By the time this set was released, A Call To Arms had already released eight Zulu figures in 1:32 scale, and a further four have since appeared, so clearly they like their Zulus. It was therefore no surprise to see this set of scaled down warriors.

The figures are superb, armed with a mixture of stabbing and throwing spears and knobkerrys (clubs), plus a handful of rifles that would have been obtained either from European traders or perhaps from some unfortunate British soldier. Clothing is of course minimal, but the loincloths and headgear are correctly sculpted, though it is slightly disappointing that no chieftain is included as they would have had a more magnificent headdress. Still with only eight poses there is perhaps less room for variety, and some of these warriors have headdresses that would be more sophisticated than many would wear into battle. The rest all have the isicoco ring in the hair which identifies them as married, which is fine as there were several regiments of married men in 1879.

The poses are mostly excellent, but the two with rifles are not without some issues. The figure in the top row seems about to fire the rifle, which, held like that, will give him a nasty kickback in the face. Since the Zulus were well aware of how to use a musket or rifle, this kind of mistake seems highly unlikely. The man with the rifle in the second row is not so improbable, but we felt it was not a particularly useful pose, especially when there are only eight poses in a set. Having at least one pose with a rifle is certainly necessary, but these are not the best choices in our view.

The figures may look lovely, but the shields present something of a problem. On the 1:32 scale figures, the shields fixed onto a peg on the warrior's hand, and were very secure. No attempt has been made to duplicate that here, so there is nothing to hold the shields to any figure, making gluing the only option. As a result, they will not stand up well to rough handling. However, this does mean there is no compromise like the Esci figures had, where the shields were secure but had a gaping hole in the middle of each one. The shields are all 16 mm in length, making them the large war shield which was certainly still carried in 1879, but was less common than the smaller model fashionable at the time. All are very well sculpted, with proper detail on both front and back.

In short, an excellent set in most regards. Eight poses is sometimes quoted as the minimum for a decent infantry set, but each one is beautifully sculpted. Put them together in large numbers to recreate one of the much-feared Zulu impis, and mix them freely with the other sets of Zulus made at this scale (listed below) to create some very impressive formations of native warriors.