Rorke's Drift 1879.

This morning Brian and I had a great game,re-enacting the battle of Rorke's Drift,possibly the most iconic battle of the Zulu War 1879.
I had made a model of the British position,and we decided to play the game as close to the actual battle as we could,but starting with the Zulus about to surround the Drift,and the Zulu snipers on the Oscaberg being pinned down by a company of Redcoats.

This is a view from the Zulu sniper position,Brian was in charge of the British,whilst I took command of the Zulu regiments(who,in this shot,are taking up their positions in the scrub and garden,to the front of the hospital and store house)

The first Zulu attack is going in,however the volley fire from the troops manning the wall,have decimated them,and the ensuing melee was a forgone conclusion!!-But,if at first you don't succeed..........

Try somewhere else!! In this shot I have managed to get into the position,but Brian was moving troops from one side of the enclosure to the other,making life or death decisions,as to where he needed to reinforce his battered troops-great stuff,and very realistic!!

How does the "Queen" song go,Under Pressure!! I am trying to surround the whole Drift position,Brian has abandoned the south wall(facing the Oscaberg) and has reinforced the North wall-just in time,as a massive Zulu attack is coming in!!-Note the Zulus attacking the hospital have set it on fire-can the British hold out??

This shot shows the British can hold out!!-although I can see some Black faces peering over the southern defences,ready to spring over the wall into the rear of the hard-pressed defenders-hurrah!!

The North wall has been breached,and the South wall is under attack!! Brian,at this point,had to have a sit down,to relieve the pressure-you would think that this was real!!!!!

In this "atmospheric" shot,the Zulus have been held,and,with most of the regiments "knackered" they might just not get into the British position,let's see...............

Most of the Zulus have been forced to seek cover in the scrub,and the littered "dead" figures tells its own story-a combination of good dice throws,and even better bayonet work has saved the day for the British-hurrah!!

A final shot-note absence of Zulus against the North wall,and just a token attack still on-going against the South wall-This was an absolutely thrilling game,and,as it turned out,a realistic finish and success for the British-now I need a lie down in a darkened room before tonight's game-probably an Ancients. Well done to Brian who handled the pressure and the troops in a most admirable way!!