"28mm 1860s Maori Wars figures - now proposed!!" Topic

Gents,

For those interested in new Zealand Wars we now have a legitimate opportunity. Eureka Miniatures has put forth a proposal for the figures that have been discussed in a LAF thread.
link

These figures will include the Forest Rangers, with a Von Tempsky character figure and up to 12 King Movement Pakeha and Kupapa Maori. Also include will be up to 20 head variants which will enable conversions for any figures that are suitable for this period, or any mid Victorian (Crimean/Indian Mutiny) period outside of the proposed range, the Perry 1860 British Intervention Force range fork example. You could even use these head swaps for the ACW no problem.

When combined with the Eureka Miniatures range there really is the potential for a full spread of high-quality sculpts for the 1860s 2nd and 3rd Maori wars.

This is great news. However it now requires your action to make it a reality.

All the people that have put up their hand for figures in the previous thread) now need to make actual contact with Eureka Miniatures so that they can get the prospective orders on the books and the sculpting of these figures can commence.

Importantly, the sculpting for these figures will commence in as little as 4 weeks so these figures could well be hitting the store in as little as two months or so. This is great news as we won't have to wait for any lead time on specific figure ranges that may or may not occur…you part pay for your figures and in a few months you'll have opened up the entire 1860s Wars in New Zealand ready to go…a most decidedly underdone period when it comes to colonial gaming.

The proposed figure range is as follows;

100MAU100 Forest Rangers Skirmishing with Terry carbines – (4 variants)

100MAU101 Forest Rangers in kilt with Terry carbines – (4 variants)

100MAU102 Forest Ranger Officer (1)

100MAU103 "Von Tempsky" personality (1)

100MAU104 Kupapa Maori skirmishing with firearms – (4 variants)

100MAU105 Pakeha Maori skirmishing with traditional weapons – (4 variants)

100MAU106 Pakeha Maori skirmishing with firearms – (4 variants)

100MAU107 Victorian bearded heads wearing flat cap with peak (5 variants)

100MAU108 Victorian bearded heads wearing flat cap with no peak (5 variants)

100MAU109 Victorian bearded heads wearing floppy hats (5 variants)

100MAU110 Maori heads (5 variants)

They would be sculpted again by Alan Marsh with references provided by Happy Wanderer (in consultation with period ‘experts').

Please let me know how many of each code number you would be interested in purchasing.

This project is open until 31st July.

Eureka will keep a tally of all the responses and if the numbers offered will pay for the sculpting, the project will commence 1st August 2016. Delivery should take place in September 2016. All pre-orders of more than AUD$100.00 will be despatched post free (AUD$110.00 for Australian Residents).

We will ask for half your commitment money to be paid up-front, with the balance due when your order is ready for despatch. Thank you for your interest, please feel free to tell as many people as you can as this will increase the chances of the figures being manufactured.

For those of you that may not have considered the New Zealand Wars as a possible theatre for colonial gaming the following links will prove useful in having a bit of a look around and seeing what the period has to offer. The period really is full of all sorts of different aspects that make it quite unique. The 2nd and 3rd Maori War in the 1860s is really where much of the main action took place…quite different from the relatively limited 1st Maori War. Very much a blend of the French and Indian War and American Plains Indian Wars all combined in one including raids, ambushes, convoys, Pa assaults, naval landing (both Maori and Pakeha), religious fanatics, and many other guerrilla war type scenarios along with set piece attacks and all that they entail.

The NUMBER ONE stop for all things NZ Wars is here – our own Arteis and his superb blog
link

Steven's Balagan is always useful as he breaks down various aspects of the period.
balagan.info/new-zealand-wars

A nice read from Wargames Illustrated – this covers the 1st Maori War and early stages the 2nd Maori War.
PDF link

A bit of an historical overview starting at 1860…
link

A nice quick discussion on Von Tempsky and the Rangers (the subject of these sculpts)
YouTube link

….and if you really have time, Professor Belich's somewhat controversial, but still highly watchable, series on the NZ Wars.
YouTube link

I would encourage anyone who has any inkling to do dip into this period to seriously consider supporting this grassroots effort. These proposed figures are being largely driven but prospective buyer demand and principally by enthusiasts who simply want to see the figures get sculpted. There is no 'commissioned range'..it's simply a fact that if we get enough orders then 'we the people' can make it happen.

When one considers the utility of the Perry BIF range (particularly with Eureka heads swaps) along with their ever-growing Cape Wars range, the current First Maori War Empress range and the recently released pre-contact Maori Eureka range, the only missing component is the 1860s 2nd and 3rd Maori Wars figure range.

These figures will largely fill that void unlocking the full potential of this fascinating period with a full selection of high-quality castings.

So let's make this happen guys, if we get as much interest now and strike while the iron is hot then there will be many new figures providing excellent gaming opportunities.

I fear this opportunity will not happen again. So even if you're only interested in 20 or 30 figures or even less then every single order accounts.

The good thing with this period is that you really don't need lots of figures to get into it. You can have a game with 20 figures or 200 the choice is yours.

Please contact Eureka Miniatures and have your say and get onboard…

For those on the other LAF thread that said they'd be up for 'x' numbers of figures , could you please register your specific 'order' with Eureka…thanks.

Kind regards

Happy Wanderer

Eureka Miniatures – email Nic.
nicr@eurekamin.com.au

Here are snaps showing Eureka Miniatures pre contact Maoris (the proposed sculptor for these figures), Empress Miniatures and some Perry Figures…they all blend rather well and are mixable.

No Haka figures???
Interesting range though. Good luck
C

Hi,

I am interested. However have you considered doing figures for the local milita/volunteers, such as the Taranaki Militia for example? The Forest Rangers are certainly a romantic unit, but they were only a tiny fraction of the Colonial forces which were mainly local volunteers/militia and of course the Regulars.

Cheers,

Nic

Hi Nic,

Good question regards the NZ militia. Even though they often wore a shirt they also more or less wore the standard uniform issue, thus are covered by the Perry BIF 1860 range.

The various head swaps and some of the Ranger figures will probably be useable as militia as well, possibly even with the odd Empress militia figure or ACW types. The head swaps offers the 'victorian look' and even a number of the new Perry Cape Wars figure offer some potential for NZ.

Here is a pic of the Taranaki Rifles..with and without frock coat (ie shirt only 'look').

Hope you jump onboard. We need people to get involved to make it happen. If it is a success then perhaps more figures will come such as specific 1860s militia types perhaps in the future. For now the proposed figures really fill a void.

Cheers

Happy W

Question: How are the separate heads being cast? What I want to know is how fiddly is converting the heads going to be? Will all the bodies be able to receive all the heads or is it going to require a jeweler's saw, a pin and green stuff? I'm getting too old and blind for extensive conversion work these days.

Nick,

I do not know. The heads I suspect will be no different than any one else who does them such as Empress or Perry. How they can be used on the figure I don't know but principally I think the heads will be useful on other ranges such as the Empress and Perry extensive range of figures.

How they fit on these figure I can't be sure…they're not made yet! That said, they are, to my knowledge, being sculpted as one complete casting so how well you can do head swaps I can't say. What I can say is the head sculpts will be very useful for this period for a whole bunch of potential conversions IMHO.

Regards

Happy Wanderer

I've placed my order, now I'd better start reading up on the subject!

Where did you place your order? I was just up on the Eureka site and could not find the Forest Rangers or European dressed Maori.

Nick, you just need to email Nic at Eureka (contact details in the OP) just telling him how many of each figure (as listed) you're prepared to commit to – it's a more gentlemanly version of Kickstarter, or a variant on the original Eureka '100 Club' .

Okay. Got it. Thanks!

For haka figures, the eureka pre contact maori are ideal

They mix in well with the empress maori too.

On head swaps, I have 120 maori from empress and found a sharp scalpel worked a treat for head swaps on these. Not sure what eureka plan but it isnt too hard

Forest Rangers, yes!

Just thinking about how far we've come since Ian Knight wrote an article in Miniature Wargames magazine in the 1980's about attacking a Pa. He had to convert all his Maori from naked ancient Greek figures. British were, IIRC, ACW paint conversions.

Seems a lot of fuss when there are already both OG and Empress figures.

And don't forget Eureka already offers Maori, 1860s British infantry and Armed Constabulary. Certainly there is much more available than when Ian Knight was converting Greeks! However, IMHO, the OG line is one of their lesser lines and their 1860s infantry wear the 1840s cap, their Forest Rangers carry muskets and not carbines. As far as I know, proper Forest Rangers and Maori in European dress are not available anywhere.

Hi Beaumap:

The OG range is old. It also has inaccuracies, as Nick has pointed out. One of the most glaring to me is that the 1860s figures in shawl-order (ie wearing blanket kilts) are barefoot rather than in boots, which changes the look entirely.

Empress don't make 1860s figures – only 1840s. Although these are very nice figures indeed, for an 1860s game it would be like playing WW2 with WW1 figures.

Any updates?
Mark

We didn't get enough committed pre-orders to warrant Eureka putting the proposed figures into production. :-(

I feel for you guys.Maybe Empress will eventually do them.
Mark

"it would be like playing WW2 with WW1 figures."
Which you sort of do if you play Hungarians lol