IN DARKEST AFRICA - Part One A GUIDE TO WARGAMING CENTRAL AFRICA IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY WITH A SET OF SKIRMISH RULES AND CAMPAIGN SYSTEM.
by CHRIS PEERS (with a painting guide by Mark Copplestone).
As most wargamers have learned from experience, it is a sensible policy to plan our figure collecting around the rules that we enjoy playing, rather than buying figures because we like the look of them, and then worrying about what to do with them later. But of course, it usually doesn't happen that way. The latest temptation to shake my resolve in this respect is Mark Copplestone's new 25mm. ‘‘Darkest Africa’’ range from Guernsey Foundry. I have always been interested in events in Africa during the period of exploration, but until now I had never thought much about it as a subject for wargaming. But having decided that the figures were going to be irresistible and having seen how many other members of my local club were infected with the same enthusiasm - it was obvious that we would need a game we could play with them. The following ideas are an amalgamation of several different influences: notably Peter Pig's ‘‘AK-47 Republic’’ Modern African rules and the campaign system which I devised for them, and my own, half-forgotten, ‘‘Cheap and Nasty Indian Mutiny Skirmish Rules’’, as revived and revised by Mark Copplestone and John French. I wrote the latter quite a few years ago, for the usual reason - I had painted up some of Wargames Foundry's Mutiny figures, but had no game which I could use them for - and Duncan was kind enough to publish them in WI at the time. To judge from the feedback from readers this must have been the most popular article I have ever written, which is a bit embarrassing as I threw the rules together in about half an hour, between finishing the figures on Sunday and playing the game on the following Tuesday. No one was more surprised than I was to find that, incredibly basic though they were, they actually worked! Nevertheless, they languished largely forgotten for quite a while, until out of the blue Mark and John asked if I minded if they adapted them for their African game at Partizan this May. Of course I didn't mind: they had solved my problem as well as their own. After all, the rules were intended specifically for large 19th century skirmishes between forces at different levels of technology and organisation, and with a few obvious changes, they appeared to work for Africa just as well as for India. Skirmish games are all very well for an occasional lighthearted encounter, but I find that people tend to lose interest in them after a while, unless they are built into some more durable
structure. No one wants to buy a few hundred figures, put them on the table once or twice, and then shove them to the back of a drawer. Obviously, what was needed was an equally simple campaign. And once again, the solution was already to hand. I have explained in a previous article the stylised campaign system which we (ie. the October Club in Birmingham) are using for our current Modern African campaign, ‘‘The Dagomban Civil War’’. Well, it turns out that long-suffering (but fortunately fictional) Dagomba was also a scene of conflict about a hundred and thirty years ago. The system I have used here is not identical to the modern version, because the aims of the different factions are different, but the basic ‘‘snakes and ladders’’ principle is the same, and basing it on the map of Dagomba saved me the bother of finding or inventing a new set of place-names. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND. By the third quarter of the 19th century, East and Central Africa had become something of a playground for explorers and adventurers from Europe. For the people living there, on the other hand, this was a time of disaster. Not only Europeans, but Arab slavers and almost equally ruthless ivory traders rampaged across the continent, dragging off the natives for sale abroad or conscripting them as porters. At the same time warlike tribes such as the Ngoni from the south and the Karamojong from the north, set in motion by other upheavals beyond their homelands, migrated or raided into the region. The local tribes of course fought back, and in the vast region between the Congo River and the Indian Ocean all sorts of different armies allied or clashed with each other in what must have seemed at times like a gigantic multi-cornered fight. As if this was not enough, some tribes - notably the Masai - kept themselves busy with bloody civil wars. The fighting was seldom over conventional territorial objectives. For the European explorers, the ultimate goal might be the unknown source of a river, or a semi-mythical lake or mountain. The Arabs would be trying to collect enough slaves or ivory to make the trip inland worthwhile, and then get their cargo safely back to the coast. The native cattle-herding tribes would be doing basically the same thing with other people's cattle. Other native chiefs might aim to be recognised or
confirmed as a "divine" king (according to traditional African notions of kingship), through a combination of material wealth and success in battle. The farmers and hunters, on the other hand, were strategically fairly passive - although they might try to fight off slavers, or obstruct the passage of armies through their territory - and would generally be happy if they remained in control of the land they started with.
‘‘soldier’’. For our purposes, it embraces all professional Arab and African troops, armed with firearms of various types, and having a reasonable amount of confidence in their ability to use them. This includes Zanzibari and Sudanese slavers, and native auxiliaries recruited and equipped by Europeans. Also covered under this heading are the better equipped followers of some native chiefs - such as the ‘‘Ruga-Ruga’’ employed by warlords like Mirambo of the Nyamwezi tribe and his contemporary Nyungu of the Kimbu - and professional slave and ivory-traders like the ‘‘pombeiros’’ whom Livingstone discovered operating along the upper Zambesi in the 1850s. There are 2 sub-classes of Askaris, in addition to the standard type: These rules, therefore, are based around the existence of a number of different types of force, each composed of differing proportions of the various types of troops available (with acknowledgements to Peter Pig, who have used a similar approach in their ‘‘AK-47 Republic’’ Modern rules). For game purposes, I have reduced the enormous variety of real-life troop-types to the following broad categories: TROOP TYPES: Europeans
Elite Askaris Until the late 1860s, these men will be distinguished mainly by their better training and morale. Thereafter, they might carry breech-loading rifles or repeating carbines instead of the more common muzzleloaders. They will generally be a small minority of any force forming, for example, the bodyguards of Zanzibari leaders. Baluchis These were mercenaries, recruited mainly from the Indian
Pretty obvious really. In this period they are mostly explorers and biggame hunters, rather than the commanders of conventional military expeditions. Armed with the latest military or sporting guns, practiced shots, convinced of their absolute superiority over the ‘‘savages’’ - and with nowhere to run to if they don't stand and fight - they are the most effective troops in the game. However, they are only available in very small numbers. Askaris ‘‘Askari’’ is an Arabic word meaning
sub-continent, who were frequently found in the service of the Zanzibaris. They continued to favour obsolete matchlock muskets, backed up by sword and shield, and so are treated here as less effective when firing, although better at hand-tohand combat, than standard Askaris. Native Musketeers
Warriors from traditional African societies, armed with firearms which were generally old-fashioned and badlymaintained. These weapons had been supplied in very large numbers over the preceding couple of centuries to native agents of the ivory and slave trades. They were seldom, however, used with any great skill. In warfare the noise they made was often considered to be as important as any actual damage they might do, and so ancient large-calibre muzzleloaders were often preferred, even when more modern weapons were available. Ammunition was frequently ‘‘grapeshot’’ made from nails, bits of pottery etc. (It was not unknown for warriors to go to the trouble of filing off the rifling from the insides of the barrels of modern rifles so that they could be used to fire such improvised projectiles.) Native Archers The bow was less commonly used in warfare in the 19th century than it had been formerly. This was at least partly due to the prestige which had come to be attached to firearms, although in fact skilled archers were often more effective than their compatriots equipped with muskets which they had not been trained to use properly. Some peoples - notably pastoralists like the Masai - despised the bow, and restricted its use to youths not yet qualified as warriors, and old men left to guard the camp. However, some forest tribes who relied heavily on hunting could still field numerous archers, many of whom used poisoned arrows. There is 1 sub-class of this category: Pygmies In the dense Congo rain forests, a few tribes of Pygmies still lived as hunter-gatherers. They were exceptionally skilled in fieldcraft and archery, and specialised in shooting poisoned arrows from ambush. They usually preferred to avoid other people, but in many cases had been lured or forced into a close relationship with neighbouring farming tribes. The farmers often thought of themselves as owning "their" Pygmies, but the latter no doubt saw it differently. In fact, many other Africans were secretly terrified of the deadly little hunters. Native Spearmen Other tribal warriors, whether armed with spears (by far the most common) or other hand-to-hand weapons such as swords and axes. Swords were popular in East Africa and areas under Arab influence, but less so in the Congo. There are 2 subclasses, apart from standard Spearmen:
categories they are necessarily over-simplified, but it should be possible to fit most historical examples into one or other of them. The numbers given are of course only suggestions, and could for example be halved (or doubled!) depending on the number of figures available. Relative strengths are intended to produce a rough balance between the different forces, but this depends on a lot of other factors (such as the terrain), and so cannot be guaranteed. European-led Expedition In this period Europeans came to tropical Africa not so much as conquerors as explorers, whether private or governmentbacked. Some of them had a genuine (if usually misguided)
Agile Spearmen The younger warriors of some pastoral or semi-pastoral societies, whose lifestyle and training for war made them exceptionally fleet of foot, and who were expected to prove themselves in battle before they could progress to full adult status within the tribe. Among some peoples, like the Masai, this distinction was formalised by a traditional system of organised age-classes, members of which fought together. Warrior Spearmen Comprising a small elite of the older, more experienced men in most societies, but the bulk of the mature warriors of a few notably warlike peoples, such as the Masai or Ngoni. These men might be slightly less mobile than their juniors, but are exceptionally deadly in close combat. FORCE TYPES: The above troop-types, in varying proportions, may be combined into any of the following force types. Like the troop
interest in helping the Africans, by spreading ‘‘civilisation’’ or suppressing the slave trade. For others, the motive was scientific curiosity, career advancement, or the desire to get rich. They would not usually launch unprovoked attacks on native forces, but would insist on going wherever they liked, and would be inclined to take drastic action if this was disputed. Sometimes they would intervene in local disputes. British expeditions, in particular, might be under instructions to attack slavers. Some explorers managed to avoid conflict with the natives, while others - Stanley and Peters being among
8 - 20
Native Spearmen.
4 Askari figures (of any sub-type) are officers. Native Chiefdom Some East African peoples were either already highly organised under traditional rulers - like the Buganda of Lake Victoria - or organised themselves in response to outside influences - like the Nyamwezi in Tanzania, who made so
the worst examples - fought their way ruthlessly through anything resembling opposition. Expeditions could vary greatly in size, but for our purposes a ‘‘typical’’ force looks like this: 16 figures:
1-3 6 - 12 0-8 0-8
Europeans. Askaris. (Up to 1/3 may be Elite.) Native Musketeers or Archers. Native Spearmen.
3 of the above figures are officers. At least 1 of them must be European. Up to 2 may be Elite Askaris. Arabs During the 19th century, Arab expeditions penetrated East Africa from two different directions. The Zanzibaris - heirs to
much profit from their employment as porters that they became slave-owners themselves. Such people could afford fair numbers of firearms, and often managed to look after themselves quite well. This force represents both the traditional chiefdoms, and the more ephemeral regimes of men like Mirambo and Nyungu. T h e ‘ ‘ a s k a r i s ’’ , particularly in the latter type of force, would include the colourful ‘‘Ruga-Ruga’’ irregulars, whose discipline sometimes left something to be desired, but who were full-time soldiers with good weapon-handling skills: 44 figures:
the Omani expansion down the coast which had replaced the Portuguese - came from the east coast, while Egyptians and Sudanese moved down from the north. The latter were often referred to as ‘‘Turks’’, because they came from areas which had once been under the control of the Ottoman Sultans. The Zanzibaris had a bad reputation as slave-raiders, although most of their victims were in fact captured for them by native allies. They also engaged in more legitimate trade, especially in ivory. The "Turks" were even more rapacious, as they were mainly interested in seizing recruits for the Egyptian army, and carried no goods for peaceful trading. However, they seldom penetrated further south than the north of what is now Uganda. In their operations in the Sudan (both East and West) they often relied on cavalry, but horses were unsuited to the tsetse-fly infested regions of East and Central Africa, and so are not catered for in these rules. Arab factions often fought not only native peoples, but also each other. They were also at various times allies and enemies of various European expeditions. A notional force of this type will consist of: 32 figures: 12 - 24 Askaris. (Any may be Baluchis. Up to 4 Askari figures may be Elite.) 0 - 12 Native Musketeers. 0-4 Native Archers.
8 - 16 8 - 16 0 - 10 8 - 16
Askaris. Native Musketeers. Native Archers. Native Spearmen. (Up to 1/4 may be Warrior Spearmen.)
5 Askari figures are officers. Tribal Farmers Many Africans - especially those far from the coast - still lived in small farming communities, largely isolated from the great trading routes, and so cut off from a supply of modern
Tribal Farmers Many Africans - especially those far from the coast - still lived in small farming communities, largely isolated from the great trading routes, and so cut off from a supply of modern weapons. In reality they seldom managed to resist
European or Arab incursions, but for the sake of game balance we will give them a large enough force to stand a chance:
PAINTING GUIDE:
64 figures:
Early European explorers tended to wear clothes of a cut and colour popular at home, or a specially made, often idiosyncratic, travelling costume. Later a white or pale khaki "uniform" with a tropical helmet or wide-brimmed hat became the norm. Some of the more famous explorers were associated with a particular costume:
0 - 16 0 - 24
Native Musketeers. Native Archers. (Up to 12 figures may be Pygmies.) 32 - 64 Native Spearmen. (Up to 1/4 may be Warrior Spearmen.)
6 figures (not Pygmies) are officers. Tribal Herdsmen Some African societies in the drier savannah regionsrejected farming, and lived mainly or exclusively from the products of their cattle. They tended to be very warlike, conservative, and convinced of their own superiority over both farmers and hunters. In some cases they instituted a virtual reign of terror over their neighbours, though in others the relationship was more peaceful. The most famous example from East Africa is the Masai, but similar herdsmen dominated much of the southern Sudan. The Ngoni, who migrated into East Africa from the south early in the 19th century and brought with them a military system derived from that of the Zulus, may also be placed in this category. A popular pastime among the warriors of these tribes was stealing cattle, from the farmers or each other. (According to Masai legend, all the cattle in the world originally belonged to them, although some had been temporarily misappropriated by lesser peoples. It was obviously a warrior's duty to help return them to the fold.) They fought very effectively against other traditional Africans, but their rash courage, and their tendency to despise guns and skirmishing tactics, made them terribly vulnerable to modern firearms. 64 figures:
0-4 Native Archers. 60 - 64 Native Spearmen. (Up to 1/2 may be Agile Spearmen, 1/5 to 3/4 are Warrior Spearmen.)
EXPLORERS
Livingstone - a red smock and a blue peaked cap with a gold band. Baker - a loose smock and trousers, dyed in natural shades, with a peaked cap with neckflap. Speke - light brown trousers, a greenish tweed waistcoat with many pockets, and a check shirt. Stanley - a frogged jacket and curious hat of his own devising, in a pale shade of khaki. Flags - expeditions starting in Zanzibar usually carried the Sultan's plain red flag, and often a national flag too.
ASKARIS Skin - could vary from yellowish bronze to dark brown. Askaris would not wear warpaint, although some would have tribal scars. Loincloths - most commonly off-white cotton, sometimes dyed yellow-brown, indigo (all shades from blue-black to faded denim) or white with a narrow reddish border. Other more colourful fabrics included blue with a broad red stripe, dark blue with a red or yellow border, multi-coloured checks and sometimes plain red. In practice these best clothes would be kept for special occasions, and everyday loincloths would be ragged and stained. Waistcoats - blue or red in imitation of the Zanzibaris. Coats and Shirts - if worn at all, could represent a rudimentary uniform eg the white coats with red or blue cuffs and a matching 1' square between the shoulders worn by Imperial British East Africa Company troops in 1890.
6 Warrior Spearman figures are officers. Tribal Hunters By the 19th century, this ancient lifestyle survived only in a few isolated pockets, which were too dry or too densely forested for agriculture. Thus hunters were seldom troubled much by slavers, being too few and too elusive to be worth chasing. Most - though not all - of the specialist hunters were pygmies living in the rainforests of the Congo. This type of force will be quite effective in thick cover, but perhaps less useful elsewhere: 48 figures if Pygmies; 60 if not: All or none may be Pygmies. If Pygmy, all count as Pygmy Native Archers. If not, up to 24 figures may be Native Spearmen, and the rest standard Native Archers. 5 figures are officers if Pygmies, 6 if not.
Hats - either fezzes and caps, in red or white, or turbans, usually white.
BEARERS Dressed more poorly than askaris in plain fabrics or animal skins.
ZANZIBARI ARABS Skin - varied, from olive to dark brown, with the number of generations a family had been settled in East Africa. Gown - a long shirt with full-length sleeves. Originally this was a dull yellow, but by the 1870s was usually white, its brightness increasing with status. At the waist there was usually a sash, often white although any colour could be used. A shorter shirt, in a striped or patterned fabric, was sometimes worn over the gown. Waistcoats and Jackets - dark blue or red zouave style with contrasting edging and decoration. Overmantles - in dark blue or red, worn by leaders. Hats - white fezzes or turbans. Wealthier Arabs often used multicoloured, striped silks for their turbans.
Flags - a blood-red flag was the sign of a caravan from Zanzibar, although the contingents of individual leaders carried their own flags. These were probably simple vertical or horizontal stripes in blue, red and white, although patterned fabrics may have been used.
RUGA-RUGA Clothing - a mixture of askari, Zanzibari and tribal styles. Red cloaks were sometimes worn. Officers wore Zanzibari-style white gowns with red or blue coats. Hats - large turbans with feathers, feathered tribal headdresses and probably fezzes. Ornaments - hung with charms, lots of ivory bangles, brass or copper wire around wrists and ankles.
CENTRAL AFRICAN TRIBES Skin - from light to very dark brown, fairly uniform within a particular tribe Loincloths - animal skins, bark cloth (pale red-brown) and later imported cloth. Hair and Headgear - huge variety of hairstyles, which were often the distinguishing feature of a tribe. Feathers could be fixed in hair - ostrich feathers (long white and short black) in East Africa, and parrot feathers (long crimson and short grey) in the Congo basin. Feathers could also be attached to animal skin or basketwork caps. Warpaint - not always used, but when it was red and white were the usual colours. Patterns usually involved painting parts of the body in solid colours (eg white arms and legs or red
upper body). Sometimes the entire body could be painted, half red and half white. A tribe might use a common style, but would not be painted absolutely uniformly. Shields - in East Africa, when used, were round or oval and made of hide. They were often unpainted, although at least one tribe painted theirs half red and half black. Any combination of red, white and black is possible. In the damper Congo, where hide was unavailable or would rot too fast, shields were made of basketwork or light wood. Both types were commonly painted black, either plain or with geometric patterns left in the natural cane colour. Shields were held by a central hand-grip.
Skirmish Rules and Campaign System to follow in Part Two ....
