"Zulus! Thaaaaasands of 'em!"


ZULU! It's 2012 (well actually 2014 now) and I'm finally going to live out a 35 year dream to refight the Zulu War on the tabletop. This page will detail my attempts to make that dream happen.

So, why haven't I done it before now? I think the answer lies in the fact that I am a miniaturist first and wargamer second. What I mean by that, is that the miniature in it's own right is important to me. Historical accuracy is less important  than the accuracy of the figure not just looking not just like a human being, but as a SOLDIER, rather than a shop dummy in historical dress.

Of course over the years I've had to compromise across many genres. But the Zulu War is one place where I can't. You see, my very first Zulu War figures were Hinchcliffe 54mm by Cliff Sanderson. Full of character and animation. I entered them in the British Model Soldier Society competition that same year, sometime around 1974, but was beaten by some sod called Perry! I dunno what became of him ;-)

My dad brought me home Skirmish Wargames by Donald Featherstone, I still have it, and fired up by Donald, I spent my pocket money travelling to London by bus to buy as many as two Tradition 30mm Zulu Wars figures or one solitary Willie Figure by Edward Suren. I particularly like the Suren because they did a figure in shirt sleeves at the ready - just like in the movie!

No wargame miniature company could compete with figures of this quality. Whilst Redoubt latterly brought out a very complete range including the Rorkes Drift station, my experiences with their Renaissance figures had not been great, and with only line drawings to go by, I didn't want to take the risk at a time when I earned a modest sum, had a girlfriend to keep and every penny for the hobby counted.

When Foundry released a limited range of British infantry and Zulus I bought several dozen. They were nice but the limited number of poses and the Zulu Dawn 'film extra' feeling they had about them prevented me from committing in any meaningful way. Black Tree Design almost had my money, but they fell foul of two pet hates of mine; a) the marching figure included in packs of 'fighting' poses, and  b) randomly supplied miniatures. Combine the two and this is where the inner Sheldon Cooper comes out in me.


Then came the lads from Empress. Now, I admit that I wasn't impressed with the first couple of packs of Empress Miniatures' Zulu War British. They looked blocky and just not my cup of tea. But from ZWB11 onwards, I sat up and took serious note. Here were figures that spoke to me. I was instantly reminded of the famous paintings of Isandlwana and well, they were just the very picture of Victorian British soldiery. From that point, 28mm Zulu War seemed to be very definitely on the cards. I'd planned to start collecting them early last year. At that time just for the sake of having them. Unfortunately my illness and related memory issues intervened. Zulu War what's that then?

Several things came together just before Christmas 2011, not least, I have largely recovered but also, the Empress range now included cavalry and guns; and so had reached a tipping point where gaming battles rather than just skirmishes became possible. Encouraged by my wife, who loves the film ZULU and thinks these figures are magnificent, 2012 is going to the year I make my vision come true of fighting modest battles against the Zulu with figures that match those Victorian warriors in my mind's eye.

Cheers
Mark

4th January 2012

So, I'm off an running. A stocking filler from Heather for Christmas of Empress Zulu War characters and two boxes of Warlord's plastic Married Zulus via Maelstrom, who are running a 17% off RRP event till Monday 9th. Add the £7 cashback I've accumulated with them and that's 60 Zulus for around £20!


That's enough to keep me going for a couple of months as I find the plastics (Perry, GB, any) incredibly fiddly to cut off without damage, clean off mould seams, then glue together in a manner that doesn't defy the human skeleton.

Warlord's plastic Natal Native Contingent available now for pre-order. Regardless of being NNC, they would make a great pulp Africa starter set of non specific warriors and two European (Boer) officers who could be used as Explorers or similar. It's Darkest Africa in a box! Strongly tempted to make use of Maelstrom's offer to pick them up, but Christmas was expensive and I think it may be a purchase too far.....

21st April 2012

Picked up a box of Warlord's Natal Native Contingent as part of Maelstrom Games recent 25% off sale. Am going to use some of them as generic natives for some Darkest Africa games and the so called  European (Boer) officers are being relegated to European game hunters/explorers. Personally I think Warlord were being cheap in simply using two existing Boer figures.

When the Rorkes Drift set was released, Warlord/Empress were missing a trick in not having dedicated sets of Rorkes Drift defenders in shirtsleeves etc. So, Im delighted to report this omission has been rectified and Empress Miniatures have released two further packs depicting defenders and personalities from Rorkes Drift.


The lower selection (pack ZWB64) has historical and VC recipients from Rorkes Drift, including (left to right) Surgeon Reynolds with Private Hitch, Corporal Friederich Schiess (based on Lady Butler's painting), Acting Assistant Commissary James Langley Dalton and Chaplain George Smith (based on Alphonse De Neuville's painting).

Cheers
Mark


2014 and.......... "If it's a miracle, Colour Sergeant, it's a short chamber Boxer-Henry point-four-five caliber miracle"



Cheers
Mark


1 comment:

  1. .... and a bayonet, Sir. With some guts behind it!

    ReplyDelete