Review: The Battle of Waterberg, 1904 by the Historical Gaming Company

I was invited recently to playtest a new 2player board game called The Battle of Waterberg, 1904 developed by Steve Kling at The Historical Game Company. During the last two months, I've had the change to play it several times with my teenage son, as well as to play out a couple of test runs on my own and provide feedback to the developers.  With their encouragement, I'm pleased to share this review of the product in its current form and look forward to playing the finished product when it comes to market.

The Battle of Waterberg - the largest battle of the German Herero War of 1904 in what was then Deutche Suedwestafrika - is little known outside of modern Namibia except for a small group of scholars of early twentieth-century genocides and historians specializing in German colonialism.  It followed several months of stagnation and setbacks for the German forces in the face of spirited and effective indigenous resistance. It was fought in the dense thornveld beneath the high escarpment of the Waterberg Plateau where thousands of Herero fighters with their families and vast cattle herds confronted six converging German Abteilung: detachments comprising two full Schutztruppe Regiments, supported by native auxiliaries, field artillery, machine guns, and a communications network that included heliography and wireless radio (funkenstation). Despite these advantages, the German sections fought isolated engagements, suffered considerable losses, and failed to meet their primary objective of containing and preventing the Hereros from escaping envelopment.  Nevertheless the Hereros were deprived of most of their cattle and were ruthlessly pursued into the arid Omaheke in the East where untold thousands perished.

The rules for this game draw closely from historical sources.  The layout is attractive with a hexagonal grid overlying terrain that depicts the Waterberg Mountains (treated as a barrier for game purposes), Herero settlements, waterholes and a large cattle grazing area.  The hexes within the large Herero staging area are honeycombed with thorny hedges that provide considerable obstacles for the advancing Germans while conferring the advantages of concealment, extra defensive value and free movement to the defending Africans. While this reflects the battle tactics and conditions of the historical engagements fought at the Waterberg, in game terms it reduces German penetration of the Herero setup area to an exercise in close combat trench clearing.  As with the tactics used on the Western Front, the German player is wise who takes advantage of ranged artillery before launching strong attacks across a wide front rather than driving right into close combat with whatever Abteilung reaches the battlefield first.

As a student of this battle and the history of German colonialism in Namibia, I appreciated the small "Easter egg" details in the design of the game pieces, from the initials used to delineate each Abteilung that are the first letters of their historical commanders, to the unique and appropriate headgear on the pieces that represent each of the three "native auxiliary" units in the German force and the seebatallion helmet on the elite Herero unit that was equipped with captured gear and uniforms taken after the annihilation of a German marine company the previous April at Okaharui. These touches are for the most part left unexplained in the game rules but add to the sense of fidelity to the source material cited at the end of the short rule book.  I also enjoyed the artwork used for the cover and the game cards - color paintings by Carl Becker that were first published in 1908 as part of Freherr von Dinkelage-Campe's lavishly illustrated Deutsche Reiter im Südwest.

Game play is driven by a set of 8 cards for each player that determine which what forces are available

and modify their movement and combat effectiveness.  The cards add a random element that nicely simulates the contingencies of combat, including those unique to this battle: thorny obstacles, cattle stampedes, overheating machine guns. The Hereros have much more latitude to move individual pieces where they are most needed, while the Germans predominantly "phase" and engage by Abteilung.  While that is indeed how the Germans fought, in game terms it leads to inadequate forces, stalled advances and, because of the current rule that requires disordered units to withdraw out of the enemy zone of control (ZOC) if they are able or be eliminated, causes irreplaceable losses in front-line troops. I have recommended that this rule be changed for the German player so that disordered units go prone and remain in place unless successfully attacked again in the same turn which would result in elimination.

A turn consists of each player's opportunity to draw a card and complete a sequence of phasing affected units, movements and defensive fire, ranged and close combat and rallying disordered units.  A game can involve as many as 24 turns, which at least when we were familiarizing ourselves with the rules meant that our games lasted longer than the designers envisioned. 

There are a number of factors for the German player to consider during the early turns when not all the Abteilung are in play, and later when they have been reduced to the point where Abteilung may no longer have the combat strength to function effectively. Although the German forces are more powerful than most of their adversaries, they have fewer numbers and limited options to replenish their numbers as the game progresses.  The German player in our games often performed very well but was unable to meet its victory conditions (all five strategic locations occupied and at least 18 Herero forces eliminated).  A few changes to the line of sight rules and recognition of the fire suppression capacity of the machine gun units helped to better the odds, as did allowing disordered German units to go prone.  In the one game where the Germans eliminated more than 18 Herero pieces, these forces were able to escape to the edge of the game board before the Germans ran out of time to occupy the waterholes, settlements and grazing herd that were among the conditions of victory.  The reason the German plan in August of 1904 involved approaching the Waterberg region from multiple directions was precisely to prevent such a breakout and inflict a decisive defeat.  Stressing this containment role in the German victory conditions would be consistent with historical objectives and give the converging Abteilung the incentive to utilize their artillery, machine gun and ranged attacks to best effect before slowly tightening the noose.

Despite these factors, we found The Battle of Waterberg 1904 to be a highly enjoyable game to

play, and one that challenged us to find ways to overcome the advantages that familiar terrain afforded to the Herero player.  I commend Steve Kling for bringing this game concept to execution.  As one who has written two tabletop scenarios for miniature war-gaming in this period, I appreciate the care that he has taken to simulate historical combat with fidelity while striving for a positive and playable experience.  The Germans, if well deployed, should be able to hold their own, even as they penetrate deeper into Herero territory, but even in 1904, it was a near run thing for two of the Abteilung. 

Owikokorero Officer Casualties and Medical Personnel in Bivouac.

I've been looking for an un-watermarked version of this historic image for a long time.  It was taken during the German-Herero War in 1904 shortly after the battle of Owikokorero, where an advanced party from Major von Glasnapp's Ostabteilung was ambushed and took very heavy casualties,   10 out of 11 officers in the engagement were hit, with 7 outright fatalities.  The Major commandant was lightly wounded in the head, and the other two more seriously wounded officers appear in this image, along with some of the expedition's medical personnel.

Lying in the cot is Oberleuntnant zur See Friedrich Hermann, part of the Landungskorps from S.M.S. "Habicht".  He was in charge of a machine gun section and was shot through the left shoulder and also in the left hip.  Seated to his right is Marine-Leutnant Theobald Schäfer, who was also adjutant of the Ostabteilung.  He was shot through the bone of his left underarm and also in the buttocks.

They are attended by several known medical officers.  Standing in the rear at right is Marine-Assistenzartz Dr. Janßen.  Seated third from the right is one-year Schutztruppe medical volunteer (Einjährig-freiwilliger) Dr. Ersnt August Kaerger, and seated to his right is Marine-Stabsartz Dr. Wiemann.  Following the death at Owikokorero of Marine-Oberassistensartz Dr. Wilhelm Belden of the Landungskorps from S.M.S. "Habicht", these were the three senior medical personnel attached to the Ostabteilung along with a 30 man medical department.  Possibly the other Germans in the image were part of that hospital section.

The two native auxiliaries remain unidentified.  They could be orderlies or batmen (bambuse) or they could be soldiers serving with the column.  They do not appear to be wounded.

Images of Native Auxilaries in German Service in DSWA

The participation of some indigenous people on the German side was awkward fact of the colonial wars in southwest Africa between 1904-1908.  The bulk of the German forces used in these conflicts were imperial Schutztruppen on detached service from their parent units, augmented by local reserves from the settler population, along with certain marine and naval elements that deployed at the outbreak of the Herero War.  Nonetheless,  there were three native auxiliary units - the Rehoboth Bastards, the Witbooi Orlam (ǀKhowesin) and a half company of Bethanie Orlam (ǃAman) - that fought alongside the Germans in 1904.  There were also indigenous people who accompanied the Schutztruppe in the capacity of officer's servants (bamusen), wagon drivers (treibern), and occasionally even as soldiers attached to predominantly white units, as depicted in the photograph above.  Standing at the far right is a soldier identified as farbiger (colored) Abraham.

The following images from German archives and period publications depict native auxilaries with the Schutztruppe in DSWA both prior to the German-Herero war and during that conflict.  Some of them served with the Germans prior to 1904 and against them afterwards.  The Witboois and some of the Bethanie men fought against the Germans during the Nama War of 1904-1908 after serving with them against the Herero. The Rehoboth Bastards fought by their side throughout, but so did individual Hereros..

Witbooi native auxiliaries (at right) in Okahandja in 1904

Mounted Witboois 1904

Witboois in Windhuk

Baster Company

Witbooi Native Auxiliaries in 25mm

Witbooi Nama Native Auxiliaries (Monday Knight Productions Haitians 25mm)

A troop of about 110 native auxiliaries from the Witbooi tribe served with the Germans in the Herero War of 1904.  Contemporary images suggest that they went to war wearing their traditional white turbans around their wide brimmed hats.  In previous campaigns they wore imperial armbands over civilian clothing to distinguish them from the enemy, and that is how I have depicted them with these figures.

The miniatures are 25mm, too small to work well with the 28mm figures that comprise the bulk of my forces on the gaming table but adequate when used as a group on their own.  They are from
Monday Knight Productions Banana Wars Haitian Figures line and have been modified with Kneadatite epoxy putty tape to add turbans to their hats.  These are simple sculpts and very affordable at $12 for a mixed squad of nine different men with rifles and one of two leader types with pistols and machetes.  Three are without hats and I have assigned them to the Herero forces to round out some smaller sized units.  They can also be purchased singly.

Instead of wheat-based cat litter I used beach sand to texture the bases.  I think it will require a second coat of white glue and additional sand to get the right amount of ground cover, but it avoids the problem of the wheat absorbing liquid and the longer associated drying time.

Just 24 figures are needed to represent the Witbooi troops in the Jones/Alvaredo Herero Wars

Scenario and Rule Book and I may decide to acquire the remainder from Monday Knight.  Alternatively, I may consider these an interesting experiment and use 28mm figures instead.

Witbooi Native Auxiliaries modified with Epoxy turbans

Copplestone Askari Conversion to Rehoboth Baster Abteilung

Copplestone Darkest Africa Zanzibari Regulars Marching

Copplestone Askari Converted to Baster Abteilung

There were two Copplestone Zanzibari Askaris in a mixed set of German colonial miniatures that I picked up a few months ago on eBay, and this week I decided to do a test conversion of one of them to see whether it would work for the German-Herero war as a native auxiliary from the Baster Abteilung.  The Rehoboth Basters or Bastards are of mixed ethnicity, and one photograph of the unit that served with the Germans during 1904-1907 shows them in light colored German corduroy uniforms with the white litzen removed from the collar and sleeves.

I had some Kneadatite epoxy putty, the "green stuff" that modelers and sculptors use for conversions, so I left one figure alone and gave the other shoes and a peaked feld cap, complete with a small imperial cockade.  In 24 hours this had hardened and was ready to paint.  I painted ed it up and based it tonight and am very pleased with the result.

 Possibly I'll try to sculpt more ammunition pouches with a cavalry harness, but for now this is more than good enough.  I may go back and make the cap a darker brown, and I need to add a couple of silver buttons on each sleeve, but otherwise it is finished and I have decided to complete my Baster unit with similar conversions of  Copplestone's Zanzibari Askaris Marching sets. 

No White Feathers: Misreading a Key Element of the Material Culture of the Witbooi Nama in 1904

At the outset of the German -Herero War in January, 1904, the white soldiers of the Schutztruppe and its reserves were bolstered by several hundred African allies.  The largest group of these native soldiers was a contingent of about 120 men from a Nama sub-group known as the Witboois. 

They were an Oorlam or mixed race people and the last of five Oorlam clans that made the the trek north from the Cape in the early to mid-19th century to settle in what is now south central Namibia.  Since then, the Witbooi have assimilated more thoroughly with the Nama, referring themselves by the clan name ǀKhowesin in the Khoikhoigowab or Damara/Nama language, but during the German colonial period they more commonly used a variant of Afrikaans, and the name "Witbooi "means just what it sounds like in that language.

Hendrik Witbooi (d.1905) and others wearing the knotted white turban of their clan

Their leader during the critical period between 1885 and 1905 was Hendrik Witbooi, a remarkable person who fought against both the Germans and the Herero in the 1890s, then allied with the colonial power until October of 1904 when he lead his people in a guerrilla war of resistance.

Hendrick Witbooi and Nama Horsemen wearing Imperial armbands (likely late 1890s).

 The men riding with Hendrick Witbooi in the image, above, wear white turbans around the crown of their hats, and in one case, a pith helmet with a hatband in Imperial colors.  Many writers have concluded that the tail end of white cloth that extends above the knot on the top of the hat, clearly visible in this and other contemporary images as well as in versions of the Witbooi turban used today as ceremonial regalia,  is actually a white feather.  I believe this comes from a misreading of a section of Witbooi's  October 3, 1904 letter in which he announces his declaration of war ; 

"...I have now stopped walking submissively and will write a letter to the [German] Captain saying that I have put on the white feather and that the time is over when I will walk behind him ̧ The Savior himself will now act and He will free us through His grace and compassion...."
 
It is clear from the images provided here that this is not a correct interpretation of the meaning of Witbooi's (translated) words.  It is the turban itself to which he refers, worn during times of war. A metaphorical feather, perhaps, is formed by the topknot, but there is no evidence that a real feather was ever stuck in the turban, nor is one used in modern versions of the same turban (color photos below courtesy of the Gibeon Village Council website).

Reverend Hendrick Witbooi (1934-2009) wearing the traditional knotted white turban covering the crown of his hat.

Honor guard at Rev. Witbooi's funeral, including horsemen wearing the knotted white turban.

An image of Lt. Gen. Lothar v. Trotha inspecting Witbooi troopers at Okahandja in June 1904 (source Bayer)

Fate was not kind to the Witbooi troopers who served under the Germans during the Herero War of 1904.  19 of them deserted with their arms after Hamakari and returned to Hendrik Witbooi at their home place of Gibeon.  It is said that they were alarmed that their people might be crushed just as brutally by the Germans as the Herero and that their report was part of what motivated Witbooi to declare war in October, 1904.  

The remaining 90 or more Witbooi auxiliaries were disarmed when hostilities began with the Nama and were sent in a group of 118 prisoners to labor in German Togo where at least 63 of them died of disease. The survivors were transferred to German Cameroon in 1905 along with more Witbooi Nama prisoners, and there were more deaths in exile until they were  finally repatriated to Southwest Africa by Governor Lindquist after the fighting found down and the Nama had been broken and decimated.

Hererowars Scenarios Figure Requirements

Dr. Roy Jones has posted some excellent new material on the Hererowars website, including the order of battle for the figures needed to run all 13 scenarios in the upcoming book that he and coauthor Eric Alvarado hope to have to the printers before the end of the year.  I am pleased that my lead pile has gone a long way toward addressing many of the unit requirements, but with an acknowledged weakness in mounted troops and native auxiliaries.  

While the Schutztruppe were mounted infantry, they generally fought on foot, so the requirements call for a single mounted unit of 8 Schutztruppe (1officer, 1 NC, six troopers).  The Herero, who also fought largely on foot, did have cavalry engaged in at least one scenario and 24 mounted figures are needed.  I have 8 (plus a horseholder with four more fighting dismounted), so this will take a while.

As for the Witbooi and Rehoboth Bastard units, these appear to be dismounted troops, and the challenge is to distinguish them from their Herero adversaries when the same (uniformed) figures are likely to be used on both sides.  The Bastards are perhaps the hardest to represent appropriately, as period images provided by the indispensable German Colonial Uniforms website show them in feld caps and modified 1896 Kord Waffenrock uniforms that are very pale colored, and suitable figures are not produced by any of the readily available manufacturers.  As my aim to take every step possible to make faithful representations of the uniforms and units involved in this period, I may need to wait on the Bastard unit until there are better figure options.

Photo © Frankfurt University Koloniales Bildarchiv

I am considering getting some epoxy putty to make minor adjustments to figures, either to have trousers cover puttees on some of the Brigade Games Great War in Africa figures or to make wide brimmed hats for figures wearing fez.  This would open up a large assortment of African figures for use as Herero troops as well as more figures in German uniforms for both sides.  I may try this experiment with an NCO unit of Schutztruppe askaris and see how it works, though the neckshade on the Askari tarbush fez thast three of these figures wear presents modelling problems.  We shall see.

Types of Troops Serving with the German Colonial Forces in the Herero War of 1904

When the first shots of the Herero War were fired at Okahandja in January of 1904, the German colonial Schutztruppe in Southwest Africa consisted of 500 men in four of Feldkompagnien of mounted infantry and an artillery company, along with another 266 police and administrative personnel. There were an additional 766 trained reserves, many of whom were former soldiers who had settled in the Colony.  Detachments of the Schutztruppe were widely dispersed at isolated posts, and many were deployed in action far to the south against the Bondalswart Nama.

According to the outstanding Namibian Chronology compiled online by the late Klaus Dierks;

"In the first couple of days 123 Germans are killed (among them 13 active soldiers, seven Boers and five women), goods and cattle are stolen, and infrastructures, buildings and properties are destroyed, mainly between Okahandja and Omaruru."

The first available reinforcements were a naval detachment sent ashore at Swakopmund on January 18th from the German kanonenboot SMS "Habicht".  This consisted of a 55-man landing party or "landungskorps" of armed sailors under the command of the first officer,  Kapitänleutnant Hans Gygas. 

More reinforcements arrived in Swakopmund on February 9th.  These were German marines or seesoldaten in a Marine-Expeditionskorps comprised of detachments from the I and III Seebataillons under the command of Major Georg Franz von Glasenapp.  It also included 8 machine gun teams with a mix of naval and marine gun teams to serve them  There was one marine-operated maschinekanone , for example, engaged at the Battle of Otijinamaparero.

A Schutztruppe reinforcement was authorized as soon as hostilities broke out and these began arriving in February. 1,576 officers and men had landed by the end of March, along with 1,000 horses, 10  artillery pieces and 6 machine guns.  These fresh troops wore the Schutztruppe uniform though some had only volunteered for a single year's service.

German reservists living in Southwest Africa were called to service during the Herero War.  They were usually issued Shutztruppe uniforms (though these may in some cases have been older models) and had solid Schutztruppe training.  A number of boers also living in the colony fought with the Germans, notably against the Nama later that year at the Battle of Kub.The Germans did not have uniformed native askaris in the Southwest Africa Schutztruppe.  There were several hundred native auxiliaries, however, who served with them against the Herero in 1904.  These included Namas under Henrick Witbooi ,who fought their traditional enemies the Hereros but who subsequently took up arms against the Germans when they saw their own end presaged by the extermination campaign against the Herero.  They also included a group of mixed race Rehoboth "Basters" who had emigrated to the territory from South Africa and signed a protection treaty with the Germans in the 1880s.  At the battle of Hamakari, a third group of mounted Native Auxiliaries from the Bethanie Nama served in Oberst Deimling's section under Leuntant Thilo Von Trotha, nephew of the overall commander. 

These tribal-auxillery troops served as scouts and fought as dismounted infantry.  They either wore their own European clothing with imperial colors armbands on their left arms or as a strip around the hatband, or had Schutztruppe uniforms with the silver braid removed from any blue cuffs and collars. 

By April, 1904, there were perhaps 2,500 German effectives able to take the field, organized in three detachments (East, West and Main).  These units were dramatically expanded in June with the arrival of more than 10,000 reinforcements and a new overall field commander, Lieutenant General Adrian Dietrich Lothar von Trotha. 

German Forces peaked during the Herero-Nama wars at an astounding 20,000 men, and were ultimately reduced after hostilities ended in 1907 to 4,000.  During these conflicts between January, 1904 and June 1906, they suffered 2,466 casualties, including 916 deaths in battle, from wounds or accidents, or missing and presumed dead; 898 wounded, 652 died of disease.  Estimates of Herero, Nama, Damara and other indigenous losses during this same period approach 100,000 dead.