Here They Come Again!

More Colonials

reviewed by Ian J. Knight

Time was when the Colonial period was firmly catalogued as a minority interest, the few lone voices crying in the wilderness about its intriguing and unique tactical characteristics, its colorful uniforms, exotic locations, and sheer miniature adventure potential going unheard amidst the ceaseless clamor for Napoleon's Imperial Guard and the Dark Lord's nastier minions. In the last few years, significantly since the centenary of the 1879 Zulu War, all that has changed; the Colonial period has attracted the attention of some of the most respected manufacturers who have tackled it with a thoroughness which has left this reviewer, for one, agog--the key to the treasure chest at last!

RAL PARTHA have extended their already comprehensive range with the addition of several auxiliary and specialty troop types, and in their general standard of sculpting and casting, both in terms of anatomy, historical accuracy and a certain indefinable character, they are, at the risk of overdoing the superlatives, superb. Most striking are a pair of mounted Zulus, one dressed in nothing but a loin- covering and a headring, the other wearing the full panoply of an inDuna, the lavish headress and leopardskin cape. The Zulus did not use cavalry as such, though by 1879 many of their chiefs had acquired horses from trading with Europeans, and on several occassions in 1879 specific inDunas were sighted riding into battle at the head of their warriors; Dabulamanzi at Rorke's Drift, for example, and Zibhebhu at Ulundi. RAL PARTHA are to be congratulated on their imagination in making it possible to bring such characters more accurately to the tabletop.

Also among the latest releases are British 'extras,' more Naval Brigade, a mounted officer and a Highlander, and a selection of irregulars. Since the 91st-the only Highland Regiment to fight in Zululand in 1879-wore trews and not the kilt, it has been surprisingly difficult to represent them hitherto, but by simply producing a variation on their existing British Infantry figures, altering the style of tunic to a Highland doublet, RAL PARTHA have closed the gap. The Naval Brigade additions include an officer and a gunner, suitable for manning the Gatlings in the Zulu War, but, with minor painting differences, heavier artillery in a variety of other campaigns. Again imaginative, the mounted irregulars include an excellent trooper from the Natal Mounted Police, one of the most distinguished South African volunteer units, and a selection of Boers.

These, between them, cover the period 1838 to 1902, since one portly, elderly commando carries a flintlock and ammunition pouch, the standard campaign dress of the native wars of the Great Trek, whilst the others wear the more familiar bandoliers, popular from the 1870s through to the end of the Great Boer War.

The only figure I would take issue with on historical grounds is the one wearing an ACW style kepi. This was not a popular type of headdress in southern Africa, and certainly not among the Boers, though the figure could be used to represent one or two of the smaller Colonial volunteer units, such as the Alexandria Mounted Rifles, who wore a khaki uniform with peaked cap in 1879. That aside, RAL PARTHA have done it again!

More eulogies, I'm afraid, for NAISMITH DESIGN, whose production standards are similar to RAL PARTHA'S, but in the smaller scale of 15mm. Broadly compatible size-wise with the large Zulu War ranges from other British manufacturers, MIKE'S MODELS and GALLIA, they have a clean-lined quality, a gracefulness all their own, lacking the occasional tendency to characature which sometimes mars their rivals' work in this scale. Initial releases are ten elegant Zulus, wearing various combinations of war and ceremonial dress, and two British infantrymen. Apart from one unusual figure, holding a rifle at the ready behind a shield, the Zulus are posed in various running or striking positions.

Particularly good is ZU2, a warrior advancing at a very natural run, waving a knobkerrie. The British are in rather more formal standing and kneeling firing poses. Neat, crisp little figures, anatomically good and historically sound (though I wish manufacturers could be convinced that the Zulus did NOT wear cowtails hanging beneath their headbands, despite what the Osprey book says!); they don't come much better than this. Thoroughly recommended.

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