Kikuyu! Dozens of ‘em!

 Ok, not as much impact as “Zulus! Thousands of ‘em!” One day I’ll do something mainstream. One day...

Now if you’re anything like me, you’re susceptible to advertising. A long, long time ago a Stratagem Miniatures advert in one of the mags captured my imagination. The range was The Kikuyu Revolt 1902 and the painted examples were an officer and soldier of the King’s African Rifles (KAR) and a Kikuyu warrior. This must have been the 80s or early 90s. I was fascinated! Who were the Kikuyu? What was this revolt?!

The range is long since defunct, but I came across someone selling the minis on eBay. They were listed as Wargames Foundry French! Well not many folk are going to know what they really are.

The Kikuyu are the majority tribe in Kenya. At the time this was the Protectorate of British East Africa. Not as famous as their more warlike neighbours, the Masai, from whom they were heavily influenced, the Kikuyu in earlier times were a forest tribe and their favoured weapon was the bow and arrow. They still relied on bands of bamboo forest to protect their borders, and still favoured hit and run tactics in the forest when possible. However spears, swords and shields had been adopted as more of their lands were cleared for cattle, sheep and goats. (Apologies if any of my ‘facts’ are wrong!)

To represent the archers within the warbands, I’ve used Foundry figures with suitable hairstyles. The Stratagem Miniatures warriors with spears and shields were sculpted by Peter Morbey of Elite Miniatures fame. 

From the rear, there’s just a load of bare bottoms! This is correct. The archers are wearing loincloths which isn’t correct, but I can live with it. From the front it’s a riot of red, black and white with the painted shields.

The shield designs are heavily influenced by the Masai. I sketched several designs from books and photos.

A couple of the photos from the internet used for reference.

The painting was pretty straightforward. A sand undercoat followed by a wash of one part Cygor Brown Contrast paint with two parts Contrast Medium. The Cygor is too strong straight from the pot and the Medium is the stuff that the colour pigment is suspended in.

Then the spear shafts, skin and what I’ve taken to be lion headdresses have all been highlighted with different browns. Metallic colours added, a bit of red and white here and there and also red applied on some faces as the Kikuyu did apply greasy war paint. Then the shields were undercoated grey and painted as you see. The figures would look mighty dull if it wasn’t for the shields!

The figures are based in twos and threes on round bases to add to the irregular look. I’ll probably never find more of the Stratagem Kikuyu figures, so will add more Foundry archers to the force. They’ll need beefing up to put up any sort of show against a mixed force of KAR, police and Masai auxiliaries. I already have suitable KAR in their blue jerseys and ample figures to represent the almost useless police. I need to paint my Masai (Foundry figures) who it would appear just loved fighting! Having painted the Kikuyu quickly I feel armed with the techniques to paint the Masai.

I envisage using Sharp Practice. So need all warriors in groups of 12, KAR in 2 groups of 8 (regulars) and one group of 10 militia-quality police.

When Duncan Macfarlane commissioned the range, his inspiration was this book. I believe it all stems from a very brief mention:

“In October 1902 these same villages revolted and troops were sent out to punish them. The trouble was attributed to medicine men, so two of them were publicly hanged in Fort Hall, which stopped the trouble temporarily; but the Kikuyu are ripe for trouble...”

Meinertzhagen did not participate in this ‘revolt’, but was engaged in several other police/punitive actions described in the book. Some of you clever chaps may recognise his name from his exploits during WW1, mainly as an intelligence officer. 

So there you have it. Kikuyu warriors! Literally dozens of ‘em! I’ll close with an image of just the old Stratagem Miniatures figures.

Sorry I’ve rambled on. Hope you’ve enjoyed something slightly unusual from me yet again!

Cheers

Chris