Unquiet Flows the Mius (2)

Dawn over the River Mius, and the Kyubyshev bridgehead.

As dawn broke upon 18th July, 1943, the planned offensives on both sides clashed around the Kozhevnya bridgehead in what amounted to an encounter battle. Where the Germans hoped to eliminate the bridgehead outright, the Russians sought to extend it. Once the Soviets could establish a line along the ridges that formed a chord across the base of the river's arc, there would be almost nothing the Axis could do then to eliminate it.

Germans about to launch their attacks.

The Germans were quicker off the mark. The scenario called for the Germans to move first, but thereafter the 'initiative', as I term it, would be contested. Point 143 was at once seized by the two battalions of 515th Infantry Regiment, whilst the 79th Panzergrenadier Regiment secured Point 141. A whole battalion of StuG assault guns - 16th Panzerjager Abteilung - supported the move.

End of move 1.  The Germans have occupied the ridge line;
but Kampfgruppe I have yet to move.  The Russians have
moved up rapidly on this flank.

It would have been better had I/79 Battalion occupied Point 138 as well, an omission that would later prove costly. Even in the lower lying ground between Hills 138 and 141, that battalion came in for the undivided attention of two, and later  three, artillery battalions.

4th Mechanised Brigade seizes Kozhevnya village.

Meanwhile, on the southern flank, 4th Mechanised Brigade seized the unoccupied Kyubysheva village, II/4 Rifle Battalion garrisoning the place, whilst I/4 Battalion advanced to the river bank. The 4th Brigade tanks began a gunnery duel with the Panzer IIIs of 2nd Panzer Regiment, across the river.

Tank column crossing the river at Kyubysheva.

The Kozhevnya bridgehead garrison comprised the rifle battalions of 5th Mechanised Brigade, with the brigade's tank destroyer group  garrisoning the village itself. The rifles lurked in the woodland on either flank. As the dawn paled the eastern sky, the brigade's tanks, two companies of T34s and one of T70s, began pouring across bridge, followed by the attached column of brand new SU76 assault guns. At the same time, the two artillery battalions lining the eastern riverbank were about to be joined by a third.  At once they opened fire against enemy seem moving about near Point 138.

Tank column crossing the bridge at Dmitievka.

On the northern flank, the lead motor rifle battalion (I/6) of 6th Mechanised Brigade rushed the Dmitrievka bridge to seize the unoccupied built up areas on the far bank. They were at once followed by the powerful column of T34 tanks. Passage across the bridge defile would take some time before a full scale assault could be mounted in this sector. But events were about to take a sudden turn.

The German attack ready to jump off....

...but the Soviets seize the initiative!

If the Germans made the earlier start, the Soviets promptly, possibly even prematurely, seized the initiative (see small picture to the right: the respective dice rolls, the red die, of course, belonging to the Red Army). The following three pictures show subsequent developments, from the German perspective, on their right, centre and left.

2nd Pz Rgt advances ahead of 60th PzGr Rgt.

On the right, the 2nd Panzer Regiment moved rather ahead of the 60th Panzergrenadier Regiment, still forming up close by the Division's supply column parked near Point 112. I/2nd Panzer Battalion began a cross-river gunnery duel with the T34s of 4th Mechanised Brigade. The heavier guns of II/2nd Pz Bn might have joined in with effect, but for their attention being drawn to developments near Kozhevnya.

Soviet probing attacks towards Pt138.

 There, pressure was already mounting against the Axis centre, where their gun line was not very well covered. The initial probing attacks by Soviet armour were the weightier for the strong artillery support they were receiving. Meanwhile, Oberst von Manteuffel had placed his command HQ close by the I Battalion 16th Artillery Regiment. Both the Axis artillery battalions were directing their fire at the Kyubyshev village, causing some damage to the 4th Anti-Tank Unit therein, sufficient to induce a retreat - and to block the bridge before the second SU company could cross.

I/6th Battalion boldly attacks Hill 141.

Finally, on the northern flank, the Red Army columns surging out of Dmitrievka were already attacking Point 141. So impetuous was the assault by the lead rifle battalion of 6th Mechanised Brigade, that they drove II/79th Panzergrenadiers quite off the feature, despite the latter's supports. As the attacks broadened and intensified, the whole of 515th Infantry and 79th Panzergrenadiers were driven from the ridges. The German armour - assault guns - were left precariously clinging to their objective points, 141 and 143. To prevent the enemy seizure of Pt 138, the light tanks of 2nd Panzer Regiment placed itself on the feature, where it found itself in a confrontation with their T70 counterparts of 5th Mech Bde.  

Remarkable early Soviet successes: Germans
disrupted across the whole front.

On the southern flank, meanwhile, the coup d'oeil of the local commander, Major G.G. Grishuk, had discerned an open flank by which he might cross the river, seize point 112, and perhaps capture the Axis supply column. No sooner conceived than ordered: under cover of the tank duel, I/4 Rifle Battalion splashed into the river, where they found themselves opposed by 2nd Panzer Company.

We'll interrupt the narrative here, and resume with a later posting. It was to be written up in one hit, but half way through I hit a 'bad button' and somehow wiped the lot: pictures, text, everything. The saline flow of language that ensued I'm glad nobody got to hear. So to the restarted story. So far, the bold actions of the Red Army, though costing something in casualties, has placed the Germans under pressure. Can they keep it up?

To be continued...

Unquiet Flows the Mius

By mid-July, the German Operation Zitadelle, the attempt to pinch out the Kursk salient dominating the centre of the Eastern Front, was petering out in the face of staunch Soviet resistance, the Soviet counter-offensive in the Orel salient, and disturbing developments in distant Italy. Planning a counter-offensive in the central fronts, STAVKA also ordered attacks to launched at once on the Mius River, with the view of breaking through on that front, or least to draw off substantial Axis fighting units in that direction.

Months earlier, during the far-reaching advances by the Soviet Armies in the wake of the Uranus and Saturn Operations, the Soviets had penetrated the Mius River line, threatening the whole German position in the Donbas region. With great effort, the Germans contained the breakthrough and destroyed the stranded Soviets, but the latter maintained a tenuous bridgehead near the hamlet of Kozhevnya, downriver from Dmitrievka town. By mid July, just as the Russians were gearing up for a major offensive on this front, the Germans were organising a final attempt to eliminate the bridgehead. 

It was whilst tidying up (yeah, right) some loose papers of various ideas I was considering that I came across a scenario designed for the Rommel game system. This looked like fun, so I adapted it for my own set up. Some fairly major surgery was required to fit a system of large squares into my own smaller hex-grid. The TO&E required a fair bit of adjustment, too. I played the game using the Portable Wargame system, but with considerable changes to the Strength Point system. The Germans started first, but thereafter I used my dice roll system for determining the initiative (who goes first in a given turn).  However, this might have been a good scenario for the more random card activation system.

Partly owing to playing the game outdoors, I used my (mostly) resin river sections (weight), which are quite wide enough to occupy a whole hex width. I made a special rule about this river. Passable to foot and tracked or semi-tracked vehicles, but not to wheeled, to cross it, a unit had to move up to the near river bank, next turn enter, and the move following spend exiting onto the far bank. Units in the river could initiate and defend a close assault (with a penalty), but not shoot.  

Finally, the red and blue stars on the map were objective points that I will explain in due course.  

The forces detailed for this operation were:

Soviet Union:

2nd Guards Mechanised Corps: 
-   HQ and staffs, Major-General I. B. Munchkin (6SP)
-   Supply column:
-   4th Mechanised Brigade:
          I/4 Motor Rifle Infantry 6SP
          II/4 Motor Rifle Infantry 6SP
          4th Tank Battalion: 2 T34 medium tank Coys @ 3SP
                      1 T26 light tank Coy 2SP
-   5th Mechanised Brigade:
          I/5 Motor Rifle Infantry 6SP
          II/5 Motor Rifle Infantry 6SP
          5th Tank Battalion: 2 T34 medium tank Coys @ 3SP
                      1 T70 light tank Coy 2SP
          5th Tank Destroyer Unit: 1 45L46 light Anti-Tank, 2SP
-    6th Mechanised Brigade:
          I/6 Motor rifle Infantry 6SP
          II/6 Motor Rifle Infantry 6SP
          6th Tank Battalion: 3 T34 medium tank Coys @ 3SP
-    Corps Support Troops:
          Guards Mortar Battalion: 1 BM-13 Katyusha rocket launcher @ 2SP*
          Medium Artillery Battalion: 1 x 122L22 gun 2SP
          2 x Light Artillery battalions: e@ 1 x 76.2mm field gun @ 2SP
          2 x Assault gun battalions: e@ 1 x SU76 @ 2SP

All troops count as 'average'.

Totals:
24 units (median 12)
81 strength points (exhaustion point, -27)

* Special rule for Katyusha.  Counts as mortars for range.   May shoot ONLY in the artillery fire phase.   Rolls TWO dice instead of one when shooting.  May not shoot in consecutive turns.  I am considering adding a rule for minimum range of 2 hexes.

German:

16th Panzergrenadier Division:
-   HQ and Staff: Oberst G von Manteuffel (6SP)
-   16th Supply Column:
-   Kampfgruppe I
          I/2nd Panzer Battalion: 3 x PzIIIL medium tank @ 3SP
          II/2nd Panzer Battalion: 2 x PzIVG medium tank @ 4SP
          I/60th Panzergrenadier gepanzert: 5SP (counts as elite)
          II/60th Panzergrenadier motorised: 5SP (counts as elite)
-   Kampfgruppe II
          Coy/2nd Panzer: 1 x PzII light tank 2SP
          16th Tank Destroyer Battalion: 3 StuGIIIG medium assault guns @ 3SP
                                                             1 Marder II panzerjager @ 2SP
          I/79th Panzergrenadier motorised: 5SP (counts as elite)
          II/79th Panzergrenadier motorised: 5SP (counts as elite)
-   Elements of 294th Division (under command);
          I/515th Infantry Battalion 6SP (average)
          II/515th Infantry Battalion 6SP (average)
-   Corps support troops:
          2 x Light Artillery Battalions, e@ 1 x 10.5cm howitzer @ 2SP.

All troops, except panzergrenadiers, count as average.

Totals:
20 units (median 10)
72 strength points (exhaustion point, -24)

In the above map, the blue line indicates the German deployment zone to the west; the red line the permitted Soviet deployment zone to the east. Where that red line cuts off a portion of the west bank of the river is the location of the bridgehead the Soviets seek to expand, the Germans to eliminate.

The blue stars were German objective points, the red stars the Soviets'. To win, the Germans had to take 2 of the red stars whilst retaining at least 2 of their own. The Soviets won if they held at least 3 of their own objectives, and took at least one German. All other results counted as a draw, or indecisive action.

To be continued...

                   

Naval developments...

Two new vessels for the Azeitonian Colonial flotilla.

An added dimension to the affairs in deepest darkest Aithiops, upon the equatorial east coast of which has been established an Azeitona colony close by the mouths of the great grey-green Limpopo River, which is a deep as the sea (handy, that!) and bordered with fever trees...  To maintain this outpost against the seaborne depredations of rival Azuria colonists upon the Island of Madasagascar (not to mention Madasahatta), the rude irruptions of the Ruberians of the Cape Colony, the coarse corsairs of Zanzingabar, and the riverine incursions of the militant m'Butu... the Azeitonians right early recognised the requirement for a strong and versatile naval presence.

Kickapoo, flying the Azeitonian flag.  The flag was designed by
Paul 'Jacko' Jackson.  Quite a nice one, I think.

Hence the purchase at vast expense, two vessels, veterans of the War Between the States of the U.S. of Anaconda, the ironclad Lafayette, and the turreted monitor Kickapoo; and their towage, at vast effort, of both, across the Great Western Ocean, around the Cape of Good Grief, to safe anchorage in the Limpopo Estuary.

The Lafayette - slow, but imposing.  

The Governor of the Cape Colony, Darius Lord Reduncle was not best pleased the Azeitonians had achieved a viable and rival naval presence in this part of the world, right under his nose as well.  To be sure, neither vessel was a match for the coastal battleship HMS Blunderer, which flew the broad pennant of Commodore Roger Redington, but they would form the nucleus around which could be built a considerable flotilla of small craft.   The Governor felt in his bones that the Blunderer would one day be forced to try conclusions with the two intruding vessels...

HMS Blunderer, flying the blue ensign, at anchor at the Cape
of Good Grief.  Over the way lies HMS Horsefly - too small
to take on the Azeitonian ironclads...

There will be an action between the rival flotillas, but unless I do some tweaking, it is very unlikely the two ironclads together could possibly be a match for HMS Blunderer alone.  Some tall cunning might be in order for the Azeitonian flotilla commander to make a fight of it should the Ruberians put in an appearance...

I've created a couple of 'broad pennants' for the respective naval commanders, but where (and how) they are to be flown has yet to be determined.

Under lockdown...

Irregular Turcowaz Sipahi face Ruberian Lancers.

Much to my surprise, not a lot is happening chez moi on the war games front. Ideas occur for campaigns and battles (of which more anon) and for a new 'cartoon' navy, which is probably not a very good idea, however fun it might be. This posting follows on from the previous three to begin with - a project that began from small, modest beginnings, into something pretty near global.

Recently on my cutting board.  Spare Airfix Foreign Legion
figures as artillery.  The leaning back guy looks to be
tugging the firing lanyard.

Having last year fought a couple of battles - more or less historically based, though disguised into a period 40 years previous, upon General Townshend's disastrous 1915-6 operations in Mesopotamia - it seemed to me that the BLUE OPFOR, the Turcowaz, ought to have an army of its own, rather than  Azurian (BLUE) ring-ins. The Turkish Army of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 seemed to me designed for the task. Turns out that though Strelets-R make the figures, they aren't that easy to get hold of.   Only the foot Bashi-Bazouks seemed to be available.

Well, that's a start. Paul threw in a half dozen of Turkish sipahi from a couple of centuries earlier - great for irregulars, and colourful withal. Between them they could make for all kinds of Turkic or Arabic tribes people dwelling in the more obscure parts of the world. Eventually we found some regular foot in the Strelets-R 'Thin Red Line' Pack.  

Irregular Turcowaz sipahi.

Now they have all been painted up, the TURQUOISE Army presently constituted as shown in the following pictures.

Turcowaz Army.

Turcowaz Army

1 Army Command stand
3 Regular Infantry Units with
     1 command stand, 3 rifle stands
4 Irregular Infantry Units with
     1 command stand, 3 warrior(?) stands
1 Irregular Cavalry Unit with
     2 sipahi stands

To be added when the opportunity provides;
1 Regular Cavalry Unit with
     1 command stand, 3 cavalry stands.
2-3 Artillery Units with
     1 gun, 2 or more crew.

At the moment a spare regular command stand can substitute for 1 gun crew, and a Krupp type of gun perhaps scratch-built. This army is certainly 'fightable' as it presently stands. The 'Units' might represent anything from companies to Divisions, though they will probably be seen more often as battalions or brigades.

 

Turcowaz army, yet to be supplied with more modern artillery.

And so it will - sometime soon. I hope.

The circumstance is that Major-General Scarlett's Ruberian expedition into the Medifluvia has been stopped by the Turcowaz Army, and retreated to the scene of their first victory at Hak Al Kumara. There he has permitted himself to become besieged, giving vent to strident appeals to higher command to effect his rescue. Rather than leave the stranded army to stew in General Scarlett's juice, that higher command cobbled together a second expedition, under Major-General Ezekiel Rust to attempt the relief.

Even in its unfinished state, this army is ready for action.

This circumstance brings me to the serendipitous inclusion of the following unit into the Ruberian (RED) Army. The 'Thin Red Line' box contained a couple of sprues of Highlanders. A dozen of the figures being sufficient for my purposes - I wanted no more than 1 unit, 'Jacko' (who had put the order in on my behalf) got the other dozen or so. It so happened that the 7th Division relief column of 1916 included a couple of Highland battalions.  I had been thinking of making them into something vaguely Hellenic, but changed my mind.

In painting the 'tartan' on the kilts, I again used my 'sample' technique that I used for my Napoleonic highlanders, which, I think, turns out surprisingly tartan-like. To my eye, anyhow. Pictured is the Dearg Highland Infantry. The flag is, of course, the Cross of St Andrew, with the Cross of St George in canton.

Dearg Highland Infantry in the service of Ruberia.

And now, folks, for an abrupt change of subject. 

Lately I have been thinking more and more about where I'm going with my WW2 armies. So I have begun a wholesale reconciliation of my Russian army, with the view of building as many 6-stand units of the 'Not Quite Mechanised' type as I can with what I have available, supplementing them with 2-stand SMG, and possibly other, subunits. The 6-stand units will be battalions, regiments, brigades or Divisions, depending upon the scale of action. In their Divisional role, though, I'm thinking of adding a 76.2mm field piece or 122mm howitzer. 

My Soviet Infantry - most of what I can find, anyhow...

Below is most of my Soviet artillery to date: 3 76.2mm anti-tank/ field pieces; 2 122mm howitzers (one is semi-scratchbuilt, the other a metal model), and 4 152mm howitzers. 

Most of my Soviet artillery.  I'll probably be building a couple
more of my scratch-built field guns.

The nearest is an older type with the 'shark-fin' muzzle brake that I made a week or so ago. It is based on a spare Airfix British 5.5-inch howitzer, with the gun barrel trimmed back and replaced with one from a Plastic Soldier kit. The gun shield and elevating (?) wheel were added on. The shield is wrong, but looks right to my mind - a very acceptable piece. A bit of weathering and highlighting/ shading should finish it off nicely.

Latest inclusion to my heavier Soviet ordnance: an older pattern
(M1937) 152mm gun/howitzer.  A quick kit bash with a
cardboard gun shield.

What I have in mind is Operation Dolgorouky, some time in mid 1944, pitting a couple of Soviet Armies - one Rifle, one Shock - against a single Panzer Corps. Dare I rope in Bob Cordery's 66th Army - a facsimile thereof, slightly reorganised - as the Rifle army? The 6th Shock Army will be the one with most of the teeth.  I'm tempted to call the pair collectively the rather small 'South Pripyat Front'...

On the German side, XLIX Panzer Corps will comprise 1 Panzer Division,  1 Regular Infantry Division, and 1 'Grenadier' Division - a formation a trifle weaker than the regulars. Their front line position will be dug in, wired and mined.  

It's all in my head at the moment, wanting for me to begin by sorting out the Russians, then the Germans, and putting pencil to paper... 

Explosive Project (3 - incl The New Zealand Wars)

It was whilst writing up the last couple of postings, and thinking about this one, that the thought occurred to me to draw up a rough schematic of where the original RED vs BLUE 'Little Wars' eventually led. Not all of what is shown here is contemporaneous with the third quarter of the 19th century, when the conflicts between Azuria and Ruberia are meant to take place.

The affairs of Harad and Tchagai happen a century later, as does the bickering among the Latin States on the other side of the Hypermetric Ocean. Gatonegro fights for its independence from Reina de Oro in the first half of the 19th Century, and the wars between Austereia and Severeia two centuries before even that. But it's the same world, even though not all of it has been realised in armies built and campaigns fought. Not all the projects are mine, although I am or have been one way or another associated with them. I have ... sort of ... expropriated the famous Madasahatta island, renamed Madasagascar.

Oronegro is the brainchild of Gowan Ditchburn, one of his blogs being devoted to it (see here). The Harad (linked here)  project was created by 'Evil Uncle Brian', to which Tchagai was added when I finally succumbed to Brian's invitation (bordering on wheedling) to join it. Tchagai has been the scene of my recent (and as yet unfinished) 'Long Live the Revolution' campaign set in the mid-to-late 1940s. The narrative so far may be seen from here...(link).  The core idea for the 'Benighted Continent (Aithiops)' campaign belongs to 'Jacko' of 'Painting Little Soldiers'.

I was going to add a little more, here, about these campaign projects, but...

...I received by way of response to the first of these 'Exploding Project' postings some very interesting remarks by one 'Roughneck', a fellow Kiwi who expressed interest in developing a project based upon the New Zealand wars. It's a good thing I check out the 'for moderation' archive from time to time, else I would have missed it. Now, we both agreed that a rather high proportion of the battles involved attacks, usually unsuccessful, against fortified places. Here's what he had to say.

Hi Archduke
Long time follower of your blog. As a fellow Kiwi I also have a particular interest in our own New Zealand Wars but like Steve have yet to find a ruleset that really suits the conflict. As Ive gotten older I have found myself drawn to less complex games and have become quite a fan of The Portable Wargame rules. Given the varied nature of the New Zealand Wars I actually think TPW might just do the trick. I feel that to really capture the flavour of the whole conflict it probably needs to be played as a series of campaigns rather than just one off battles. Using TPW as a starting point The Flagstaff War could be played as a point to point campaign culminating in Ruapekepeka, the Waikato and Tauranga campaigns could be simple ladder campaigns as could Titokowarus War. The spread of Pai Mairie could be treated as an area control campaign whilst the hunt for Te Kooti could be a set of linked skirmishes dependent upon supply and hidden movement. As for the actual rules themselves obviously some tweaking would be required but nothing too onerus. I agree that attacking a pa might make for an uninteresting game but placed within the broader context of a campaign with variable victory conditions for each side I think it has the makings of something more enjoyable. After reading Soldiers Scouts and Spies I also see an element of military intelligence being incorporated into the game perhaps in the game set up or deployment phase with the Btitish player having variable limited knowledge of the enemy based on local intel and the Maori player having certain intel advantages to begin with e.g. hidden units or units on blinds perhaps. I'd be interested in your thoughts. regards Roger

What Roger had to say was pretty much on the money, I thought, in his view that the New Zealand wars would be better fought as a series of campaigns. There were battles, sure, but those that did not involve attacks upon fortified places were most often a matter of ambushes, subterfuges, and downright sneakiness. At that Maori proved far more adept than the Imperial military, or the colony's leadership. Given larger numbers and advantages in equipment, no doubt the colonial government figured to make up in brute force what they lacked in subtlety.

Suppose one were to campaign the war in South Taranaki, beginning mid-1868.

The genesis of the war had to do with settlers' encroachment upon Maori land recently 'confiscated' by the Colonial authorities, that threatened the livelihoods of the Maori themselves. Maori efforts, led by Titokowaru, to reach an acceptable compromise came to diddly-squat, whereat that leader reversed his pacific policy. Raid and counter-raid involving tens of soldiery and warriors, led to the encounter battle of Te Ngutu o Te Manu (The Beak of the Bird (?); it might mean 'the Mouth of the Holy Man'). This led to a defeat of the colonial forces so decisive that people began to doubt the permanence of European (pakeha) settlement in this part of the world.

What were the sizes of the forces involved? The European expedition comprised some 350 people,  mostly on foot, organised into 3 company-sized 'Divisions'. Maori had at the outset maybe 60 warriors, though it seemed that during the course of the battle, several more, attracted by the ruckus, joined in. The Europeans were chased several miles. Among their 50 casualties was the famous and popular Major Gustavus von Tempsky (or, as Maori are said to have called him, Manurau, which might be translated as 'one hundred birds', or 'many birds' ), killed during the fighting, close by the pa palisade. 

These are the sort of numbers one might expect in New Zealand's battles, tens, maybe a few hundreds. Although there might be thousands of imperial or colonial soldiers available in a given campaign (The Waikato, 1863), not all will be involved in a given battle.

For such a campaign I'd probably be inclined towards 'armies' of individual figures at 1:1. If using one figure to represent more than one, I would suggest 1:8 as the maximum. Of course, a 600-strong force would be represented by 75 figures at that scale, but we're talking there of an unusually large action by New Zealand standards. At the time Titokowaru was building the Tauranga-ika pa, he had maybe 400 warrior followers. Col. Whitmore went after him with perhaps 800 armed constabulary and 200 kupapa - Maori allies - along with a couple of Armstrong rifled cannon and as many Coehorn mortars. Pretty big forces by New Zealand War standards.  

It is probably just as well Titokowaru's campaign petered out in the full tide of (apparent) success, as Col. Whitmore (rightly, in my view) regarded as the fortifications beyond carrying by his force, even at 5 to 2 odds. Historian James Belich is inclined to portray what he calls the 'modern pa system' as something perhaps beyond the ken of European military expertise. Even if my comment overstates his thesis, methinks he at least equally overplays his argument. The star fort at Tauranga-ika, and its external and internal features, would have been instantly recognisable to a student of Vauban, I believe. 

Yet that to my mind goes much further to the credit of Maori ingenuity and adaptability in the face of overwhelming numbers. Similar situations yield similar solutions. The tutelage Maori got was not from mythical renegade Prussians (Belich is right about that), but from their opponents' approach to warfare, the accident of traditional pa design (buildings and dwellings half sunk into the ground), and their own ingenuity in adapting to the circumstances of firearms and cannon.

So a 'linear campaign' of Titokowaru's war might involve

1.  Surprise raid on a small redoubt (Turuturu-Mokai).  Maybe 60 Maori vs 25 Pakeha.

2.  Colonist's counter-raid on a Maori village.

3.  Attack on Nga Ruahine stronghold (Te Ngutu o te Manu)

4.  Motoroa - Titokowaru's  'strategic offensive/ tactical defensive' campaign - first episode.

     Maori build a pa in a threatening position - a common Maori practice - to invite Colonists to               attack.

5.  Tauranga-ika - second episode (A 'what if' action.  This was no mere star fort, having within it             internal defensive features, that would somehow have to be incorporated in the action).

6.  (What if) Attack on Wanganui (Whanganui) settlement. Possibly could include a Waikato Kingite       contingent on the side of Titokowaru.
7.  If Maori forced to retreat, a bush rearguard action (Waitotara River).

At Tauranga-ika, you could probably play out the action (which never happened) with, say, 100 European Constabulary figures reinforced by 25 Whanganui kupapa allies, against, say, 50 Ngati Ruahine warrior figures defending the fort. The Europeans would be backed with a rifled cannon and a siege mortar.

Why the Maori campaign in South Taranaki was so suddenly abandoned is something of a mystery. The usual explanation is that Titokowaru himself - a tohunga holy man - lost his mana tapu through an affair with another chief's wife. No one would follow one who had debased himself in such a way, or had abused a trust.

I would have liked to have been able to read more of Bob Cordery's campaign design for colonial wars from his forthcoming book. But from what I've seen so far, it seems it would be just the thing for the New Zealand's wars, especially, as Roger indicated, the pursuit of Te Kooti ('Teh Kawtee', for a reasonable approximation of how his name should be pronounced).

Incidentally, I am inclined to think that for Maori, the 'European wars' were really a resumption of the 'Musket Wars', which had been, practically speaking, entirely a Maori affair during the 1820s through to the 1840s. In almost every one of the conflicts between Maori and Pakeha,  the latter had Maori allies and supporters. When Colonel Whitmore interrupted his hunt for Te Kooti to face the threat of Titokowaru, a column of Maori opposed to Te Kooti carried on the pursuit.  Note that there was not even a hint of cooperation between Te Kooti and Titokowaru; theirs were entirely separate campaigns. At that, although the former began earlier and lasted longer, it is clear that Titokowaru was seen at the time as the greater threat to colonial security.

For all the anti-colonialism you hear these days, Maori at the time had no objection to European settlement as such, even welcomed it. I rather think Maori took to European ways.  In 1860, even before the conflict over the Waitara Purchase, one enterprising Maori entrepreneur was running a ferry service across the North Taranaki Bight between New Plymouth and Kawhia on the Waikato coast. Another had built and was operating a water mill some miles outside the New Plymouth town precincts.

But Maori got rather more than they bargained for from Pakeha settlement. Even before 1860 the overall European population in New Zealand exceeded the Maori, though most were in the South Island. By 1870 the major conflicts were over. Only Te Kooti remained at large, effectively a fugitive, the pursuit being carried out mostly by Maori.  

An Explosive Project (2)

The transition from Very Little Wars with 16-figure companies to the Horse, Foot, Guns was easy to contemplate, megalomaniac as I am. Imagine: a stand of 4 figures represents an infantry Brigade of some 2000 officers and men. Three of those, plus maybe a command element, you have a Division; three Divisions, with a bigger command stand, perhaps, and you have an Army Corps.  You might be looking at 45 infantry figures, here. Add a Brigade of Horse (3 figures) and a park of artillery (1-3 guns each with a couple of gunners), and you just scrape past 50 figures.  Fifty figures for an Army Corps!  I'll have a piece of that!

Turcowaz regular infantry.  The army now has 21 infantry
elements, 12 of which are irregulars...

An attractive idea. But I wanted armies of about 1875, roughly Britannic and roughly Gallic. What I wanted to see was an army list for either, as a guide line for organisation, but never saw one. What with one thing and another, the project sputtered on for a few more years with nothing much happening. Becoming disenchanted with the whole DBx rule systems - through no real fault of them - it was not easy to conjure up much enthusiasm for carrying on with it.  

Royal Dearg Highlanders in the service of Ruberia.

It was the Portable War Games systems that revived the interest. The whole gig looked simple, a few try-outs indicated very quick, very playable games, and the thing has progressed much more rapidly in the last three years. It has expanded considerably as well. The original intention was a war - or series of wars - between the Kingdom of Ruberia (RED) and la République of  Azuria, upon or near their home territories, with perhaps a side-order of colonial rivalry in, say, Africa or South Asia. But when the notion of something less 'symmetric' came to mind, the Azurian Army suddenly got co-opted into an 'alternative BLUE', namely TURQUOISE, or Turcowaz. 

The latest Bashi-Bazouk recruits.  Actually they are the
Strelets-R 'bonus' Russian Streltsi figures.  Near
enough, says I.

Having fought at least 4 actions, it was clear that the Turcowaz ought to have its own army. For these I chose the Turkish armies of the 1877 war against Russia. Unfortunately these aren't so easy to get hold of.  Strelets-R makes them, but they aren't so easily available. I scored a box of foot Bashi-Bazouks (through Paul 'Jacko's' on-line contact with a distributor), and that was about it. Still, they got painted up. Then a Crimean War box came available, with Turkish foot, Russian Foot and Horse, and some Highlanders. The Turks were pretty much the same as the 1877 lot; they'd do. Unsure what to do with the highlanders, eventually I shared them with Paul and made a formation of 3 stands and a command from what I kept.

The Royal Dearg Highlanders again.  Under the PW system
this lot could be a company, a battalion, a Brigade,
or a Division.

And the Russians? Well, I did have a 'hidden character' nation that was called Porphyria that was to be a Tsardom, but as these fellows favoured green, they became Zelyoniya.  Its army won't be huge; 8 infantry elements and maybe 4 Horse, plus a gun or two.  Enough, perhaps to prove a menace to the northern borders of the Settee Empire of Turcowaz.

Just by the way, I really like the chunky presence of the Strelets-R figures, especially the later sculpts.  They probably require a deal more attention to painting than some other plastic figures of similar scales, but the end result is worth it.  

Flank rear view of Turcowaz regulars.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned 'Jacko' had himself caught the 19th Century colonial warfare bug, and was developing his own armies and nations. His green-uniformed guys become the Imperial forces of Azeitona - vaguely Portuguese (should we call them Azeitonese or Azeitonians?).  Resisting their encroachments are the m'Butu tribesmen (BLACK) and the vaguely Arabic (WHITE?) pirates/ raiders/ really annoying people. Though they are his project, there are - or will be - points of contact between his and my projects, especially in the Dark Benighted Continent of Africa Aithiops.  

Turcowaz regulat foot.

The most promising beginning seems to be upon the east coast of Aithiops. 'Jacko' scored a fine campaign map of the WW1 campaign of German East Africa. The recent battle of the Limpopo Trail was intended as a species of prologue to the conflicts that will develop in that region of the world. The Ruberians will almost certainly take an interest - and it would scarcely be surprising if the Settee Empire of Turcowaz sought some kind of confrontation with the Abyad (?*) corsairs, raiders and suchlike riff-raff...

Turcowaz irregular cavalry.  Actually Stretets-R 17th
Century Ottoman Turks, but OK for my purposes.

The Ruberian Imperial troops of Rajistan will still be mounting operations against the fringes of the Settee Empire, such as the Medifluvia region and perhaps expanding into the area of Tchagai, which itself became the scene of a revolt some 7 decades later...

The beauty of the PW system is that it could lend itself to a wide range of scales. An Infantry stand might represent anything from a platoon to a Brigade; a group of three or four might be a company or a Division, depending on the overall scale of operation or campaign being undertaken. A single cavalry stand might be a troop or a Brigade. I don't imagine any higher cavalry formations larger than a Division.  And a gun might be a troop or a regiment.  The recent action along the Limpopo Trail was a small affair of maybe regimental or brigade sized forces.  The setback to Azeitona is not one to compromise the colony's existence...

Turcowaz army, so far...  Could do with some regular cavalry
and 'modern' artillery.

 I do like flexibility and versatility.

Elements of Ruberian Army: foot, artillery, and the dreaded
Gatling guns.

Now, recent perusals of the Madasahatta Campaign (Eric Knowles and Bob Cordery) has led to the realisation that, distant as the colonial emprises are from their homelands, they require a certain naval presence, if only to protect the imports of vital supplies and equipments, and the colonies themselves from raid, robbery, etc.  Something ... ocean going; not too flashy, something with a shallow draught, moderate speed, and bally great big guns. Say hello to the Queen of the East Aithiopsian waters, HMS Blunderer, coastal battleship, 9000 tons, carrying four 12-inch rifled guns. A gunboat of the 'Fly' class, perhaps HMS Botfly (a sister vessel, HMS Shoofly, operates in Medifluvian waters) might be suitable for riverine work. Perhaps one or two former American Civil War naval units might find their way into the rival navies. I feel fairly sure that Azeitona will welcome the ironclad ram Lafayette, bought from the United States of Anaconda in 1866. No match for the Blunderer, of course, but ... with a certain presence of its own.  Perhaps the twin-turreted monitor Kickapoo, recently sold (in 1874) by the USA to an undisclosed buyer, might yet find its way to the area.  Who knows? 

HMS Blunderer - newly commissioned, still wanting
its lifeboats...

Plenty of scope for small scale inshore and riverine naval and combined operations...

To be concluded...

Abyad*  - My tentative name for the Islamic Arabs, Mahdists and what have you, engaged in raid, robbery, and all-round rambunctiousness... well that's what the Ruberians are saying, anyhow. Probably Jacko already has his own name for them.

An explosive project...

I never planned to 'do' Colonial warfare.  On the whole, was my attitude, the advantages lay too much with the side that had the 'tech'. Of course I have learned since that it wasn't so much the 'tech' that gave the colonisers the edge, but numbers and a ruthlessness that, once having achieved an ascendancy, extracted every benefit that could be got from it.

As a non-Maori New Zealander (though with Maori and Pasifika relatives) I have gradually over time become more aware of the history of land expropriation in this country. Maori were never conquered militarily - not really - but were simply overwhelmed by the volume of immigration they had no chance whatever of stemming, not that Maori ever really sought to do so. Of course, the immigrants needed land.

An BLUE force, apparently with some TURQUOISE
auxiliary light horse.

The land expropriation from the Land Wars (so called in this country) were cruel enough, but understandable. But the most powerful weapon in the hands of the Colonial government was its legislature, passing laws over the heads of Maori that expropriated lands from them without consent or redress, on the flimsiest of pretexts. Worse, the legislators, wealthy land owners as they were (not until 1879 was universal male suffrage introduced in this country, coming into effect in 1881 with the next general election), they were not above ripping off the lower orders of colonists as well.  It appears that my own family 'benefited' from some of the land expropriation in Taranaki (North Island's West Coast around Mt Taranaki/ Mt Egmont), where they were pretty much dumped by the government and left to it (this in the 1890s, I think). I believe none of that land remains today in the Dowman family, and probably not since long before I was born.

  The above picture is from a display in the Tawhiti Museum, near Hawera, South Taranaki, New Zealand.  If ever you are in that part of the world, do pay it a visit. I recommend it highly.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/south-taranaki-star/102874993/the-man-behind-the-models-at-hweras-tawhiti-museum

Years ago, I discovered that a relative of mine - not a direct ancestor - one Lieut. Dowman participated in the Battle of Puke ta Kauere*  This battle occurred in 1860 near the future town of Waitara, where I was born just over 90 years later. It has been seen as one of the three most decisive defeats of Imperial forces during the course of the New Zealand wars. See the following link for a near-contemporary account of the battle.

http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cow01NewZ-c20.html

A RED force - no doubt in some desert emprise.

I mention all this to explain, at least in part, my attitude towards colonial warfare. In the true British tradition of 'rooting for the underdog', these days I tend to come down on the side of the natives. The Colonialists were never the underdogs. Not really. But with the feeling that it was all a bit one-sided, I kept away from Colonial war gaming. The New Zealand Wars aren't really tempting, as most of the battles were attacks, by one side or the other, on fortified places. Usually the attacks failed. Maori in particular eked out small numbers and indifferent commitment from the various iwi and hapu (tribes and sub-tribes in our parlance) with an enormous talent for field engineering, and an effective 'strategic offensive - tactical defensive' approach that saw its greatest expression, I think, in the war fought by Titokowaru. 

All that changed when I read an article in a war games magazine upon the subject of Little Wars, H.G. Wells's concept, adapted for 1:72 scale figures. There being plenty of ESCI Zulu Wars British and French Foreign Legion available, I acquired several boxes. The armies were, of course, to be the traditional RED versus BLUE. But I needed names for their parent nations, and so were born Ruberia and Azuria. Concepts for BLACK (later styled the M'yeusi) and WHITE were considered, respectively represented by Zulus and Arabic types; and Grauheim (GREY) for which methought the Airfix WW1 German figures might be appropriate, but they remained in potentia.  Azuria and Ruberia are traditional enemies, ever hostile towards each other, almost continually at war. The wars were to be more continental than colonial.

The first concept was to organise the forces into Brigade columns, comprising three 50-man battalions, a single cavalry squadron and a battery (company) of artillery. A rifle battalion might take this form:

Battalion HQ: CO, ensign, drummer.
3 Companies of 16 men each or 4 companies of 12
MG detachment.

The cavalry squadron would have an officer, a couple of NCOs and 12-16 troopers.

The artillery battery would comprise 3 or 4 guns.

I had worked out what I considered to be a refinement of H.G. Wells's diceless combat rules, which also included rifle and gunfire without using missile-firing ordnance. I'll explain this in case somebody might be interested enough to give it a practical test.  In any any combat, in any given turn, both sides inflicted upon their opponents a fixed percentage (truncated) of their numbers still in action. The percentage I settled on was 25%, but could have been reduced for a more prolonged firefight, say. When one side was reduced to half the strength they began the combat, they had to retreat or, if escape were not possible, to surrender. There was a good chance the loser would have to yield up prisoners.

Example:  A RED Company of 12 figures runs into a BLUE Company of 16.
Combat round 1: 
RED loses 25% of 16 = 4, leaving 12 - 4 = 8 figures;
BLUE loses 25% of 12 = 3, leaving 16 -3 = 13 figures.
Combat Round 2:
RED loses 25% of 13 = 3, leaving 8 - 3 = 5 figures;
BLUE loses 25% of 8 = 2, leaving 13 - 2 = 11 figures.

Having lost 7 from 12 figures, the RED Company retreats, leaving 2 (half the remainder, again, fractions truncated) prisoners in the hands of the enemy.

I never did give this a practical test, e.g. unengaged forces being drawn into an ongoing fight.  The whole thing was overturned when I discovered Phil Barker's Horse, Foot, Guns.

To be continued...

Work in progress: TURQUOISE irregular cavalry, RED
lancers, and BLUE artillery.

* Puke-ta-Kauere: Having looked this up, I have a feeling this might translate as something a little bit scatological: 'puke' (hill, mound, or just about any geographical eminence, but also mons veneris); and 'kauere' (strong flow of water).  Or it might simply indicate rising ground that has been carved out by a strong river flow.  But a description of the geographical features of the battlefield - see the link above - are not inconsistent with the scatological translation. Perhaps both meanings are/were intended and understood.