Rules

Monday, 23 March 2026

Boardgaming and test painting Zulus

No wargaming this weekend, but there was plenty of gaming all the same. With the kids and their partners over for a BBQ and games day. As a family we all enjoy gaming, and this weekend’s boardgames line-up included the co-operative games "Reign of Cthulhu" and "The Captain Is Dead!". The Captain Is Dead! proved to be popular and we played it twice, narrowly losing in the first game before managing to pull off a victory in the second game. In the evening we wrapped up with "Small World of Warcraft", which was won by my wife. Despite declaring at the start that she did not understand the rules and was going to give the game a miss!

A cooperative game of The Captain is Dead! in progress.

The games day began with hunting down the horrors of Cthulhu.

The day wrapped up with a game most of us had not played.

Planning and preparation for my Anglo-Zulu War project continues. On the rules side, I have been reviewing options following suggestions from "A Wargamer’s Guide to the Anglo-Zulu War" by Daniel Mersey. At the moment I am leaning towards using "Black Powder Second Edition" with its "Zulu" supplement. I need to settle on the ruleset soon as this will help to determine the basing approach I take.

A option to wargame the Anglo-Zulu War.

On the painting table, I have started work on the HaT 20mm plastic Zulu figures. A test group of four were painted. With 600 Zulu figures to get through, I am keeping the painting approach very simple. They are prepared with a wash in detergent and a coat of PVA glue, then block painted with a final PVA coat to give them a glossy finish that I like. 

The countdown is 594 Zulus to go...

Preparing the plastic figures with a wash in detergent.

A test group of 4 figures are painted.

I have also spent a little time on some remaining Star Wars Legion figures. If I am honest, that was probably a bit of procrastination on my part before I start tackling the mass of Zulu warriors in the plastics pile. Anyway, they are finished now, so no more excuses!

Some Droidekas completed. They were very fiddly to glue together.

Some more Rebel troopers. I chopped off some of their heads and replaced them with Kroot and Tau heads from my W40K bits box. I already have a couple of Rebel troop units and wanted this one to look a bit different.

10 comments:

  1. A fair few Zulus to paint Peter - and then the Brits, of course....!

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    1. Yes, there are another couple of hundred British and Natal Contingent on top of the Zulus.

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  2. The Star Wars rebels look great with the head swap, very alien! Good start for you Zulu project, 600 Zulus! I don't envy you!!!

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    1. Thanks. I was pleased with the head swaps.

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  3. Some good variety here, Peter. Kicking off your Zulu project looks exciting. Painting 600 Zulus will keep you busy for a long time. Nice work on the Star Wars figures!

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    1. I had better get cracking on with the Zulus.

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  4. Great work on the figures Peter. My plastic Zulus had separate shields which was a bit of a pain, but luckily only about a 100 of them.

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    1. I am very happy that the shields are not separate. About one in eight will need a spear attached.

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  5. Sounds like a fantastic family occasion. Good luck with the Zulus.

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    1. It was a fun day. The painting desk is cleared and I now just need to get stuck in.

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