Reinforcements for Congo!

I've just seen on the Studio Tomahawk Facebook page here that new reinforcement boxes for Congo will be available from Wargames Foundry from next week.

And, of course, the Death in the Dark Continent Nickstarter is currently running here.

I still have a bunch of Foundry Belgians to get painted up as well as assorted Ruga-Ruga, Askaris and Tribal Musketmen....not to mention all my North-West Frontier figs! But...partly because I've been re-reading The 39 Steps and Greenmantle and so have been thinking about Richard Hannay, Peter Pienaar and the Matabele Wars...I couldn't resist, I've just ordered some British South Africa Company and Boers to go along with my copy of Death in the Dark Continent!

Three African Princesses

I got my latest lot of miniatures back from Matt of Glenbrook Games today. Most of them are Artizan Thrilling Tales figs for our Pulp Alley games (which I'll be showing off later). These three lovely ladies, however, are Copplestone African Princesses for our Lost World and Congo games.

Matt has, as always, done an absolutely superb job!

The African Kingdoms for Congo

The African Kingdoms

Here are all the figures from which I can muster an African Kingdoms column for Congo.

The King

The Prince and the War Chief

The Witchdoctor

Sacred or Fanatical Warriors

Married Warriors or Fanatical Warriors

Fanatical Warriors

Married Warriors or Scouts

Young Warriors

Archers

Askaris or Bodyguards

The Princess and her Bodyguard

All the figures were painted for me by Matt Slade of Glenbrook Games and are a mix of Copplestone Ngoni and Foundry. 

More Tribal Warriors

I just got my latest lot of figs back from the inimitable Matt Slade of Glenbrook Games. This is the latest...and probably last...lot of tribal warriors for my Congo African Kingdoms column.

As always Matt has done a brilliant job on them...especially the Sacred Warriors in their warpaint!

Tribal Chiefs

Sacred Warriors

Veteran Warriors

Tribal Musketmen

And here's a pic of all my African Kingdoms figs...mainly Copplestone Ngoni with some Wargames Foundry mixed in.

African Kingdoms

Copplestone Ngoni

I recently got my latest batch of figs back from Matt of Glenbrook Games...and I finally managed to take a few pics of them with the ones I already had. Here are a few more pics...

Great to see all my Copplestone Ngoni together...though half a dozen were missing as they were hiding in another box! There are a few Foundry witch doctors in there, too. Who doesn't like a good witch doctor? Great for many a genre and they just look brilliant!

Anyway, I definitely have enough for an African Kingdoms column for Congo...but I think I may need some more for The Men Who Would Be Kings. Luckily, I shall be getting some more back from Matt next month!

Congo Dice Bag

I got my latest batch of figs from Matt at the weekend...more Copplestone Ngoni to add to my existing ones. Not had a chance to take any pics yet but I hope to do so tomorrow and will post them up as soon as I do.

There was one other thing packed along with my figs...and this I did manage to take a quick photo of...my brand new and totally brilliant Glenbrook Games dice bag! Just the job for Congo!

Colonial Wars

I was wandering around my new home town of Thornbury recently when I came across this monument to a local man, Lieutenant Hector Maclaine of the Royal Horse Artillery, who was captured at the battle of Maiwand in 1880. The inscription reads:

Erected by public subscription in addition to a window in Thornbury Church to the memory of Lieut. Hector Maclaine, Royal Horse Artillery, who was taken prisoner while trying to get water for the wounded, after the battle of Maiwand, and was afterwards murdered in the camp of Ayoub Khan, near Candahar, on 1st September 1880.

After a little searching on the internet I came upon the excellent Thornbury Roots website which gives a little more detail:

Hector Maclaine, born on 24th November 1851 at Murtle, Aberdeenshire.  He was educated at Eton and Woolwich and commissioned into the Royal Horse Artillery on 6th January 1872.  He served for many years in India.  In December 1879 he volunteered for active service under General Roberts in Afghanistan where the English forces were fighting a claimant to the Afghan throne, Ayoub Khan.  On Christmas Day 1879 Hector was sent to the Khyber Pass.  He held the rank of lieutenant.  At the battle of Maiwand, fought on 27th July, 1880, Hector distinguished himself by his bravery.  After three hours of fighting his guns ran out of ammunition and he was attending to wounded men who had gathered at the guns.  He was captured and taken to Kandahar where he was treated badly in the first few days of his captivity.  Then a nobleman leader arrived in the camp where Hector was prisoner.  This leader had known Hector previously and he was given better treatment and held in the nobleman’s own bungalow.  Shortly after Hector was moved by Ayoub to another camp, but he was still treated well.  The English demanded Hector’s release and offered Ayub Khan an exchange of prisoners, but this offer was dismissed.  Thereupon General Roberts executed the famous march from Kabul to Kandahar, 313 miles over the worst country in Asia in 23 days in an attempt to save Hector. He managed to destroy Ayoub Khan’s large army with the loss of 40 men, but on the point that his army were breaking into the camp where Hector was held, a guard took it upon himself to slit Hector’s throat.

Although I have read a little about the battle of Maiwand and General Roberts' famous march, I confess I cannot remember reading anything about the unlucky Lieutenant Hector Maclaine. Fascinating.

In other news...my copy of The Men Who Would Be Kings finally arrived today! Hooray! Very much looking forward to sitting down and having a good read of this. 

Talking of which...I also recently picked up a few secondhand books on the Colonial period. First of all...

...The Colonial Wars Source Book by Philip J Haythornthwaite. I've seen this mentioned a few times on various blogs and forums recently and as it can be picked up quite cheap secondhand I grabbed myself a copy. Looks like an excellent resource book for the period.

Next up...

...The Blue Nile and The White Nile by Alan Moorehead. I'd also seen these recommended somewhere and again they can be picked up quite cheap secondhand. I've already dipped into these and they are very well written. Looking forward to reading them properly once I've finished my current book. 

What with The Men Who Would Be Kings and Congo, it really does seem to be all about the Colonial period at the moment!

A White Men's Expedition for Congo!

A White Man's Expedition

So I recently caved in and bought Congo - Adventures in the Heart of Africa which arrived yesterday. I've had a quick skim and...as well as being a gorgeous book to look at...the rules seem like a lot of fun. Even better...I already have enough figs to field a decent White Men's Expedition force!

Here is a 90 Point force ready for The King of the Apes adventure (one of the scenarios which comes with the book)...

The Explorer (Free Character)

The Reporter (Free Character)

The Adventurer (11 Points) (*see below)

The Soldier (21 Points) (*see below)

The Bearer (Auxiliary 2 Points)

Trained Askari (16 Points)

Ruga-Ruga (20 Points)

Ruga-Ruga (20 Points)

A table for The King of the Apes adventure. The brown area marks the Giant
Apes territory whilst the green areas are dangerous terrain.

Buying a rule book and having enough figures to play already is a first for me so I'm pretty chuffed! I'm also well on the way to having enough figs for an African Kingdoms or Forest Tribes force, too.

I should also be getting my first game in next week as Matt Slade and a gaming buddy of his are popping over one evening to show me the ropes. Really looking forward to giving these rules a go!

* EDIT - It has kindly been pointed out to me that I misread the rules for both Soldiers and Adventurers. You are allowed 0-1 Units of both Soldiers and Adventurers in your Column not 0-1 Soldiers or Adventurers. An Adventurer Unit consists of 3 figs and a Soldier Unit of 4 figs. Fortunately, I still have enough...

Adventurers (11 Points)

Soldiers (21 Points)

Thanks to Drew Wood for pointing out my mistake!