Author Topic: Diablo Jon does Darkest Africa - now with my first Swahili buildings (Read 69334 times)

syrinx0 · « **Reply #180 on:** June 08, 2020, 11:14:59 PM »

Just caught up with your last few additions. Excellent work on the baggage train and medics. I bought similar figures to those for my Zulu campaign. Someday...

FifteensAway · « **Reply #181 on:** June 09, 2020, 02:47:18 AM »

For the first half dozen photos I kept thinking, where is the tree? Then you got there. Cool. I have something similar planned for my old west using an ACW set of figures - good 'ol Sawbones.

Diablo Jon · « **Reply #182 on:** June 09, 2020, 12:24:33 PM »

Quote from: FifteensAway on June 09, 2020, 02:47:18 AM

For the first half dozen photos I kept thinking, where is the tree? Then you got there. Cool. I have something similar planned for my old west using an ACW set of figures - good 'ol Sawbones.

I did briefly toy with the idea of modeling a tree on the base but figured that would be a bit cumbersome

has.been · « **Reply #183 on:** June 09, 2020, 01:11:24 PM »

I know what you mean. I was accused my wargaming opponent of moving a
wood, only to find he had several trees on his diorama of a command base.

Diablo Jon · « **Reply #184 on:** June 09, 2020, 01:30:38 PM »

as long as he wasn't trying to claim a + 1 bonus for always being in light cover..

Diablo Jon · « **Reply #185 on:** June 12, 2020, 06:15:07 AM »

The last contingent of my African Lakes Company Army are the Yao. The Yao had moved into the area around lake Nyasa in the mid 19th century by which time they where under heavy Arab influence and enthusiastic slavers themselves. The Yao where split into several, not necessarily mutually friendly, clans that in the early years of the British Central African Protectorate gave the British a torrid time.

In around lake Nyasa the Yao where major players who seem to have ended up being recruited into several armies. The Shire Kololo chiefs included Yao among their subjects. The Chikunda of the Zambezi valley where originally recruited from, among others, Yao tribesmen. The Yao where heavily recruited into the various “Arab” slaver warlords armies and paradoxically recruited by the African Lakes Company to fight the slavers.

By the end of the 19th century the Yao where extensively armed with trade muskets. Chris Peers mentions these trade muskets where frequently painted red with black metal work. Painting trade muskets was a way of hiding the poor quality of these weapons which where often built from spares and repairs with unseasoned wood stocks. sadly from what little I could track down on line the red paint was actually a brown/orange/red varnish rather than a bright red (which would have been fun to paint).

It would appear the Yao liked to fight as skirmishes and weren’t very keen on attacking defended positions or close combat. They don’t appear to have carried any melee weapons other than a knife. According to Harry Johnstone the Yao fought by ” having dropped to one knee and fired their guns, they hastily retreat and reload their guns, while another rank takes their place”.

Chris Peers in his Central African book suggests that the Yao basically resembled other African people who had been influenced by the Arabs so Foundry Askaris would do the trick for miniatures. I did find one photo online which suggests that perhaps white cloth wasn’t the order of the day and cloth crop tops where possible.

The Yao chiefs could look at lot more Arab like it would seem and I think Northstar’s Ruga-Ruga in Arab dress would be a good fit.

So for my first unit of Yao I used a mix of foundry Askari and tribal musketeers, some Northstar Ruga-Ruga and a couple of Perry Ansar/Zulu plastic conversions. I decided to paint them in various brown clothing and paint their muskets as red trade muskets.

Using them in TMWBKs rules they will be irregular infantry with either a European leader when fighting for the British or and arabised chief when fighting for themselves or for Arab slavers. At some stage I hope to expand them to a whole Yao army to fight the British Protectorate forces under Harry Johnson.

Diablo Jon · « **Reply #186 on:** June 12, 2020, 06:16:28 AM »

whoops double post..

FifteensAway · « **Reply #187 on:** June 13, 2020, 01:31:33 AM »

Add one painted figure, get two painted units. Nice.

bazookajoe · « **Reply #188 on:** June 13, 2020, 03:18:24 AM »

Fantastic stuff, as usual!

Diablo Jon · « **Reply #189 on:** June 13, 2020, 08:50:48 AM »

Thanks guys.

FlyXwire · « **Reply #190 on:** June 13, 2020, 01:48:02 PM »

Jon, thanks for posting your unit research here - terrific background material, and good reading.

The painted Yao look good!

Diablo Jon · « **Reply #191 on:** June 14, 2020, 08:51:41 AM »

Quote from: FlyXwire on June 13, 2020, 01:48:02 PM

Jon, thanks for posting your unit research here - terrific background material, and good reading.

The painted Yao look good!

No problem I figured with the more obscure stuff like this it would be interesting to add a bit of background rather than just some photos of painted miniatures. Also I think it helps to give some context to why I painted my miniatures the way I have.

Diablo Jon · « **Reply #192 on:** June 14, 2020, 09:18:55 PM »

I’ve done a couple of solo games using TMWWBKs now and have become quite attached to the hapless heroes of those games the British explorers Captain Phil Lander and Mr Biff Wellington in their quest to find a northern route to Lake Nyasa. In the last instalment the pair where wounded and captured by their Ngoni enemies. Now “guests” of the Ngoni King, Bangizwe, their lives have been spared in return for training a corps of Ngoni riflemen to help in the fight against the Arab slaver warlord Fayyaad el- Khalifa.

In this phase of what has now become a little, ahistorical, narrative campaign our heroes have reacted rather differently to their new circumstances. Captain Phil Lander has taking to imbibing a lot of strong Ngoni Plantain beer and brooding on the bad turn his life has taken. He has rather let himself go having stopped shaving and refusing to give up his European clothes even though they are falling apart.

Mr Biff Wellington has embraced his new life and has gone full native apart from continuing to wear his battered sun helmet. He has joined the Ngoni warriors in their raids and fallen for a pretty young Ngoni lady.

I thought it would be fun to convert up my heroes in their new guises for use in my next TWWBKs game (when I finally get all the elements I need together) so here they are