Maori Wars - a descent into madness?

Here we go again. I lasted until Sunday evening but the writing was on the wall long before then. I have now ordered my first batch of figures for the Maori thing. I tried to resist, I really did, but I am just a weak willed wargames nerd; what chance did I realistically have?

On the other hand, I can qualify the purchase and the project reasonably well and for once it does not hang on pretty figures like these Maori warriors by Empress Miniatures...

....or these homesteaders ....

.....oh no. There is actually a logical explanation for once.

When Muskets & Tomahawks first came on the scene I was immediately impressed; I have a thing for quirky rules that also provide a solid framework. I have always been interested in the AWI and skirmish level games and so here seemed an ideal opportunity. I planned games based upon Lexington and Concorde, drew up figure and unit lists and everything....I even bought some figures; and therein lay the rub. Given the skirmish nature of the game I decided on using the magnificent Front Rank 40mm figures, and they truly are magnificent too. The trouble was that I had miscalculated in my eagerness and love of the figures; 40mm is a bit of a bugger when it comes to terrain. Skirmish games are terrain heavy of course and so my plans and enthusiasm sadly and slowly dwindled, psychologically hoisted by my own petard.

Then, thanks to Andy and Roly (see previous Maori post) the answer dawned to my Muskets & Tomahawks problem, use a different period and theatre for the rules. The New Zealand Wars, as all conflicts in that country are now known, provide all the possible scenario types that the rules were designed for; irregular native forces, local militias, Imperial troops, settlers, naval landing parties etc etc. The wars were generally large scale skirmishes, raids, flag pole chopping, just the sort of thing that the rules were meant for. There are a great deal of similarity between the French Indian war and these 'Fires in the Fern' of New Zealand. The weapons are similar enough to make things easy for adaptation as are the troop types. I can use a variety of readily available buildings, a mix of AWI and even some Western Gunfight buildings are perfect for such a frontier colony that was New Zealand in the mid 19th Century.

So, in fact, I have not actually started a new project at all...I have progressed  in a new and exciting direction that will afford me new enthusiasm and an achievable end.....so there....and you cannot say otherwise....la la la la la I'mnotlistening la la la la la