ESCI

1/72nd Scale Zulus

reviewed by Ian Knight

Finally, in the Colonial field, the Italian firm ESCI have released two sets of plastic Zulu War figures in 1/72nd scale; a rather unusual choice for a firm which usually deals in WWII, one would have thought, but a welcome one just the same! Like most UK based gamers, I still regard plastic 20mm figures with some affection as the prolific sets from Airfix were responsible for giving miniature gaming its greatest boost many years ago. Unfor- tunately both plastic and 20mm have been relegated to something of a backwater since, and perhaps the biggest disadvantage of this range is that it is comparable with little else - except, perhaps, the small UK based Jacklex 20mm Colonials. This is a shame, since these figures are cheap and come in boxes of 48 or 50 a time, enabling large armies to be built up for very little cost. Not only that, they are quite nicely detailed and molded, the Zulus in a variety of energetic poses, the British firing, loading and charging.

There are some quite original touches; the Zulu set, for example, contains figures in captured tunics, whilst the British set contains soldiers dragging the infamous ammunition boxes, as well as a figure waving his sunhelmet in jubilation, based on an illustration from a well-known Osprey title! For the sort of price these figures go for, you can't go wrong, assuming you don't mind plastic and 20mm.

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