Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet

Just over a month ago I wrote a review of Steve Parker's DOMINION OF THE SPEAR solo wargame rules. Since then, he has added DOMINION OF PIKE AND SHOT and now DOMINION OF THE SPEAR AND BAYONET. The latter enables players to fight Colonial battles set between 1800 and 1900 and uses the same basic design and game engine as his previous rules.

In his description of the rules, Steve states that:

‘Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet is a very, very simple set of solo wargames rules … allowing one to fight two Colonial armies … against each other in around ten minutes. They are written for the game to generate a plausible and – with some imagination – an amusing narrative. Although figures can be used, battles can easily be fought on paper (no measuring) using pen or pencil and two different coloured six sided dice. Armies consist of 3 to 6 units and a points system is included.’

There are five different types of unit:

• Line Infantry: These are infantry that fight in close formation and rely on firepower to destroy enemy units. It also includes Machine Guns.
• Ambushers: These are infantry or cavalry that attack enemy units by ambushing them.
• Skirmishers: These are infantry or cavalry who fight in a dispersed formation and rely on firepower or missile weapons to destroy enemy units. It includes European light infantry, natives or militia with firearms or bows, light cavalry with carbines or rifles, dismounted cavalry, and horse archers.
• Melee Units: These are infantry units that are armed with spears (Spearmen), bayonets (Bayonets) or cavalry. It includes infantry and cavalry that fight in close formation and rely on charging their opponents and fighting with melee weapons (e.g. spears, swords, lances, bayonets).
• Artillery: It includes all artillery (e.g. cannons, field guns, and rockets). Artillery is especially useful against troops in fortifications.

Examples of units include:

• Trained militia armed with muskets – Line Infantry (cost 2 points).
• Zulu veteran warriors – elite Spearmen (cost 3 points).
• Tribesmen firing from sangars – fortified Skirmishers (cost 3 points).
• British Highlanders infantry – elite Bayonets (cost 3 points).
• Best European infantry – elite disciplined Line Infantry (cost 4 points).

As in the previous rules, the battlefield is split into eight areas:

The booklet also includes a number of optional rules:

• Optional Artillery and Rocket Battery rules.
• Optional Alternative Activation rule.
• Optional Rallying Phase.
• Optional Unreliable Troops.

The book includes a play through of a battle between British Indian Army units (the British Chitral Relief Expedition) and Pathan tribesmen (Chitrali and other Pathani tribesmen) on the North-West Frontier, and this really helps the reader to understand how the game's mechanisms work.

The booklet also includes 122 army lists that cover the the following conflicts:

• The Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803 to 1805)
• The Bolivian War of Independence (1809 to 1825)
• The Argentine War of Independence (1810 to 1818)
• The Mexican War of Independence (1810 to 1821)
• Tecumseh’s War (1811 to 1813)
• The Fourth Xhosa War (1811 to 1812)
• The Creek War (1813 to 1814)
• The First Seminole War (1816 to 1818)
• The First Anglo Burmese War (1824 to 1826)
• The Padri War (Sumatra) (1821 to 1838)
• The First Anglo-Ashanti War (Ghana) (1823 to 1831)
• The Java War (1825 to 1830)
• The Second Seminole War (1835 to 1842)
• The First Opium War (1839 to 1842)
• The French Conquest of Algeria (1830 to 1903)
• The Mexican-Texan War (Texas War of Independence) (1835 to 1836)
• The First Anglo-Afghan War (1838 to 1842)
• The British invasion of Sindh (1843)
• The Franco-Moroccan War (1844)
• The Franco-Tahitian War (1844 to 1846)
• The First Anglo-Sikh War 1845 to 1846)
• The New Zealand Wars (1845 to 1872)
• The Mexican-American War (1846 to 1848)
• The Taiping Rebellion (1850 to 1864)
• The Anglo-Persian War (1856 to 1860)
• The Second Opium War (1856 to 1860)
• The Indian Mutiny (1857 to 1858)
• The French Intervention in Mexico (1862 to 1867)
• The Fenian Raids (1866 to 1871)
• The British Expedition to Abyssinia (Ethiopia) (1867 to 1868)
• The North-West Frontier Black Mountain Expeditions (1868. 1888, and 1891)
• The Russian Conquest of Central Asia (1866 to 1881)
• The Third Anglo-Ashanti War (1873 to 1874)
• The Aceh War (Indonesia) (1873 to 1904)
• The Great Sioux War (1876 to 1877)
• The Nez Perce War (1877)
• The Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878 to 1880)
• The Anglo-Zulu War (1879)
• The First Boer War (The Transvaal War) (1880 to 1881)
• The Belgians in the Congo (1880 onwards)
• The Mahdist War (1881 to 1899)
• The Tonkin Campaign (Northern Vietnam) and Sino-French War (1883 to 1886)
• The North-West Rebellion (1885)
• The Italo-Ethiopian Wars (1887 onwards)
• The Abushiri Revolt (Tanzania) (1888 to 1889)
• The Hehe Resistance (1891 to 1898)
• The Second Franco-Dahomean War (Benin) (1892 to 1894)
• The First Matabele War (Zimbabwe) (1893)
• The North-West Frontier Chitral Campaign (1895)
• The Conquest of Gaza (Mozambique) (1895 to 1897)
• The Cuban War of Independence (1895 to 1898)
• The North-West Frontier Tirah and Tochi Campaign (1897)
• The Spanish-American War (1898)
• The Philippine-American War (1899 to 1902)
• The Boxer Rebellion (1899 to 1901)
• The Second Boer War (1899 to 1902)

The booklet ends with suggestions for a very interesting Big Battle version of the rules and also includes a QRS (Quick Reference Sheet) on its back cover.

I have yet to try the rules, but I certainly hope to do so soon.

---

DOMINION OF THE SPEAR AND BAYONET was written by Steve Parker and published in 2025 by Orc Publishing. It is available to buy online in PDF format from Wargame Vault for £4.40/$5.69.