Zulu-War Era Lancers?

[Horatius]

I'm currently putting together some British for a Mars VSF campaign and I was wondering what people can recommend for me as far as 28mm British Lancers.  I'm looking for pre-khaki double-breasted uniform guys, so what company, if any, does it best?

[Sterling Moose]

Good call.  I'd be interested in this too.

[Fuzzywuzzieswiflasers]

hello

Empress miniatures do an excellent zulu war range. In particular they do all the irregular cavalry units like the Natal mounted police and Natal Carbineers etc.  They haven't done lancers yet but should come along soon.

www.empressminiatures.com

Otherwise try wargames foundry.

Cheers

Fuzzy.

[Barry S]

Personally, I'd wait for the Empress Miniatures 

But another option maybe Black Tree Design. I'm not sure they're the best and I have read some very ordinary things regarding their customer service a couple of forums but they may be another option.

Here's the link if you're interested:
http://www.blacktreedesign.com/uk/home.php?cat=2513

[Gluteus Maximus]

Maybe not quite what you wanted, but why not use Bengal Lancers instead of British? The Perrys have some very nice, reasonable priced examples and you could then either paint them in their yellow dress uniforms (as Cap'n Blood has done) or invent your own regiment. After all, Sikhs were a vital and very effective part of Victorian British colonial forces and as it's set on Mars you have carte blanche to do your own thing 



http://www.perry-miniatures.com/index2.html

Otherwise Foundry figures are very expensive with ridiculous shipping rates and you may have to wait a while for Empress to bring some out. Whilst they are very productive (not to mention high quality) they do have an awful lot of stuff left to do to complete the Zulu range.

edit Looking at the Foundry "Darkest Africa" listing,  it appears they don't yet do lancers in their new Zulu War range. They did in their old range, but they seem to have been withdrawn.

[Malamute]

Redoubt Miniatures sell 28mm lancers in their Zulu War range.

The nice thing is they are sold individually and not in a pack so you can buy as few or as many as you like.

I do have some spare if you are interested in second hand unpainted lead?
I have six or seven inc an officer

[colin_baillie]

Baker Company do a set of British "Mounted Cavalry" armed with lances. Not sure how good these are. Here's the link anyway...

http://bakercompany.co.uk/shop/zulu-wars/british-army/zbr8

[Skrapwelder]

Sounds to me like Horatius is looking for a more Napoleonic or Crimean Lancer with the traditional double buttoned lancers jacket and the Czepka helmet. Foundry is the only producer I could find doing figures that are specifically British. Being VSF I would think you could easily get away with any country's Lancers. The Perry's make a nice Uhlan in their Brunswicker range

[hunter-harrison01]

The guys at Black Pyramid are currently working on some lancers to go with their British Line Infantry.
They had the masters in the cabinet at Phalanx on Saturday.

[Horatius]

Thanks for all the responses guys.  Definitely if I had the time, I'd like to wait for the Empress lancers, but since I want to get this project on the table by the end of the summer, I guess I'll have to go with one of the other manufacturers.

Those Uhlan-style guys do look nice, but I have to say I'm quite taken with the idea of the Sikh cavalry suggested by Gluteus, though Malamute, I'll send you a PM regarding the lancers you have.

[Plynkes]

Sounds to me like Horatius is looking for a more Napoleonic or Crimean Lancer with the traditional double buttoned lancers jacket and the Czepka helmet. 

What leads you to that conclusion? He quite clearly said he wanted Zulu War era lancers in double-breasted jackets. Like so:



The Foundry Zulu War 17th Lancers are still available. They are on both the old and new site (I think the new site sucks, the way they have it organised means finding anything is a matter of luck and guesswork).

[Malamute]

Here are the Redoubt Zulu War Lancers. They are dressed as per Monsieur Plynkes picture.

Sorry about the quality of the photo (it was taken in a rush yesterday)

[Plynkes]

The nice thing is they are sold individually and not in a pack so you can buy as few or as many as you like.

That's nice in theory, but I found they also have a minimum order of £10 policy. So you can't buy just one figure from them. I wanted just one, and had to buy a load of stuff I only "sort of" wanted to get him.   

[Malamute]

That's nice in theory, but I found they also have a minimum order of £10 policy. So you can't buy just one figure from them. I wanted just one, and had to buy a load of stuff I only "sort of" wanted to get him.   

Next time, let me know as I have a box full of surplus Redoubt Zulu wars figures.

[Plynkes]

Thanks, mate. It wasn't Zulu War stuff, though, it was from a different range.