Bukoba 1915

[shireman]

We ran this at our club's annual SOTCW day last weekend using Pendraken figures. Sadly my camera was left behind so there are no photographs (though it will be played again at the end of October so I hope to get some then.) We used the TFL 'If The Lord Spares Us' rules with the East Africa amendments from the Durham Club.

The British invasion force, to give it a bit of dignity, was composed of the battalions which took part in 1915: 3rd KAR, 29th Punjabis, 2nd Loyal North Lancs and the 25th Royal Fusiliers (Frontiersmen)** plus a battery of Indian Army mountain guns. There was also a gunboat  which in the end didn't contribute much to the battle. The Germans had two FKs of Schutztruppe on a rocky ridge outside the town and two FKs of Schuetzkompagnie plus a Krupp C 73. Since the British had arrived by night in six troopships which were, in Lt Cmdr Woodroffe's phrase, 'all lit up', the Germans had become aware of the invasion and had signalled for help. There were about 1500 German troops in the vicinity and 1600 in the British force.

The British commander gave more thought to his plans than his predecessor had and attempted to outflank the askaris on the ridge using the 29th Punjabis while the KAR, 2nd Loyal North Lancs and the Frontiersman made a frontal assault on the German position, supported effectively by the mountain gun battery and pretty ineffectively by the gunboat. The battle went very much as it had done in 1915 with the British taking a while to overcome the Germans in their hard cover with well-placed HMGs. At the right moment the German reinforcements arrived (which did not happen in 1915!) and they saw off the flanking attack by the Punjabis. An honourable draw was declared as time ran out and luncheon called, the British still holding the ridge but the Germans still in place in Bukoba. It was voted an enjoyable experience by participants and, as I said, will be run again.

** This unit was formed from volunteers who responded to advertisements in the press. They included big game hunters (including Selous, the model for Allan Quartermain), a Park Lane millionaire, members of the North West Mounted Police, a Scottish lighthouse keeper, ex-members of the French Foreign Legion, an opera singer, officers of the Merchant Navy, tea-planters from India, a professional strong-man, a general from the Honduras army, acrobats, and, usefully, a lion-tamer. Brigadier General Stewart acceded to their commander's request that they be allowed to loot Bukoba, something hushed up in the official history of the campaign.

[pierre the shy]

Sounds like a fantastic game Shireman.....look forward to seeing your pictures of the replay  

We play early WW1 France/Middle East games with 10mm PM figures using TFL's ITLSU rules which work really well.

We have a few house rules to allow a bit more of a "chain of command" (Nothing to do with TFL's rules of the same name   ) by having a Divisional HQ as well as Brigade HQ's which allows for bigger games using more than one brigade a side without affecting the playablity or balance of the rules themselves.

Are the Durham Club's East African amendments available online anywhere? Be interested to see them. I am in NZ so a bit far to nip up the road to their next meeting.

Cheers
Peter

[Techno]

Sounds great fun.

Like Peter, looking forward to seeing pictures of 'the second leg'.

Cheers - Phil

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Sounds like a corking game.
Great unit details too.

[paulr]

All of the above seconded

[shireman]

Sounds like a fantastic game Shireman.....look forward to seeing your pictures of the replay  

We play early WW1 France/Middle East games with 10mm PM figures using TFL's ITLSU rules which work really well.

We have a few house rules to allow a bit more of a "chain of command" (Nothing to do with TFL's rules of the same name   ) by having a Divisional HQ as well as Brigade HQ's which allows for bigger games using more than one brigade a side without affecting the playablity or balance of the rules themselves.

Are the Durham Club's East African amendments available online anywhere? Be interested to see them. I am in NZ so a bit far to nip up the road to their next meeting.

Cheers
Peter

Thanks, Pete. The Durham Club tweaks to the ITLSU rules are in one of the Lardie specials but I forget which one so you will have to search their website for that. They are called 'Things Are A Bit 'Ard' and allow for such subtleties as fighting in built up areas, qualities of German commanders, new unit classifications and, of course, killer bees. We used the last to manage a pride of lions and a couple of rhinos (Ronnie and Reggie) who could interfere with troop actions.

[pierre the shy]

Thanks, Pete. The Durham Club tweaks to the ITLSU rules are in one of the Lardie specials but I forget which one so you will have to search their website for that. They are called 'Things Are A Bit 'Ard' and allow for such subtleties as fighting in built up areas, qualities of German commanders, new unit classifications and, of course, killer bees. We used the last to manage a pride of lions and a couple of rhinos (Ronnie and Reggie) who could interfere with troop actions.

Ok thanks Shireman, I'll look into that.

Good luck with the Bukoba refight part 2 later in the month.