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NAVALBRIGADES

byChris Peers

in In The Heart of Africa

I had always envisaged "In The Heart Of Africa" as being mainlyconcerned with exploring expeditions rather than proper colonialforces, but naval landing parties were frequently involved in smallscale operations even before the era of colonial occupation began,and we had already covered their traditional enemies - notably theZanzibaris and other slaving types, the Native Warlords, and now theSomalis. During the 19th century, of course, the navy which wasmost in evidence on the coasts of Africa - and everywhere else in theworld - was the British. The Royal Navy's campaign against the slavetrade on both the east and west coasts involved it in countless small

boarding actions offshore, and landing parties were regularlydespatched to eliminate the bases of slavers or pirates, to protectEuropean traders, or to avenge attacks on them. Naval personnel alsomanned small gunboats on inland waterways such as Lake Nyasa.With the establishment of British rule in what was to become Kenyain the 1890s, naval brigades took on a more ambitious role, playing amajor part in the suppression of Swahili resistance along the coast. Inthe 1870s the Royal Navy had also maintained a presence at themouth of the Congo, where local pirates were in the habit of boardingtrading vessels which ran aground on the sandbanks. On numerousoccasions landing parties were sent a short way upriver to burn theperpetrators' villages, although the malarial climate and the denseforested terrain made large-scale operations very difficult.

The French navy was also involved in similar operations on the westcoast. In fact until the late 1880s some areas, such as Gabon, wereofficially under the control of the navy, and skirmishes were oftenfought there against the chiefs who tried to prevent traderspenetrating up the Ogoowe River. The German navy played animportant part in the Abushiri War in Tanganyika in 1888 - 90, whenits sailors and marines garrisoned the strategic towns along the coast.They were heavily engaged in street fighting in places likeBagamoyo, Pangani, Kilwa and Lindi, as well as on expeditionsinland, in co-operation with other colonial forces.

But although most landing parties will undoubtedly be British,French or German, this list could also represent other colonialpowers which theoretically possessed the capability to intervene,

even if in reality they made less use of their naval forces in Africa.These might be Portuguese or Italians, for example, or even completeoutsiders like the Americans, who had once had a strong interest inZanzibar, and could certainly have got involved again during thisperiod if they had wanted to. The nearest that two rival naval forcescame to outright war was probably between the British and thePortuguese on the Zambezi c. 1890, but other "what if" scenarioswould be quite plausible, such as the British and the Germans comingto blows over Witu in the same period.

SOME SAMPLE ORDERS OF BATTLE FORNAVAL FORCES IN AFRICA

The Congo Expedition, 1875A sizeable British fleet was sent up the River Congo in August 1875to avenge an attack on a merchant schooner by "river pirates". Thisforce comprised:

7 ships: HMS Active (10 guns), Encounter (14), Spiteful (6), Merlin(4), Foam (4), Ariel (4) and Supply (2).

150 Marines were landed on the first day. The campaign lasted for 18days altogether, with the Marines from the ships bearing the brunt of

the fighting, although an unknown number of sailors were alsolanded.

The Bagamoyo Expedition, 1889A German assault on the stronghold of the Arab Abushiri in May1889 involved elements of Hermann von Wissmann's"Wissmanntruppe" as well as Admiral Deinhard's naval forces.Altogether, it consisted of:

200 German Marines and a small number ofsailors, drawn from the cruisers Leipzig,Schwalbe, Sperber, Carola and Pfeil.

40 German Army NCOs deployed assharpshooters (treat these as Regulars in therules).

4 Companies of Sudanese askaris and 1 ofZulus, totalling about 500 men.

Royal Naval Boarding Party

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50 local askaris.

100 Nyamwezi irregulars and porters.

1 60mm mountain gun.

2 revolver cannon.

2 more companies of Sudanese and 30 Somali sailors were leftbehind to reinforce the garrison at Bagamoyo.

The Bulhar Expedition, 1890The British gunboat "Ranger" landed a small force on the Somalicoast to punish the Esa tribe, who had attacked the town of Bulhar.This involved:

A "small naval brigade" and some Marines from HMS Ranger.Probably not more than about 40 of each.

2 Companies of the 17th Bombay Native Infantry.

80 "native sappers".

Unlike most naval expeditions, which met with little seriousresistance, this one very nearly came unstuck. The Somalis attackedits camp at night, broke into the "zeriba", and killed or wounded 20men before being driven off.

The Witu Expedition, 1890In October 1890 a British naval expedition under Admiral Fremantlewas sent against the Swahili town of Witu, a notorious nest ofoutlaws in the forest north of Mombasa. This force consisted of:

9 ships: HMS Boadicea, Cossack, Brisk, Turquoise, Kingfisher,Redbreast, Pigeon and Humber. Hired merchant vessels SS Juba andSomali.

700 sailors and Marines from the ships' companies.

100 Indian police in the employ of the British East Africa Company.

100 Zanzibari soldiers.

4 7-pounder field guns.

4 machine guns.

1,000 porters.

The Mwele Expedition, 1895Rear-Admiral Rawson, in co-operation with General Mathews, theBritish commanding officer of the Zanzibar Army, was sent tocapture Mwele, the stronghold of the Swahili rebel Mbarak, inAugust 1895. Their forces were composed as follows:

5 Cruisers: HMS St. George, Phoebe, Racoon, Barrosa and Blonde.

400 sailors and Marines from the ships.

60 Sudanese askaris.

50 local askaris.

1 7-pounder field gun.

1 rocket tube.

2 Maxim guns.

800 porters.

A preliminary reconnaissance had been made by 150 Sudanese,supported by some sailors and Marines from Racoon and Phoebe.

The Wanga Expedition, 1896This small expedition marched from Wanga on the East AfricanCoast in February 1896 against another Swahili rebel, Aziz. Itcomprised:

2 gunboats: HMS Widgeon and Thrush.

40 sailors and Marines.

An unknown number of "Indian troops".

2 rocket tubes.

2 Maxim guns.

German Sailors at Bagamoyo

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THE ARMY LIST

NAVAL LANDING PARTY (Aggression 4).

Standard Bearer (50 points) 0 - 1Regulars (28 points each) 2 - 4Soldiers (20 points each) 0 - 4Heavily-armed Askaris (12 points each) 0 - 2Askaris (6 points each) 0 - 2Artillery (50 points each) 0 - 1Machine Guns (50 points each) 0 - 1Gunboats (100 points each) 0 - 3

The commander of a Naval Landing Party may be a Disciplinarian,Eloquent, or an Organising Genius.

Home terrain is not really applicable. If this force does find itself onthe defensive, it should use the Home terrain of the army it is fighting,on the assumption that it has built a temporary camp in their territoryand is defending that.

Notes:1). This list cannot be used before 1875. It represents naval or marineforces operating within a short distance of their ships. It shouldtherefore be employed with caution in a campaign, as such a largebody of European troops could not realistically be maintained at theend of long overland supply lines. In practice most Africanopponents withdrew into the hinterland rather than engage in a stand-up fight against this sort of firepower, and your native players shouldbe allowed to do the same without too serious penalties. Perhaps,when using the campaign rules, you should not allow this army toactually conquer native players like ordinary Colonial Expeditionsdo, but at least at first should make it collect "hongos" like thenatives. This would represent the improvement of the commandingofficer's career prospects as he inflicts increasing damage on theslavers and other hostiles. If its "hongos" fall below 3, the defeatedforce will be withdrawn by its government and its commander retiredon half pay. After 1885, if they exceed 15 at any time, he has beenappointed colonial governor of the country, and can now proceed toconquer it like a normal Colonial Expedition.

2). In a campaign a player using this list should add 20% to hispermitted points total, like a Colonial Expedition, whatever his

current total of "hongos". Anative player who defeats aNaval Landing Party shouldtake 2 hongos off it instead ofthe usual 1.

3). In the rules, White Mengenerally represent explorersand big-game hunters ratherthan serving officers, and soare not likely to be found

Royal Navy attacking Slaving Dhow, 1892

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accompanying a landing party. However the force's C-in-C can be aWhite Man, complete with Gun bearer, at a cost of 40 points (plus anoptional 20 for the Bearer). Alternatively, he may be classed as aRegular.

4). Regulars represent European sailors or Marines, or the occasionalexceptional non-European unit such as the Sikhs in British service.Soldiers are other drilled regular troops such as Indians or Sudanese,and Askaris are local levies or the private armies of tradingcompanies or friendly Sultans. Sailors and Marines should be inseparate units, but may be fielded in any proportion. A force mayconsist entirely of Regulars, but most large scale naval operations

also involved colonial army units and/or locally raised askaris, andplayers may find a few units of such cheaper cannon fodder useful.

5). The combined total of artillery pieces and machine guns cannotexceed 3, and no more than 2 of either type can be used. Machineguns cannot be used before 1885. In the 1880s they would normallybe Nordenfelts or Gardners, replaced by Maxims later on. Rockettubes, and German revolver cannon should be treated as ordinaryfield artillery.

6). Gunboats in "In The Heart Of Africa" are really intended torepresent small improvised craft such as might be found on lakes andrivers inland, and not the heavily-armed naval vessels whichsometimes appeared along the coast. A typical British gunboat, such

as HMS Redbreast (805 tons), which in 1890 became the first armedBritish vessel on the Zambezi, carried 6 4-inch breechloaders, 2 3-pounder quick-firers, 2 Nordenfelt machine guns, and a boat gun. Forcomparison, the German "Mowe" (848 tons), which took part in the

bombardment of Sadani in 1889, was armed with 5 5-inch guns and 537mm revolver cannon. If you really must deploy this sort offirepower, I suggest paying the points for 3 gunboats, but using justone model with 6 shots per turn instead of the usual 2. Itsvulnerability is the same as a normal Gunboat, because of the navy'sunderstandable reluctance to have such a valuable ship damaged. Inthis case you might get away with a model in a smaller scale than thefigures (1/300 for example), to represent a ship lying some distanceoffshore. Alternatively, use one or more ordinary Gunboats torepresent converted dhows or other trading vessels, or ships' boatsfitted with boat guns.

Special Rule: "Double Grog Ration!This rule applies to British sailors and Marines only. Before the gamebegins, the player may choose to issue a double ration of rum to all ornone of his Regular units (there will be a mutiny if some get it whileothers don't!) This cannot be done during the game, and - needless tosay - cannot be withdrawn once issued. Its effect is to add 1 to allhand-to-hand combat and morale dice scores made by these unitsduring the game, but to deduct 1 from all their shooting dice.

SOURCES:Orders of battle are from:

W. L. Clowes, "The Royal Navy - a History", London, 1903.

A. Becker, "Herrmann von Wissmann", Berlin, 1911.

In The Heart Of Africa, is available from Copplestone Castings, at6.99 plus postage.All miniatures form the new Copplestone Castings Return toDarkest Africa range.

British Sailors after capture of Mwele, 1895