Bob Cordery offers “Eres To You Fuzzy Wuzzy,” a set of free wargames rules for recreating battles for British Empire in the Sudan.
The author writes:
ETYFW relies upon the use of both average dice (AvDs produce more predictable results) and normal dice
(D6s produce less predictable results) to reflect the following features of the Sudanese Campaign:
• British and Egyptian firepower could destroy Mahdist attacks if they got enough warning;
• British and Egyptian forces moved slowly but surely about the battlefield;
• British and Egyptian forces might be beaten in close combat by the sheer ferocity of the Mahdist
attack;
• Mahdist forces has less predictable firepower than the British and Egyptians;
• Mahdist forces moved in a less formal and therefore more rapid manner on the battlefield than the
British and Egyptians.
Restless Natives is a set of free wargames rules for playing wargames in the colonial period. They’re intended for 15mm figures, and use a card-based movement and special events system.
Hordes of Dervishes is a set of free wargames rules for fighting battles in the Sudan. They’re based on the DBA system and are intended for 15mm figures.
These rules are intended to refight the battles of the New Zealand Colonial Wars, 1840-1872. They do not cover skirmishes They are based on DBA, and influenced by the article by Ed White on DBA and the Seven Years War (WI65), and Clive Clapson’s article on the Maori Wars (WI63). As in Ed’s article there are two assumptions:
1. The first round of close combat also includes short range small-arms and artillery fire.
2. Troops potency depended on their ability to deliver close range volleys or cold steel.
Valley of Fire is a free campaign system for the Northwest Frontier. The authors write:
This is a fictional colonial campaign set in the Northwest Frontier during the late 1880s. A British fort is under siege and a relieving force has exactly one month to break the siege! The villages in the valley and mountain passes go into revolt, adding more and more foces to the siege and to block the British advance. The system features hidden movement, is of moderate complexity, and is designed to be run with or without a referee. The PDF contains rules, counters, a planning map, and log sheets.
Miniature Wargaming is part of the "adventure games" hobby, which includes r ole p laying and board games. Wargamers recreate battles on the tabletop with toy soldiers, like a more complicated game of chess. Models range in height from 6mm to 28mm tall, with 15mm and 25mm being the most popular. There also is a growing interest in toy soldiers and military models, such as the 1/32 and 1/35 scale plastic soldiers from Conte, and Marx.
The most popular miniature wargames are fantasy and science fiction based, such as Warhammer, Warhammer 40K, Warmachine and The Lord of the Rings. World War II games such as Flames of War and Axis and Allies are new favorites. Other favorite historical periods include Napoleonics, the American Civil War, and ancients, such as Romans or Greeks. Other gamers enjoy miniature naval wargames, recreating battles like Trafalgar, Jutland and the Coral Sea.
Hobbyists research historical periods and paint their tiny soldiers in accurate uniforms. Others develop "historically realistic" rules sets or build scale battlefield terrain using model railroad techniques.
For pictures, visit the gallery.
Some of the bigger hobby companies are Games Workshop, which produces Warhammer, Wargames Foundry and Old Glory Miniatures. Wizards of the Coast produces several lines of pre-painted miniatures games, such as the Star Wars and Dungeons and Dragons miniatures games, and a historical game with pre-painted miniatures: The new Axis and Allies game. Wizkids produces a fantasy collectable miniatures game, such as the Mage Knight and Heroclick fantasy games, the science fiction games MechWarrior and Rocketmen, as well as the quasi-historical Pirates of the Spanish Main.
