"Boer Infantry." Topic

"Most people knew war was coming, and for some it was a relief when it finally arrived in October 1899. Men in both the Transvaal and the Orange Free State were quickly summoned to their local commando, where they soon moved off, grasping their freshly-issued Mauser rifles, to begin their new role as soldiers. Virtually none had had any training, but they were well used to using firearms and in surviving in the rough, inhospitable landscape that was their country, and they were confident that they could better the relatively few British soldiers they were to face. God, after all, was on their side, and their cause was just.

Inevitably of course things did not turn out as most people expected, and the Second Boer War was to last three long years before the two Boer republics fully succumbed to the might of Britain and her empire. The image of the Boer as a sturdy farmer, expert marksman and survival specialist is something of a stereotype that was not universally true, but as neither state had any professional infantry, their armed forces were overwhelmingly what would be called a citizen militia, filled mainly from a rural environment with no training but excellent skills in fieldcraft that would serve them well. There were no uniforms, and each man wore what he thought best, which was whatever civilian clothing they could call upon. Hopefully that was something comfortable, rugged and able to withstand the hard wear of campaign life. Every figure in this set matches that description very well. A few, mostly town-dwellers, started action in poorly-chosen clothes, but they soon adapted so that everyone wore tough trousers, generally a jacket or coat over their shirt, and a soft brimmed hat of various styles. Some of these figures have no jacket, and one man has a longer coat as well as a tall hat. This would have been more likely to be spotted early on in the war, and certainly very unlikely by the time of the guerrilla campaign, but is perfectly valid here. In short, all the clothing is accurate and typical…."

Full Review here
link

Amicalement
Armand

The PSR review calls these new figs in the airfix style and says they're an improvement on the original Strelets set .. IMHO they certainly are not .
The strelets original Boer infantry and cavalry were great , very much in a metal figures style and a joy to paint . Strelets error was to make the British opponents in the Airfix style and end that project for me .

Thanks!.

Amicalement
Armand

The first set was better.
link

Agree!.

Amicalement
Armand

The old set, with its dynamite throwers and pistols in holsters, was ideal for use as Mexican revolutionaries or the American volunteers/mercenaries fighting alongside them; this set, not so much.

I love Airfix Type 1 figures; sturdy and easy to paint and convert. If Strelets are in that frame of mind, I wish they would release US cavalry to go alongside the Airfix Indians! But I also like the old Strelets chunky style, too.