When I decided to get involved in 1\72 Colonials I had in mind organizing them for The Sword and the Flame (TSTF) rules. In TSTF each infantry unit has 20 figs plus a officer\leader.

It wasn’t long however before I discovered two other sets of rules that I liked. One is The Men Who Would Be Kings (TMWWBK). The basic organization in TMWWBK for regular infantry is 12 figs.

The other set is Black Powder which is supported by the scenario supplement dedicated to the Zulu War. Black Powder organization tends to be larger than either TSTF or TMWWBK.

What was I to do?

I decided  to design my units with enough flexibility to do any of the above rules; that’s what.

If I were to play TSTF it would easy enough to make a composite unit of RMLI and RN to make 20 figures in a unit.

If I were to play TMWWBK I have 12 RMLI and 12 RN plus officers for looks.

If I were to play Black Powder I would  combine the RMLI and RN to make one large unit of 24 figs plus officers.

Yeah, I had to paint a lot of extra figures to go from TMWWBK to Black Powder but it was fun.

All the figures in this series of pictures are from HAT.

Royal Marine Light Infantry (RMLI)

RMLI Sergeant

RMLI Sergeant ordering an advance

The Royal Navy Contingent (RN)

RN Bluejackets from HMS Shah

RMLI Officer

The combined unit of RMLI and Bluejackets led by a mounted officer from one of the line regiments

RMLI and RN Bluejackets combined for Black Powder

RMLI with Sergeants keeping order on the right. Unit size is for The Men Who Would Be Kings.