Wednesday 24 August 2016

Congo: random Forest Tribes figures.

Introduction

I'm really keen on Congo (the new "African Adventure" wargames rules from Studio Tomahawk).  After all, the authors have a fine pedigree, having already written the very popular SAGA and Muskets and Tomahawks.  In addition, the European exploration of the Dark Continent is a subject that I have found fascinating since my university years, when I read large numbers of books by H. Rider Haggard and umpired long-running games of the old Source of the Nile board game.

To scratch this itch, at the recent Claymore show I bought the newly-published Congo rules as well as a pack of assorted natives and another of Askaris, all Foundry miniatures.  I've now painted up many of the natives and it's these that I'll be showing below.  They will add to my existing North Star "jungle cannibals" to form the basis of a Forest Tribes force, though I haven't quite worked out how that will be organised yet.

Warriors

"Pelt", "Hangout" and "Scar"
"Bluejacket", "Grandpa" and "Pithy"
  I've got a fair selection of tribal characters here, all of whom are easily recognisable as coming from Foundry's "Warrior Characters - DA064" pack.  There's a slight problem with that pack, though.  Since each tribe would probably have been distinguished from its neighbours by having its own hair style or type of shield, I can only suppose that these guys are all from different tribes.  Well, I won't let that bother me too much (and who knows, I now have the starters for 5 or 6 different tribes I could collect!)

The Boss

The big man and his special advisor
Here is the tribal chieftain.  This time, the figure is from North Star, though his advisor is another Foundry casting.  The chief is dressed in a somewhat unlikely "Hollywood Cannibal" style, with a grass skirt and a bone through his nose.  I don't think this would have been seen anywhere in 19th century Africa!

It's also fairly obvious that the chief has somewhat paler skin than the other figures I am showing today.  I started to paint him many weeks ago and I must have used a different recipe for the dark wash that was applied over the basic skin colour.  Oh, well - I'm not going to repaint him.  I've got a spare Foundry chieftain that I can paint up if this guy's costume and skin colour start to annoy me too much.

All Together


This adds another 8 figures to my Forest Tribe; a.  Along with the 15 North Star figures I painted earlier this year that makes 23.  I've still got a few more models to paint, but these are mostly auxiliaries or decoration (the war drum, the chieftain's favourite wife and daughter, the witch doctor...).  A basic "column" for Congo would probably need about 30-35 models, so I'm still a little short.  Now let's see - should I go for archers, tribal muskets, fierce cannibals or hordes of young warriors?

21 comments:

  1. Great stuff Hugh. You (along with the likes of Gordon) are certainly making "Congo" a tempting period, especially as it isn't one I've yet to really look at. Love the work on the shields and the look you've created on your boss' face is terrific.

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    1. Well, you can never have too many periods, can you :-) ? I've been waiting pretty much all of my adult life for a decent African adventure/exploration game, so I'm pretty excited about Congo right now.

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  2. That will be a story to follow. I want to see stories with Pitty, he looks like having a very deep background.

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    1. I think that the real question about "Pithy" is this: did he kill the white man himself, or did he just find a corpse on the battlefield and steal the hat (and the head)?

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    2. But who was that white man? Why Pithy keeps it (former lover?)... so many questions that may never be answered.

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  3. Absolutely brilliant! This is a set of rules that I want to pick up at some point too.

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    1. My collection is still a bit random, but I'm trying to plan some more considered purchases to round out the tribe. I still can't quite decide whether I want a small, fierce warband (load up on cannibals), or a larger, more peaceful group (lots of archers).

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  4. Following with MUCH interest. And they all look good to me.

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    1. Thanks, Clint. I think there will be a *lot* of Congo on show in the near future (and not just from me, either!).

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  5. Interesting set of minis, lovely brushwork too :-)

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    1. Thanks, dGG. As I said above, they are a semi-random bunch of "2nd hand bargains" so far. But I'll plan my next additions a bit more carefully...

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  6. Looking great! I'm starting to plan terrain, plastic aquarium plants are on the way! Hoping to assemble White Man Expedition and African Kingdoms this weekend. Would be interested in your views on the rules and looking forward to adventure reports :-)

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    1. I also have bags of plastic plants (from China, via eBay) waiting to be based! I'm a little way off being able to field either a White Man Expedition or a Forest Tribe yet, though.

      I've only read through the rules once so far; on that basis I can safely say that I'm looking forward greatly to playing the game. In other words, I haven't spotted anything that puts me off, so far :-) . My views will probably be a bit more informed and useful after I've had a bit longer to play around with the game...

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  7. I do like the 'acquired' pith helmet btw!

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    1. I wonder how long he'll keep wearing it, before deciding that it really doesn't suit him?

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    1. Thanks, Sean! There will be more to come soon, I expect.

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  9. That is lovely painted minis C6

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    1. Thanks, HW. Ah, if my terrain-building was half as effective as my figure painting then I'd be really happy!

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  10. I must admit to also had a hankering to do some African exploration games and did many a game using the Umbonga rules from the "By Jingo" site (http://www.oocities.org/cdferree/) that used Flame of War rules.
    I'll be looking forward to seeing how you progress with this project and would welcome a review of the "Congo" rules.
    I like the mix of figures/tribes and if the "Chief" skin colour bothers you that much why not just give hime a dark wash? (I think he's me favourite of the lot of them!)
    This may just be the nudge I needed to dig out my Congo-expedition stuff (Old Glory).

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    1. It's early days for me in this project, though I have got some European explorers and the like already. I think I'm making very rapid progress (for me, that is!); perhaps I will post a review of the rules when I've played around with them a little.

      Huh, I didn't know that Old Glory made Lost Tribesmen. As is often the case with them, pictures are few and hard to find, but still... Is there *anything* that they don't make?

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