Copplestone Ngoni Female Archers WIP

One of my long-term projects is painting some forces for Congo, and to that end I purchased some mixed Copplestone Africans quite a while ago.

As I also want to play some Paleo Diet in Africa, I thought I would add some archers to the spear-armed Zulus I painted back in 2016 (time flies!); I have four Zulu riflemen almost ready for primer, but I do not wish to use firearms in Paleo Diet.

It also struck me that I can work on an African warband for SAGA Age of Magic, and thus keep myself motivated for getting some minis painted from time to time.

This batch I intend to use for small breaks from Rohirrim, whenever I need some change, but I hope to get the eight Royal Guards painted fairly soon, as I need them to have a 'pure' six-points Rohan warband (and Age of Magic seems to use larger warbands than 'historical' SAGA does, so I shall see myself adding some riders to the mix this summer, too).

Pulp Figures - Rebasing Done!

A quick cleanup of the filler, and they can get a quick spray with black primer to caver the new bases.

I feel a Sally 4th order coming up - especially as I also want the new MDF laser-cut tramp steamer, albeit a bit on the expensive side (I have been waiting a long time for somebody to bring out such a kit).

I shall then have to make a Hinterland order, to get the pulp characters (and maybe a pack or two of the Hussars), but that will have to wait a while, yet.

Firstly, if my finances permit it, after our summer vacation I shall get a copy of Star Wars Legion, which I have been wanting to try for a while, so the pulp stuff must wait until Autumn.

USUTHU! - Unmarried Zulu Riflemen, Bases and Powder Horns, WIP

I only added some filler to the bases, and glued another Powder Horn in place. IN this photo, you can see the WIP crossbelt that I am still leaving to harden, before I start modifying it.

Pulp Figures: Finishing the New Bases

A long time ago, I decided to re-base these two fez-wearing characters, and they recently surfaced from the mess on my prepping station.

I put filler on the bases and in the hole on the underside, and tomorrow I shall remove excess filler from the underside, and finish building up the base.

I think it may be about time I get that Pulp Alley Solo Play Deck...

USUTHU! - Unmarried Zulu Riflemen WIP

My Zulu project has been dormant for quite a while, but as part of Operation Cleansweep, I am now finally getting these finished.

I added the powder horn to the front left one, statred sculpting a 'crossbelt' on the front right one (for adding a powder horn), and put some filler on all the bases.

I shall have to let the greenstuff harden for a couple of days, before I continue work on the crossbelt; in the meantime I shall see if I can find some sprues and add powder horns to the other two Zulus, and finish work on the bases, so they will all be ready for primer when I have finished sculpting, and then added a powder horn hanging from the crossbelt.

Africa: Something to Raid

The last set from my recently arrived Caliver order was three North Star African Cattle (AA20). They are of course destined to be objectives to be stolen/defended, or just to provide some nice atmosphere.

Tomorrow I am going to begin work on my two planned God of Battles Skeleton Horde units, and I expect that project to take up at least half of January. After finishing those, I expect to resume work on my In Her Majesty's Name Zulu Impi. Plenty of work to do for now, before I go back to the Dark Ages (although I expect to do some work with Anna on the longhouse in between).

Congo: Copplestone Ngoni Chiefs/Wichdoctors

Another pack from my November order with Caliver.

Because, you can always use some characters.

As that particular order is also the last minis I am going to purchase for a while, there actually is a chance that some of them will get painted within an overseeable future - which is always nice to know 😉

Congo: Copplestone Female Ngoni Archers

in the second half of November I put in an order with Caliver Books for some minis I wanted for my Africa/Congo collection, as I could get them with a discount, and with free shipping on orders of £20+.

I had all but given up on the stuff, as I enquired about it shortly before Christmas and was ensured that the package had gone out on November 20th.

I was not able to get through to the mail over the holidays, and then suddenly the package showed up in the mail this morning, 40 days after dispatch...

Well, here is one of the blisters from my order: I had the pleasure of playing with a nicely painted set of these in the Congo game I participated in at Horisont VIII, and I really want those models as part of my Africa games!

USUTHU! - The Mandatory Group Shot

Lots of down-time today, as I actually have not felt all that well (my mood is low, and it influences my level of energy, and my interaction with my family).

I have started re-basing a couple of minis which I expect to be able to show one of the next days, and I am collecting ideas, digging out minis, and finding sources for additional minis for a new long-term project - but more about that in a later post!

I hope to finish painting my Copplestone Santa tomorrow or Tuesday, and I shall continue re-basing models for a fresh look along the way, too.

USUTHU! - Bhekizizwe Joins the Ranks!

As promised yesterday, another married Zulu Veteran can now be shown in all its painted glory 😆

The frontal view is a bit blurred - my camera must have focused on the shield or the iklwa.

I had almost decided to disregard the Foundry Dusky Flesh palette for painting sub-saharan indigenous people, but as I already had given this one a base coat of Citadel Scorched Brown, and a second layer of Foundry Dusky Flesh Shade, I thought I should give it a go.

I mixed some Dusky Flesh Shade with equal parts Dusky Flesh - and struck gold!

Rarely have I expected less, and gotten more! The resulting mix makes the transision between the two paints almost seamless, and I could paint on the third layer with the new mix, and finish of with final hightlights of Dusky Flesh.

I think Bhekizizwe here maybe is the one with the skin colour closest to the one seen on many of the photos of Zulus I have been able to find on the web. That being said, I have seen quite a few different shades of skin (and lots of it), when googling for reference material, so I am under no circumstances going to settle for just one palette when painting future Zulus, and my experiments with Dusky Flesh will not end here, either! I have already planned to mix Coat d'Arms Negro with Dusky Flesh to be able to use Negro as the base colour and skip the slightly reddish Dusky Flesh Shade and obtain a more 'milk chocolate' like effect, and I shall probably also try another go at using Dusky Flesh Shade as base coat, this time with the new mix as second layer.

All these experiments with dark African flesh tones will aso come in handy when I return to painting Uruk-Hai, somewhen, as I want an Isengard God of Battles army based on the Orc Warlords list.

USUTHU! - An Impi is Slowly Growing

I only almost have one more to show, so instead of a newly painted mini, you will have to settle for a line-up of previously finished Zulus. All members of the uThulwana Imbutho, they all sport a white shield. When I add more Veterans to the Impi, I shall use some of the other recorded variants, but for now, I go for uniform white.

Today's experiment with the Foundry Dusky Flesh palette was very successful, and I look forward to show the fourth of my married warriors (I just glued sand to his base earlier today, and expect to finish the base before noon tomorrow).

USUTHU! Anele is Finished - Sort of...

By far not my best work ever, but I rushed to get him done, as he had been sitting half-painted on my cork-holder for several months, because of me getting first my God of Battles Skeleton Warrior unit ready for the table, then painting Dark Ages civilians like a madman for a while.

The colours used for his skin are

1. F Dusky Flesh Shade
2. F Dusky Flesh
3. F Dusky Flesh + F Dusky Flesh Light

I think I may need to mix Dusky Flesh Shade and Dusky Flesh to get a smoother transition, as I am not happy with the harsh contrast between the darkest and the mid layers.

I also consider dropping Dusky Flesh Shade as part of this colour series, and instead use a dark 'chocolate' colour like C Scorched Brown or Coat d'Arms Negro as base colour, and mix an intermediate shade of that and Dusky Flesh.

I may do both - I am experimenting a bit on the last of the initial four married Zulu warriors, and the result I get from this is likely to have a lot of influence on my final decision on this.

The rest of the colours are pretty much the same as the other two Zulus I painted.

Fine Young Cannibals!

The next part of the North Star order I received yesterday is primarily destined to become part of my slowly evolving Congo project, but will also see action as part of, for instance, Pulp Alley Cannibal leagues to make life miserable for leagues of intrepid explorers.

I went for the 'Extreme Cannibals', as they are very cliché and fitting for use in Pulp games, too (and will probably be very fun to paint).

I do not know if they are Mark Copplestone sculpts, the North Star site has no sculptor info I was able to find (so if anyone out there knows, feel free to tell me), but I suspect they are not, as I think they lack the typical Copplestone features.

These Cannibals come without spears, so I ordered a pack of 50 mm wire spears, too, which sould last med a long time (I could have cut down some of the 100 mm wire spears I have, but I got lazy).

When you say 'Cannibals', you have to also mention the fat king/chief of the tribe, and as this pack comes with a crone witch/shaman (H. Rider Haggard reference? - I just learned that he was actually of Danish descent!?), I simply had to get it, too.

I shall probably not paint any of these until long after Christmas, as I have the seasonal minis and another bunch of Zulu warriors to keep me busy for now, but it is my intention to get them painted within an overseeable future. Of course, my Butterfly Syndrome may kick in and make me do something completely different...

Horisont VIII, 2016: Congo - My First Game

I played a much anticipated game of Congo at Horisont this year. I took up the bloody spear of the natives to avenge the theft of a sacred mask by the nefarious British expedition.

The explorers had to leave the table by one of the two edges of a pre-determined board edge - I had to prevent them from doing so.

My Jungle Cannibals charged right into the nearest group of Askaris.

And were beaten off.

Another group of Askaris and some Scouts moved to attack the Warriors on my right flank.

Followed by the White Explorers.

The Warriors swiftly charged in and drove back the enemy!

The Askaris decided that it was better to engage the natives from a distance, opening up with their rifles (I guess?).

The British tried to sneak out through some dense jungle.

My other unit of Warriors, led by the mighty Chief, swiftly moved to intercept the white devils...

...and charged thim on the next Activation Card.

The female lone surviving explorer ran off from the carnage, while the soldiers formed up to protect the rear of the expedition Column.

The expedition, hard pressed from 3 sides quickly re-grouped into a makeshift, almost square formation to protect the young woman,

With the Askaris out of the way, the Cannibals decided to ransack the camp.

And both the Maiden Archers and the musket-wielding guys (I forgot what they are called) moved to be able to pepper the British formation with lead and arrows.

Seeing the Cannibals looting the wardrobe of the English Miss, the Maiden Archers also decided to try their luck plundering the camp.

My decimated warriors on the far right withdrew, and the British circled my flank, going for the nearest corner. Again, the Chief's unit moved to intercept.

I was taking some beating, but managed to prevent the expedition from leaving the table with the sacred mask, depriving them of 5 victory points, and on the next to last Activation Card, my musket guys ran to the camp and secured loot worth 2 victory points, carrying the day for the Jungle Tribes!

I can only day: Studio Tomahawk did it again!

As with SAGA, the system is VERY streamlined and elegant, and although I am not a fan of too many counters/markers in the playing area (and I really think the rosters could be used for placing those on, instead), the gameplay is so easy and involving, that this game is a must for anyone interested in Victorian or Pulp games set in the Dark Continent.

It would be too time-consuming to explain the system, but it uses identical decks of Activation Cards for both sides - players choose 3 cards at will for each game turn, then both players reveal the first card they wish to use. The cards have an Initiative Value which determines who goes first on this card. Players the resolve the actions listed on the card, shooting/combats are resolved as soon as they occur, usually with one side retreating half a move. All 3 card are played each turn.

The game also has 'Totem Cards', usually 1 drawn before chosing the Activation Cards. They provide extra actions, dice, or other effects, and can be played at will when appropriate.

Try it, if you like fast-flowing, simple mechanics that till offer lots of depth and tactical choice!

I already ordered some minis form North Star/Copplestone to use along with the Zulu I have WIP, so that I can make my own native 'Column'. and I shall then probably purchase the rules after Chistmas (no need to rush, as I need to paint up quite a bunch of minis before I can play the game as intended).

USUTHU! The Beginning of an Impi.

Painting progress for my In Her majesty's Name Zulu Impi so far:

Siyanda and Bheka ready to wash their Assegai in the blood of their enemies!