After taking a break from painting Zulus, it has taken me quite a while to get back to them. A few real-life distractions have ended up extending the break to be longer than expected.
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| A Zulu army advances. |
I have been painting the Zulus in batches of 60, simply because that's how many of these HaT 1:72 scale figures come in a box. A full batch can look rather daunting when they are all lined up on the painting table, and getting motivated to start can be an issue. This weekend I decided it was time to knuckle down and get stuck in, and I have now completed the latest and possibly last large batch.
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| 60 Zulus lined up on the painting table. |
With these recent additions finished, I thought I would do a bit of a parade and lay the whole collection out on just to see how much tabletop space they occupy. I have been re-reading Black Powder's Zulu supplement, which uses both standard and small units. With most of my collections I base my figures on 4 x 3 inch rectangular bases, so my plan is to use two bases for a standard unit and a single base for a small unit.
With the Zulus I am able to fit 12 figures onto each base without them looking too structured or regimented. Most units will be standard sized and consist of two bases totalling 24 figures. They provide a good representation of a Zulu Impi on the tabletop. There may be occasions with smaller battles where I will use a block of 4 bases.
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| I do my best to make the units look unstructured with no obvious lines of miniatures. |
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| So far I have 12 standard sized units and 1 small sized unit. When all laid out they take up a fair chunk of the tabletop. |
When I get around to painting the British forces I suspect I will have between 8 to 10 figures to a single base, which I am looking forward too! However, next will be some Zulu commander bases to wrap up the Zulu army for the moment.
That is an impressive array of Zulus. I think you did a fine job of getting them to look like a swarm instead of organized lines. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I just need to create some command bases for the army.
DeleteI agree with both painting basing! Fine work and these fellas form a formidable looking horde.
DeleteThanks. Hordes always look impressive on the tabletop.
DeleteWell done, tha must've been a bit of a slog as you can never have too many Zulus. OTOH recycling casualties to reappear as the horns on the flanks of their enemies is great way to boost the numbers.
ReplyDeleteIt has felt like a slog on a couple of occasions, but always gratifying when completing a batch of Zulus. Recycling is a useful mechanism and may come in handy for smaller scale games where I may use 4 bases for a Zulu unit.
DeleteUsuthu! Looking good.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I almost gave a yell when I finish painting the last batch of Zulus.
DeleteThey look great Peter, all ready for Rorkes Drift?!
ReplyDeleteRorkes Drift is one of the scenarios in the Zulu Supplement and will be on the list of games to play.
DeleteAn impressive sense of mass. I suppose there is only one way to do it and that is ……. To just do it! I admire your painters fortitude.
ReplyDeleteWith painting these numbers I am always reminding myself about the 3 foot rule when painting.
DeletePeter I think I would have found a brown spray and washed with dark brown or black to get through that many zulus!
ReplyDeleteNeil
I have kept the painting style to be as simple as possible and taken as many shortcuts as possible.
DeleteThey look fantastic Peter. Especially in that first shot.
ReplyDeleteThe eye-level photo does make them look like an endless horde of Zulus.
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