Angus Konstam's Edinburgh Wargames
The Indian Mutiny
The Devil's Wind
It all started with Mangal Pande - the sepoy of the 34th Bengal Native Infantry who was hanged for mutiny back in March 1857. Unwittingly he gave rise to the derogatory name for the Indian Mutineers - "Pandies". Well, the other guys were calling the British "Feringhi Dogs" and chopping them up, so I suppose it was only fair. Anyway, there are other websites out there with enough information on the Indian Mutiny of 1857-58 to satisfy even the most inquisitive gamer, so I won't bother repeating it. Some great ones can be found through the links given in:
You don't want a history lesson right now, so I'll just recount the highlights;
May 1857: Mutiny in Meerut, north of Delhi - British massacred, and mutineers head off to the big city, where they persuaded the Mughal emperor to support them. The British encampment outside Delhi is besieged.
June: Risings at Cawnpore and Lucknow, and British besieged outside Cawnpore. They eventually surrender, and are chopped into little pieces.
July: A relief attempt arrives too late to save the women and kids captured at Cawnpore, who are massacred. The British column then tried unsuccessfully to relieve the besieged outpost at Lucknow.
September: Reinforced by loyal troops from the north, the British storm and capture Delhi. In Lucknow the British break through, only to join the besieged.
November: Sir Colin Campbell arrives on the scene (hurrah) and relieves Lucknow, pulling out the garrison there. He also fights a string of battles around Cawnpore.
February 1858: A British outpost at the Alambargh outside Lucknow is besieged, but the attackers are driven off.
March: Campbell finally captures Lucknow, and the mopping up operations begin.
Well, you get the idea. Loads of besieged garrisons, relief columns, dust, the blazing noon-day sun, British pluck, afternoon tea (tiffin) and elephant droppings.
Added to that, the mutineers wore a mixture of native clothes and uniforms, and they were joined by the troops of local rulers, mercenaries, religious fanatics, and the sweepings of the bazaars (badmash). For their part the British developed their own funky uniforms, and armies would include a mixture of troops in blue, brown, khaki, grey and green, as well as in red coats.
For added colour they also had more Highlander units than was otherwise sensible, colourful local cavalry volunteers in the strangest of outfits, and loyal native troops such as the Sikhs and the Gurkhas to add a touch of eastern flavour to the mix. Oh, and don't forget the elephants, which were used as transports, command vehicles, limbers and pack horses. Colourful doesn't even begin to describe it!
Well, we've played our first game, and it was great fun - whetting the appetite for more. At the moment I have an Indian Mutineer army, but I've still to raise a British force. However, others at the Edinburgh Club - particularly Colin Jack - has lots of figures for both sides, so putting on a game isn't a problem. In fact, we worked out we had about 500 mutineer figures between us!
As for rules, we use In the Heart of India, which is actually more of a playsheet than a rules set. They're a variant of Chris Peers' In the Heart of Africa set, and all the modifications are listed on the playsheet. Rather cheekily we've also talked about an In the Heart of the Frontier playsheet for the NW Frontier, and even In the Heart of the Forest for the French & Indian Wars. Chris' rules are nothing if not adaptable! Feel free to tinker - we did away with the reloading rule for small arms half-way through our last game, as it made the British far too good. Although they almost always were, it doesn't make for a good game. After all, they already get bonuses for range, accuracy and morale. Doubling their rate of fire simply made them unstoppable, so a bit of rules tinkering was needed to make it more of a game.
Still, don't expect too much from this army, whose best tactic is to rely on their artillery, and dig themselves in, with a powerful counter-attacking force lurking in the mango groves or a built-up area. While the sepoys will always lose badly in a straight fight, they have the advantage of numbers, and can usually choose where and when to fight.
In the Heart of India playsheet
The British (still under construction) The Mutineers