Ruga-Ruga!

There is something about the name Ruga Ruga that tells you everything you need to know about these fearsome warriors.  Banded together from disparate backgrounds or tribes the Ruga Ruga were, in effect, mercenaries often in the employ of Western powers to bolster the ranks, fighting alongside the trained Askari.  

Legends abound of unspeakable acts carried out by the often flamboyantly dressed troops and as a result,  I wanted my unit to really stand out on the table.  As luck would have it, 'North Star Miniatures' had recently released some wonderful character packs and I couldn’t help but pick up a couple and selected the most interesting of the sculpts to paint.

With their masks and elaborate headdresses, I had so much fun painting these.  They did, however, take me a ridiculous amount of time due to the sheer variety of colours used.  Armed with muskets these elite troops were often likely to scare their enemies away with the noise and plumes of smoke emitted from their unreliable firearms.

Of course all this cherry picking means that there are a fair few miniatures lying around that I need to get around to painting at some point, but for the time being, I am more than happy with the ones that I have completed.  Although maintaining a fearsome reputation when you have a Hornbill strapped to your head is a tough act to pull off!