have found helpful are the Australian and Canadian books. there are several other titles that look interesting but I do not have.

My overview book was Micheal Barthrop Slogging over Africa the Boer wars 1815-1902. Tons of good pictures and a lively text made this a quick read. The part on the 2nd war was around 100 pages, my only quibble was a lack of good maps,recommended 3.5/5 stars.

On a More involved note I am halfway through Thomas Pakenham's the Boer war. At 613 pages there is more than enough detail for everyone. Good background information and plenty of good battle information and maps make this a long but worthwhile reading 5/5 stars.

week 3 work

Here is week 3 figs. I completed 8 Boers this week for agrand total of 24 Boers and 1 artillery piece and 18 British. I did not finish anything in week 4. but I am working on 8 more Boers. In the Osprey book volume 2 on the Boer war It shows different color pugrees for the different Boer contingents. I did not want to overdue the look so I just painted a few. The Transvaal used blue or green. my unit has green ones. Orange free state...well you can guess which color they used. and white was used by cape Town rebels. although why you would want to announce that you are a British subject is a little beyond me.