First Batch of Painted, Mounted Schutztruppen (25mm - 30mm)

DSWA Schutztruppen on Horseback, Various Manufacturers

Mounted Rider with Slung Rifle (Matchlock 25mm)

The German Southwest Africa Schutztruppe was mounted infantry, and during the German - Herero War of 1904 the riders fought most of their engagements on foot.  The Jones - Alvarado Herero War Scenario and Rules Book, scheduled for release next month, calls for just a single 8 man mounted section with an officer and NCO and six troopers.  Three mounted command figures are also needed. 

This still presents a challenge, as there are only a few sources for mounted Schutztruppen in 25mm or 28mm scale, and one of the best - those from the Honourable Lead Boiler Suit Company - are no longer in production.

Nevertheless, I managed to find 10 HLBS mounted figures, including an officer, NCO and eight riders, in an unpainted condition on eBay.  They are 28mm scale, came from a seller in France and were a steal - not always the case.   I have painted one of the HLBS riders up in a test batch of 4 mounted figures, one from each manufacture.  The results are here before you.

The single rider, above, is from Matchlock

HLBS, left and Tiger Miniatures, right: 28mm

Miniatures, cast using molds from Falcon Miniatures USA .  I have found Falcon to be singularly unresponsive to requests for its own offerings.  Not so with Matchlock, which has many but not all of the falcon Line available.  This figutre is in true 25mm scale and looks positively hobbit like next to the largest figures from HLBS and Tiger miniatures (at right).  The Tiger trooper, closer to 30mm than 28mm, came in a set with 2 riders on camels, but I swapped out the mount for a horse that came with another set with 2 riders wearing WWI era Tropenhelms.

The last figure, below,  is a German officer from the Old Glory Boxer Rebellion range that came in the Great Powers High Command set of six mounted figures representing the various powers that fought in China in 1900.  It is a hefty 25mm scale that works with 28mm figures.  He required a little bit of putty to fill in a gap in the brim of his Südwester hat but is one of only a couple of options for mounted German commanders available that will work for this period and his horse is suitably spirited.

Old Glory German High Command Figure (Boxer range, 25mm)

Alternate View, Old Glory German Commander

I have decided to use the Tiger and HLBS figures for my gaming table.  Possibly I will paint one of each as Hereros in captured uniforms, perhaps one of them as a Herero commander.  That will still give me enough to meet my needs for mounted Germans, though I would very much like to have another Officer figure.

No manufacture of mounted Schutztruppen thus far has sculpted horses with proper tack and associated accoutrements, including the bucket holders for the rifles that were attached to the saddle in front of the rider's right leg. There is a good possibility, though, that Askari Miniatures will produce mounted Germans this year. They are closer to 26mm in size, but beggars cannot be choosers and I am sure will be as admirably detailed as their dismounted compatriots.

Tiger Mounted and Dismounted Figures (really 30mm, esp the officer)

Mounted Schutztruppen: Tiger, HLBS, Old Glory, Matchlock/Falcon

Filling out the Orbat for Jones/Alvaredo Herero War Scenarios

Since Dr. Roy Jones posted the Order of Battle for the upcoming Herero War scenario and rulebook, I've been sizing up my lead pile and examining were I am in good shape, and where I lack enough figures, or even suitable options to represent them, to complete the German and Herero forces.  Since posting what I had gathered so far for German Troops and their Allies and their Herero adversaries, I've added some additional figures and equipment, including some from new sources.  Nevertheless, the fact remains that I have serious gaps to fill in a number of areas if I want to do every scenario in the book with 25mm / 28mm figures that can represent this period authentically and do it with a minimum of duplication.

Mounted Officers:  Jones and Alvaredo call for mounted figures to represent three senior German commanders and two senior Herero commanders.  There is very little in the currently available lines of known manufacturers to meet these specifications. The Honourable Lead Boilersuit Company once produced mounted officers for this period but this line has been discontinued. Matchlock Miniatures, which seems to include some of the Falcon Line, makes a mounted officer and it arrived today but regrettably wearing a helmet so perhaps I will need to find him a different head.  As for Falcon, I fear that this company may no longer be active, as its website is static and unresponsive and its email is out of service.  Perhaps someone who knows the owner can shed further light on the matter.  That would be a shame, because it seems that Falcon had German Mounted Command figures in its 25mm German Southwest Africa line that would do nicely. 

Quite frankly, I would be willing to settle for mounted officers in slouch hats cocked on the right, or even WWI German officers on horseback wearing field caps.  I bit the bullet and spent $25 on the Great Powers High Command set in 25mm from Old Glory's Colonial Boxer Rebellion  range.  It features six officer figures on horseback, the last of which wears a German Southwester hat.  I may be able to paint or convert one or two of the others, but for now can only count on this one, leaving me one more to locate to complete my needs.

Redoubt Enterprises BWBC01

As for the Herero leader a beardless Boer may be the answer (and with all due respect to my progressive minded Afrikaner friends, I appreciate the irony of making an indigenous African out of a Boer).   For this figure I could use any from the three figure mounted boer set from Black Tree Design's Boer War range, but I really like the mounted boer officer waving forward from Redoubt, who is painted in such a way on the website that he even looks African.  I will probably get several mounted boer figures without beards from both of these companies, and will use the rest as Herero cavalry: (see below).  Another option would be to convert the wonderful mounted figure of King Lubengula offered by North Star Africa and adding a wide brimmed hat with epoxy.

Empress Miniatures ZWB43

Herero Cavalry:  I need three full sections (24 figures) of Herero horsemen. Unlike some of the figures on foot who can be wearing loincloths or partial European clothing, mounted African figures for this period should not be wearing traditional regalia.  This rules out mounted Zulu or Matabele figures from other ranges.  I have one mounted Edendale Native horseman from Redoubt's Zulu range, three Native Horse from Foundry's Zulu range and four Native Horse from Empress' Miniatures Anglo Zulu War figures.  These last required removal of the spears in their shoulder quivers but are otherwise excellent and I plan to add another 4 from this range.  Still, that would only give me half the horsemen I require, so the rest are likely to be beardless Boers as mentioned above.

Seebataillon gunners:  I believe that the Maschinenkanone called for in the Scenario book was served by German marines.  There were also marine machine gunners during the war, but I am told they are not included in the Scenario book for playability reasons.  The latter can be purchased from Pulp Miniatures, but while there are a number of great options for the Krupp "Pom-Pom gun (37mm Maschinenkanone M97) in this scale, there are no German marines scultpted specifically to serve it.  Possibly one or two of the Pulp Figures from the Maxim gun set could do so, but this will require further investigation.

Landungskorps Revolverkanone gunners:  I have the cone mounted Hotchkiss gun from HLBS now to represent the ones removed from the SMS "Habitcht" for service with the naval landing party.  As I have purchased more Naval machine gun sets than I require from Brigade Games (German) and Redoubt (Austrian), I should be able to borrow from these to serve the revolverkanone.

More Schutztruppe in slouch hats:  With Askari, Pulp and Tiger the main options for Schutztruppe that are suitable for this period, and a sprinkling of Brigade Games figures wearing puttees that are not issued in SWA, I am still in need of more Schutztruppe officers and men to complete the foot commanders and eight infantry sections I require.  I will certainly need to duplicate sets, and these are likely to be Askaris or Pulp, but whenever I find another option I jump on it. 

One such surprising find is from Old Glory in its 25mm Spanish American War range.  Here you can get the Spanish "Fantasy" Pack, featuring a German Maxim machine gun crew and adviser.  Not only is the two man gun crew a decent alternative to the 2 figure machine gun sections offered by Pulp, but the remaining two figures are officer types and can be used at need to command Schutztruppe infantry.

Herero Shock Troops:  Thirty-two are needed.  Falcon once made these, I believe wearing captured Seebataillon and/or Schutztruppe uniforms.  Alternatives include Brigade Games Schutztruppe in Slouch Hats and Askari's current Herero offering.

Native Auxiliaries:  The same figures identified for Herero Shock Troops could be used for these,

Courtesy of German Colonial Uniforms Website

but would need to be painted so as to avoid confusion with Herero fighters in German uniforms and I'm not sure an imperial armband or hatband would do that clearly at this scale.  I need 24 Witboois and 16 Rehoboth Bastards in sections with one officer and seven men on foot.  

My solution for the Bastards is to convert Copplestone's Zanzibar Askaris from its Darkest Africa range by turning their fez headgear into feld hats and giving them shoes fashioned with epoxy putty.  This should make them appear very much like the 1905 historic image at right. 

As for the Witbooi contingent, I will keep them in civilian clothes with white hats and imperial armbands as well as some braided hat cords, and may well chose to use beardless civilians or Boers for this purpose. 

I could use white officers with these native troops, though they had their own Kapteins and Veldkornets as well.  Leutnant Müller von Berneck commanded the Witboois in Abteilung Müller during the Hamakari campaign, while Oberleutnant Böttlinhad the Bastards in Major von Estorff's section.  While there is no scenario that currently calls for the other group of Native troops that served with the Germans at this time - the Bethany (!Aman) contingent - these were under Lt. Thilo von Trotha at Waterberg and this officer and close relative of the commanding General was later killed during failed negotiations with his former soldiers and allies in 1905 during the Nama war.

Mustering the Troops: Germans and Allies

The lead pile at my house representing the German colonial forces in the Herero War of 1904 is even larger than the one discussed in a prior post for their Herero adversaries.  This is due, in part, to a greater variety of troops in the field, as well as more options for depicting them than are available representing armed Africans in European clothing and appropriate uniforms for this period.  The Order of Battle for the Germans, as of now, includes the following figures and sets:

Germans

Askari Miniatures –   4 German Shutztruppe command
                                -    10 German Shutztruppe infantry
                               -     4  German Shutztruppe field artillery crew
                                -    Krupp 77mm field gun
                                -    4 German shutztruppe mountain artillery crew
                                     Krupp 75 mm mountain gun
                                -    4 mules
                                -    limber


Tiger Miniatures – 5 German Shutztruppen advancing at trail
                              -   5 German Shutztruppen advancing at high port
                               -  5 German Gun Crew in Slouch Hats
                              -   75mm Krupp Mountain Gun (EX-13)
                              -   75mm Krupp Field Gun (EX-010)
                              -  2 German Camel riders in Slouch Hats (sans camels)
                                  on horses from a set with riders in pith helmets

Pulp Miniatures    - 5 German Colonial officers and NCOs
                                - 5  German Colonial Rifles
                                 - 4 German Hvy and Lht. Maxim Gun teams
                                -  5  German Seebattalion troops in field caps (to be painted as Schutztruppen)

Matchlock            - 1  German S.W. Africa Field Force Wounded
  (in transit)          -1 German S.W. Africa Field Force Mounted Officer
                               - 2 German S.W. Africa Field Force Mounted Rifleman
                               -2 GERMAN S.W. AFRICA FIELD FORCE   TWO WALKING WOUNDED
                               -1 GERMAN S.W. AFRICA FIELD FORCE   SITTING WOUNDED)

Brigade Games       - 4 (2) German Shutztruppe Command
                                 - (4 German sailor command
                                - 8 German sailors I
                               -8 German sailors II
                              - 3 Hvy Maxim gun sailor crew

Northstar Miniatures – 2 Boer wagon driver and voorloper
                                        - 4oxen

4Ground                      - Boer Jawbone wagon

Copplestone Castings:- 2(5) German officers
                                        -10 German marines

Foundry                    - 3 Native Horse (DA 15/6)
Total: 46 infantry, 5 mounted cavalry, 3 native horse, 7  machine gunners (3 of them sailors), 13 artillery, 2 noncombatants, 11 marines, 20 sailors = 107

Comments:  Some of these sets came with figures in sun helmets or fez that are not appropriate for Southwest Africa.  I have not yet seen the Matchlock figures, which I believe are the same as Falcon miniatures in the US but seem to have a different selection that does not completely overlap.  I understand from a personal communication with Roy Jones, a longtime champion of tabletop wargaming in this period and the author of the excellent Herero Wars blog, that a number of the Falcon miniatures offerings were designed to fill needed gaps and he recommends them highly.

I continue to hope that German figures will be produced in kord waffenrock or kord litewka uniforms, some of them in field caps.  I also would like to see a heliograph unit, and if one does not appear soon, I may be compelled to decapitate the excellent set from Perry's Sudan range and replace the heads with Germans in slouch hats.  More mounted troops, and better choices for native auxiliaries, are also needed.  If a German personality set is contemplated by any manufacturer for this period, my votes would go for Maj Estorff in his short beard and long mustaches, Governor Leutwein in his gray home uniform and field cap, Maj. von Glasenapp of the Seebataillon in a field cap, and Lt. General Lothar von Trotha as he appears in an historic photograph taken in Windhoek with Leutwein in 1904.  Herero and Nama command figures are also needed (Samuel Maharero, Hendrick Witbooi, Assa Riarua and Jakob Morenga would be my choices).

Miniatures in 25mm / 28mm Scale to Represent the Schutztruppe in Southwest Africa in 1904

There are a number of manufacturers offering German Colonial troops in 25mm or 28mm scale.  Not all off them are appropriate for war gaming the Herero war of 1904, however, and not all of them are still in production.  This post deals only with options for the Schutztruppe (seebataillon, naval landing parties and native auxiliaries will be addressed in subsequent posts).

First the bad news:  Back at the turn of the millennium, the Honourable Lead Boiler Suit Company (HLBSC) introduced an excellent German colonial range that included infantry in slouch hats and mounted troops.  These have not been produced for a number of years, however, and after contacting the manufacturer I received the sad news that the molds for these figures are worn and no longer useable.  This is very unfortunate, because there are virtually no other sources available in these scales for accurately portrayed mounted Schutztruppen.  If you find any of these for sale, grab them.

Falcon Miniatures (also produced in Britain as Matchlock Miniatures) also have a German Colonial Southwest Africa Line in 25mm scale.  I have been only been able to find two somewhat different listings of the Matchlock line and no good images of the Matchlock or Falcon Figures, though have been able to order through them successfully.  I am worried by both the inclusion of Askaris, including lancers, which were not used in Southwest Africa, and by some of the slouch hats that I can just make out in the picture gallery on the Falcon site that seem to show Germans in hats turned up across the forehead. Falcon has not returned my email request for more information.  They do have mounted troops, however, and I would very much like to examine them further.

Brigade Games Great War in Africa Line has a number of figures representing German Colonial Troops, and some of these are in Slouch Hats.  Unfortunately, they are wearing puttees instead of cavalry boots.  I did pick up the Command Set and will use two of the four figures (the ones that have slouch hats), but passed on the four infantry in slouch hats because of their leg wrappings.  Brigade Games is a great source, however, for German naval forces.

Falcon and Tiger Miniatures offer German Schutztruppen mounted on both camels and horses.
Unfortunately, the Southwest Africa cavalry troop mounted on Camels was established after the Herero revolt.  I purchased two figure sets from Tiger (troopers in slouch hats on camels and troopers in pith

Tiger Miniatures GC 03 German Schutztruppen Advancing at High Port

helmets on horses) and switched their mounts.  They are very nice figures and I am only sorry that the sun helmeted troopers will have to sit this one out. 

Recreational Conflict is the American distributor for Tiger Miniatures and a joy to order from.  In addition to the mounted figures referenced above, I have two sets of 28 mm German colonial infantry in slouch hats (5 pieces in each advancing at high port or at trail) and a 5 piece artillery crew with a mountain gun.  I did not order the Command set because three of the figures are in sun helmets which were not issued to the Schutztruppe in Southwest Africa.

Pulp Miniatures PGS 17 German Colonial Maxim Guns

The bulk of my Schutztruppe figures are from Tiger, Pulp Miniatures and Askari.  The Pulp Figures are robust 28mm scale and dynamically sculpted.  They are not quite as scrupulously authentic with regard to uniform details and accouterments as are the 25mm Askari offerings, but they are still excellent.  I picked up the 4 figure, 28mm heavy and light machine gun teams from Pulp Figures, which as far as I know are the only Schutztruppe ones available, and they are outstanding.   I also have both the 5 piece German Colonial Rifles set and the 5 piece German Colonial officers and NCOs set, and I also picked up the five piece PGS 04 German Seebattailon Troops 2 which are in peaked feld caps and which I indent to paint in Schutztruppe colors.  There are many period images showing German Schutztruppe wearing these caps as alternatives to Slouch Hats, while the Seebatallion companies that did serve in Southwest Africa were in khaki colored sun helmets.

Askari Miniatures in 28mm are a new line and have the most accurate depictions of Schutztruppe that

Askari Miniatures GE-3 German Schutztrupe Field Artillery Crew

are suitable for the Herero conflict.  I have their entire line and intend to purchase whatever new offerings are subsequently produced.  These now include a 4 piece command set, 10 figures in five poses of Schutztruppe infantry, and 4 piece sets of gunners for both field and mountain artillery.  I have the 77 mm Krupp field gun and 75mm Krupp mountain gun that Askari produces for these figures, as well as a limber with a four mule team. 

The uniforms worn by these figures are various interpretations of the 1896 "Feldrock" khaki tunic.  It would be great to see other figures made wearing the Kord Waffenrock and Litewka as well, given how common these were in Southwest African service, and field caps.  Here's hoping some of these find their way to market soon, along with more cavalry and poses of infantry lying prone and maybe a heliograph section.  Nonetheless, there are ample choices to a respectable dismounted infantry and artillery force, further supplemented by seesoldaten, naval landing parties, boers and native auxiliaries which we shall cover in the an upcoming post.