GW Lord of the Ring releases uses

[Gluteus Maximus]

True, but.... add a spear somewhere, and convert the blowpipe to a horn, and you have a camel rider squadron blowing horns a la diving Stuka to frighten the enemy; armed with spears.  :wink:

That could just work....

I like the cut of your jib!  ::

[Lowtardog]

I don't know why anyone would want these chaps guarding King's Solomon's Mines when you could follow the book and have Zulus. Zulus are the coolest thing ever, cooler than anything Tolkien (or Peter Jackson) ever came up with. Plenty of companies make nice Zulus. And Zulu-offshoots like the Ngoni are also available (and perfect for "KSM", as it is about just such a Zulu-offshoot kingdom).

I just wish someone would make a big screen version that stuck to the book a little more, at least to the extent of keeping in all the Zulu stuff, including the big battle.

I agree, the battle(s) in Solomons mines are straight Zulu wars battles a bit like those written about by E Ritter and Shaka, very evockative

[Derzhinski]

It's a shame they went for blowpipes, rather than bows or javelins etc. I've always assumed blowpipes were of very short range, limited penetration & difficult to aim unless stationary, hence their use by Ninjas, sneaky Cannibals etc. I would assume that desert-based troops would not find them too useful :

Camel-mounted blowpipes? I suppose that, being a GW invention, they'll have stats in LotR that will give them the stopping power, range & accuracy of an elephant gun, whilst galloping around like a Comanche  ::

Shame, as otherwise thay are very nice indeed & would have been very useful in VSF/fantasy Darkest Africa type games.

Apparently the blister comes with two options allowing you to depict the rider with javelin or with blowpipe.

So no problem for the weapons side.

However, I am afraid that the price will be too high to field a lot of this guys.  :cry:

[Darkoath]

Are these for sale yet?

[Heldrak]

I must say, the new/forthcoming plastic Corsairs of Umbar set looks like it would have excellent applications for historical/other fantasy wargaming. Nice generic medieval Pirate types...Go puffy pants!

[Argonor]

It's a shame they went for blowpipes, rather than bows or javelins etc. I've always assumed blowpipes were of very short range, limited penetration & difficult to aim unless stationary, hence their use by Ninjas, sneaky Cannibals etc. I would assume that desert-based troops would not find them too useful :

Camel-mounted blowpipes? I suppose that, being a GW invention, they'll have stats in LotR that will give them the stopping power, range & accuracy of an elephant gun, whilst galloping around like a Comanche  ::

Shame, as otherwise thay are very nice indeed & would have been very useful in VSF/fantasy Darkest Africa type games.

Apparently the blister comes with two options allowing you to depict the rider with javelin or with blowpipe.

So no problem for the weapons side.

However, I am afraid that the price will be too high to field a lot of this guys.  :cry:

Yeah, but just wait a year, and they'll be made in plastic.