15mm Wargaming Figures for the Rif Wars

Finding 15mm wargaming figures for the Rif Wars is a bit of a struggle so some creativity is required.

The Spanish uniform evolved over the period of the conflict from, so I’ve included sections on two periods (1909-19; 1920-26). There are also sections on the Spanish Foreign Legion, Moroccan Regulars and the Rif tribesmen themselves.

As it happens I ended up making my own Rif figures.

Spanish 1909-1919

Ros cap

Larry Martinez tipped me off to an American company called Haus of Stuff, who, in their Spanish-American War range have figures equipped with Ros cap and neck flap. They’re not ideal, wearing great coats with turn-backs but probably closer than anything else out there.

You might also try the War Modelling: Spanish American War range.

Otherwise try a head swap using the Peter Pig packs of separate heads with French Kepi on Spanish infantry from LKM/QRF: Freikorp15: Spanish American War: Spanish Range.

Solar helmet

You’ve a choice of:

British (or Spanish) with Solar helmet from a Colonial range such as

Peter Pig Range 22 “Patrols in the
Sudan”
27. British infantry Advancing
28. British infantry Firing
29. British foot command
32 British Sergeants
34. British Heliograph teams

35. British cavalry with sword
36. British cavalry with “make do” lance

37. British cavalry command
49. British Infantry Hi Porte
66. Mounted Brit cavalry Carbine
67. Mounted Brit cavalry Sergeants

Essex Miniatures: Colonial
OC1 Infantryman firing (Puttees)

OC2 Infantryman at the ready (Puttees)

OC4 Foot command: 2 Officers, 2 Sergeants, 2 Buglers
OC5 Command pack: Mtd. Inf/Staff Officers

LKM/QRF: Freikorp15: Spanish American War: Spanish Range
SWS03 Infantry Advancing, Solar helmet
SWA05 Infantry Command, Solar helmet

Old Glory 15s: Colonial Wars: Sudan Range (available from Battle Honours in UK)

SUD01 British Advancing
SUD02 British Skirmishing
SUD03 British Command

Stone Mountain Miniatures:
15MM “Edge of the Empire” British Colonial range
LBN100 British Infantry advancing at ready
LBN101 British Infantry standing and firing
LBN102 British Infantry kneeling and firing
LBN120 British General Service wagon with team of 2 horses, 2 crew, and supplies

British with Solar helmet from a WW1 range – I think LKM/QRF have one.

Head swap using the Peter Pig packs of separate heads with Solar Helmets on Nationalist Infantry or Cavalry from the Peter Pig Range 13: Spanish Civil War. The Nationalist Infantry are good for this ’cause they don’t have granaderos.

Pill box forage cap

The only figures I know with a pill box cap are the British and Colonial troops from the New
Zealand wars of the 1860-72 – try Wildly
Inspired Miniatures But without much effort you can convert the Egyptian troops listed under the Regulares with Fez using Egyptian figures to do the trick. Just cut down the Fez and/or remove the tassel.

Officers peaked cap

Use Generals or Republican officers from the Peter Pig Range
13: Spanish Civil War.

Supply Train

I’m attracted to the ideas of a scenario involving resupplying a Spanish outpost. And for that I’ll need pack mules and such like. Essex and Peter Pig are a similar size and style, but the Peter Pig pack offers two mules per man and more variety in mule loads.

Peter Pig Range 22 “Patrols in
the Sudan”
46. Transport mules and British handlers

Essex Miniatures: Colonial
OCE2 Wagon & 4 horses with British driver
OCE2a Wagon & 4 oxen with British driver
OCE4 Ammunition mules with British drivers (3 per pack)

OCE6 Ammunition mules with Egyptian drivers (3 per pack)

OCE10 Canopy for wagon OCE2/2a

Old Glory 15s: Colonial Wars: Sudan Range (available from Battle Honours in UK)

SUD39 Pack Mules

Stone Mountain Miniatures:
15MM “Edge of the Empire” British Colonial range
LBN120 British General Service wagon with team of 2 horses, 2 crew, and supplies

Spanish Heliograph teams

Another potential scenario. I only know one range that has these.

Peter Pig Range 22 “Patrols in
the Sudan”
34. British Heliograph teams

Spanish 1920+

For Granaderos trousers and a Floppy sun hat use Foreign Legion from the
Peter Pig Range 13: Spanish Civil War and do a head swap
using the Peter Pig packs of separate heads with Confederate hat (suggested by Larry Martinez).
You’ll have to do a head swap, as the Isabelino cap was only adopted for the Regular army in 1926;
before that only the Foreign Legion used it. The only problem with this is that the Foreign Legion
figures are in shirt sleeve order, so don’t have tunics on. You might want to use Nationalist
Infantry instead.
For Floppy hat and trousers, LKM/QRF: Freikorp15: Spanish American War: Spanish Range have Spanish figures with straw hat that can do duty.

You might also try WWI Australian troops – who should come with a suitable broad brimmed hat. Frei Korp – now owned by QRF – but they’re very small and lack the detail of the Peter Pig Range 13: Spanish Civil War.

Spanish Foreign Legion 1921+

For Spanish Foreign Legion you can use the Legionary pack, the Nationalist HMG pack, and any command figures with Isabelino cap from the Peter Pig Range 13: Spanish Civil War. You might want to do a head swap on these to give them a floppy slouch hat – use the Peter Pig pack of separate confederate heads (an idea from Larry Martinez).

Moroccan Regulares 1911+

The obvious starting point are Moroccans from a Spanish Civil War range such as Peter Pig Range 13: Spanish Civil War. These guys have Turbans but you could try getting Regulares with Fez using Egyptian figures from the Sudan campaign (1882 – 1898).

Spanish Tanks

Blue Moon Miniatures (also available from Old Glory UK: 15mm Blue Moon) have both a FT-17 and Schneider M16 CA1.

Spanish Blockhouse (blocao)

Spanish posts of the time were typically a triangle of blockhouses (blocao) (Fleming, 1991). Each blockhouse would have been 6 m by 4 m wooden structures, with sandbags 1.5 m up the walls, and a corrugated iron roof (Preston, 1995). They were surrounded by 3 or 4 strands of barbed wire. A typical garrison for a blockhouse was 21-30 men and these had to be provisioned by armed convoys. The posts tended to be located on hill tops for defence, but typically this meant they were without a water source. So the convoys had to bring in water as well. Occasionally the blockhouses communicated by heliograph and signal lamps.

I’ve opted for the TimeCast 15mm Boer War blockhouse. Each blockhouse comes with a choice of two roofs – sandbagged and corrugated iron.

Rif Tribesmen

Nobody that I’m aware of does an accurate Riffian figure. They, to my eyes, are quite distinct from other Muslim types with their pointy hood on the chilaba and unusual head gear. And try finding such a figure manning a machine gun! I have ended up making my own Rif figures.

By the way, according to Furneaux (1967) Abd-el-Krim rode to war on a donkey! Seems like a modelling opportunity.

Arab Choices

In the absence of other alternatives look for early 20th Century Arab figures with rifles. I only know of two ranges:

Stone Mountain Miniatures:
15MM “Edge of the Empire” French Colonial range
LFA20 Bedouins charging with rifles
LFA23 Bedouins standing and firing
LFA24 Tauregs advancing and firing rifles
LFA28 Mounted sheik, foot sheik, 4 mounted flagbearers, & 6 foot flagbearers
LFA30 Bedouin cavalry riflemen
LFA31 Taureg cavalry riflemen

A more recent and much better option is:

Blue Moon Manufacturing: French Foreign Legion

15FFT-202 Arabs Attacking With Rifles

15FFT-205 Mounted Arabs with Rifles

15FFT-207 Arabs with Captured Machine Guns

15FFT-208 Dead and Wounded Arabs

Mahdist/Ansar Choices

Failing that try 19th Century Mahdist/Ansar with rifles. You can either Convert the Ansar to Riffi or leave them as is. There is quite a choice of Ansar. I like the figures from Two Dragons Productions, Peter Pig and Essex Miniatures, in that order. These three ranges are compatible in size and style. In fact Peter Pig and Essex Miniatures are basically identical in size, style, and even poses. Two Dragons Productions are my favourites mainly because of the range of poses; they are slightly chunkier than the other two ranges but are fine to mix. Old Glory 15s are nice enough figures but they are much larger than the other three ranges and won’t mix easily. I haven’t seen the Dervishes from Stone Mountain Miniatures.

Two Dragons Productions:
Victoria’s Enemies

Two Dragons Productions are my favourite of the choices, mainly because of the variety of poses. They mix well with Essex and Peter Pig.

VE (E) 1 Ansar (Arab) kneeling reaching for cartridge, armed with Remington rifle
VE (E) 2 Ansar (Arab) running with Remington rifle
VE (E) 3 Ansar (Arab) running with Remington rifle at the trail, arm out for support
VE (E) 4 Ansar (Arab) kneeling firing Remington rifle
VE (E) 5 Ansar (Fuzzy) running with Remington rifle
VE (E) 6 Ansar (Fuzzy) cautiously advancing, armed with Remington rifle
VE (E) 7 Ansar (Fuzzy) kneeling with Remington rifle loading
VE (E) 8 Ansar (Arab) crouching with Remington rifle ready
VE (E) 9 Ansar (Arab) Standing firing Remington rifle
VE (E) 10 Ansar (Arab) Advancing with Remington rifle
VE (E) 41 Amir (Arab) on foot, waving men on, sword in hand (Pack of 5)

MIX PAX 14 VE (E) 1 – 10, x 2 each

Peter Pig Range 22 “Patrols in
the Sudan”

The Peter Pig figures are a similar style and size to Essex.

4. Dervish Rifles

6. Dervish command
9. Dervish Gun crew
10. Dervish mounted command
48.Sudanese women civilians
58. Dervish cavalry with rifles

Essex Miniatures : 15mm Colonial

The Essex figures are a similar style and size to Peter Pig. There are only two major poses, with minor variations on the shooting guy.

OC24 Mahdist/Ansar Riflemen

OC25 Mahdist/Ansar Command pack: Leaders & Std. bearers
OC26 Mahdist/Ansar Gun crew, 6 per pack (use cannon OCE1)

Old Glory 15s: Colonial Wars: Sudan Range

The Old Glory 15s figures are larger than Peter Pig and Essex and, most curiously, have bayonets!

SUD27 Ansar Riflemen (Approximately 50 Figures)

Stone Mountain
Miniatures: 15MM “Edge of the Empire” British Colonial range

LBN170 Dervish with rifles

28mm Rif Raf Miniatures

If 28mm is your thing then have a look at the superb Rif War figures from Rif Raf Miniatures. They have a good sized collection already and it is growing. They focus on the 1920s.