Battle Report: 27th October 1990 Late British Indian ~vs~ 1879 Zulu (Robert & Richard Avery ~vs~ Nog Norgren)

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Late British Indian Brigade Unit Fig.'s Org. Class Weapons Pts/Fig Points   Commander-in-Chief 1             2inC 1           1st 78th Highlanders 40 8x5 RegB blr       Sikh Bttn 24 6x4 RegC blr       Dragoon Guards 8 2x4 RegB blc,s,p       1st Btty Royal Artillery 2 2x1 RegB light blrb FA       2nd Btty Royal Artillery 1 1x1 RegA hmg     2nd 1st Bttn 24th Foot 40 8x5 RegB blr       Ghurka Bttn 25 5x5 RegC blr       17th Lancers 16 4x4 RegB blc,l,s       3rd Btty Royal Artillery 3 3x1 RegB light blrb FA                 3000

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1879 Zulu Brigade Unit Fig.'s Org. Class Weapons Pts/Fig Points   Induna Enkulu 1             Induna 1             Impi 1 30 1x30 FanA sp,sh       Impi 2 30 1x30 FanA sp,sh       Impi 3 30 1x30 FanA sp,sh       Impi 4 30 1x30 FanA sp,sh       Impi 5 30 1x30 FanB sp,sh       Impi 6 30 1x30 FanB sp,sh       Impi 7 30 1x30 FanB sp,sh       Impi 8 30 1x30 FanB sp,sh       Impi 9 30 1x30 FanB sp,sh       Impi 10 30 1x30 FanC sp,sh     Impi 11 30 1x30 FanC sp,sh     Impi 12 30 1x30 FanC sp,sh                 3001

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. Late British Indian 1879 Zulu Foot 2580 7200 Horse 480 0 Guns 12 0

Report The British had divided into two columns in order to force the Zulu's into a battle. On the right, the Zulu Induna attempted to overwhelm the British 2inC’s force with the majority of his command, whilst sending 4 impi's to the left in order to delay the other British force. The Zulus tried a new tactic: which was for regiments to attack in waves, if necessary charging through already routing back or fleeing comrades. On the left, where the four impi's attacked the British CinC’s line, this worked quite well:  a hole being punched in the first line. Unfortunately, the charge was stopped by the second line and, after heavy fighting, repulsed. On the right, the Zulus had successfully halted the British but, once they saw that their delaying force had been defeated, had to attack, and were mown down.  Casualties The British lost 6 companies of infantry, 3 squadrons of lancers and a section of artillery, all from the 2inC’s force. At the end of the battle, the Zulus had only 2 unbroken impi's remaining.  Results A hard-won victory for the British.  Analysis The Zulu Commander admitted after the battle that he had split his force unwisely: two regiments would have sufficed to delay the CinC’s force, leaving him ten rather than eight with which to overwhelm the rest of the British. Nevertheless, although defeated, the new tactic of wave assault looks promising for the Zulus in future encounters.  It also became clear that a British line without artillery support is not a good enough formation to stop a Zulu charge.