The Great Boer War Board Game

Game of the Second Boer War commencing October, 1899. Game comes in a small 9" x 6 1/2" x 7/8" box with a cover illustration of a well-dressed Victorian family playing a map-and-pin flags boardgame of the war. The cardstock hex map measures 16 1/2" x 11 5/8" and depicts the region of conflict running from cape Town and Port Elizabeth in the south to Mateking in the west, the Rhodesian border in the north and the port of Lourenco Marques in the east. Map has one-inch hexes featuring Clear, Hill, Railway, River, and Mountain terrain plus economic centers and ports. The mounted, pre-cut 3/4" counters featuring forty green Boer Commandos of various strengths, Command Flags (three per player), two Natives, thirty-five "Gold" (Supplies), twenty red British Infantry brigades, twelve red British Cavalry brigades, and five red British Garrisons plus a Turn Marker. Two D6 are also included. Unit counters feature, as appropriate, a drawing of a Boer horseman firing at the gallop, native shields, national flags, British lancer, British infantry, and a field gun with crew (for garrisons). Counters include deployment location or turn of appearance, combat strength, and movement allowance. Historical unit identifications are also included. Normal game length is fifteen turns (victory determined by holding the most economic production centers) or, optionally, thirty-six turns (pursuing the bittereinder to the last counter; if one survives to the end, the Boers win). Rules cover reinforcements, the British War Chest, Natives, Neutrals, Railways, Sea and Off-map Movement, Multi-hex combat, Sieges, and the assymetrical nature of opposing forces. Movement is handled in a distinctive way. Each turn, Boer and British players alternate placing a "flag" on the map (numbered between One and Six). After placement, players alternate moving units adjacent to these flags. Units must stop if they move adjacent to a hostile unit. Following this "Consolidation Movement," Combat occurs. After Combat, surviving units may engage in "Dispersal Movement," which is the opposite of Consolidation Movement. Movement to and from flags takes place sequentially in the order of numbered flags. Optionally, players may place their flags simultaneously rather than sequentially; in this instance, players plot the hex number where each flag will be placed. Another option allows for random flag draws from a cup. Combat is determined by odds ration and a singld D6 die roll. The resulting number indicates the "Butcher's Bill" imposed upon either the S (smaller force) or L (larger force) engaged. Losses are in units removed; the Boer player may retreat in lieu of taking losses if his units may retreat the full amount (one or two) and not move next to any British or native unit. "Gold" (supplies) may not retreat and may be captured.