New Zealand Wars - new arrivals!

Well, I say new. Some of these arrives weeks ago but I couldn't get either the camera to work or the PC so apologies for the delay.

I placed the latest order from Empress Miniatures a while ago to get what I needed to complete the British side and start off the Maori forces...as you can imagine, you all being wargamers, I have already decided that I actually need a few more Brit bits! This aside I thought I would show you the nice people at Empress have sent me. Fantastically, they also sent me a few extra figures for free given my need for extra sergeants; how cool was that? I must say that I have been very impressed with the whole Empress experience so far, figures, service, cost....it has all been good. If I was ever tempted to go down the whole Zulu war route for example I would have to go to them. I wonder if they would come to Broadside 2014? hmmmm, worth an ask.

Anyway, back to all things New Zealand. Take a look at these....

Maori with shot guns....

the provincial 'ranger' troops...

Maori with muskets...these four will be the small scout unit attached to my British force.

Maori chiefs....look at the detail in the faces!

The local militia...who doesn't love a top hat on the wargames table?!

An officer, NCO and two sharpshooters....I have no idea where to use the sharpshooters but just love them.

As you can see these new arrivals continue to illustrate the quality of this range and I cannot wait to get them finished and on the table. As I said before, I now think I need a few more Brits points wise and I am so tempted to get a small Naval landing party, just to show off the mix of troop types available if nothing else....you all know what we are like. In my efforts to get the figure to man ratio to 1:1 I may also need to get a few more regular troops to better represent a reduced company; thirty odd is just not quite right.


These are all very cool of course but figures in themselves do not make a game, I need terrain. I have now made a start thanks to a few purchases from Stuart at Col Bill.com, another company that believes in customer service and good products. I now have a house for the settlers to live in, a waggon with a load and the all important privy...with a little surprise! These all all by 4ground, pre painted MDF kits that look great for very little effort....

All pre painted and suitably rustic...apologies for the odd mark on the roof, dropped the bloody thing onto the wood glue and couldn't get it all off!

The buildings come with separate internal wall panels to give a great effect and a lot more strength.

The upper floor has a hatch and even a small ladder...its all going a bit Polly Pocket here isn't it? Sorry.

The kit comes with an instruction sheet which is very helpful but you still need to be careful here.....

The range of waggons is good and again do not really need to be painted. The load are sold separately.

And we all need a privy too!

Col Bills.com also make this brilliant figure for the privy...not a lot of use in game terms but who could resist such a thing? Certainly not I it would seem :)

The project is far from completion and there are more purchases to make and poo loads of thing to paint. But, things are moving in the right direction and I am far more confident in this than I have been of other things I have attempted. I think much of this confidence comes from the quality of the component parts and that I can actually get the things I need to do the job without having to make do here and there.

I wonder if I am talking too soon.........