= 2 A 5 VLUTAN ZS ML ASAIN ST et Lhd LO: ) (hea lke) BY GHRIS PEERS aeyi€OVER PHOTO: Miccbent ie SAAR AG BR uga SE cations Tribes oF Does or Gi et | , A Sectors EP rch erent : pe “SPoinia Foie fs ran if = oy cyviss® hal = =) E ms 1itponas doe i. CONT BS nda | SY Tntrodietion — J a Equipment Needed — ~~ Kijgago ot tine beading & Commanding an Army ~4-—— | Unit Types & Sizes eet a The Role of Chiefs TheMen & Their Weapons === Firearms Points Values Effects of Terrain 1 ifeosing Terrain Scenarios & Deployment... — |. Special Rules Sequence pf Play. ~ Movement, SSS ee Shooting i « ofeseen \ Deniord oo der | Rallying Held Defences, Fortifications ete. Boaw \ The Army Lis ‘Suamimary &TRODUCTIO: "do not intend to listen quietly when governments from distant lands say they will divide up Africa." Enperor Menelik of Ethiopia, 1891 "Death In The Dark Continent is a set of wargames rules for the petied of armed exploration and imperial conquest in sib-Sataran ‘Affica in what might be called the “age of the breech-loader” - in other words between about 1870 and 1899. In those years the ‘warrior peoples who once dominated the continent were having to come to terms with the appearance of Furopean invaders who could eplay Rrepower and material superiority beyond anything they hnd ever experienced before. At the same time the African climate fand terain.- a8 well as the often underrated resistance of many of its people ~ presented European soldiers with equally difficult challenges, The ways in which armies on both sides dealt with this situation make this a period full of interest forthe wargemer, It rivals the ancient and medieval periods in the enormous varity of possible aries, cach with its own distinctive and often spectacular ‘appearance, and it shares the “Boy's Own Adventure” aumosphere that colonial gaming tas traditionally enjoyed im the English ‘peaking world, Despite the advantages enjoyed by the European invaders many of the campaigns inthis periot were close-nin things, ‘and our games need not be one-sided either. There are nunfercus examples of battles in which the courage and tactical skill of Africa Teaders tumed the tables on far better trained and equipped colonial ermies: the Zalus against the British at Isendhhwana in 1879; the ‘Mahuise against Hicks Pasha's Egyptians in 1883; the Bakweri and the Hehe against the Germans at Minonge Ravine and the River Rugaro respectively, both in 1891 (not a good year for the Kaiser's men in Affics!): and the Ethiopians against the Italians at Adowa in 1806, to name but a handful, We do not restrict ourselves to “natives versus imperialists” encounters, thotgh, but also eater fally for the equally fascinating if generally neglected subject of warfare among the African states and tribes themselves. The niles cover some of the same ground as my carlict set, "fv the Heart of Africa" (published by SILBS in 2002), bat this is by no means merely an updated version, and players are advised to approach it as a completely new set. "dn the Heart of africa” was tied in fairly closely to Foundry’s “Darkest Africa” figure range, and so restricted its coverage 10 the tropical zone which was still mainly ‘unexplored in the 1870s, excluding the south, west and north-east of the continent. It was also basically a large svale skirmish set, using individually based and manoeuvred figures. "Death In The Dark Continen:" employs multiple-igure bases and other mechanisms which make it easier to control relatively large forces, so that bigger and more sophisticated native armies like the Zulus can now be better represented. It is perhaps closer to a “mainstream colonial” game, but by retaining the focus on Africa, and on inter~ tribal conflicts and small scale “bush wars”, it is possible to cover the subject in unprecedented scope and detail. Nevertheless the command and control mechanisms are designed to represent personal leadership in fairly small or traditionally organised forces. rather than the sophisticated staff structures needed to handle brigades, divisions and corps, It is feasible to extend our scope to cover an engagement like Isandhlwana, where the regulars comprised approximately a battalion, but Adowa or Omdurman might still be considered somewhat beyond it, This need not, however, prevent us using popular armies like Mahdists, Ethiopians, Boers, oF the ‘Anglo-Egyptians in the Sudan. There were plenty of small-scale actions which can be re-fought, as Well as hypothetical batles ageinst smaller iribai enemies or exploring expeditions. The Second Boer War, however, was much more of a “white man's wat” between European-style armies, and is realy a Subject for different set of rules - which is one reason why the time span covered ends in 1899, ‘The mules are intended to be suitable for refighting historical battles as well es for hypothetical scenarios, one-off competition style games, and free form campaigns in which the tabletop encounters arise from strategic decisions made by the players. (A campaign system may weil appear in print at some future date, but in the meantime a good alternative is to base it on one of the board games which deal with African exploration or colonial campaigns.) It is worth pointing cut that although some purists regard the last three options mentioned a¢ inferior to the historical refight, they generally present players with more challenging situations, allow them sore opportunity to exercise their tactical skills without the benefit of hindsight, ard are often more enjoyable. The Army Lists at the back of the book are necessarily general rather than specific to particular campaigns, and are intended mainly for use in this sore of ‘game. The aim of the rules is wo give players &n enjoyable and fast moving experience, while at the same time reflecting - as far as is, possible in a game which is first and foremost intended to be fun - the conditions of the real thing, After a few attempts you will probably be able to remember most of the rules which you will need, and so will be able to Keep the game moving without constantly referring to the book. This is ore reason why we do not fee! the need fo clutter up the rulesook or the tabletop with loose playsheets. ‘There isa “quick reference” summary an the back cover, though, for those players who find such things help Many of the armies featured in this book are already well known to wargamers, and figures, peinting guides and other information will be easily available. In 25/28mm scale companies like Foundry, Copplesione Castings, Petty Miniatures, Dixon, Irregular Miniatures and Casiaway Arts cover even some of the more obscure optiors, and in any case figures labelled as a particular type can often be used for something else, Most Khartoum Arab slavers, far instance, would look pretty well the same as their equivalents in a Mabdist army. Men in loincloths toting spears of muskets have a particularly wide variety of uses! Some native peoples might present more of a challenge, but lack of figures need not prevent you building any of the armies in the lists. As for references for painting or conversion, African armies (and colonials other than British) ae not very well covered compared to some subjects, bet there are books ‘valle, rotably from Foundry and Osprey, which should answer most questions. Back issues of “Wargemes Illustrated” magazine are also well worth looking at, and I am hoping to provide further information, scenarios ete. in the form of future articles.EQUIPMENT NEEDED. ad based, 10 represent your army’s troops. Although the sules were written mainly with 25/28mm sg tobe equly sible foray sas IF posible cach gue shold acutely dpi! the és ropriate troop type, The question of how to represent officers, standard bearers and other Cinoriy pes is pels Santry who will be required to fight Doth mounied and on foot should be supplied with Hann ind camc-metounted figures but those who are te fight en in one role throughoat the game need not be Gaplcegamaumted ee should be moanted on bases of a standard frontage. 1¢ does not really matter exactly what this is as ie per All eae the same rules, but if using 25/28mm figures we recommend a fiontage of 60mm. Depths are not ong bth ses te fr muted rns, td Om or chin ene anally il be ben o Art be 30mm gt bing song as tobe unwely. The umber of Fgures on a base is mostly an aesthetic choice as a en et Healy the Hoops. We suggest 3 per base for Warriors and Seldon, 2 for Skirmishers and longa cis ns th 204 ere gue or ail ad machine guns, The ras do 4 equi the ce of sora tones ad | ge or be retnoved separately, so each gun and is crew can be mounte on a sgl lage bas. If aig ery plese fo peer es, you can have the dimensiens ofeach base andor increase the numberof figures. Tn the case Cry Sim or aa ke the Ashanti who usualy fought from dense cover, a base mounting only a single figure but Sangean Skim getation would be a cheap and vistally appealing option. A “Muzungu” or white man may FepNely decorated ‘san, but he will look less lonely if'a couple of gunbearers or other hangers on are on the base with presenta single fighting ™ y ftom his fighting units should be on the same sized base ss an ordinary him. Likewise a Chief who is based separate clement pee jC necumpanied by standacd earers, witchdoctors, members of his harem or orhersupernumerares urface - generally the larger the better. We assume that the table is an oblong, with two longer ix feet by four is a popular wargaming standard. + Figures, suitably painted 2 figures in mind, they a1 4 * A table or similar payig st Sides and two shorter ome. S é sent arees of cover, and also t0 enhance the look of the game. The rules assume that the Amrit etc ea of ian es on of he ge, Th my as ae trae layng sues ever should not be looked upon as being completely fat or devoid of any cover. There are litely to be fds or ulin {o interrupt line of sight, and patches of bushes or tall grass to provide concealment, even in this “open” teers vis should be borne in mind when your ‘oops miss apparently easy targets at close range! It is not renee Tn, Ta Mepresctsueh minor fares on the tbetop Larger terrain features do have effets which are deat Tate ye howe pull be of 9 size end appesrince which reflect thei real-ie profetypes, The variations and comple rs rien gzoaTphy, thous, hae been reduced toa necowarly simplified and somewhat stylised astem Ah Treaties real Ale permed y the rues, abd thei inuence on the activites of the fighting figures, i provided on * Dic ice are used in the game ~ ordinary six-sided, referred to as “D6s”, and twenty-sided, or “D20s”, used for Ds tom aes ome are eof hoe + Ralers or measuring 8765 figures on reduced size bases without unnecessary saleultin Mari «which are suffering from disorder. It is possible to use plastic counters or even scraps of paper for ane eee ‘pvay, vukure model, discarded wespons, or pufls of cotton woo! dyed brown to represent dust. “THEY GLORIFY EVEN THIS TYRANT”: RAISING AND COMMANDING AN n, Lo! The dreadful voice that roared, And scattered the multitude. The hero remains immortal.” "Lol The hands shar waved the sear And loaded the gu Praise song of Kuva Likenye of the Bakweri. 7 a:bmnds and expeditionary farces are divided into writs led by junior chiefs or officers. There are nae ne real rovngpe iy eepsealcomunend ard contol, but “Death Jn The Dark Continent” the meshaniam for inating in coy ee ry stylised, just as other aspects of the gome traditionally are. In most sitions there is no need for‘written orders or any other paperwork, and mechanisms like the randomised move distances take care ofa lot ofthe minor problems ‘with transmission of commands, subordinates’ abilities, etc. which would otherwise have to be laboriously adjudicated with the aid of dice and chars, In some scenarios you will need to make a note of things like when and where late arrivals ere to enter the table, but this has been made as painless as possibie. Afterall, a system of written orders is not very appropriate for @ period in which few commanders were literate, and even those who were would usually be able to control their forces by verbal commands. Far from reducing “tealism’, this system actually enhances the game by speeding it up and allowing tactical situations to develop. {na game in which movement is nor strictly prescribed by orders, the main source of problems is likely to be interactions of the “if you do that, then Ill do this” sort. The alternate movement system used in these rules is designed to prevent this, while also avoiding the odd situations which sometimes arise if one entire force has to move before the other, It also reflects the fact that most battles taKE the form of bursts of action and reaction interrupted by pauses, rather than continuots frenetic activity, You will get the best Out of this system if you do not ty to think of all movemeat as simultaneous, but use your tactical skill to decide which of your side's units need to move early in the sequence, and which should wait to see what your opponent does. Another potential source of difficulties is the question of reacting to events which the player is aware of, but which the figures oa the table would not be able to see. Players can casily find themselves in the situation of pretending not to know what everyone can see, which is frustrating from a gaming point of view end ean ead to disputes. So we assume that the general location of all on-table troops - except those hidden in ambush «is either at least partly visible to the fighting men (they are, after all, likely to be shouting war-cries, firing off muskets, or otherwise advertising their presence), or has beca communicated to them by their leaders or scouts, Therefore @ unit can legitimately be ‘manoeuvred in response to an enemy even ifit has no direct line of sight to him, init Types and Siz ‘All fighting figures and models are mounted on bases: the recommended base sizes, and number of figures per base, for each troop type are given on page 4. A anit must nommally consist of between 2 and & bases. Exceptions to this are the Chiefs of Organised ot Disciplined armies (see below), Wazungu (ic. “white men", for whom see page 6). and field artillery, rocket launcher or machine gun models. All ofthese operate independently, and are treated as single base units, In theory there need be no restriction on the number of units fielded, but an army becomes very difficult to controt if there are 1oo many, and a side with vastly more units than the opposition may gain an unfair advantage when manoeuvring. The recommended maximum and minimum aurber of units for different scenarios when using the Army Lists are given on pages 27 and 28. Bach base in a multi-base unit must deploy and attempt to remain no more than a fixed distance from the nearest other base of the same unit. There must also be no geps of more than this distance in the unit as a whole, so for example it cannot be split into two Separate manoeuvre groups, evea if the bases within each group adhere to the spacing rule. Ifa gap does arise (dve to casualties, for example), an attempt must be made to rectify it next time any base in the nit moves. While the whole unit remains stationary, however, bases need not move just for the purpose of closing the gap. (Amillery or machine guns mey be deployed at the comers of an infantry square - for which see page 7 - and though this may technically creete an illegal gap in the infantry unit, it incurs no ‘sadvantage unless the square moves ) Of course it will aten he advisable for units to operate in closer order - generally with bases in actual contact with each other - in order to prevent an enemy spliting them up or concentrating superior numbers against them, The ‘maximum permitted distance between beses depends on the type of unit, as follows: ‘Skirmishers, Pygmies, all mounted troops, and Soldiers in tenches or manning fortifications inches Others 2 inches, ‘The Role of Chiefs. “A few men showed signs of firing wildly, but a smart rap with my stick soon helpeda man to recover his self possession.” Coptain E. Hutton, 60" Rifles, at Gingindlov, 1878. Each side must field a Chief figure, representing the seaior officer or tribal leader present on the table, He is depicted by a model or small group of models on a single base. Each army in the lists is allocated to one of three command types, which we call Disciplined, Organised or Tribal, A Tribal Chief is a man who is pre-eminent among his people by reason of birth, magical powers or personal {qualties, but lacks any forinal system for commanding them, and probably does so only with their consent or through fear. He mast belong to one of the units specified in his list, and cannot leave it. The base he is on fights, ard is costed, ike a normal one of is type ‘The Chief of an Organised force holds a more formal position of authority and may even have a small staff of advisors and ‘messengers around him, but will still issue his orders verbally in an informal manner, and is likely to depend heavily on personal prestige. His counterpart in a Disciplined army has the additional advantages of a system of military regulations to back up his authority, and a more of less standardised procedure for issuing and transmitting orders. Most Disciplined forces will be European coloaial ones, but some Afiican armics - for example the Zulus and Bagands - attained a similar standard even without the benefit of diill books and written orders, An Organised or Disciplined Chief mey be based either as part of @ unit or separately. His base may beclassed as any troop type permitted to the emmy (unless an Army List specifies otherwise), but does not count towards maximum, permitted unit or figure totals. It must be of the same troop type (eg. Warriors or Soldiers) as a unit it is with, but may be armed iffezently if permitted by its Army List. It moves and fights like a normal base of the appropriate type and armament, and costs the same, plus an additional 15 points if Organised or 30 if Disciplined. An independent Chie?s base can always be Flite if the player chooses to pay the extra points, even if its troop type is not sormelly allowed to be Flite in that army. A few Amy Lists also allow Chiefs to be classed as Light Horse, even though no other mousted troops appear in that list. This represeats those cases where the very small numbers of horses available were reserved for commanders and messengers ‘The Army Lists also permit a few named ChiefS to qualify as “Outstanding”, giving them certain advantages when controlling and ‘motivating their troops. The list of Outstanding leaders is quite short, and kas been restricted to those men who clearly excelled in the art of battlefield motivetion or command. Others equally famous, whose main strengths lay for example in the fields of organisation (like Sir Gamet Wolseley) or diplomacy and magic (eg. Mbatiany of the Masai). do not appear. Of course such @ list is a very subjective matter, and no doubt people will have their own favourites who they think ought to have been included, but it would obviously be undesirable o devalue the eategory by putting too many people into i, An Outstanding Chief eosts an extra 25 poin'. In most cases he will be well worth it, but you never have to use one if you do not want to; you can always argue that the great man has delegated this particular operation to a subordinate! A separate Chief base is moved as part ofthe aormal movement sequence, as itt was @ unit in its own right, A Chief may be shot at and killed like a normal base, but docs rot count ss a unit forthe enemy's target priority purposes unless he is ckarging ino close combat. So although the job of = commander is inevitably dangerous, he will not often be an eligible target unless he chooses to expose himself to danger in order to inspire his troops or achieve some other command objective, The death of a Chief will cause a ‘morale test for units which witness it, and the army must continue from then on without the functions exercised by a commander. The job of a Chiefis to ensure that his units obey their orders, to encourage and inspire them in combat, and if things go wrong to rally domoralised troops. Some of these functions can be performed with an encouraging word or by simply by being seen to be watching, but on other occasions it may be necessary to go forward and personally lead by example, or deal out corporal punishment to the cowardly or the over-excited. Therefore the distance at which a unit can be influenced depends on what the Chief wants to d To inspire it in close combat (see page 22): 2 inches To rally a disordered unit: 4 inches ‘Vo re-rll its movement dice or exempt it fiom a morale test (Disciplined or Outstanding Chief& only) 12 inches “MAGNIFICENT SPECIMENS OF SAVAGE STRENGTH”: THE MEN AND THEIR: .APONS. "They were then a the most dangerous stage of ignorance with regard 10 frearms...they’all firmly held the convietion that all you ‘had ta do to avoid being struck by the bullet was fo duck when you saw the smoke.” W. D. M “Karamoja” Bell on the Karamojong. ‘The men and weapons represented by the figures which we use in the game are grouped into different cstegories according to their effectiveness, armament, and style of fighting. The troop types used in these rules, and their characteristics, are as follows: ‘Wacungu: “Muzungu” is a Swahili word often used to describe a white man, but we use it here in a more specific sense, covering individuals or small groups of very heavily armed and well motivated expiorers or big game hunters. They are generally armed with the best military or sporting guns available, are likely to be expert shots, and ean have an influence quite out of proportion to their numbers. Actually the term has nothing to do with skin colour, but means someting strange, frightening and even supernatural, testifVing to the impression made by the explorers with their bizarre appearance, terrifying weapons, and mad obsession with lekes and the sources of rivers. In fuct Wazungu (the Swabili plural) may not necessarily be white as black missionaries also sometimes led exploring expeditions. The most famous of these was the Presbyterian William Sheppard: his Afican-American origin tured out 19 be an asset when he was captured by the Bushongo, whose king hed ordered all white men found in his kingdom to be beheaded! ‘Skirmishers: Most Afvican fighting men fought in skimishing style in open order, exchanging missiles with opponents at a distance, and relying either on light shields or on dodging skills to avoid return fire. Traditional weepons were spears, bows, throwing knives, and in a few places throwing sticks and slings. Most African bows had a range not much greater than @ thrown spear, and iti difficult to distinguish between the effectiveness of these wespons - especially since various combinations might be used by members of the same unit or tribal group. Therefore we treat them all the same, with two exceptions: multi-bladed throwing knives were valucble pieces of equipment because of the amount of both metal and time that went into their manufacture, and in fact mong many tribes they doubled as currency. So they were used sparingly in battle, and we assume that men equipped with them would also carry a largesupply of spears. Although the effect of throwing knives was largely psychological, they could be deadly agcinst opponents using shields as astatic defence. Modern tests have showin how they could hi the upper rim of shield and rebound over it o strike the man behind. The other exception is the crossbow employed by the Fan of Gabon, which was used not for long range shooting but to propel very light poisoned darts over a short distance at great velocity. Because these darts were invisible in Might und could not be blocked ‘oF dodged, we assume that their effects - both psychological and against shields - were similar to those of throwing knives. Especially later in the period, skirmishers often incorporated firearms into their traditional tactics. These weapons were not necessarily more lethal, since their superior range and penetrating power were largely cancelled out by the length of time needed to reload, and by their notorious inaccuracy in wnwvained hands. But they had a psychological impact out of all proportion to the numbers they killed in battle, and the supply of guns and powder eventually came to dominate African warfare, Som: men leamed 10 shoot accurately with ‘modern firearms while retaining their traditional skirmishing skills, and these could be exceptionally dangerous opponents, Pygmies: These are members of forest hunting tribes, expert in bushcraft skills and armed with either bows or spears. Pygmy archers ‘were famed for their accurate and rapid shooting, while their spearmen made up for their small size with exteeme ferocity. Unlike Skirmishers, Pygmies with spears eannot shoot, but they perform better in hand-to-hand combat than their bow'armed compatriot Warriors: Those peoples who relied on hand-to-hand fighting, using stabbing spears or swords, had an advantage in most circumstances over traditional skirmishers. We call such men Warriors. With such tactics the Zulus, Matabele and Masai, for example, tecrorised their neighbours and carved out large empires. On the other hand these armies often came to grief in unsuitable terrain, and proved highly vulnerable to the firepower of coloaial armies. Warriors may carty throwing weapons, as most Zulus did by this period, but these were used primarily to disconcert the enemy just Defere a hand-to-hand clash, and their effect is factored in to the close combat rules, Some may also be equipped with guns, though they seldom used them very effectively. All Warriors using firearms are classed as untrained for shooting (see below), but they do not receive the usual points reduction for tis. Soldiers: Soldiers are troops who carry firearms and are trained to fire in closer and usually more disciplined formations than those used by Skinmishers. They may also be expected to stand and fight hand-to-hand, either with fixed bayonets or with spears, swords and shields. Regulars often adopted a square formation against tribal opponents, and this ean be useful for protecting the flanks and stiffening the morale of an oumnumbered force. A square may be formed by one or more Soldier units, totalling at least 4 bases in contact with each other (except for any gaps of the minimum width needed to eccommodate artillery or machine guns at the comers, for which sce page 5), an facing in different directions. It need uot have sides of equal length, Light Horse: Most of tropical Africa was unsuitable for cavalry because of the presence of the tsetse fly, whose bite was fatal to horses, but in the regions to the north and south of this zone some armies deployed them in significant numbers. Light Horse are men. usually mounted on small horses or ponies, lightly equipped and generally not prepared to fight at close quarters. but preferring to skirmish with missile weepons. They may be armed with throwing knives or spears, or with firearms of any type. Mounted infantry such as those deployed by the British in South Africa and the Sudan, who were trained to fight from horseback as well as on foot, my also be classed under this heading. Gun-armed Light Horse shoot more effectively if they diemount, and most of them will do so routinely, using their extsa mobility 10 get into a good firing position orto get away afterwards. Heavy Cavalry: This category comprises horsemen wained and equipped for a charge 9 close quarters, armed with lances and/or swords aud often wearing helmets andr body armour. In parts of the Western Sudan men and horses were protected against arrows by coats of quilted armour, and occasionally throwing knives might be carned, Heavy Cavaley may use firearms, but like Light Horse they are not very effective wten shooting from horseback. Note that the British regular cavalry fielded in South Aftica and the Sudan - including the Lancers - count as heavy by A‘rican standards, regardless oftheir official designation Dismounting: Mounted troops form units of the same mumber of bases as those on foot. They may fight either mounted or dismourted. When dismounted they are treated as Skirmishers on foot. They can dismount without penalty at the beginning of any movement phase, as long us sane of the unit's bases are in clos® combat, and then count es dismounted - with any resulting advanteges and disadvaniages - for the whole of that tum. To remount requires full tum without aay movement o shooting, during which the unit is trested as © mounted target for shooting, but as foot Skirmishers if in close combat, We do not normally worry about the question of where the horses are held while the unit is dismounted, assuming that horse-holders will take them to safety or bring them forward as required, but as with dismounting, remounting is not possible while any base of the unit is in close combat. If only dismounted figures have been provided for it, a unit of mounted troops may move at mounted rate until any ofits bases come within 6 inches of a visible enemy base or wish to shoot. It must then dismount, and counts as dismounted for the rest of the game. ‘Came riders: Camels were sometimes used in desert regions to mount men who were primarily trained to fight on foot, end who are classified in the nactral way as Skirmishers, Warriors or Soldiers. The Touareg, for example, rede into close proximity to the enemy but then often dismounted to fight with shields, lances and swords. While mounted, camel riders move at Light Horse speed and count as Light Horse if shot at (bu! see page 12 for the special provision for camels moving in sené). They can cherge inte close combat if their dismounted troop type is normally allowed to do so (sce page 21), but while mounted they fight as if they were Light forse with spears. Skiemishers canaot shoot while on camel back, but can do so without penalty in @ tum in which they have dismounted.Soldiers mounted on camels - like the Camel Corps fielded by the Auglo-Egyptians in the Sudan and the Germans in South-West Africa - can shoot while mounted, but suffer the usual deduction for doing so (page 19) even if they dismount this turn. The same general rules for mounting and dismounting apply as for other mouiited troops (sce above). Any of the above except Wazungu and Pygmies may be further defined by their level of training and/or morale. Those who are ‘exceptionally good at what they do are classed as “Elite”, while those who are less effective than average - whether because of poor equipment, lack of experience or just lack of enthusiasm - are described as “Raw”. In addition there is an “untrained” classification for those Afticans armed with guns who are not lacking in courage or ordinary fighting skills, but whose shooting is relatively ineffective. This is often partly because they lack practice at estimating ranges, and the problem may be even worse with more modern high velocity weapons because thoy will end to overcompensate forthe relatively fat trajectory of the unfamiliar ammunition, and so fire 100 high. Blite troops (the Zanzibacis' Baluchi mercenaries for example) may also count as untrained if their shooting ability falls to match their courage or their prowess in hand-to-hand fighting, FIREARMS. "The English are not afraid... they march up in spite of my big bails." King Theodore of Fthiopia laments the failure of his heavy cannon at Magdala, ‘Troops equipped with firearms are also classified according to the specific type of weapon which they carry, as follows: Muskets: Smoothbore flintlock or percussion muskets had been imported into Attica for many years. Many of them Were worn-out antiques, or cheap copies made specially for expor.. They were slow to reload and very inaccurate at anything beyond point blank range, especially inthe hands of men not trained to use them. African musketeers often wed inferior powder or overloaded the barrels, used odd shaped bits of metal instead of proper balls, and fired from the hip instead of taking careful aim, Some were still using matchlocks, dbsolete in Europe since the 17° century. Nevertheless most warriors abandoned their traditional weapons as soon as they could acquire a musket. This was often a mistake, because a good spearman was more effective than « musketeer who could not hit anything, but the noise and flash of the guns - as well as the lethal eifects on those unfortunate enough to be shot - had a psychological impact out of all proportion to the casualties they inflicted. By the 1870s rifled weapons like the Enfield had begun to percolate into Affica, In theory these had much greater ange and accuracy than the smoothbores, but only in the hands of well trained soldiers, and they sill hid to be reloaded through the muzzic, so ther rae of fie remained low. In contrast to European and American experience they seem to have had litle if any effect on tactics, so we do net distinguish here beoween smoothbore and rifled muzzle-loadcrs Breech-loading Rifles: Loading « gun through the breech is much quicker than ramming a charge down the muzzle, and eesier 10 accomplish while moving or lying down. The first military longarms using this system came into use in the 1860s, and by the following decade they were becoming popular in Africa, To some extent they revolutionised tactics because it was very difficult for a frontal charge to overcome well trained troops using breech-loaders, but of course not everyone who obtained one was properly trained in its use. The best known models were the Snider and its derivatives, the Remington, and later on the Martini Henry. Their capabilities varied, but for game purposes we treat them all the same, considering that performance at extreme ranges depended heavily on training, and will seldom be relevant in the “bush wars” with which these rules are concerned. Repeaters: This category comprises both lever-action repeaters like the Winchester and boli-action magazine rifles such as the Lee Meiford. These weapons incorporated a magazine from which bullets eould be loaded by operating a lever or bolt, and came fain widespread use during the 1880s. They enabled the user 10 maintain a higher volume of fire than with a single-shot breech-loader - at least as long as his ammunition lasted. The late 1880s also sav the appearance of smokeless powder, which revolutionised European ‘warfare by making it easier for a hidden rifleman to conceal his position. However this was considered less important against Affican opponsais whose return fire was less effective, and the grester hitting power of large calibre black powder weapons was often believed to be better for stopping a charge. Elephant Guns: Flephant hunting was a large scale industry in 19" century Africa, and of course was slso indulged in by Europeans for spart, The ideal gun for elephent shooting was heavier than a standard military rifle, and fied a much larger bullet - up to 8 ounces in weight and over an inch in calibre. Such « weapon was not ideal for anti-personnel use, being slow 1o reload and packing a muiderous recoil thet made it dangerous (0 fie from a prone position, Elephant guns were also liable wo be inaccurate at long range because of the weight of the round. But they did have their advantages. The huge bullets could literally blow opponents apart, especially if explosive rounds were used, or the barrels could be loaded with dozens of small slugs, giving an effect like @ giant shotgun. Elephant guns cannot be fired while mounted. Field Guns: Most of the field guns used in Affican warfare were either obsolete by Furopean standards, or were light moantain guns or “bush pieces” designed for mobility in difficult terain. Inthe early 1870s most armies still relied on muzzle-loaders, but from then coawards modern steel breech-loaders of the type pioneered by Krupps in Germany began to predominate. In contrast to the situation ‘with small arms, though, breech loading axtillery did not enjoy a significantly higher rate of fire. The main causo of delay in Ging the