Zulu war-dress

[cram]

Hi all, I will be starting work on armies for the Zulu War in a few weeks.

 I have my eye on Foundry for my Zulu's and especially like the packs that represent particular regiments. These warriors are very decorative in their appearance, I'm just wondering would they have actually gone to battle looking like this? I'm aware the majority of warriors wore little more than a loin covering, but have read that some did retain some of their ceremonial costume, so maybe a few of these mixed into the regiments would be fine? Thanks in advance for any input.

[airbornegrove26]

Cram,

I have been a Zuluphile since I was five,  I blame my dad for letting me watch the movie.  Although going into battle the Zulu warrior would have been with out most of his regimental regalia in 1879, you got to remember when you are doing all that running you want to be light and fast.  Earlier Shakan regts did tend to wear more of the costume though.  Yet it boils down to what looks good on the battle field.  For me sometimes historical accuracy has to take  back seat to the pageantry of war.  So for me all of my Zulu wear their full regalia.  That is what make me happy though.  If your are more for the accuracy go for the Zulus in loins cloths and head rings and save the costumed figures for senior indunas.  If you are like me though put your regiments in the full regalia.  Which would give you about 5 regiments using the new foundry Zulus.  Hope that helps, and have a blast Zulus are too fun.

[Mors]

I intend mixing the ones in ceremonial dress in with the lesser dressed types , I have listed all the specific regiments produced by the manufactures and am suprised how many different regiments it is possible to get, and over the last year have purchased quite a force.As airbornegrove  says it's not historically  accurate but will make them look better on the table, downside is they will take longer to paint. You can also use the ceremonial ones to represent Shakas forces , perhaps using them against those dressed in war-dress for actions during the mfecane.
Not sure what I was doing today , as I typed this I have decided to paint Zulus, thanks Cram!

[Gluteus Maximus]

Definitely a case of "less is more" with Zulu war-dress. In reality they would have very little adornment - but this is a game after all! The warriors in full regalia look so good it's hard to resist having a load on the table top.

Especially true if you want to field a lot of units - there are only so many shield variations after all - so having some units in "full dress" helps to easily differentiate between them all.

[cram]

I've decided I shall mix warriors in regalia with those warriors wearing much less, after all as I mentioned in my first post, i've read that where most wore very little some warriors did wear some of their regalia into battle. A bit of artistic lisence is a good thing anyway if it adds to the look or play of the game.

 Around a third of my warriors will be in regalia now which I feel will really add to the look of each regiment.

Thanks for your opinions and Mors your welcome !