Rev George Smith & James Langley Dalton VC

Two of the lesser known defenders of Rorkes Drift were Reverend Smith who through out the siege walked amongst the defenders offering words of inspiration and encouragement whilst handing out ammo to the soldiers and James Dalton of the commissariat who not only handed ammunition out as shown in the film but also was credited with designing the original melee bag defences before Chard returned to the out post , he was belatedly awarded the VC after recommendations from the other defenders .

Smith & Dalton again by Empress 

Heroic Ballads

I have been lucky enough to receive some great support over the last few years from Marcin Gerkowicz of Assault Publishing and he has just sent me a copy of his latest rules a Fantasy set called Heroic Ballads . The rules are a 40 page PDF download from his store (or will be very soon )
http://assaultpublishing.com    . The rules are very quick play and you do not need hundreds of figures to play the quick ply tests we have done had no more than 30 figures on the table between us . You only need a  couple of D6 and a few coloured counters to play besides the figures and off you go ,we had great fun using the terrain and figures we use to use to play D&D all those years ago and it actually reminded us of the fun we use to have playing that . A cracking game ideal for club nights or for quick participation games at shows .Marcin has included some simple army lists and spell lists and would love to have feed back on new races and stuff ,now the best bit they will be  FREE to download he does ask that if you like them and can afford some thing to make adoration to either a Polish based health charity or the British Legion through my page both haver links in the rules , a really great gesture from a really nice guy who I am hoping to meet later this year . So if fantasy is your thing (or just feeling nostalgic for D&D type fun ) then go to Assault Publishing page (by the way his other games are great too . ) I will post a game report and pics later .

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Private Henry Hook V.C

Private Hook in real life was nothing like the loveable rogue portrayed by James Booth in scene stealing style ,the real hook was a tea total soldier who was the cook at Rorke's Drift and during the siege was stationed in the hospital ,winning the VC for his courage defending the hospital rooms.

The real Hook and Hookie from the movie . 

Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne DCM

Colour Sergeant Bourne portrayed superbly by Nigel Green in the film Zulu was in fact only 24 at the time of the battle . He passed away on V.E day in 1945 .

Historical &Movie version Empress 

Lt John Rouse Merriott Chard (Royal Engineers )

Lt John Chard portrayed by Stanley Baker in the classic movie , arrived at Rorkes Drift on January 19th and was the senior officer during the siege on the 22nd and 23rd . He became national hero and favourite of Queen Victoria .

Empress Miniatures historical and Movie versions . 

Nothing Remains but to Fight- Game markers

My rule set ( grandly titled Nothing Remains But To Fight ) is coming along nicely and as with all good rules sets a few markers are needed to help game play so as they are all pretty simple ,rather than card I would paint up some bases to use as markers .

Ammo Supply

Medical Officer

Last Stand 

Lto R Gone to Ground ,3 Rally markers and a out of ammo marker 

Happy Blog day

Just realised my little blog is 5 years old today .

Rorke's Drift the Final Redoubt

Had a mad painting frenzy over the last 2 weeks so will publish a few pics every day over the next week or so ,for your entertainment today the final redoubt made famous in the film Zulu .

Front Rank FIRE ! 

The redoubt is from Warlord Games and was complete pain to paint ,I must have washed and scrubbed the casting at least 4 times before the paint would take ,tried different makes of undercoats and different cleaning materials never had such huge problem before but worth it in the end I think .