Warrior Ancient and Medieval Rules

lilroblis

I have bought the long guns, and some Masai - wondering what people would suggest for Handgunners etc, for river delta or some of the other central African armies?

Bill Low · Moderator Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 329

We did some work in this area once before, looking at Riverine Trading Cities; here are some conclusions:

This applies to Urban Lancers, generals and Militia and to Ghulams. These guys are all Muslims, and as such are required to wear clean, decent clothing to distinguish themselves from the non-believers, so just about any random Arab-like figures will work just fine.
• Urban Lancers and generals: No one (as far as I know) makes correct lead for West Sudanese Lancers in 25/28mm (‘though Eureka has them in 15mm, which it mislabels as Abyssinians). So, start with Essex Saracens from their “Crusades” line; CR12/20 look good for the EHC, maybe CR47 for the HC. (Horses are sold separately, so one can mix and match.) CR25 looks about right for Ghulams. Old Glory has some perfectly respectable figs in their “Dark & Middle Ages – Crusaders & Saracens” line.
• Urban Militia. Gripping Beast has some very nice Arabs and Berbers in the “El Cid and the Moors” line, but (again) on the pricey side. Old Glory has good figs in their “Dark & Middle Ages – Crusaders & Saracens” line for the archers, ‘though I am not such a fan of their “spearmen,” who seem too varied and animated.
• Bonus. One nice thing about the Gripping Beast lead: they tend to have long straight unbelted tunics, which is good for North Africa.

Village/Tribal/Songhai Boatmen. These guys might or might not be Muslims, and it might be interesting to distinguish them by more informal dress.
• For mounted, Numidian cavalry from any Carthaginian line would work.
• For foot, there are interesting variations in Gripping Beast’s “Desert Frontier” line, with non-standard shields that look about right for a West Sudanese context. For Songhai Boatmen, a Numidian slinger would probably be about right, but (again, as far as I know) there aren’t any in 25/28mm lead. One could use the Numedian [sic] infantry in the Old Glory Carthaginian line, but they would need scratch-built slings. There are some very good looking plastic figures, actually sculpted as Numidian Slingers, from Wargames Factory (not Foundry!), that provide a nice option.

Tuareg. Generally available in a variety of Colonial lines, but often with rifles, etc. that have to be modified. There are some very nice period-appropriate ones in the Gripping Beast “Desert Frontier” line, but (like all their stuff) they are pricey and they lack robes. The Old Glory “Colonialism – Sons of the Desert” line has “Arabs on Camels” that can be used, but they have the rifle-disease and besides, the fig bases are very large and do not fit easily on Warrior bases.

Hope this helps.

lilroblis · Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 1:10 pm Post subject: Dahomey

Thanks Bill
Not sure how to do Mino - I guess amazons will have to do - the bronze armor may be incorrect - but better than nothing

Bill Low · Moderator Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 329

Copplestone has Ngoni female archers
http://www.copplestonecastings.co.uk/range.php?range=DA

Wargames Foundry has a lot of lead in its Darkest Africa line, some of which is a bit heavy in the chest, and might do, but the real home run would be to persuade Foundry to do a special order using the "Female Guard" figure from their "Splendid Tribal Chieftains" ensemble ... she is really perfect, even being musket-armed.
http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/our-ranges/darkest-africa/tribal-warriors/

Bill Low · Moderator Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 329

Oh and ... duh ... Dixon has a Dahomean line, including female warriors.

lilroblis · Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 7:24 pm Post subject: Dixon has it

Now to start buying and painting - will not be cheap

Bill Low · Moderator Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 329

Yes ... but the rewards are great!

FWIW ... I have lead for Zulu and Masaii, both from Foundry.

lilroblis · Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2014 1:12 pm Post subject: have zulu and masai

Are they painted - would be great for mercenaries - my guess is this is a two year project for me

Bill Low · Moderator Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 329

Sadly, not painted.

The Maasai are pretty straight-forward ... with varaibility being limited to the shield patterns.

The Zulu are a little more challenging ... with distinct regimental regalia as well as shield pattners ... but not insuperable.

Any suggestions as to regalia/patterns are most welcome. I have some source material ... including but not limited to the shield patterns in the old SPI game "Soldiers of the Queen" ... but suspect that it is (deeply) insufficient and non-representatvie of a "wealth" of material that "must" exist on the subject ... but is (currently) beyond my rearch.

Looking for original source material ... any suggestions welcome!

lilroblis · Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 10:47 am Post subject: Zulus

I have seen a lot of pictures from the zulu wars - but they are mainly in South Africa - I can ask though

lilroblis · Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 12:57 pm Post subject: Mino

Just received 48 Dixon Mino- now to paint them - but nice looking figures