Chiltern Miniatures African Militia/Gangstas

Sticking with my current contemporary posts, here is a bunch of figures I bought quite a few years ago and never got round to reviewing. They are two sets of four 28mm scale African Militia, produced by Chiltern Miniatures, who no longer seem to be trading. I have no interest whatsoever in African wars, but when I saw these figures I immediately thought of using them as gangstas in a modern day American setting. Sure, they are heavily armed with AK47 Assault Rifles, but a lot of gangs do have access to such weaponry in big numbers.

I have called this gang, the Chambers Brothers gang, who are named after an actual gang of that same name. Incidentally, the real life Chambers Brothers were the inspiration for Wesley Snipe's gang in the film, New Jack City, a film I rate very highly. In the photos directly above and below are the four Chambers brothers.

At the far left is B.J. who is both the eldest brother and the gang leader. Moving on, in order of seniority from left to right are, Otis, Larry and Willie. These are all hardened criminals and brutal killers.

Brotherhood seems to be a common trait in this gang. At the left of these two photos above and below are twin brothers, Damion and Randy Bridgeforth. The other two gang members are Anthony King and kneeling down is Terrance Stewart.

The figures made by Chiltern Miniatures were not the finest on the market. These are very chunky and their AK47s are vastly over-scale. But... there is just something about them that appeals to me. They are nicely posed and they do have character. I do like the way the faces have been sculpted. They were fun to paint as I deliberately went for a very colourful palette on them, seeing as they are clearly dressed for hot weather. Otis's shirt really stands out!
These could have sat in a box for a long time before I decided to review them. However, I do have a pressing need to review them as soon as possible. They will be making their gaming debut very shortly in my next Judge Dredd Miniatures Game Comic Life batrep. This is the gang that Judge Scott and PSI Judge Devereux will be tackling. Their AK47s will appropriately enough, be classed as Spit Gun Rifles. I have their JDMG stats already worked out as well as the details of the scenario, which will be another one of my own designs. I'm planning on playing it this weekend so it should be ready for posting some time next week.