The
wonderful
thing
about
our
North
Star
1672
range
is
that
the
figures
will
do
for
many
different
nations
armies
in
the
period
1665-1680.
This
is
because
it
is
a
time
just
before
uniforms,
and
the
figures
are
all
dressed
in
the
fashions
common
amongst
soldiers
throughout
Western
Europe.
This of course includes Britain.
The
years
covered
by
our
range
is
called
the
Restoration
Period
in
Britain
as
it
was
the
time
the
monarchy,
represented
by
Charles
II,
was restored after the English Civil War.
It
was
also
the
genesis
of
the
British
Army.
Britain,
tired
of
soldiers
and
war,
had
disbanded
much
of
it’s
forces
after
the
Civil
War
and
Oliver
Cromwell’s
reign.
With
the
return
of
Charles
II
to
England
in
1660,
the
units
still
under
arms
swore
allegiance
to
the
King
and
became the senior units of the British Army.
Some of the infantry regiments:
Coldstream Guards
Grenadier Guards
Scots Guards
1st Regiment (Royal Scots)
2nd Regiment (The Queen’s)
3rd Regiment (The Buffs)
st
Colour.
Below. NSA5003 - Jungle Cannibals in Ritual Masks.
The Africa Day was fantastic fun
today. Thanks to everyone who took
part, I hope you all enjoyed it too.
Praise to James Morris for organising
it, and thanks to Battlefront UK for
the use of their gaming room.
Africa Day!
A Death in the Dark Continent
gaming event––
Sponsored by North star &
Wargames Illustrated
Despite
having
mostly
organised
this
event,
I
have
to
say
I
had
a
great
time
and
actually
got
to
play
in
a
couple
of
the
games
myself!
Certainly
the
relaxed
atmosphere
had
a
great
deal
to
do with the players we had taking part, who were:
1. James Woodward (Explorers)
2. Frode Rage Olson (Pygmies)
3. Matt Moran (Italian Colonial)
4. Andy Mactaggart (British East Africa Co)
5. Wayne Ellington (Ethiopian)
6. James Morris (Azande)/ Nick Eyre (Matabele)
7. Steve Saleh (Luo)
8. Dave King (Ruga Ruga)
9. Chris Peers (Ila)
10. Wayne Bollands (The Shangani Patrol)
11. John Grant (Mahdist)
12. Laurence Baldwin (Force Publique)
Interestingly,
we
had
no
Zulu
or
British
redcoat
armies.
I
think
the
scope
of
Death
in
the
Dark
Continent
(80
army
lists!)
has
really
encouraged
players
to
look
at
native
options
as
well
as
the
classic
colonial
armies.
Rather
than
take
a
tournament
approach,
I
did
some
tweaking
to
make
sure
that
armies
were
used
against
more-or-less
plausible
opponents
and
in
likely
situations
(so
the
pygmy
army
found
itself
defending
a
forest
of
tall
grass
against
European
explorers,
rather
than
the
other
way
around, or fighting a pitched battle in a rocky valley.)
Death
in
the
Dark
Continent
very
much
lived
up
to
its
reputation
as
a
fast-playing
set
of
rules;
many
games
fairly
whizzed
along
(quite
a
few
notably
finishing
before
the
2
hour
time
limit),
with
only
a
couple
of
complex
combat
situations
requiring
a
second
opinion on the rules from myself and Chris.
Cheers
to
Dan/WI/Battlefront
for
sorting
the
venue
&
snacks,
Nick
for
doing
the
admin,
Chris
P
for
his
little
talk
at
lunchtime,
Darren
Leigh-Smith
for
painting
the
prize
vignette
models
AND
being
honorary
butler
for
the
day,
and
Katrina
Singhatey
for
sending along superb African food for lunch.
A full report with pictures is in
Wargames Illustrated Issue 315
.
James Morris
