Fellow African adventurer needs help!

[anch_io]

Well… I guess you all know how it goes. North Star has a sale, you grab a rulebook. Someone is selling miniatures on the forum, you grab them because „they're cheap“… and now you are hooked to another period and project.

Therefore, as total noob, I have to ask fellow adventurers for recommendations on “Darkest Africa”. I want to play some games at the local club with friends, but I am guessing that I will have to provide both forces just to spark some interest. What is in your opinion a good starting skirmish ruleset for the period? I have “Death in the Dark Continent” (they actually have gotten me into this mess – Chris Peers really knows how to provide color to his rulesets), but I am not too fond of its basing system and it seems to me that it requires at least medium amount of miniatures to start (about 50 a side), so…maybe later. Consequently, I am undecided on what to buy. “Congo” seems interesting, but 30 pounds is a bit much on a skirmish ruleset that I may or may not like. On the other hand, “Men Who Would Be Kings” is cheap, seems simple enough, but maybe a little bit too simple. What would you recommend for a good starting (skirmish) set for this period? Are there any other good rulesets that I am not aware of?

Also, I have question about the miniatures. I am going to use 28mm, and both North Star and Copplestone seem like natural choices. I also like Foundry’s Africa line, but is it a little bit smaller or it ranks up nicely with those two? What about Perry or Warlord miniatures? Are there any other manufacturers for this period that I do not know of?

I know that these questions have probably come up on this forum at least a couple of times, but I could not find the topics about them, and I could really use experienced adventurers help.   

[Plynkes]

Personally I have no problem using Foundry, Copplestone and North Star together. There has been a little bit of scale creep with Mark Copplestone's sculpting since he stopped working for Foundry (his own Darkest Africa range is a 'continuation' of the range he did for Foundry). But I have not noticed it so much in his Darkest Africa stuff, certainly not enough to bother me.

Some of the older Foundry colonial stuff is quite noticeably smaller than current "28mm" ranges (Sikh Wars and other stuff from that earlier era), but this does not really apply to the Darkest Africa range.

Have a look at these pics and judge for yourself:

Foundry/Copplestone


Though they are all conversions, it may still help. The figure on the left is Foundry, the two robed ones in the middle are Copplestone and the two naked guys with zebra mane head dresses are Foundry bodies with Copplestone heads on them.


Foundry/Copplestone/North Star


The guy in the middle with a bird on his head is North Star, as are the guys in masks. The other two are Foundry body/Copplestone head combinations.

Hope that helps a bit.

I'll leave the question of rules to others for now while I ponder it a bit. I might chime in later.

[Plynkes]

One thing I will say about Congo is that despite its expense, you require a very small number of figures to play it. It is very much a skirmish game in that sense, and so may well end up costing you less in the long run. 

It's not for everyone, though. It is a fun action game, and its own thing. Though I would say it is almost totally unsuitable for recreating historical military actions, and some here have objected to it as silly and worthless on those grounds. I own it, but have not played it yet, so I am not really qualified to pronounce judgement on it. But it seems to me like a fun little game, but not a serious historical game, particularly.

[anch_io]

Thanks Plynkes!

Really nice painting and conversions too!

Regarding your description of "Congo"... It just might be the right game to introduce the period to the club. The most popular game there is 40K (for crying out loud)!  My opinion is, if you are 40, you should not be playing 40K.

[Diablo Jon]

Not sure how much more I can add to what Plynkes has said. On the miniature side Foundry, Northstar and Copplestone are the main men for Darkest Africa miniatures really.

If you are looking for cheaper options Perry plastic Zulus and Ansar can be used for Ngoni and Turkish slavers with a little bit of work and the two sets can combined for even more conversion potential. Warlords plastic Zulus are also useful fodder for native conversions. Thanks to the Ngoni rampaging through Central East Africa in the 1840s Zulu like equipment became rather popular with a number of tribes way outside South Africa. In reality there where plenty of subtle differences but Zulus can make decent stand in for a number of East African people's if you're are not to fussy.

To my mind the most useful miniatures to have are Foundry's Askari as troops like that can be found among European military force, explorers, Arab slavers and a fair number of African tribes.

Rules wise I'm a big fan of "The men who would be kings" mostly becuase if the solo rules but they are a solid set of rules for Africa I feel. You can also use the skirmish kings option to half the size of the units if you are struggling with the number of minis the rules require.

[Plynkes]

The most popular game there is 40K (for crying out loud)!  My opinion is, if you are 40, you should not be playing 40K.

40K was the first war game I ever played, back in '87/88 as a teenager. We'll have no badmouthing it here on Colonial Adventures, I might not be here if it weren't for that game! 

I think you'd probably find there are a growing number of 40-somethings who are deeply into the Rogue Trader era of the game, due to nostalgia for their lost first spring of wargaming youth (I can totally see that). Your age cut-off may be prove increasingly difficult to enforce as we see more "Rogue Trader" threads springing up on LAF, I fear. 


Oh, and welcome to Colonial Adventures, by the way!

[Diablo Jon]

40K was the first war game I ever played, back in '87/88 as a teenager. We'll have no badmouthing it here on Colonial Adventures, I might not be here if it weren't for that game! 

I think you'd probably find there are a growing number of 40-somethings who are deeply into the Rogue Trader era of the game, due to nostalgia for their lost first spring of wargaming youth (I can totally see that). Your age cut-off may be prove increasingly difficult to enforce as we see more "Rogue Trader" threads springing up on LAF, I fear. 


Oh, and welcome to Colonial Adventures, by the way!

I remember buying the 1st editiin book with my birthday money at the tender age of 13 I already played Warhammer fantasy battle but 40k was so cool many a battle on the dining room table with my school mates. I'm well over 40 and still have a soft spot for 40k that I don't think I'll ever lose.

[Belisarius]

I’d go for TMWWBKings , we certainly don’t find it simplistic.  It’s got one of the best A.I. Systems which I’ve ever encountered in a ruleset,  it’s called Babbage I think , so it makes for a good solo game . On one memorable occasion two of us took control of an expedition , split into two parties, which tried to cross a river at a rope bridge , the A.I. ambushed us relentlessly . All great fun and the Natives are by no means a walk over for the Europeans , regularly sending the White Devils back to lick their wounds . At under a tenner it’s a good buy from Osprey.

[JBaumal]

Good day, I will recommend THE SWORD IN AFRICA. It’s a skirmish set of rules based on The Sword And The Flame. Very easy to learn and huge fun to play. It can easily be adapted or amended to your specific like or needs.

http://www.sergeants3.com/2.html

[Smokeyrone]

Good day, I will recommend THE SWORD IN AFRICA. It’s a skirmish set of rules based on The Sword And The Flame. Very easy to learn and huge fun to play. It can easily be adapted or amended to your specific like or needs.

http://www.sergeants3.com/2.html

Second TSATF Africa!

Adaptable,

 units can be as small as 5 figs or 20figs. 

Can be played by two people, or a dozen.

All the feel of Darkest Africa.  Plus you get the regular TSATF colonial rules

[Von Wissmann]

Welcome fellow Adventurer!
     My Darkest Africa Collection consists of a healthy mix of Foundry, Copplestone, and Northstar miniatures. They all seem to scale up pretty well together, with some of the Copplestone Ngoni slightly taller than their opponents...frankly, I like the looks of that, but maybe that’s just me 😜 As far as rules go, I cannot recommend ‘Congo’ enough! It has to be one of the best skirmish level rules that I’ve played. It DEFINITELY has the Darkest Africa feel to it, and as has already been stated, you don’t need a ton of minis to start up...but eventually, if you are like me, you’ll want to collect all the different factions ( I have 6!!!) my sons and I have even adapted the rules to be played in an Egyptian Tomb raider setting! Hope this helps on your journey thru Darkest Africa!!!

[anch_io]

Dear LAFers,

thank you for your suggestions. In the end, I decided on buying the Congo and German expedition set from North Star (I already have Congo tribes). I am not certain that they are the right opponent (probably Belgians or French would be more historically accurate) but they were the cheapest white expedition. If I like the game, I will probably order/paint some more.

I also ordered "International Adventurer".... Who knows where Corto might take me next... Maybe Far East... Well, that is probably in very far future....

I also like the Foundry's "Darkest Africa" range, and I would like to order some miniatures, but their shipping is "a bit high" (10 pounds to Europe even if I just want two blisters). Is there any option to order them elsewhere? I seem to remember that in the last twenty years every "decent hobby store" in Europe had at least some of their blisters. Did Foundry completely went to selling only from their own web store? Having such a large back-catalogue it certainly makes economic sense, but it restricts the choices of us gamers who do not live near "decent hobby store".

[Plynkes]

I'm afraid I have no intelligence about the current availability of Foundry stuff from other sources. I remember seeing someone selling Foundry figures at the Tactica in Hamburg, but that was 10 years ago! Not exactly the latest news! Hopefully somebody here knows.


I have not bought any Foundry Darkest Africa in a long time. I have pretty much the whole range, and bought it in large chunks to save on the postage a bit. This was a long time ago and I am still painting my way through them. The speed I paint at I don't foresee myself ever having to buy another Foundry DA figure. 



The international Adventurer is currently sitting on my painting desk, and has been since 2018. Really must get him done. Thanks for the reminder!

[SteveBurt]

Congo is a fabulous game - but it's more like an RPG than a wargame in some respects. Very atmospheric.
Tried TMWWBK but wasn't terribly impressed. Death in the Dark Continent is good for historical actions.

[Diablo Jon]

If you have settled on Congo as your rules Foundry do ready made Congo sets ( like North Stars) which might be a better option than buying individual packs from Foundry. I have to say North stars Congo sets can look a bit odd, becuase their range is smaller, you get Ngoni and Azande in the same set or Tuaregs masquerading as Zanzibar Arabs. Foundry's Congo sets have a better mix of miniatures imo. Though as Copplestone is the only maker of Germans you probably got one of the better North Star Congo sets.