Wellington in India (WIN)  is GMT’s first game in its Great Battles in Asian History, a series emphasizing easy, quick play that focuses on the unusual features of this area of history virtually untouched by the hobby but truly rich in gameplayer goodies.

WIN simulates the battles of the 2nd Anglo-Mahratta War in India (1803), in which Major General, The Honorable Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington)  had field command in the Deccan (the center of the subcontinent)  against the huge forces of the Mahrattas, the largest independent  empire in India, under the Scindia rulers of Gwalior and the Bhonsle rulers of Nagpur and Berar, complete with the a massive artillery corps, plus the equally important battles in the northern, Hindustan where the troops of the East India Company were under the oft-unappreciated General Lake; all of which was part of the almost subconscious, ongoing efforts of the British, in the guise of their East India Company, to gobble up an entire continent and civilization.

Much of the game system will be familiar to any wargamer. There is no set number of turns, and this is not Igo-Hugo gaming. Variable activation of commands, based on leadershipo quality, is the baseline. The usual fire/move then shock mechanics are all there, and we hope to eventually use this basic system to simplify our Great Battles of the Civil War battles.

WIN includes all four battles of the 2nd Anglo-Mahratta War:  Assaye and Argaum, in the Deccan, and Delhi and Laswaree in northern Hindustan. Wellington considered Assaye the toughest battle in which he ever fought. (And readers of Cornwell’s first three Sharpe books will find this familiar territory). Each of these battles is on a half-map,  at 120 yards per hex, with combat units being half-battalions (well, two counters for a full battalion). The Mahrattas have lots of artillery. Good artillery, too…  according to Wellesley “… the finest brass ordnance I have ever seen.”

 
Each battle has its own opening maneuvers, along with heavy barrages of cannon, followed by bloodletting hand-to-hand combat.  There is plenty of opportunity for cavalry charges, especially if the Mahratta player can activate his massive cavalry compoo (brigades). And all in very unusual settings with heretofore unseen terrain, such as the 8-10 foot high elephant grass that covered most of 2 of the battlefields.

As an added attraction, the game  plays equally well solitaire.  

Each copy of WIN will contain:

• 4 “Quad” sized game maps (17 x 22)
• Two full counter sheets
• System Rules (Simple GBACW) Approximately 14-16 pages
• Exclusive Rules Approximately 10-12 pages
• Two sets of two, double sided Charts and Tables cards
• 2 10-sided Dice