Dr Snodgrass' History of the Lancaster Regiment Vol 1.1875

15mm Blue Moon British Officers and Explorers

I am waiting for the delivery of my 15mm Order from Peter Pig.  The postage to and from Cyprus is subject to delays but I fully expect to pick them up this week.    I had a clear idea of exactly the setup I wanted, Khaki drill uniformed British that could serve from 1880 to 1914 against a variety of enemies.   Given that my Wellington in India armies include more than a few Pathan and North West frontier types I am already well ahead.

I like some of the ideas in Dan Mersey`s "The Men who would be Kings" rules.  The layout for figures is relatively cheap for one thing.  For reasons of storage and tabletop size I opted for 15mm.  My British field force will have Four units of 12 Infantry as its core.  These are the Kings Own Lancasters.  I also included a Cavalry force of 8 dragoons who could replace one of the Kings own units on campaign, or a field gun.  I also included a unit of Egyptian Infantry, to give me a set of very well balanced force options.

Blue Moon Armed Archeologists

The Irregular tribesmen of my Pathan or Dervish enemies come in at 16 figures to a unit.  These will be around 6 units to a force, and under the solo part of the rules I think they may be quite deadly!   At some time in the future I intend to add the Beja, Zulus and Boers to this setup, but for now I`m good to go.

Time to sort out some campaign rules.  Dan Mersey makes the narrative of a game very much in keeping with the "heroism" of Victorian warfare.  The Officers are very much at the core of these rules.  

Some "Chaos in Cairo" Mummies.  Just in case!

I wanted to use realistic names, so my Officers names are drawn from the Disraeli Government of 1875.  I even included a young Disraeli and Gladstone who will be mortal enemies as 2nd Lieutenants when they join the regiment.

Sergeants names are taken from the list of Blackpool Football Club players 1877 to 1947...

My narrator for the Regimental history is Dr Winston "Pot that chap" Snodgrass MD, Military Surgeon to the regiment.      

Snodgrass served as the regimental Surgeon for the 4th foot, later the Kings Own Lancasters, from his joining the Regiment in 1875 to its final destruction at Mons and Le Cateau in 1914.  His nickname "Pot that chap somebody" was earned under fire on the Northwest Frontier, and he was a keen Diarist, recording the campaigns, triumphs and disasters of the battalion throughout its service in the Empires colonial wars. 

Establishment 1875

Lt Colonel Benjamin Beaconsfield 5+:  A Jolly Good Chap 5+, Bravo, bravo, well respected.

Major Stafford Northcote 6+: A Pleasant Manner.  A pleasure to take tea with but characterless

Captain William Hart Dyke 7+: A bag of nerves. Likely to leg it if pinned, on a roll of 3+.

Captain William  Hartnell Smith 6+: The Gentleman has a bottle!  A drunkard. Roll for leadership.

Lieutenant Frederick Stanley 5+: Terrible Planner.  Unit has limited ammo.

Lieutenant Henry Sir Selwin-Ibbetson, Bt, 9+: A fine Moustache, but otherwise forgettable.

Lieutenant Vincent Mahon 6+: Yellow Belly, his unit will not melee, but only fire at enemy.             

Lieutenant Rowland Winn 5+:  Fine Swordsman rolls two dice in melee

2nd Lieutenant James Dalrymple 5+: Brave. Removes one pinned marker automatically per turn

2nd Lieutenant Crichton Elphinstone 6+: Short sighted.  Cannot order fire except at short range.

2nd Lieutenant Charles Cairns 6+:  Ugly.  No mirrors in his house!

2nd Lieutenant Henry Richmond 7+:  Lucky.  May reroll any one set of dice once in the game.

RSM Charlie Atkin 6+: Bald as a coot.  No game effect but he has  a shiny head...

CSM Harry Bedford 6+:  Unlucky, Becomes a casualty on a roll of 1 or 2

Quartermaster Jock Wallace  6+:  Steady , The men like him.

Surgeon Dr Winston Snodgrass MD 6+:  A damned fine fellow, nothing more nothing less

D6	D6.  Roll once per year for each period of service.
Home Service 3 yrs D6 1 -2 (Dice +1 if already on Home Service)	Depot Horseguards Brighton Ireland Caribbean Canada
African Service 3 yrs D6 3-4	Beşik Bay Egypt - Sudan West Africa South Africa - Natal Somalia Persia
India Posting 5 yrs D6 5-6	Bombay North West Frontier Afghanistan Bhutan China The Australias- New Zealand
Armageddon	France 1914

Home Service

Promotions Table Yearly

Retirement Table Yearly

Home Service Events

Depot

Roll for replacements.

Roll on Depot Events table. 

Horseguards

As Depot but roll on Horseguards table.

Brighton

Roll on Brighton table

Ireland

Fenian troubles table Restricted to a single game.

Caribbean

Roll on Caribbean table.

Canada

Fenian Troubles table.  Restricted to two games.

Beşik Bay

Blame it on the Turks... The Fleet deploys to the Troad.  A single skirmish.

Africa Service

Promotions Table Yearly

Retirement Table Yearly

Africa Service Events

Egypt - Sudan

The Gordon Relief expedition 2 games in Egypt 2 in Sudan

The Mahdist Revolt.  3 games in Egypt, 3 games in Sudan

The Revolt of Prince Imhotep... Where's my mummy gone?

British East Africa

The War against the Zanzibari Slavers

South Africa - Natal

The Xhosa revolt

The Zulu War

The Matabele Revolt

The Boer Revolt

The Boer War

Somalia

The Mad Mullah

Persia

Showing the Flag in Iraq

India Posting

Promotions Table Yearly

Retirement Table Yearly

Africa Service Events

Bombay

Uses Brighton table

North West Frontier

NWF table 3 games.

Afghanistan

Afghan War table.  3 games

Bhutan

Bhutan War table 3 games

China

A new Opium war.  2 games

The Australias- New Zealand

The Maori War.  3 games

France 1914

1914 is the last year of the game.  The Regiment is recalled to Britain and takes part in the Armageddon of a European war.  3 games based on Mons, Le Cateau and a fighting retreat.