Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Colonial Adventures => Topic started by: DalyDR on 22 July 2025, 10:14:18 PM
-
I finally got around finishing the last contingent of my British force for future games of “The Men Who Would Be Kings”. They're British allied natives, loosely based on the Nkonde/Ngonde/Nyakyusa, and very much inspired from posts in a thread by LAF's own Diablo Jon from five years ago (where does the time go)! My efforts aren't nearly so artistic as his, but I'm quite happy with them.
Basically, in game terms I've got two units of native spearmen/tribal infantry, 32 figures in all. All Foundry figures, with shields made from sections of paper straws, collected from a giant chain of fast food restaurants. The straws were cut into sections just under an inch long, and then in thirds lengthwise to give them the slightly convex/concave shape (depending on your point of view) characteristic of those shields. Simple geometric designs were painted on, all inspired by one example in the British Museum's collection. The shields took me more time than anything else, as the figures themselves are fairly unburdened with equipment, and without elaborate outfits.
A couple of leader-types are in there, designated by the masked figures – purely a game-related expedient and not pretending to reflect anything connected with Nkonde culture. And there's a group of guys with muskets pictured, because why not?
Photography done outdoors in direct sunlight on a cloudless, hot summer day, and therefore not spectacular.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54622161999_3c817057e2_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54622268915_ae79c99aab_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54622173248_7653a488ed_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54622172933_d06f8a7c54_c.jpg)
So these complete my second force for games of TMWBK set in colonial Africa. Now I just need to get around to playing some actual games . . .
-
Great looking figures and the terrain is amazing as well. I hope to see more.
-
The shields are inspired.
I like the terrain, too, but recommend a coat of Dullcote or other matte spray to reduce the plastic shine.
-
Man those are great! :-* Great to see someone else trying something other than the generic African tribesman that you normally see in Colonial African games.
-
Lovely job on making and painting those shields.
-
They look great - when I read what you'd made the shields of I had to go back and look again - as I don't think I'd have thought drinking straws had enough diameter to act as shields.
-
They look great - when I read what you'd made the shields of I had to go back and look again - as I don't think I'd have thought drinking straws had enough diameter to act as shields.
Nkonde shields were made of stiffened cowhide with a stick down the middle they where very narrow compared to other African shields like the Nguni (Zulu) shield or the wicker types found in the Congo region. Nobody makes anything like them commercially so the drink straw idea is a really good catch.
(https://jonsotherwargamesblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/nkonde-shield-4.jpg)
-
They look great - when I read what you'd made the shields of I had to go back and look again - as I don't think I'd have thought drinking straws had enough diameter to act as shields.
At first I tried cutting them in half (lengthwise) but they were just too wide, and these were not particularly big drinking straws. As Diablo Jon mentions the Nkonde shields are quite narrow, so I sliced the straw sections into thirds instead, and accentuated the curve by pinching them a bit before sealing the paint. The paper straws allow this fudging around (especially with several layers of acrylic paint on them), while I don't think the more ubiquitous plastic ones 'round these parts would have been as cooperative. Not visible in my images is the "stick" DJ mentions, which I represented by painting a vertical line on the backside of each shield.
-
They look fantastic, nice "backdrop" too! 8) 8) 8)
-
Those look really good!
-
They do indeed look really good!
-
Those do look rather good.