In the Heart of Africa Game

Hello,

No painted minis this time, I haven't finished the latest batches basing.  Instead of painting I played in a fun game of In the Heart of Africa.  

In the Heart of Africa is a fun, easy to learn, fast playing wargame that is not burdened with excessive dice rolling, mindless acronyms, mandatory army lists, or complicated charts.  Author Chris Peers' rules cover the time of European conquest and exploration of Africa.  

Members of the local gaming club play fairly regular games and all of the scenarios tried have been a ton of fun.  I've just never remembered to bring a camera and poorly document some of the fun. 

Today's scenario was simpler than usual.  The British and Sudanese soldiers must defend the camp from Arab mercenaries and allies.  

The European side consisted of a unit of British soldiers, two units of Sudanese soldiers, and a very talented inspiring leader.  

British Camp

The attackers consisted of two units of musket Askaris, two units of heavily armed rifle Askaris, a unit of hard Arab mercenary swordsmen with matchlocks, two units of spear armed units, and a mediocre leader.  The spear units arrive late for the battle and dice must be rolled to see if they can show up in later turns.

on the left a few defenders come out to disrupt the attackers movement.  IGNORE the guys in the dark green they come in on later turns, just convenient storage.

The heavily outnumbered defender decided to castle up in his camp.  This was most likely a mistake as his longer shooting ranges would have been more effective pouring bullets through the clearings instead of depending on the protection of barricades.  This also allowed the natives to focus force on one side of defenders.  Regardless, this is the only scenario I've heard of that might be unbalanced and I think the defender was at a severe disadvantage.

The attackers plan was to use the crappier expendable troops as a screen till the superior troops could lay down the hammer.  The jungles kept changing color, very high tech table, there's nothing wrong with the camera.

The screeners suffered high casualty rates and later were almost wiped out before calling it a day.

Defenders start pulling back in fear as the attackers keep pouring forward!

what the last picture said

same as before, but now you can see both sides of the table

Attacker swarm one point of the camp while others pour in fire

a giant hand descends from the heavens and removes men wearing fezes

The nearly depleted villains are nearly overwhelmed by the spearmen

Game called, Good guys win! Only two Sudanese and the Command element await a grisly end

Many thanks to the awesome Dave for running these games, and to my terrific team mate Erick, and the most graciously defeated Steve.

Till next time!   Khurassan 28mm humans and some fake leather couches in some more mediocre bloginess which will as always be accompanied by the terrible photography!

love,

Baconfat