Thanks to Dan Mersey (author of Lion Rampant and the upcoming fantasy variant Dragon Rampant) and Osprey Games, we are fortunate to be amongst the official playtester group for the upcoming The Men Who Would Be Kings Colonial-era skirmish rules. We played our first game, set in the Sudan 1884, with the figures we had to hand. Beneath all that terrain is a CigarBox Battles Desert battle mat, another very useful bit of kit.
The game mechanics are both familiar but uniquely Colonial and each type of warrior has a fairly unique set of stats with optional upgrades. We particularly enjoyed the various leader traits and had some great fun with playing them out to the hilt! Upon this occasion, the plucky Imperialists lost control of the only water source for miles around and found themselves unable to cope with the Mahdist onslaught.
Great game, sensible rules and jolly good fun to boot!