Editor in Chief Bill | 29 Jan 2016 2:48 p.m. PST |
How many Zulus do you need for your wargaming? |
steamingdave47 | 29 Jan 2016 3:03 p.m. PST |
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Leadjunky | 29 Jan 2016 3:07 p.m. PST |
Twelve times twenty or twenty times twelve. |
Chris Rance | 29 Jan 2016 3:14 p.m. PST |
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Sundance | 29 Jan 2016 3:17 p.m. PST |
In the words of the immortal David Bowie, "Too much is never enough." |
Extra Crispy | 29 Jan 2016 3:27 p.m. PST |
VAR SUFFICIENT ZULUS = [CURRENT NUMBER OF ZULUS OWNED] + 20 |
Winston Smith | 29 Jan 2016 3:31 p.m. PST |
Realistically speaking, in TSATF, I would think that 10-12 20 figure units would be a good number to start. This would surround the much smaller British force. The first rank of Zulus would probably be blown away without closing due to casualties. Remove those units and bring them on as reinforcements. Zulu necromancy is powerful, particularly if you can live with the latecomers bring of mixed regiments. If you are going to take the plunge and do a Zulu army, 200-240 is a pittance but a good start. |
GurKhan | 29 Jan 2016 3:42 p.m. PST |
One is one more than I need. |
M C MonkeyDew | 29 Jan 2016 4:27 p.m. PST |
Around 150 if you don't mind recycling them on occasion. Bob |
Rrobbyrobot | 29 Jan 2016 4:34 p.m. PST |
I have 240. But there's always room for more… |
Robert Burke | 29 Jan 2016 4:36 p.m. PST |
No such thing. But I have played games where dead Zulus are "recycled" into the game so as to keep the British players busy. |
cosmicbank | 29 Jan 2016 4:40 p.m. PST |
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f u u f n f | 29 Jan 2016 4:49 p.m. PST |
I have 12 units of 20 plus a handful of extras done up as tribal leaders and such. Now mind you only 2 or 3 units have actually been painted. I recently got 10 units of 20 British riflemen. So trying to stick to the 3:1 ratio I need a lot more Zulus. |
Robert666 | 29 Jan 2016 4:58 p.m. PST |
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leidang | 29 Jan 2016 5:15 p.m. PST |
I have about 1,800 in 15mm link |
War In 15MM | 29 Jan 2016 5:17 p.m. PST |
I posted my Rorkes Drift Gallery on my website several years ago. It was one of the first collections that we (my daughter and I) photographed in diorama form. Each time that I post one of these collections I do a write-up about them in terms of what they consist of. That write up says the collection includes between 700 and 800 figures. In order to cover the defensive positions at the Drift I needed slightly more than 100 figures so I would guess that my Zulu collection is between 500 and 600 figures. You can see that gallery at link |
45thdiv | 29 Jan 2016 5:53 p.m. PST |
You need less than you need Dervish for the Sudan. 😀 |
miniMo | 29 Jan 2016 6:02 p.m. PST |
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Herkybird | 29 Jan 2016 6:03 p.m. PST |
I have 300+ (sadly still unpainted) of the lovely Wargames Factory plastic Zulus, which I really must get painted! |
Wretched Peasant Scum | 29 Jan 2016 6:16 p.m. PST |
@45-IDK, with the Dervish you can always have the rear ranks be represented by the dust clouds kicked up by the guys up front. |
Pedrobear | 29 Jan 2016 7:04 p.m. PST |
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etotheipi | 29 Jan 2016 8:01 p.m. PST |
400 and counting. Some day I'm going to paint some up as Zulu warriors and game some of those scenarios. |
D A THB | 29 Jan 2016 8:30 p.m. PST |
I keep asking myself that question as I finish my third Zulu regiment of 30 figures. I have a regiment of NNC done as well but really need to do more Zulus before I do my approx 50 British troops. |
afilter | 29 Jan 2016 9:08 p.m. PST |
We are just starting, and our group will have 22 units of 20 figures or 22 units. Plan to do some large Demos this year at Cons. So farabout half are complete. Depending on the scenario we can double up to make 40 figure units togive the imprssion of the masses. |
DisasterWargamer | 29 Jan 2016 10:24 p.m. PST |
With 40 units so far – Suffice to say more |
ZULUPAUL | 30 Jan 2016 4:24 a.m. PST |
I don't understand the question… You can never have enough |
Mute Bystander | 30 Jan 2016 4:33 a.m. PST |
Probably why I never started a 6mm Zulu army, more than I can paint in a lifetime… |
HistoriFigs | 30 Jan 2016 4:43 a.m. PST |
Zulu are like zombies, besides the fact that the both start with the letter Zed, one can never have too many. As to how many are enough? All depends on your game, number of players, recycle casualties or not. More players usually means more figures. Fewer players with recycled casualties means you can get by with fewer figures. I usually recommend 100 as a starting point (I'm using 10 figure units), adjust for personal preferences from there. |
Cerdic | 30 Jan 2016 7:22 a.m. PST |
This is a trick question, isn't it? |
Gunfreak | 30 Jan 2016 10:53 a.m. PST |
Wasn't the zulu army at Isandlwana some 12 000. So 12 000 plus 4000 at rorke's drift So 16 000 should be enough. |
Nick Stern | 30 Jan 2016 10:55 a.m. PST |
I follow the TSATF rule of thumb of three to one Zulus vs Imperials. So you could have a game with as few as 20 Imperials and 60 Zulus. Or 8 Imperials and 24 Zulus if you use the Mark Fastoso 8 figure units. Mark Fastoso's excellent book of Zulu War TSATF scenarios uses only 120 Zulus (recycled ) for Isandlwana which plays well, but is a little lacking visually. |
bc1745 | 30 Jan 2016 11:52 a.m. PST |
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Henry Martini | 30 Jan 2016 1:55 p.m. PST |
With any colonials the question to ask yourself is not 'what were the numerical odds in a typical battle(?)', but rather 'what's the maximum number of tribesmen that could be brought to bear in any one attack?'. Buy that many, and simply recycle the casualties until you've fielded the total native force or one side is defeated. |
sjwalker38 | 31 Jan 2016 6:13 a.m. PST |
"fazands of 'em" of course. We managed to field almost 900 28mm Zulus in our Xmas Holiday refight of Isandlwana on a 12' x 6' table. |
GamesPoet | 31 Jan 2016 6:41 a.m. PST |
Currently, I have 20 Brits & 30 Zulus, so like to have at least 30 more Zulus. |
Dagwood | 31 Jan 2016 12:23 p.m. PST |
Crucial question – how big is the table ? |
General Jumbo | 31 Jan 2016 3:33 p.m. PST |
Kind regards to Mr GunFreak…. The most commonly quoted total for Zulus at Isandhlwana is 20,000, of which 4,000 peeled off around the hill, missed the fun, and went off to attack Rorkes Drift instead. Regarding how many figures are enough….. I have one figure (30mm Redoubt models) for each defender at Rorkes Drift, and find that the three regiments of Zulus are best represented by 150 figs for each of the two bachelor units, and 100 for the married unit. This makes a total of 400 Zulus, or 1:10 ratio. So each of my defenders at 1:1 has to account for 10 Zulus if they are to fight them off successfully! |
Herkybird | 31 Jan 2016 4:30 p.m. PST |
General..not necessarily! – you only have to kill enough to persuade the rest to go away! At Rorke's drift, probably less than a thousand Zulus fell before the other 3/4 of the force retired, for example. |
Brian Smaller | 31 Jan 2016 10:03 p.m. PST |
I have six regiments painted and have another eight in metal in a box. I think I have about half what I need and a quarter of what I want. |
Blake Walker | 01 Feb 2016 6:16 a.m. PST |
Zulus? I have about 380 28mm Black Tree Zulus plus ten casualty markers. That's 14 months worth of painting. I'm never selling off my 28mm Zulus, again… |
rhacelt | 01 Feb 2016 7:09 a.m. PST |
18 twenty man units so far. I am working on doing 7 more. They are all in 28mm. Most are Warlord with some Redoubt and Black Tree mixed in for commanders. |
Hafen von Schlockenberg | 01 Feb 2016 10:29 a.m. PST |
And if Isandhlwana isn't megalomaniacal enough, try Adowa--120,000 Abyssinians. |
Old Contemptibles | 01 Feb 2016 10:35 a.m. PST |
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DWilliams | 01 Feb 2016 5:59 p.m. PST |
We recently did a Rourke's Drift game. We had sufficient numbers of Brits, but not the thousands of Zulus needed. So, we solved that problem by moving the Zulu casualties off to a part of the table where they were permitted to "regenerate" after they had sufficient numbers, and thence could re-enter the fight. The British, of course, had no such reinforcement, so it was really a battle of attrition to see if they could outlast the Zulu onslaught over the course of 20 turns. |