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Britain's Wars of Colonisation in the 19th Century and their wargames
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A list of Britain's wars outside of Europe and their wargames. I'm doing this list to give a list of the wargames out there on this topic as well as to show what interesting topics from this era that have not been featured by a wargame. This was, of course, the era of "Queen Victoria's Little Wars", although some major wars don't quite fall into her reign (1837-1901). If anyone knows of any wargames that fall into this category, please add them to the list. There are some interesting wars that I don't see any wargames on: Anglo-Burmese Wars (1823-26, 1852, 1885-86) Opium War (1839-42) Conquest of Perak (1875-76) Northwest Frontier Uprising (1897-98) Anglo-Persian War (1856-57) Anglo-Egyptian War (1882) Kaffir Wars (1846-47, 1850-53, 1877-78) Basuto Wars (1851-52, 1868, 1880-81) Ashanti Wars (1863-64, 1873-74, 1893-94, 1895-96, 1900-01) Matabele Wars (1893-96) Anglo-Gaika War (1878) First Boer War (1880-81)
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Posted Sat Jul 26, 2008 8:20 am
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Interesting that this game covers the Arrow War, the Zulu War and the Sudan campaigns but where is India and Afghanistan? After all, the romance of the Northwest Frontier is what most people of the Victorian era think of in terms of fighting the "savage natives".
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A company-level game of the period between 1850-1900. Most of the scenarios are on the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War but there is one scenario on the Indian Mutiny and a Moves article added more scenarios on the Boer War.
Again, no Northwest Frontier.
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One of the few games (probably the only game) that covers exclusively Britain's conquest of India.
Of course, "Britain" is not quite an accurate term. The Honourable East India Company, employing native and European troops, commanded its own private army and was the driving force in expanding its influence in India. You could say it was the Blackwater of its time. 
It was only in 1858, after the Indian Mutiny, when the HEIC was disbanded and its territories transferred to the Crown.
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One of the very few wargames that cover Britain's campaigns in India, although this is not quite a "war of colonisation" for the British. More like the response...
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Finally, a game on the Northwest Frontier!
The Pathan tribes were a constant thorn to British rule in India. Then as now, they don't take any lip from anyone, be they British, American or Pakistani.
Given the current situation, perhaps wargame designers could think about exploring Britain's campaigns in Afghanistan and the Northwest Frontier as a corollary to the ongoing conflict in the region.
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Once the British got India, that's where the "fun" began.
This game is noted for its square grid.
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One of the interesting things to note about gaming Britain's war of colonisations is that many of the wargames deal with Britain's disasters.
The primary cause of the First Afghan War was that the British decided they should have influence over the affairs of the Afghans (otherwise the Russians would) and they marched a force to Kabul in 1839 to install their puppet king. By 1841, Afghanistan was in open revolt.
On 6 Jan 1842, the British force in Kabul, under increasing pressure from the Afghans, decided to retreat to India. 4,500 troops, including 700 Britons, and 10,000 camp followers. By the time the force reached Jalalabad seven days later, one Briton and a few sepoys were left.
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In 1878, the Second Afghan War began, for pretty much the same reasons as the first one.
This British managed to 'win' this war, defeating the Afghans at Kandahar in 1880 but the most famous battle of this war was, again, a major British defeat, so much as that there are two wargames on this battle.
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9.
Board Game: Maiwand
[Average Rating:5.63 Unranked]
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As US and NATO forces are learning today, troubles in Afghanistan and the Northwest Frontier don't really go away.
The British had to invade again in 1919.
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How many games are there on the New Zealand Land Wars? Just this one, and it's not even published yet. (C'mon KPG! You said you wanted to publish this!)
This is one of the most interesting wars of the era. It wasn't about politics, imperial ambition or "bringing the word of God to the noble savages". And it wasn't a war where the white man was better-armed than the natives. By this time, many Maoris were Christian (if nominally), already signed a treaty with the British, and bringing their experience in musketry to age-old bush warfare tactics.
Nope, it was just about land.
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11.
Board Game: Zulu War
[Average Rating:5.42 Unranked]
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Britain fought many wars in sub-Saharan Africa - the Kaffir Wars, the Ashanti Wars, the Basuto Wars, the Matabele Wars, the Gaika War - but the only one that has seized the popular imagination is the Zulu War.
Interesting for a war that lasted only about six months.
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The Battle of Isandhlwana - 22 Jan 1879.
Lord Chelmsford and his army of 5,000 European troops and 8,000 natives were encamped near a hill called Isandhlwana. When scouts reported contact with the enemy, Chelmsford left 1,800 men to guard the camp while he set off with the balance. He failed the find the enemy. When he returned to the camp, only 355 men had escaped death at the hands of a massive Zulu army.
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Lord Chelmsford could only say, "I can't understand it. I left a thousand men to guard the camp."
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Of course, nothing sells like heroism and after a defeat like Isandhlwana, Britain was looking for a consolation prize and the gallant defence at Rorke's Drift was certainly worthy of praise.
Much ink and film have been spent on this subject...
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Thus, it is no surprise that 11 Victoria Crosses were awarded to the defenders of Rorke's Drift, the most ever for a single engagement.
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16.
Board Game: Zulu!
[Average Rating:6.10 Unranked]
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The British now make their appearance in North Africa but I've not yet come across a game on their conquest of Egypt or the Battle of El Tel-Kebir.
Please add to the list if you know any.
The thing about being in charge of Egypt means inheriting its problems with Sudan. If you know any games of Britain's first involvement in the Sudan, and of Gordon's ill-fated expedition, please add them to this Geeklist.
There are two games which cover the Battle of Omdurman, which occurred during Britain's second invasion of Sudan.
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Omdurman was basically an ambush by the dervishes on the advancing British. Not sure how they can do that in a wargame, unless playing double-blind.
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There are several wargames on the Second Boer War but on the First Boer War, not much. If you know of any wargames on the First Boer War, please add them to this Geeklist.
This was the last war for Britain of the century and was a clear sign of the departure from the previous small wars. The British were eventually to deploy 500,000 men to the conflict.
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But like many of the battles from this era, we are more fascinated with British defeats than victories, and the Second Boer War had more of British defeats than you could shake a stick at.
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The war eventually degenerated into the horrors of no-holds-barred guerrilla warfare.
Bittereinder referred to Afrikaaners who refused to surrender and sought to continue the conflict any way possible. The British response was equally brutal, if not more.
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The Yi He Quan or Righteous and Harmonious Fists or Boxers was a popular movement to "overthrow the Qing, destroy the foreigner". In 1900, they besieged the foreign communities in Beijing and Tianjin. When the Ba Guo Lian Jun or Eight Allied Nations Army mounted a relief operation, the Qing dynasty declared war on the Westerners.
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The Ba Guo Lian Jun relieved the besieged foreign communities in Tianjin in Jul 1900 and in Beijing a month later.
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Does anyone know how I can get this game? Is it available for download?
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This qualifies as its late 19th C. ...the game ends with the start of WW I. Great powers can't invade one another but everyone is fighting for colonial possessions. Great game. Someone should give it a Twilight Struggle treatment.
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Posted Sat Jul 26, 2008 6:25 am
The East India Compnay was certainly the most interesting phenomena of the era. It established its own trade policies, and admininstered its foreign holdings like any sovereign colonial power, to include its own private army until the Sepoy Mutiny prompted Her Majesty's government to take over. The Opium War and the Mutiny are prime examples of the HEIC dragging the British government into conflict, not unlike Rhodes and others managed to do in Africa.
Indeed. Unfortunately, most folks aren't educated to appreciate history as the record of real people who dealt with real events and crises, and more fascinating than fiction.
I prefer to leave the games grouped in a thematic format for now.