Review: The Men Who Would Be Kings

To play with my recently unearthed Anglo Zulu War armies we picked up Osprey's The Men Who Would Be Kings, by Dan Mersey - the same author as our much played Lion and Dragon Rampant.

While the rules are definitely in the same family tree, they are not just a carbon copy but a definite development with adjustments for the period and which reflect not just the improved technologies but the way in which armies were put together and used.


Bottom Line up Front: A lot of Fun, we had a blast.  Highly recommended.


The system will be very familiar to Lion/Dragon Rampant players but there are some key nuances which you will likely miss on the first swing (as we did).  One of these is that charge moves are not double your normal move, but now the addition of d6 inches. I like the uncertainty this presents as a Commander's decision point.


The moral effects are interesting and disrupting the enemy is all about pins.  Pinning the enemy really stops them in their tracks and if you can set up a crossfire to inflict multiple pins they will likely take another turn or two to recover.  Of course, if you focus all your firepower on one enemy units to do that, the other enemy units will close in with impunity...


The rules are definitely a simpler system to achieve speed so there are a few abstractions which players need to adjust to - for example, there is no reaction fire, so if your dapper redcoats get caught in the wrong spot they wont be getting a chance to fire a volley from their Martini-Henrys before those Zulus crash into them with those sharp assegais!


To achieve of intent of big battle vice a skirmish game, we adjusted the rules so that units are 3/4 strength from those in the book. Thus, Regular Infantry units are 8 points not 12, Tribal Infantry 12 vice 16 etc.  As the ratios remain the same, I do not believe this made any significant impact. We also used one stand (of 3 x 15mm figures) per unit strength vice 1 x 28mm Figure, and thus we were able to achieve a satisfying massed battle look vice it feeling like a skirmish game.

Under our adjusted unit sizes, this is a Regular Infantry unit at full strength with 8 stands of troops plus its Leader

There are also some neat rules for your tribal opponents to play on automatic rules, allowing the humans to play cooperatively and try to survive together; my very favourite way to play colonial games.

Finally, you get 30 different suggestions for different Colonial armies and their foes.
These include the usual Sons of Empire type lists, plus the French in Africa and the Italians in Ethiopia.

Dan Mersey has also published some additional rules on his blog which will be of interest to TMWWBK players: TMWWBK extra rules  you may also find this of interest: A little bit about Command & Control in my games

Another cracking and inexpensive offering from Osprey and which deliver a heck of a lot of fun. TMWWBK is the fourth of Dan Mersey's games now on my shelf and I'm sure it will not be my last.

Now I'm thinking about how I might combine TMWWBK and Dragon Rampant to play some VSF colonial gaming on Barsoom Mars...

The Fighting Retreat to Dusters' Drift

Our Colonial game this week was a LOT of fun!  It saw a British Column, led by the 3rd Foot & Mouth Regiment (Major Backsight commanding) conducting a fighting retreat to the small logistics base at Dusters' Drift. Opposing them were the Impis of Zulu noble Oomagooglies (the Zulu King's cousin twice removed, on his mother' side)

I've done something a bit different and stitched together a video BatRep:

"We come on the Orders of the Great White Queen!"

My Imperial Force

As promised, here is the British and Boer forces for the Zulu war.  The British Cavalry bore the worst of the damage to their lances and swords but otherwise this whole thing is a testament to the wonderful Testors' dullcoat - and always use two coats!

The lad helped me build this - my first wargaming video. Its a but self indulgent but it was fun to make




For those who prefer stills, here are the key ones.

24th Foot: The Thin Red Line

The 60th Rifles

Stout lads of the Naval Brigade - with Gatling Gun!

Fire support of the Royal Artillery

Breach loading 9pdr - note the VC on the right most figure (painted on during a game in which this gun, down to the last man, held off and then broke the last Zulu Regiment to claim the day!)

British Cavalry - 17th Lancers and Hussars

Boer Irregulars

Hoping to get them onto a table for some action shortly!

Lord Chelmsford and the senior staff

"Why do you come to the Land of the Zulu?"

Massed warriors (around 350 of them)- how a Zulu Impi should look!

This is a post some 24 years in the making! Some time ago I quite enjoyed Colonial gaming and the Zulu War was my conflict of choice.  Some mates and I put together armies in 15mm and had a great time.  Early in 1994 I had a major life change and the figs were packed away.  I've since moved house some 18 times and the figs have remained unopened; the awful noises that came from the box made me shy away.  Then last week when there was interest at the club abut doing some Colonial gaming and I realised I (might) have all the figures.  Depending on how they fared at least.

Here is what greeted me once I plucked up the courage to open the Zulu Box...

The Horror... The Horror...

And after 23 years this was the sum total of damage - other than bent spears and knoberries which needed reshaping

The vast majority of these figs, if not all, are Essex 15mm colonial range

Usuthu!!!

I love the warrior in the bottom right corner wearing a captured British flag as a trophy!

And if one intends to cross the Buffalo River into Zululand, you need some terrain to fight over right?

Semblance of a small veldt hamlet named after an Irishman

British tentage and a Kraal

Next Up: The British and Boer allies.

Back to the Future with Colonial Gaming

Fan's of Osprey's war-game rules will recognise the name Daniel Mersey as the author of such excellent titles as Dux Bellorum and Lion Rampant as well as the upcoming Dragon Rampant .

On his blog over the weekend, Daniel laid out his very impressive writing schedule for the next year.  Dragon Rampant has a lot of people getting very excited (and so they should be I think) but what really caught my eye was The Men Who Would Be Kings.  Planned for an August release, it will be a colonial 'big skirmish' game using the Lion Rampant engine with some modifications for gunpowder weapons.

Not the real cover - a mockup by the ever amusing (and talented) Dalauppror 

You can follow posts about this game at the author's blog here

'So What?' I hear you ask.  Well truth be told I used to be a bit of a colonial gaming affectionado.  Me and the lads used to do a mean bit of Zulu War gaming pretty frequently back in the day.  That day was around 25 years ago now, but I do have my complete collection of 15mm Brits and Zulus and other odds and sods.*** So while the game looks geared toward units of 28mm figures (and there are some nice plastic options there) as long as you can mark off individual casualties, 15mm should work fine.  Could it be that all I have to do is dust off my exciting collection to play a new game without having to expend vast sums of money and spend hours of painting? That will never catch on...  In any event it might reawaken an old flame.

So still a year to go but I'll be watching out for this with interest.  
And its not like I don't have any other gaming diversions on the go in the meantime...

*** However, I do fear for their condition.  In the more than two decades since their last love, they have been deep storage three times and moved more than a dozen times in the same box.  I did consider selling them off several times, but resisted.  Lots of great memories in those figs after my friends and I played an ongoing cooperative campaign.  We each had a character Officer figure and commanded British/Allied units with the Zulus on 'auto' style reaction rules, painted medals on chaps who did particularly well etc.  I recall that I commanded the Naval Brigade (include a fine Gatling gun) as Commander Hornblower! 

How to build a 15mm Colonial Nile gunboat

Truly a multipurpose vehicle, useful on the Nile River, the canals of Mars, the shallow lakes of Venus or for Dinsoaur Safari Adventures! http://www.wfhgs.com/PDFFILES/gunboat.pdf