Thursday, 5 February 2026

Ambush at Kororāreka beach

This is the starter for a series of games following Cornelius Farthingdale's career in the 58th Foot. The Young Ensign lands at Kororāreka his new duty station with a boat load of recruits and civilians. They are ambushed by rebel Maori on the beach just as they land. A group of sailors assist from their boats.

The young ensign flips through his bible for inspiration as the Maori give his lads a drubbing!

I've fleshed out the characters below because I'm curious to see which becomes Cornelius' "Sergeant Harper."

Phase I — The Green Ensign (1845–1846)

Game One

1. Arrival at Kororāreka

Farthingdale’s first taste of New Zealand. An ambush on landing from the boat, as the Young Ensign of the 58th Foot, his detachment of raw recruits, sailors and civilian passengers are ambushed by the Maori in sight of the Fort.

Objective: Evacuate civilians while holding a rearguard.

58th Regiment of Foot —Kororāreka Recruit Detachment

Ensign Cornelius Farthingdale - bit of a duffer.

Expensive pistols, London pattern sword. Book of psalms.

Sgt. Bartholomew Kettle — iron discipline

“The Voice of the Army”, All friendly 58th within 6" may re-roll one failed Nerve/Shock test per turn

Acting Cpl. Edwin Mallory — anxious bravado

“Doing His Best” Musket, plug Bayonet.

The Raw Recruits

1. Pte. Silas Pook — eager gullible

“First to Volunteer” once per game, Pook may take a free move toward an objective/civilian (even if others hesitate).

2. Pte. Nathaniel “Nate” Rook — sharp tongued

“What a big mouth on Him”

3. Pte. Horace Lunn — steady plodding

“Reliable Lad”

4. Pte. Josiah Crane — superstitious loyal

“Bad Feeling”

5. Pte. Francis Wyle — reckless cheerful

“Glory Hunter”

The HMS Acorn - Landing party /Sailors — Veterans (5)

1. Bosun's Mate Gideon Pilgrim — hard bitten

“Seen Worse”

2. Leading hand Thomas “Tommy” Reeve — quiet, lethal

“One Clean Shot” marksman.

3. Sailor Hemi Te Rangi — observant principled

“Reads the Bush” Scout

4. Sailor Solomon Vane — grim humour

“Laughs at Death”

5. Sailor Patrick O’Dwyer — bold argumentative

“Hold My Coat”

Civilians (3)

1. Mrs. Eliza Harrowell — fiercely protective

Hook: “where's me Babbie"

2. Mr. Percival Snipe — panicky fussy

“Dead Weight” slow 2" move.

3. Miss Clara Belling — calm defiant

“Steadies Others”

The Stockade top left. The boats land bottom right

But capturing the abandoned campsite brings very little glory!

The recruits and sailors come ashore.

Ensign Farthingdale is wearing his big coat and muffler. These redcoats are from thirty years plus in the future, but they were on my painting table.

Sarge, what's that in the river,?

Maori in the bush ahead.

The recruits volley. They kill a Maori!

The Shaman is incensed.

A volley onto the sailors. Three hits!

Two kills and a proper panic sets in. Shaken. Three ones!

The recruits take fire. And it's deadly. Five hits.

Two kills and two fatigue.

The Maori haka and charge!

Three hits three kills. But the Maori lose three men too. They retreat to the bush as the Rutland's stagger 4" back, also shaken.

The Ensign decides enough is enough. He has lost half his force!

And the Maori snipe another two casualties. The seamen run for the boats.

In desperation Farthingdale defends the abandoned campsite. It's looking better as an objective now!

The sailors and civilians are recalled to the boats

But the Rutland's shove off first. "We're going for help! Honestly."

And a last volley by the Maori gets no hits as the Colonials withdraw.

Good game for just a dozen or so figures per side. The proper Miniatures for the 58th next time.

Creating objective markers for the New Zealand Wars

I intend to make four of these objectives markers but in the meantime I've worked these out as printed ones.

1. The Human Element

* The Fallen Redcoat: a British casualty. I have a spare mini (perhaps a plastic Perry Miniatures with a craft knife head conversion, ouch) trimmed to fit the chip. It’s a high-stakes objective for the British to "recover their own" and for the Māori to "seize trophies."

* The Abandoned Wounded: A soldier sitting against a stump, clutching a bandaged leg. It adds a layer of urgency beyond just "points on the board." I have a spare Zulu Wars figure in this exact position. He's hatless too so the uniform fits.

* The Despatch: A fallen messenger with a leather satchel. This implies "The Plans" must be recovered at all costs.

2. Supplies & Logistics

* The Ammunition Crate: A wooden crate (easy to make from balsa wood or bits of sprue, but I have loads) and a discarded Enfield rifle leaning against it. Essential for a long fight in the bush.

3. Māori Cultural & Tactical Objectives

* The Pā Gatepost: A miniature Pouwhenua (carved wooden post). It represents the spiritual and physical boundary of the Pā.

* The Captured Mana: A high-ranking Chief’s cloak or a specialized weapon like a Tewhatewha or Mere (greenstone club) leaning against a rock.

* The Signal Fire: A small pile of sticks with some "cotton wool smoke" dyed grey/black. This represents the Māori scouts signaling the main force.

4. Terrain & Narrative Markers

* The Survey Pegs: The British were often there to survey land; a few wooden stakes with a small chain or rope between them represents the encroaching "Red Tape" that sparked the conflict.

* Abandoned Campfire: A ring of small stones with "charred" wood and a discarded mess tin.

* The Discarded Bible: A small rectangular bit of plastic card painted to look like a book. Many Māori were converts, and a lost Bible at a skirmish site adds a poignant historical touch.

Tuesday, 3 February 2026

The New Zealand Wars

The plan

After spotting some cheap 28mm 1840's British in Kilmarnock cap on eBay, I decided to look into the New Zealand Wars, I reckon these are absolute gold for skirmish wargaming, and using Firelock Games Blood & Steel, one of my favourute rules sets, is a clever fit. It already “thinks” in terms of small-unit friction, activation pressure, morale collapse, as well as character-led action rather than Napoleonic lines.

I won the bid, not quite as cheap as I thought, as it turns out, but still great value for Foundry miniatures. Hope they fit with my Empress Miniatures, although they may be small.

Somewhere between 6 a side skirmish up to 40 a side is a sweet spot where I can start with narrative scraps and grow it into proper bush fights.

Probably narrative games following characters

The figures

Kilmarnock capped Regulars red tunics blue trousers. I've seen conversions of Perry ACW into British regulars, but i really wil have enough.
Militia, blue tunics blue trousers, variety of headgear.
Constabulary. As above I think. Mounted as scouts maybe.
Civilians are a case of using cowboys on foot and a few Victorian types.
Maori, I already have a dozen Empress Miniatures actually. For the rest those Frostgrave tribals are essentially Maori, although I use them as Carib Indians. I have a few sprues of these guys and they are cheap enough to add a few more, just adding muskets rather than bows and blowpipes.

1) Why I think the 1840s NZ Wars will work on the tabletop

This is not a game of “big battles” but:

raids
ambushes
stockade / pā assaults
night alarms
bush movement
split forces + confusion
political/moral tension baked in

That makes them perfect for:

skirmish rules
linked scenarios
small forces with big consequences
personalities & named figures

I don’t need 200 models, just a few dozen per side.

2) The “look” — Kilmarnock caps are bang on

I'm thinking early period, but, this was a look until the 1870s. These guys are good for half a century of wars. Quite apart from fictional wars in Europe they could fight in the America's, India, African Cape Wars, China. Useful.

3) Forces: what I actually want on the table

Blood and Steel already has this period covered with army lists.

A) British regulars

These are:

disciplined volley shooters
bayonet morale threat
slow in bush, better in open
prone to overconfidence

Table role: “hard core, brittle if surprised”.

B) Militia / Volunteers.

brave, nervous, vengeful, reckless
local knowledge (or totally none)
often badly coordinated

Table role: unpredictable, scenario-dependent.

C) Armed Constabulary

semi-trained colonial paramilitary
patrols, escorts, warrants, arrests
protection of roads and supply

Table role: small professional patrol force with local authority.

D) Civilians

Civilians make this period special because they:

create dilemmas
trigger panic
cause mission shifts
are why the fight happens at all

And in Blood & Steel terms they’re fantastic as:

objective markers that move
morale hazards
“burden” units (escorts)
witnesses / hostages / rescued captives

E) Māori friendlies

Māori working in their own interest for the Crown.

4) Māori forces

Māori on the table become tactically fascinating.

I can represent them as:

fighters with superior movement and concealment
Blinds!
ambush specialists
pā defenders with engineered advantage
sharpshooters
small groups of 4 figures with initiative and aggression

Also: Māori aren’t one homogeneous group. I can do:

allied iwi vs rival iwi
Māori vs Māori with settlers/constabulary as third party
mixed war parties with different motivations

Blood & Steel scaling: 6 → 40 per side

Skirmish scale (6–12 a side)

Perfect for:

patrol encounters
messenger missions
prisoner rescues
bush ambushes
night alarms

“Proper fight” scale (20–40 a side)

Perfect for:

pā assault / pā relief
convoy defence
village raid
holding a ford / bridge / track junction
two groups converging without full knowledge

But I want to keep command control limited. The New Zealand Wars should feel like:

“we think the enemy is over there… wait—where’s the firing coming from?!”

6) Constabulary vs Civilians

Lets me game the period without turning it into:

“Colonials vs Māori” every time because frankly that's uncomfortable, and not historically correct.

I'll run scenarios like:

settlers illegally raiding a village / property
constabulary trying to stop reprisals
civilians refusing orders
militia officers with grudges

This gives:

three-way tension
“law vs vengeance”
arrests, escorts, riots, hostage situations
moral ambiguity without lectures

And Māori can be:

third party
informants
victims
opportunists
allies of one side

7) Scenario ideas (short, sharp, playable)

Here are 10 scenario ideas I've trawled up for this project and Blood & Steel:

The Track Patrol
Constabulary patrol + guide. Ambushed. Must withdraw without losing the guide.
Burn the Storehouse
Militia raid to destroy supplies. Māori defenders delay until civilians escape.
Flagstaff Alarm
British detachment must reach a signal point. Māori attempt to cut them off.
The Warrant
Constabulary attempt to arrest a settler agitator. Civilians resist. Māori scouts watch.
Escort the Prisoner
One side must escort a captive through bush. Opponent tries to free him.
Night Raid
Māori raid a camp for muskets/ammo. British must hold until dawn.
Crossing at the Ford
A bottleneck scenario. Perfect for small forces scaling up.
The Lost Child
Civilian objective that moves randomly. Both sides try to secure (or exploit) it.
Pā Recon
British must map/locate weak point. Māori must prevent intel extraction.
The Retaliation Party
Militia trying to burn huts. Constabulary tries to stop them. Māori arrive mid-game.

8) Terrain: don’t need much, just the right stuff

This period is won by:

cover
movement restriction
sightlines

So the essentials are:

bush/fern patches (LOS blockers)
stream gullies
rough tracks
fences / small clearings
A log cabin or blockhouse, call me crazy but I intend to make it from scratch using twigs from the sycamore tree behind my house!
pā works (Simple palisade sections)

I can do a pretty good looking table with:

a cloth mat
scatter bush clumps
3-6 palisade sections
a single “objective building”

9) Miniature shopping list (minimal but expandable)

Start small, but actually I have the Maori, just mostly unpainted. The eBay buy of those guys in Kilmarnock caps will be the Colonials.

Core (for the first games)

12 British (Kilmarnock caps)
12 Māori (mixed firearms + hand weapons)
6 militia/civilians
6 constabulary/colonials

Expansion (for 40-a-side Blood & Steel)

+20 British
+40 Māori
+10 militia
+6 Constabulary
+4 Scouts
+10 civilians (women, elders, kids as markers) but maybe also as a small fighting group.
packhorses / carts / boats

For the games to feel New Zealand Wars, add named personality figures. :

My Officers, and NCOs
Guides
Missionaries
Interpreters
Chiefs / rangatira
Scouts

This use of personalities should steer it away from generic colonial gaming.

10) Campaign structure

The idea is to run a District Trouble Campaign.

Each game changes:

public order
settler fear
Māori anger
government authority
who has the moral high ground

So the “winner” isn’t just who kills more — it’s who controls the district narrative.

Some pictures: where I am so far...

Some Maori

Northstar Tribals and an Irregular Shaman. These have been my Carib Raiders up to now, repurposed as Maori. Added to my Empress Miniatures it's still a few dozen left to paint. And the basing needs work.

Terrain making

Pieces of coir doormat, pan scrub and some dried green moss, all on hardboard bases. Drying out from the pva.

Quite pleased with that. Stand alone trees added

And the På village, on a retouched battle cloth. I'll work on those pallisade bases.

The Budget

Horsehair and fern "bush" £3.50 (still have a big bag of it left.)

Flock hardboard, paint. Call it £5

The Maori. Already had the Empress Miniatures and the Tribals. Call those £30 all in, 30 figures.

The eBay Foundry 1840s Colonials. £25. 30 infantry, 5 horsemen and two cool guys carrying a stretcher, great objective marker.

Civilians. Some of my wild west civilians, just the less wild looking ones.

The Naval Landing Party, a £5 lot I bid on at the wargaming club, complete with rowing sailors, guns and mortars, with crew, and the usual cutlass and pistol wielding guys. It's a scratch build project for a couple of Maori war canoes, and a pair of British Naval boats.

The Caribs Raid Port Royal.

Port Royal. On my refurbished battle board. The buildings nowrest on thin carpet sections and are not so easy to slide around any more. I probably need to do more flock work on it all though.