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Re: Re: The not so old wild west

Yes, I also will use them for some Wild West scenarios. I'm really not a fan of Strelets' figures, excuse me. But the Boers sets are really, really good. Because of that the review at PSR is not so fair at all.
I think also -I posted it in another thread- strelets with its multifigures range would be fantastic, in producing sets for skirmish wargames. Hope a real wild west set, also mexican sets, french and indian war and modern sets !!! will follow. For such conflicts the different figures are much more interesting than for periods, where the "line" and the "column" need more figures in the same, not in a different, style.

Re: Mounted Boers

I find PSR reviews very benign, and usually distract as rule of thumb 3 more points regarding historical accurary.
If PSR comes up with good reasons what went wrong in a set, the manufacturer could have realized those before he produced such a set, a bit better planning would be beneficial for the quality score.

"useless for more than a tiny number of very minor actions"

OK, that'll do for me. The shooting figures survive as scouts, skirmishers and hit and run raiders. And let's not forget that they often had to retreat in the face of superior firepower. The others (7 out of 12) are perfectly usable as mounted infantry on the move, and so are perfectly valid.

Have a great day! Frank

Re: "useless for more than a tiny number of very minor actions"

Or suppose, just suppose the Brits happen to surpire a commando group while traveling.

Re: "useless for more than a tiny number of very minor actions"

Dear Frank and others

The "useless..." bit is true of many figures. This is something all figure manufacturers need to address. Although this forum has offered advice solid and gratis it appears we do not know what we are writing about even though we are going to buy (or not) the products. Zvezda Samurai HQ gets a PSR pose quality rating of 10 but the poses have been carefully considered for different scenarios ot for a grand action. Therefore it is not always to do with action or actions.

The Boers were predominently a mounted force and fought dismounted. Given that, then there are figures a plenty in the other Boer set but none of the fellows holding the horses.

Going back to the actions issue. One of the features of the Boer War was that the Mauser rifle enabled set piece battles to be conducted at a distance so unless you have a very big table then to include both armies firing at each other is clearly unrealistic. There were many smaller actions say when raiding supply depots/block houses, chasing hostile black South Africans, capturing lost or scouting Empire troops when some of the useless poses would be reasonably appropriate. This is especially so with the "bitter ender" phase when the object may just be food, bullets and the clothes of your captives. I personally don't think figures should be entirely geared for the big actions. One of the attractions of the Boer war for me is the small scale encounter.

Hats
The Boers wore a variety of hats depending on where the Kommando recruited/assembled. In a township more narrow brimmed hats(Trilby) and even the then fashionable straw boater especially for musters. Early on some commandants wore top hats and also pith helmets (reminders of the 1st Boer war). Again, late in the war a battered slouch hat was the norm though a captured pith helmet is possible.

Generally the Boers set makes up for what is lacking in the Mounted Boers set and most people will buy the two together. The two sets combined, small scale scenarios and so on I therefore think it is a bit harsh to call them useless. They could have been a lot more useful if forum writers' opinions had been considered.

Finally beards.

When a man grows a beard his mouth does not migrate down to his chin. Why do so many of the Boer beardies esp row 4 fig 4 of the Boers (PSR photo) have their mouths in this ridiculous position? This has occurred with the CW Highlanders and some other figures. The bulgy eyes and big head are other unwelcome Strelets glitches.

PS the review says schoolboy - British? South African? Edwardian?
Most 21st c. Brit schoolboys and girls if asked about the Boer War couldn't even give a funny Bill and Ted type answer (eg Joan of Arc was Noah's wife B&TEA). The box blurb is that bad..oh dear!

Re: Re: "useless for more than a tiny number of very minor actions"

Hi

I guess 'useless' depends on what you plan to do. For 99.9% of the war yes, the mounted Boers are mostly unusable, but you could invent some sort of scenario where two forces of cavalry accidentally come across each other and battle it out from horseback.

I would imagine that while all sorts of hats would be seen at muster, before long everyone would have gotten a good broad brim to shield them from the sun and rain.

Sadly you may be right about schoolboys outside SA knowing little/nothing about the boer war. If someone remade 'Young Churchill', perhaps with Christian Slater starring - no, that's just too silly...

As for the box blurb, I tend to look at the picture (Strelets pictures are adequate but nothing impressive IMHO) and read any text, then chuck it anyway. Im only interested in whats inside.

Re: Mounted Boers

I noticed that in the picture on the box the "officer" (?) on the white horse seemed to be about to shoot his own horse in the head. I suppose you could come up with a small action scenario on that event. I'll have to ponder that over a pint.
Cheers
David M

Horse non whisperer

Dear David
He is saying "if you don't buy the set the horse gets it".
This chap would miss all the vital bits and just shoot off the horses nose so we better buy the set.

"hey that's not nice ,a typical horsist comment. We have feelings you know!"