The Defense of Rorke's Drift (wargame)

Seeking to create a large British colony in South Africa that would encompass the hitherto independent Zulu Kingdom as well as the independent Boer states of the Republic of South Africa, British High Commissioner to South Africa Bartle Frere sent a provocative ultimatum to Zulu king Cetshwayo. When this was rejected, Frere sent a British task force to invade the Zulu Kingdom. The Zulu, although outgunned, showed discipline and defeated the British force at the Battle of Isandlwana. A Zulu force of 4000 then attacked 120 British soldiers at a mission station called Rorke's Drift.^[1]

The Defense of Rorke's Drift is a board wargame for two players in which one player controls the Zulu attackers and the other controls the British defenders.^[2]

The game components include 400 die-cut counters, and a map of the outpost showing a small hospital occupied by about 20 patients and medical staff, a store house, and the hastily erected perimeter fortifications linking the two buildings.

Each turn involves 6 phases:^[2]

1. British movement
2. Zulu movement and reinforcements
3. British rifle attacks
4. Zulu rifle and spear attacks
5. Zulu melee attacks
6. British melee attacks

There are not enough Zulu counters to represent the entire Zulu force, so discarded Zulu counters are reintroduced to the game through reinforcements.

The game provides five scenarios:^[2]

• A short solitaire scenario involving a British evacuation of the hospital.
• The same scenario but designed for two players.
• The full historical battle
• The British try to evacuate the outpost and are caught in the open with no fortifications
• The British player designs a new perimeter fortification.

The box also includes the rules for a second game, The Boer War, using separate components: a map of South Africa and 200 die-cut counters.^[2] The game is a strategic-level simulation of the Second Boer War