THE VICTORIAN EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
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About the Project
I have decided to revisit all my colonial miniatures and give them a bit of love after being stored away in the Garage for so long. I have four armies that need a tidy up and revisit some 19th century theaters of war and why the hell were we there? "Because we're here lad,no body else, just us"
Related Genre: Historical
This Project is Active
The Drift part 17
Today I worked on some fencing that lay around the Witt's garden.
Still waiting on some trees to fill out the garden area some moreThe Drift part 16
So today I worked on the Cook house and latrine from 4 ground. I think the cook house is a bit big for my board so might use the latrine for the cook house and get a smaller latrine. From drawings it looks as if it has a more of an apex roof but for now I'll stick with this.The Drift part 15
The warlord games Rorkes Drift box set comes with this resin privy. I thought this was odd as it would have been a bit of effort to build a stone one and in westerns there always wood. The drawings from the time appear to have a wooden latrine. In the Washing of the Spears (a worthy read) the author does describe it as being wooden. So I have one on the way. Toilet facilities are very important.On another thought the latrine was outside the compound. It was a battle that went on allnall I wonder if anyone did the business where they could? Not worth thinking about really.
The Drift part 14
Today I worked in the oskaberg hillside where Zulu rifle man did some damage sniping down at the defenders. I didn't give it too much height because I thought it looked a bit too close to the compound in my table. I wanted it to look as if it was the edge of the sloping terrace that would be higher on an adjacent board.
Flocked and undergrowth added
I wanted to represent the small cave's used for cover on the hillside with this little holeThe Drift part 13
Painted up the second half of the board different shades to represent what flock to put down on top
After working on the hillside I looked at the ditch near the oven's and marked off where the ground might be worn away by traffic
Very productive afternoon getting the flock down.
All coming together
Still got alot of trees to come. Fencing and cook house
The Drift part 12
Been trying to figure out where the trees were at the time based on various images. Most are from after the battle when the ground was cleared to build new defences.
First three trees to go in the board. They look ok but could be with being bigger but all wargaming trees are to small compared with reality.
Also started on the hillsideThe Drift part 11
Today's progress. Half the board is kinda done. I finished the abandoned kraal before carving out more if of the hillside and adding some garden rocks
The Drift part 10
Not much progress today. Started looking at the abandoned kraal that pokes in to the end of the battlefield.
I've stuck to one side of the battlefield so far but I'm starting to move round to that end 
Carving out the drainage ditch near the oven's and used the off cuts to build up the slight riseThe Drift part 9
Today's progress. 
Worked on the garden area at the foot of the ledge with lots of bushes the Zulus used for cover. Used s mix of clump foliage and Tufts. I added some to the the middle of the dirt track and along the ledge
Drift part 7
Today I began work on the cattle kraal. I chopped some pieces up to create the right size
I need to work on the stone colour though
I'm not gluing the barricades and buildings down just the stone walls
Built up a slight ditch that marks the boundary of the garden area.Musings
While working on the flocking of my battlefield I thought about the usual way the compound is portrayed. Usually the ground within the barricades is dirt and grass beyond which I dont think is very realistic. It makes sense in the well trod areas from around the buildings out to the cook house and so on but I'm sure on the day Chard didnt say "lets put walls up where the dirt and the grass meet" The cattle Kraal shown here has that dirty earth
The ground today is so landscaped and manicured that the rocky ledge is greener now than it was. 
I'm going to need some trees. The original gardens seem to have had some large Poplar trees. Does anyone know a good company that does suitable trees?
The Drift part 5
Had to go back to work for a couple of days… shocker. So I slowed down my work on this project. I worked into the stone ridge a little more and some wall sections that sat at the bottom near the road. I looked at the stones in my own garden as well as those at the actual location.
The Drift part 4. Texturing and painting
Stones (rocks) from the garden.
North side of the battle field. Need to work on the trackThe Drift part 3. The ledge
To represent the ledge in the north side of the ramparts I used 10m if foam but I thought it was too low.
The Drift part 2. Mapping it out
Sketching out the location of the roads, ditch, ledge and fenced gardenThe Drift part one
So here I go. Finally going to start construction of the Rorkes Drift battlefield. I played the game with the 4ground kit on a flat mat but I want a more landscaped field with the ledge, hill and garden. The foam boards came today so need to see how it fits on a 4 by 8 table. Dragging out all my research material.
Bit too long s perimeter
Bit better
Battle field research
I was looking at some images I took at the battle sites for my rebasing. I find the Zulus war difficult to base. It's not a desert and its not all green. Someone needs to do a dry grass mat. It is a greener landscape than I thought but its not a desert either.
The rocky ledge the barricades were built on at Rorkes Drift. Handy for rock colours in the area.
Fugitives Drift. For my minis ive tried to give my bases a mix of green grass wild meadow tufts and sandy brown dirt.
