Angus Konstam's Edinburgh Wargames

The DOAG

Beware the Hun in the Sun

Army for In the Heart of Africa

My Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft, or German East Africa Company is pitifully small, but darned well-armed.

Historically, although the DOAG assumed control of their territory in East Africa in 1885, it wasn't until 1889 that a force was raised to defend it - and to crush any rebellions. The German explorer Hermann von Wissman formed his "Wissmanntruppe" of Sudanese and Zulu askaris, led by German (and some Turkish) officers and NCO's, and supported by German sailors and marines.

They were heavily engaged fighting the Abushiri (Arab slavers) along the coast, and the Wissmantruppe managed to crush the rebellion fairly efficiently. However, they found the He He an altogether tougher proposition, and in 1891 a German force was cut to pieces at the Battle of the Rugaro River. The Wissmantruppe was pulled back and amalgamated into a new German Shutztruppe askari force, whose soldiers eventually managed to capture the He He capital of Kalenga in 1894.

As the later askaris looked too much like my WW2 Schutztruppe, I decided to opt for the earlier DOAG askaris (c.1885-91), largely because of the really great figures available from Copplestone Castings. Their uniform was rather snazzy - a sailor-style shirt edged in the colours of the German flag, and a red fez. I supported them with a small detachment of German marines, plus staff, a standard bearer and a machine gun looted from my WW1 East Africa collection.

For those of you who care about these things, here's the army list. You need about 600 points for a proper game.

• Tom Prince (1891-1899) White Man: Charismatic & Disciplinarian @ +40 points, or else a White Man: Disciplinarian (no extra cost). 

•  0-1 Standard Bearer (50 points – single figure)

• 0-1 unit of White Men (40 points – max of  3 figures, with gunbearers if reqd.*)

• 0-1 unit of German Marines or Elite Askaris: Regulars (28 points – 2 to 6 man unit)**

• 2-4 units of other African Askaris: Soldiers (20 points – 2 to 9 man unit)

• Artillery (50 points, or from 1889-99 a Schnellfeurgeschitzen @ 75 points) 

• Machine Gun (50 points) 1889-99 only

• Gunboat (100 points)

 * Only 3 white men can be fielded in total, including leader.   ** Elite Askaris = Wissmanntruppe (Schutztruppen) only available from 1889-99

 

 

Sample 600 point army:

• Leader:  White Man (Disciplinarian)  with 3 staff                 Free

• Standard Bearer                                                                   50
• German Marine or Schutztruppe Unit “Regulars” (6 figures) 168

• East Africa Company Askari Unit “Soldiers” (9 figures)        180

• East Africa Company Askari Unit “Soldiers” (8 figures)        160

• Machine Gun (3 crew)                                                           50

                             Total:                                          608 points

He He

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