The launch of Epic Battles: Zulu! has generated a lot of excitement, which is amazing to see, but it’s also generated plenty of questions. One of the big ones is “What’s on the sprues? How are they all laid out?” – this is something that’s a really big deal for any plastic range, but doubly so for Epic Battles, where the composition of the strips effectively sets the tone for your entire force. Zulu! is built around three core sprues, and we’ll be looking at all three over the coming weeks. We’re starting with the namesake: the…
Zulu Impi
We’ll begin with the game’s namesake: the Zulu! The Zulu army was composed of essentially only one troop type, that being a warrior armed with the iklwa thrusting spear and iwisa cudgel, and protected by the isihlangu, a broad cow-hide shield. Some obsolete firearms were present (and many more modern rifles were captured at Isandlwana), but by and large Zulu forces made little concerted effort to use them en masse, and the majority of warriors preferred their traditional weaponry.
Tactically, Zulu soldiers were grouped together into regiments (with proud and colourful names such as ‘Humblers of Kings’ and ‘Dust Raisers’, and unique patterned markings on their shields) based on age groupings, and supported by younger boys who acted as porters and assistants, with the overall force being known as the impi. These regiments at their most basic fell into one of two categories – Unmarried or Married. The younger unmarried warriors would be resplendent in their panoply of feathers and furs, itching to get to grips with the foe and make a name for themselves and earn the right to marry, while the older married men fought with no less ferocity but with the added wisdom of experience, wearing the slightly more sober garb and characteristic head-ring which marked out their elevated social standing.
With that little bit of core knowledge, we can cast an eye over the sprue itself (these renders show the models in their correct locations, but without the ‘gates’ obstructing your view!), and see that we get absolutely loads of Zulu warriors (maybe not thaaaaaaaasands of ‘em, but 65 bods per sprue is plenty!) in a good mixture of unmarried and married. Of course, at this scale it’s really easy to clip a piece here or add a little bit of putty there to turn one into the other, allowing you to adjust the balance as you desire. Iklwa and iwisa of course dominate the weapon options, but there are a few rifles and muskets scattered into the mix.
The most striking part of this sprue is the organisation (or lack thereof!) of the figures on the strips. While the Zulu army was by no means the horde of savages that many British military figures considered it to be, it certainly fought in a much less rigid formation, particularly at the level of individual groups of soldiers. This means that the ‘rank-and-file’ setup of earlier Epic Battles sprues simply wouldn’t be right for the Zulu frame, and instead we’ve gone for a mixture of strips with three, four, and five men, as well as plenty of ‘singles’. This allows you to assemble your bases however you like – whether you want a densely-packed mass of troops, or a more spread-out skirmishing formation.
Each sprue also includes a couple of useful extras. The first is a cow (more properly an Nguni), which Zulu forces would drive with them as they marched to provide a ready supply of food. A few head of cattle makes for great set dressing for any Zulu army, and can also serve as objectives for games. Finally, we have casualty markers – three each for the Zulus and British. It might seem a bit weird to have British casualties on a Zulu frame, but to be perfectly honest, this was where we could get them to fit best without compromising the contents of the other sprues! These are of course essential to tracking the damage taken by your units in Black Powder Epic Battles, but can also serve as base decoration for a particularly battered (or bloodthirsty!) unit.
These sprues naturally form the Zulu component of both Rorke’s Drift and Isandlwana, but they’re also available in their own Brigade box, perfect for expanding your ranks, or starting out small if you just want to try your hand at painting Epic Battles models for the first time.
Are you ready to form your impi?
