Rorke’s Drift Arrives!

My Warlord Games “Rorke’s Drift” box set arrived today… It’s an impressive beast- it was part of their pre-order special on the new Anglo-Zulu War range that’s the premier of their new strategic partnership with Empress Miniatures. At the time I resisted the urge to get the full “Horns of the Buffalo – Rorke’s Drift Collectors Set” which is an absolutely huge collection of toys! This set is the first of their collaborations planned with Empress Miniatures – so you get a swag of Warlord Games plastic figures and terrain pieces, some Empress Miniatures speciality metal figs, and a pair of “4Ground“ laser-cut plywood building kitsets of the storehouse and hospital. There is also a mixture of biscuit box and mealie bag barricades reported to be historically accurate renditions from the battlefield as well as the barricaded wagons and the stone wall from the Kraal. Add to that 40 plastic Married Zulus & 20 plastic British Redcoats plus 7 assorted metal “Character Figures” (including Chard, Bromhead, Bourne and Hook – the historical version of the chaps – and a mounted InDuna to command the Zulus as well as a Zulu Rifleman in looted red jacket)!

Warlord Games & Empress Miniatures “Rorke’s Drift” box set

The full Rorke’s Drift boxed set is:

• Laser-cut wooden Hospital building with ‘teddy bear fur’ thatch.
• Laser-cut wooden Storehouse building with ‘teddy bear fur’ thatch.
• Resin Wagon Barricade.
• Resin stone wall Kraal (4 x 6″ sections).
• Resin biscuit box barricades (2 x 6″ sections).
• Resin biscuit box/mealie bag barricades (3 x 6″ sections).
• Resin mealie bag barricades (3 x 6″ sections).
• 20 plastic multi-pose British Line Infantry
• 40 plastic multi-pose Married Zulus.
• Metal mounted Zulu InDuna.
• Metal Zulu in British jacket firing Martini-Henry rifle.
• 4 British characters: Lieutenant Chard (Royal Engineers), Lieutenant Bromhead, Colour Sergeant Bourne, and Private Hook.

The Empress Miniatures Historical Characters: Bromhead, Colour Sergeant Bourne, Chard, and Hook.

If you really go the whole hog and go for the “Horns of the Buffalo – Rorke’s Drift Collectors Set” you get the above box set plus 5 extra resin mealie bag barricades; 1 extra resin biscuit box barricade; 4 extra biscuit box/mealie bag barricades; 1 extra resin wagon barricade; 2 extra lengths of resin walls; Resin broken down walls (6 x 6″ sections); Resin mealie bag redoubt (2 x 3″ x 6″ sections making a 6″ square redoubt); Engineers wagon; Water cart; 6 plastic fences (3″ sections); 4 x plastic bell tents; Resin Cookhouse; 6 metal African cattle; 3 x resin ovens; Resin Water Closet; 1 x metal dead horse; 1 x dog (Pip the terrier); and 4 British characters (all made by Empress Miniatures) based on the ‘Hollywood’ characters from the 1964 film ‘Zulu’: Chard (Stanley Baker), Bromhead (Michael Caine), Bourne (Nigel Green), and Hook (James Booth). But that might just be a little bit of overkill?

Empress Miniatures ’1964 Hollywood’ Characters: James Booth (Hook); Stanley Baker (Chard); Michael Caine (Bromhead); and Nigel Green (Bourne).

Hopefully I’ll get my buildings assembled over Christmas holidays (perhaps) – and can get some preliminary snap shots up… To check out these sets go to Warlord Games Rorke’s Drift boxed set or the Horns of the Buffalo – Rorke’s Drift Collectors Set. Alternately you can can also see the details and/or order these (or some other alternative sets) from Empress Miniatures as well.

Read More: Work Begins On Rorke’s Drift.

The Warlord Games Rorke’s Drift set assembled

The underside of the Rorke’s Drift box.