Isawannayu was still fuming when she leapt upon a large rock outcropping to peer into the jungle. Her uncle had become chief after her father died under mysterious circumstances. Her stepmother was now one of his wives. Something wasn’t right and when she questioned him about it, he consigned her to be “sacrificed for the peace of the kingdom.”
Along the mountainous northwest border of Nobelongga, the king had put in place a form of appeasement to insure peace with the tribes of the Zululand. Each year villages along the border were to send women deemed “nonessential” to an agreed upon place to be taken as brides or slaves by border tribes ruled by the Zulu. This avoided bloodshed between the kingdoms at the cost of a few women. The practice may have avoided violence among the men, but the selected women were not so lucky.
What Isawannayu’s uncle failed to realize was that Isawannayu’s father had made her the leader of the local contingent of the N’Nonmiton, the regiment of female warriors. When Isawannayu and the other women were led to the place of “sacrifice,” she was joined by the witch Nabii and four of her warriors – Akua, Dayo, Lesedi and Nomusa. They chased off the two men who were supposed to insure the women would be delivered to the Niambo, a member tribe of the Zululand.
The place of exchange was a clearing with a large rock outcropping. Isawannayu was angry. The very idea that the king would do this to women and girls rather than working for a real peace with the Zulu was repugnant. They were like a tethered goat used by foreigners and lazy hunters as bait to hunt lions. The lions were coming, but they didn’t know that these goats had teeth.
The Game
This was my first game using the rules Fortunes Won and Lost from Two Hour Wargames. I chose the Defend encounter with both forces being from the Tribal Natives lists. The object is for Isawannayu, my star, and her force to protect village women from being taken by the Niambo.
The defenders set up in section 8 of the table. The encounter’s major morale is a 4, so 4 PEFs will be randomly set up in sections 1 through 6 on the table.
The “bestest” PEF markers ever for jungle games – cocktail monkeys! PEFs start in sections 1, 2, 5 and 6.
The Niambo win the activation for turn one. In turns one and two PEFs move toward Isawannayu and away from her, and some PEFs don’t move at all. It isn’t until turn three that a PEF finally comes into sight of Isawannayu’s group.
The first PEF resolved is a group of 6 Niambo warriors. They win the advantage and charge into combat. One warrior attacks the witch, Nabii, 2 warriors attack Isawannayu, two warriors attack Lesedi, and one warrior attacks Nomusa.
After the first round of combat, two Niambo warriors are OOF and two of Isawannayu’s warriors are OOF. It doesn’t look good for Isawannayu, since there are three more PEFs in the forest. But the Niambo didn’t expect resistence from the women and they lost the will to fight and left the table.
During Isawannayu’s activation, she tightened up her formation and waited for the next wave of attackers. The next PEF resolves as a false alarm, a playful gibbon emergences from the bush.
Isawannyu’s luck holds. The next PEF is also a false alarm, a frightened terror bird rushes through the clearing.
The final PEF resolves as 6 Niambo warriors. They win the advantage and they charge. Only three are close enough to get into combat. After the first round of combat, Dayo is OOF and one of the Niambo is OD.
The Niambo get the worse end of the deal in the second round. Two Niambo warriors are OOF. The Niambo have had enough and lose the will to fight.
Isawannayu is victorious, but she is still angry. Her sights are now on her uncle and his supporters. If she can take the village, it is a start toward taking down the king. Isawannayu, Queen of Nobelongga, has a nice ring to it as Nabii whispers it in her ear.
All of the figures used in this game were by Foundry, except for the terror bird which is from Reaper. The game was photographed using my iPad with no extra lighting.
The Painting Table
This week saw the completion of two units of Greek hoplites, an Arab slaver, another female archeologist, and two undead death mistresses.
The hoplite figures are by Victrix and Black Tree Design. The shields are from Victrix and Gorgon Studios (the BTD shields are way too large). The shield transfers are by Victrix.
Another wonderful figure from the female archeologists pack from Copplestone Castings. Lots of character and paints up very nicely.
An Arab slaver from Wargame Foundry’s Darkest Africa collection. 
Undead death mistresses both figures are by Reaper Miniatures.
Atomic Floozy Adventures 