Colonial Games: The Relief of Bungstarter Station, Pt.1

The Relief of
Bungstarter Station
Dash It All! Don't Those Drums Ever Stop?!

Alan visited Dallas for the traditional combined celebration of Max's, Steve's and David's springtime birthdays. He and David, getting into the roles of dusky autochthones, cooked up the second Southern Ouargistan scenario, this time featuring full jungle and veldt treatment and luring British players Steve and Max into the Heart of Darkness.

The rules used were The Sword and the Flame - 20th Anniversary Edition (a pre-publication version which was available to David, who was doing TSATF/20's graphics). Exceptions to the rules included: No game turns - continuous turning of cards permits actions by the appropriate units, including hand-to-hand combat, on an ongoing basis. Morale effects take place immediately. The British and Askari units have only five volleys worth of ammuntion each; native muskets have 3 volleys. Wounded figures who reach the Nurse can return to duty on the next movement card. (See details at the end of the battle description).

The photos are from video footage of the event, but multiple malfunctions of David's elderly Sony camcorder meant that the selection and quality of the photos of this event is not as good as was hoped.

The Tabletop
One end of the table contains a short section of the mighty Ouazu. Next to the river is a small clearing containing the Ookaballakonga village and a woodlot for refueling steamers. The clearing is surrounded by dense jungle, except for a single clear path, leading through the undergrowth to the grassy veldt beyond. On the veldt are a Ouazulu village and, on the high ground, Bungstarter Station, the ivory depot. Click here for a map.

Table size is 42 x 58" (1.1 x 1.5m), with round ends. Scenery construction details can be found after the battle description.

The Scenario
Bungstarter Station, in the wilds of the inland veldt, is the Affable East Ouargistan Company's center for the collection of ivory and the schluggining of furs. Several professional hunters and native workers call the station home, and once a year, Lord Carstairs, a director of the Company, brings a group of his friends for a hunting holiday. This year his guests include Sir Arthur Plumsett-Delving, famed archaeologist, zoologist, botanist, geologist, Victorian renaissance man, and Fellow of the Royal Society (every Royal Society). On this holiday, Sir Arthur is delighted to discover a previously unknown species of shrub, which he names Arthurius gainsii, little suspecting that its powerful medicinal and hallucinogenic qualities make it sacred to the natives of the area. Already irritated by the presence of the hunters, King Potrzebe of the Ouazulu and King Wotmiwori of the Ookaballakonga are pushed to the point of revolt by the great man's digging up a specimen of the Arthur tree for shipment back to England. Though the stone station itself is safe from attack, anyone venturing out to the veldt is subject to ambush by the combined tribal armies. When the launch sent to pick up Lord Carstairs is driven back downriver by barrages of native spears and musketry, the British send a military force to relieve the station and evacuate Alf company's men and their guests.

British/Askari Objectives
Reach the station, and escort the hunters and the bearers with the ivory, the Arthur tree, and other loads to the steam launches for evacuation by river. Native Objectives
Reclaim the Arthur tree, kill as many hunters and capture as many of the bearers' loads as possible.

Restrictions
- The station is too strong and well-armed for the natives to attack directly; they must wait until the hunters leave the building.

- The steam launches have used all their fuel getting upriver, and heavy rains have soaked the local wood. The only dry wood is in the woodlot shed, so troops must be detailed to carry wood from the woodlot to the steam launches. The number of logs that a launch has determines its ability to move successfully.

- The river is not fordable, but several native canoes are drawn up at the village and the far bank.

Hidden Units - Any or all native units may start the game hidden in the jungle. The native players may record secret movements.

The Battle
Maj. Bachdiefion Kurtzman (Steve) reaches the woodlot as the spent boilers wheeze the last breaths of steam into the launches' engines. In the lead launch is a half-company (10 figures) of Highlanders, the Major, three crewmen and the nurse. In the following launch is a full company (20 figures) of Askaris under the command of Lt. Dingleby Dell (Max), plus a couple of crewmen. Not a native is in sight; even the palisaded Ookaballakonga village appears deserted.

Two canoes are pulled up on shore at the village, and one across the river. The crocodiles yawn lazily. A hippo breaks water and watches the boats warily, ears twitching.

Everything is quiet.

Too quiet.

Suddenly, from the depths of the jungle, a drum begins beating, then another, and another. Minutes pass as the soldiers strain their eyes, watching for any sign of life in the village, the trail or the dark undergrowth of the jungle. There is none; just the unceasing beat of signal drums drifting on the fetid air.

Cautiously, the Askaris leave the second launch and form a double line with the flank anchored on the woodshed, as the rifles of the Highlanders cover the village and trail. Then the Highlanders disembark. Maj. Kurtzman directs operations from the launch.

There is no response from the unseen natives.

The Askaris advance in front of the woodshed and extend their line to cover both launches, as the Highlanders nervously pass the village, and start uncertainly up the trail to the inland veldt and Bungstarter Station. This view from the far side of the table, looking through the jungle, shows them as they leave the clearing.

The rhythm of the drums quickens.

As the Highlanders disappear down the trail, a group of Askaris is detailed to check the Ookaballakonga village, and finds it empty. Well, almost empty. They do manage to bring back a few items of provender.

The Askari line now advances almost to the mouth of the trail, ready to cover the Scots' return. One trooper begins to carry wood to the waiting boilers of the steam launches.

Local wildlife provides a momentary diversion, but soon there is once again only the thick air and the maddening rhythm of the unseen drums. And the waiting.

GO ON to Part Two of
The Relief of Bungstarter Station

RETURN to the Battles Page