Māori pa under attack!

British regulars charge the stoutly-defended palisade of my model Māori pa during the early New Zealand Wars. After some trial and tribulation, I have at last finished my experiment in building two sections of palisading for a Māori pa to use with my Empress Miniatures figures.

Māori pa were constructed of rows of strong log palisades.  Behind the palisades lay a trench, so that the defending warriors were fully protected as they fired their muskets and shotguns through loopholes formed at ground level by having some shorter palings.   You can see such loopholes in the picture above.

The palisading is made from sticks found in the garden.  I roughly carved the upper end of each main post into ovoid or rounded knobs, said to represent the head of an enemy as it would appear when stuck on the top of a palisade – an old Māori custom in war.  I sharpened the ends of the smaller palings with a pencil-sharpener.

Then I glued the whole lot together with PVA.  This was a mistake, as the glue didn’t hold.  Next time I’ll use something stronger, like Bostick.

I also gave the appearance of lashings with a thread and needle.  These lashings actually worked better than expected, because when my glue unexpectedly gave way, it wasn’t a total disaster as the thread held everything in place so I could make running repairs.

You’ll notice that the posts are varying distances apart, different heights and thicknesses. This irregularity is not carelessness on my part (well, mostly, anyway!), but is actually authentic. Here’s a quote from The Pa Maori by Elsdon Best (1927):

I would here especially warn readers that the most persistent feature in the pa maori was irregularity. In the form, extent and plan of defensive lines, in height of palisades and posts, in the sub-division of the interior and its passages and hut location, the native fort was ever irregular in detail.

Finally, I used some thick insulation foam to construct the base and trench wall. I shaped this with a gentle slope at the front, but a vertical face at the rear to represent the front wall of the trench. I coated the whole base with PVA glue and sand, and then decorated it with static grass on the front, but left the vertical rear face with its sandy finish to indicate the freshly dug trench wall.

My experiment has shown that I can achieve the overall look that I want.  This success means that in due course I can now build a bigger portion of a pa.  This will have a double line of palisading, instead of the single fence shown here.  It will also contain an interior base into which I’ll carve the trench behind the main wall.  I can also think about some huts and other items for the interior.

New Zealand Wars book review and excerpt

I’ve read quite a few modern books on the history of the New Zealand Wars of the 19th century.  While erudite and informational, they are often – to be honest – quite dry reads.  They give the facts, the theories, the information, the reasons – but they  fail to depict the sheer excitement, terror and intrigue of these odd wars.

That was until I recently read Peter Maxwell’s Frontier – The Battle for the North Island of New Zealand 1860-1872.  I had heard of this book before – it is regarded as quite controversial because Maxwell lets fly at some of the modern revisionist historians, particularly James Belich, author of The New Zealand Wars.    But I had never read Maxwell’s Frontier myself.

Then the other day I finally got hold of a copy, and – boy – did I realise I had missed something by not reading this wonderfully written and profusely illustrated book until now.   Yes, it does indeed throw pot-shots at Belich and others (and, in many cases, these pot-shots hit their targets fair and square).

But whether you agree or disagree a with Maxwell’s dissection of revisionist histories, one thing that is hard to disagree with is that he brings the New Zealand Wars to life much more vividly than any other modern historian ever has (and I even include Belich’s TV series in this).

By reading Maxwell’s book, for the first time I could really sense the struggle, the misery, the excitement, the guts, of those brave soldiers and warriors battling in the bush and fern.  Stories that are sketched in a few dry sentences in other historical books, Maxwell fleshes out into exciting stories that you can really see in your mind’s eye.

And not only that.  Maxwell has a gift for sorting events into order and matching them with other events, both elsewhere in New Zealand and even overseas.  In this way, he sews the rather piecemeal threads of the New Zealand Wars together so you can see how the various events influenced and flowed into each other.

Another interesting aspect of this book is that Maxwell dwells often on the many Māori who fought alongside the British and colonials for various reasons.   These warriors often receive minimal or scathing attention in other books, so it is interesting to see their perspective presented with equal weight to the Māori warriors of the other side.

If there is only one disappointment (for me) in this book, it is that it only covers the wars of the 1860s and 1870s.  My particular interest is the 1840s wars, so to me this is a shame.  But, nevertheless, Maxwell makes the 1860s wars such an exciting and colourful story, I do hope that Empress Miniatures will venture into that conflict one day.

I thoroughly recommend Frontier.  Just to prove my point about how enthralling Maxwell’s book is, here (with his permission) is an excerpt covering the fight at Pukekohe East Church in 1863.

The Fight at Pukekohe East Church

Excerpt from FRONTIER – The Battle for the North Island of New Zealand 1860-1872

by Peter Maxwell

The Presbyterian church at Pukekohe East had been consecrated six months earlier. It stands in a clearing in the bush at the edge of a flat-topped ridge. Immediately behind the building the land drops away steeply for several hundred feet, offering a prospect across rolling country to the summit of Pukekohe hill, four miles distant to the south-west.

Each day the ridgetop clearing grows larger as trees are felled and trimmed and the logs added to the wall. By early September the clearing extends to perhaps an acre but it is still littered with branches and tree stumps. The church is garrisoned by seventeen men of the Forest Rifle Volunteers, Sergeant Perry in command. Each man is armed with an Enfield with fixed bayonet, and has the makings for sixty cartridges.

A section of the garrison continues the work of tree felling while others deepen the trench and throw the dirt hack against the logs – it is warm work and the pace is unhurried. Each morning fires are lit to consume the brush and boil the billies. They burn until dusk, sending columns of smoke above the treetops. At times the smoke thickens and drifts into the bush, putting the occasional wood pigeon to flight. The settler/soldiers toiI with axe and spade – their rifles are stacked vertically in stands of three, never more than a few paces distant. Perry has ordered rifle slits to be cut into the wall, a tedious job involving the hewing of matching half slots in separate logs, then the careful stacking of them to ensure that the holes align.

At times, Lieutenant Lusk rides by on his routine patrols through the Pukekohe area. The Lieutenant regards the church’s defences with a critical eye – the rifle slits he approves of, but the walls are too low. He would prefer them shoulder height. He orders two more rows of logs to be added and the ditch deepened further.

At dawn on Sunday morning the 13th of September after a night voyage downriver three canoes each carrying between sixty and seventy Waikato warriors are beached near Tuakau. The canoes are dragged up from the bank to e concealed in the bush for the river is now regularly patrolled by British craft. The raiders are met by warriors whose tribe has just been evicted from its land.  They guide the newcomers to the Alexandra Redoubt but there is no real battle plan – the fort is fired upon from the bush edge. The garrison returns the fire. An hour long gunfight ensues which produces few casualties for both parties are well protected behind timber. Eventually the raiders draw off to the north-east, crossing the slopes Pukekohe hill in search of easier pickings.

The raiders spend Sunday night in the bush but they are on the move again at first light. By 8am they have silently ringed the Pukekohe East church. The garrison is slowly coming to life, the fires have been rekindled and a cooked breakfast is underway.

The men of the working party are unaware that almost 200 men surround them. The annihilation of the garrison is seconds away – a coordinated charge will overwhelm them. Then a single shot rings across the clearing. Perhaps a settler saw a movement at the bush edge and loosed his Enfield at it – perhaps an attacker stumbled and triggered his gun by accident.

Breakfast is abandoned. The settlers snatch their rifles and scramble back over the wall. For those critical few seconds the attackers are non-plussed. The pakehas have vanished as quickly as rabbits down a burrow. Nobody moves. Then a row of bayonets slides out through the rifle slits. “Wait for the order..” Perry commands “..then fire independently.”

The assault comes in a rush. “Wait until I shoot…” Perry calls again. At thirty yards his Enfield cracks and the first warrior drops. The log wall is lit with individual flashes. The warriors shoot directly at the stacked trunks, their shotgun balls thudding into the timber – scattering chips of bark. The first wave of attackers surges up to the ditch, but men are falling.

There is something wrong, some lack of will. Two hundred against seventeen, yet the attack falters. There is over excitement, some type of confusion, of ill discipline. Warriors, whether in bravado or light headedness, stoop to gather up the breakfasts abandoned by the settlers. They are no more than fifteen paces from the defenders’ rifle muzzles. Point blank. Three are immediately shot down. Others throw themselves at the wall but they are bayoneted about the head and shoulders as they attempt to climb. The settlers are fighting for their lives, focused on loading and shooting, but the attackers seem to be uncertain of their goal – they lack decisiveness.

In minutes the assault has failed. The warriors fall back to take cover behind the tree stumps. They have suffered nearly twenty casualties with nothing to show for it. Sporadic gunfire continues, but Perry has his men controlled. He moves along the wall counselling each in turn. Take your time he instructs. “Aim your shots, don’t waste them.”

In the next half hour fifteen more warriors are shot dead.

A woman, Rangi-rumaki, shotgun in hand, a bandolier of cartridges around her waist, exhorts the warriors to attack again. She exposes herself recklessly to fire but there is no second charge.

Now a curious event occurs. Unseen by the defenders a white wood pigeon swoops across the clearing to land on the church roof. A symbol – the Maori are convinced that the bird has come to protect the pakeha. A chief orders that it be killed. A hailstorm of fire straddles the pigeon – the church roof is sieved, splinters of match lining shower down inside but the bird remains unharmed. It struts along the ridgeline pursued by shot. The defenders are mystified – they can only guess at why, despite the closeness of the battle, their enemies’ gun barrels are angled skywards.

But while the attackers concentrate on killing the bird the settlers concentrate on killing them. Joseph Scott and James Easton, holding the right front of the stockade, take the largest toll. The attackers’ casualty list climbs steadily into the thirties.

Cowan [an earlier historian] reported: ‘Hour after hour the firing continued in the smoke-filled clearing. The powder grimed garrison, with smarting eyes and parched throats, stuck manfully to their posts, firing with care for their ammunition was running short..’

At 1pm the first reinforcements arrived. Lieutenant Grierson and 32 militiamen had run across country from Ramarama. They bellied up through the bush, loosed a fusillade at the nearest warriors then sprinted across the clearing under fire to scramble over the wall. Once the reinforcements regained their breath and reloaded the gunfight intensified.

In 1920 Cowan interviewed a veteran of the battle, Te Huia Raureti, at his home on the Puniu river. By mid afternoon Huia told him, the men of his raiding party had suffered sixty casualties, forty of whom were dead. (Cowan I – V. 282)

But the fight was not yet over. There were still more than 100 warriors surrounding the church, and still shooting. A second detachment of militia arrived. Rather than making a run for the building they went to ground along the bush edge. The fighting was close for one man, shot in the leg, was tomahawked where he lay. The militiamen crouched behind stumps and fallen logs, adding their fire power to the defence. The attackers reacted by shifting their positions, spreading out into a semi-circle through the bush on the opposite side of the clearing.

At 4 o’clock, after being summoned by civilians who had heard the distant shooting and ridden for help, 150 British soldiers stormed into the clearing. They had marched from the new Tuakau redoubt seven miles to the south-west. During this final assault three British soldiers were killed outright and eight wounded, but their charge was carried.

The Forest Rifles lay their Enfields down. They have been on their feet shooting for eight hours. Between them they have fired over 1000 rounds, each load ram-rodded home from the muzzle; powder charge, patch and ball. Not a single man has been touched by a bullet. Their church walls are punctured by a frieze of holes at head height, just above the level of the logs, leaking powdered gravel. Inside, the building is a shambles of broken glass and splinters. Dust motes circle in the shafts of light slanting down from the bul]et holes in the ceiling.

Frontier may be ordered direct from Peter Maxwell, RD 2, Waihi 3682, New Zealand. Email: nzguns@clear.net.nz

NZ$46.50 per copy, postage included within New Zealand. Payment may be made by cheque, or by Visa or Mastercard.

Photo of Pukekohe East Church as it stands  today by Peter Maxwell.

A Victorian Science Fiction conundrum

The other evening myself and some pals met with Colonel O’Truth to view (finally) his magnificent Victorian Science Fiction (VSF) creations that have caused so much interest on various wargaming fora in recent months (that’s the Colonel and some of his magnificent machines in the picture above – click the pic for a closer look).

The Colonel has been trying to exhort Scott, Greg and myself to take up VSF gaming with GASLIGHT rules. So far, while interested, I haven’t fully engaged with the idea. But seeing the Colonel’s models up close and personal the other night, the interest is getting a little more intense! After all, to start with all I need is 30 figures and a machine or two. Surely that’s manageable, isn’t it?!

I’m dithering like mad on what VSF force to do, though. Up till now I’ve been vaguely inclined towards French, but I just can’t find a range of 28mm French figures that really ‘does it’ for me.

My criteria are:

1. a real 19th century French ‘look’ (this doesn’t necessarily mean realism, but something more indefinable, with posing, character and panache that match what I *imagine* when I think of late 19th century French!);
2.  lots of active poses (ie not a range of packs of duplicated figures; and doing more than just marching);
3. excellent sculpting (again, somewhat indefinable – but for me this means a little bit chunky, good features and detail, no awkward arms, clean looking casting);
4. red trousers. Oh yes, definitely red trousers!

OK, so I’m not asking for much, am I?

So what have I found so far?

• If the ‘Foundry’ filibuster French Foreign Legion weren’t so Mexican-ish, I’d go for them, as they otherwise meet my criteria.
• ‘Artizan’ are almost there for me, but not quite.  Maybe if I see their latest figs when the pics arrive on their site?
• ‘Mirliton’ almost match, especially with the French ‘look’, but are a little slim and gawky by the website.
• ‘Askari’ – for me the website photos don’t enthuse me, even though the subject matter looks good.
• And ‘Perry’ have otherwise perfect legionnaires in their Carlist range, but a little bit too early in the century for me – though I am tempted.

Any other options out there for VSF French?

Or are there any other late 19th century nations which fit my criteria (though possibly not red trousers!).  Other than British, Prussian or Bavarian, Chinese and Japanese, which my pals are already taking.

PS: If ‘Empress Minatures’ made French, then they’d be perfect, as I love their NZ Wars range.  Actually, I have toyed with  doing a Māori VSF force with flying waka (inticately carved and decorated war-canoes) and a floating pa!

Sample ‘Sharp Practice’ cards for New Zealand Wars

My pa fortifications project started well enough, but then the glue failed, the walls fell to bits, and I’m now back at square one! I bet the real Māori engineers had no trouble like this! So when I buy a better make of glue, I’ll start again.

In the meantime, I’ve begun work on the playing cards needed for Sharp Practice, giving them a New Zealand Wars theme. Below are some samples of the cards I’ve done so far. Any ideas for some good national characteristic cards for the Māori warriors?

Māori pa fortifications under construction

[above] Hone Heke and Kawiti inspect my new Māori pa fortifications under construction for my New Zealand Wars project. Whilst waiting for the glue to dry, I’ve quickly photographed my initial experiment at making Māori fortifications for my New Zealand Wars project.

You can see they’re made of ordinary twigs. The ends of the main posts have roughly shaped ‘heads’ on them done with a rasp.

I’ve given the palings points with a pencil sharpener. Some of them are cut a bit shorter at the bottom to leave loopholes at ground level. The unique thing about Māori fortifications was that the warriors fired from underneath the fence. This was quite unlike most other nations’ fortifications, where defenders stood on platforms to shoot over the tops of their walls. Māori warriors were further protected by standing in a trench behind the wall. This made them very difficult indeed to winkle out.

The palings are somewhat out of scale (too thick), but will, I hope, give the right impression. Once the glue is dry, they’ll also be tied in with a criss-cross thread. Then I have to make raised bases for the fences with the protective trench behind them.

Below are a couple of inspiring pictures by ‘Jen 64′ of model Māori pa at the Tawhiti Museum in Hawera. Mine is not going to be anywhere as dramatic, but instead will be just a few modular fence sections that I can arrange on the edge of the board to form an indicative part of a pa.

Anyway, the glue is nearly dry now, so on I must go with the next stage in assembly …

Two New Zealand Wars armies for ‘Sharp Practice’

Yes, I’ve been a bit lax on posting updates to the blog lately, but that is because I have been beavering away on my New Zealand Wars project. And at last I can show the results – two fairly well complete armies ready for playing ‘Sharp Practice’ in the fern and bush of 1840s New Zealand.

All the figures in both my New Zealand Wars armies are the wonderful 28mm creations of Empress Miniatures. My photos don’t do justice to these figures – they truly are exquisite, and I highly recommend them. I love the posing, anatomy and the way they capture the feel of the period. Not only that, they are a joy to paint – beautifully cast with practically no flash, and with excellent detail that your brush just itches to bring out.

Anyway, on with the show. Let’s take a look at my British and colonial army first:

Here’s my entire British and colonial army ready to do battle. As you can see, the figures are all individually based, which will give me maximum flexibility in organising my armies.  By the way, you might want to click on this photo (as well as others in this posting) to get the full size effect.

In the photo above you can see the British regulars arranged in two companies, along with a company of militia and some civilians, a naval rocket battery, a pair of marksmen and a squad of militia sappers. Each of the bigger groups has a ‘big man’ to command it under the ‘Sharp Practice’ rules, but more about them later.

Here’s a closer look at some of the British regulars. I’ve painted all my figures in the distinctive black cuffs and facings of the 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot. The 58th had been despatched to New South Wales by detachments between 1843-5 as guards on convict ships. They provided the first reinforcements sent to New Zealand when trouble with the Māori seemed imminent. The Regiment eventually formed part of the permanent garrison of the colony, remaining there until 1858, when it returned home.

In front of the company stand two officers and a bugler. Maybe the natty officer checking his pocket watch is Major Cyprian Bridge, who later became known as a chronicaller and artist of the Northern War in New Zealand.

By the way, I’ve sourced the above information from To Face the Daring Maoris by Michael Barthorp, an evocative history of the 58th Regiment in New Zealand, which is not only a detailed resource, but also a thrilling read at the same time.

Militia units also fought in the New Zealand Wars. The Auckland Volunteers are seen here wearing their pork-pie hats, blue blouses or grey shirts, and trousers from British regimental stores.

Empress Miniatures don’t yet make a command group for their range of militia, so I’ll assign them a regular redcoat officer, which seems to be accurate enough from my readings.

Amongst Empress Miniatures’ latest release were this lovely group of militia sappers. I wasn’t entirely sure how I would incorporate them into my games, but they are such lovely figures that I couldn’t resist them. I’m sure I’ll be able to find a role for some sappers in my ‘Sharp Practice’ scenarios.

I’ve tried to paint these guys with the dusty, dirty look of men working in the midday sun.

Rockets were used spectacularly, albeit not particularly effectively, during the Northern Wars. They were hauled up-country from the ships by their naval crews, then loosed against the pa fortifications.

As Barthorp writes:

“Great interest centred on the the rockets, for the Maoris appeared to believe they were a form of guided missile, which could pursue an enemy until it killed him. [Navy Lieutenant] Egerton’s first discharge thus came as something of an anti-climax, since the rocket sailed wildly and ineffectively over the pa, much to the sardonic amusement of Heke, who stood watching the proceedings from the main gate. With the third shot, Egerton struck the pallisade, causing a great deal of noise and excitement within, but otherwise little damage.”

One of my sailors sports a light blue neck cloth. I got the idea from fellow New Zealand Wars enthusiast, Michael Awdry (whose amazingly painted New Zealand Wars figures have to be seen to be believed).  I’m not sure if in the 1840s these blue neck flaps had yet been incorporated into sailors’ dress. But it looks the part, and so I’m happy!

Here are another couple of figures from Empress Miniatures’ latest release that I’m not yet sure how I’ll fit into my gaming. They’re marksmen, one firing, the other loading while lying on his back.

I’ve given them small scenic bases, including logs on which to rest their muskets. You can also see the variety of ground material I’ve used for my bases: mixtures of sand and crushed shells, flock, static grass, clumps of long grass and even paper ferns.

I mentioned ‘big men’ before. These are a feature of the ‘Sharp Practice’ large skirmish rules by Too Fat Lardies.

Big men don’t necessarily represent all the officers, but a selection of the characters to run the narrative of the game. They’re the ones who inspire and lead their groups. You’ll see I’ve got a number of officers (top row), NCOs (middle row), a naval petty officer and even a civilian constable (bottom row).

I’m going to make up a card for each big man. These photos will go on the cards to make it easy to identify the figures they apply to.

OK, one last look at my British and colonials before we move on to the other side. This is quite a big photo, so if you click on it to enlarge it, you can pan down the line to get a good look at the figures.

Now let’s take a look at the other side. Actually, strictly speaking that’s not true, as Māori fought on both sides during the wars. Therefore a few of these guys may end up supporting the British side in some games.

Anyway, here’s my Māori army. Again, the organisation can be changed as I will. Here you see them arranged into a number of small taua (war parties), each led by a big man (or a big woman in one case!). The toa (warriors) are armed with a selection of weapons.

At the front of the army stands Hone Heke Pokai, with a conch blower beside him. He is portrayed here wearing a cloak and a ship captain’s peaked cap. Although he had signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the troubles in the North came about when Heke, disillusioned with the British administration,  cut down the flag pole at Kororareka not once, but several times.

This taua, led by a portly chief, is armed mainly with traditional weapons and axes, though a few sport muskets as well.

I had a lot of fun painting the designs on some of the kilts.  I’ve used my imagination for these, but have tried to keep them along the lines of  Māori design elements I see around me here in New Zealand every day.

Another taua, this one all armed with muskets.  The majority of toa in the Northern Wars were equipped with firearms.  Their pa (fortifications) were specially designed to allow them to shoot from beneath the walls (not from on top as in many other civilisations).

OK, so you’ve now noticed the one thing I haven’t yet done for this project – building a miniature  pa!  But that is indeed on the drawing board.  I am still mulling over ideas on how to design it.

One of the most popular types of firearms amongst Māori was the shotgun.  They called it the tupara, basically a form of the English ‘two-barrel’.

The big man leading this taua is the doughty old rangatira (chief) of the Ngāpuhi, Te Ruki Kawiti.  While Hone Heke tends to get all the limelight, Kawiti was the real warrior brains behind the campaign.    He had spent his life “in slaughter and plunder against rival tribes, and now felt tempted, perhaps encouraged by Heke’s defiance, to test his strength against the white tribe.”

In Empress Miniatures’ second release there was a pack of Māori  women, though their big man .. er, woman …  came in the original release.

This raises a bit of a conundrum, as in general Māori women did not fight in taua, though they might defend their pa when their menfolk were away.  However, there were exceptions.  And this is just a game, after all.  So who is going to say I can’t use my female taua?!

In the above picture you can also see on one of the male warriors in the foreground my attempt at a facial tattoo (or moko).  This doesn’t convey too well in a blown-up photo of this size.  But on the miniatures themselves, especially when viewed on the table, I think I’ve captured the impression of a moko OK.

So here are my Māori big men.  Obviously Hone Heke and Kawiti are there, but also a number of others who can lead and inspire their taua.  They also will eventually get named cards.

So there you have it.  I’m really pleased with the progress I’ve made.  My painting usually tends to go in fits and starts, but this project includes such a range of diverse figures, and in relatively small numbers, that it has been a breeze to do.  And the fact that it depicts history on my own doorstep makes it that much more appealing.

So now it is on with building a pa, making the cards, and designing a scenario for my first game, which I hope will take place in mid July at the Kapiti Wargames Club’s games day here in Paraparaumu, New Zealand.

Oh, and Empress Miniatures, if you read this posting, any chance of a third release?!?!