Africa is absolutely massive in both size and population (both traits second only to Asia), and is more diverse than what many other people would assume. With that said; savannas (a biome too dry to be a thick jungle but just wet enough to allow grass and sparse populations of trees) make up at least 1/3 of the continent (the other biomes primarily being desert and jungle). Savannas are not unique to Africa; however Africa is noticeable for having the majority of the world’s savannas.
Now savannas are similar to grasslands; and since grasslands have little to no trees, it is a perfect environment for horsemen warriors (Mongolians in the Eurasian Steppe, Sioux and Comanche in the Mid-West of North America). However Sub-Saharan Africa didn’t have wild-horses and ‘zebras are bastards’.
We also need to consider that there were African kingdoms who used mining, but heavy armor wasn’t an option for such a hot continent. Also the magnitude of mining in Sub-Saharan Africa wasn’t as intense as European or Asian mining, and some African tribes didn’t mine at all: instead just collecting ores that they found above the ground.
Africa thus created warriors that were lightweight, which thus could take advantage of the savannas giving them unrestricted movement. Tribal warriors being physical fit and being good runners is very common throughout the world, especially since most tribes had hunters. However African tribesmen have running feats that sound almost superhuman: with one famous quote being “How far can British men walk in a day?” “50 miles.” “A Zulu regiment can run, RUN 50 miles and fight a battle at the end of it!” This is why Kenyans are infamous for long distance running; that’s what their warriors and hunters prioritized on. We humans aren’t the fastest animals, but we excel at long distance running, and so many African hunters will chase a gazelle for hours until it is too exhausted to flee anymore.
The odd thing about the Zulu and Zande warriors is that they have a shield and spear combo: which is what you would expect a Greek Hoplite. These warriors also share medium-range projectiles (Africans had Iwisa, Rungu, Kpinga and both Africans and Greeks had Javelins) and a hacking side-arm (Africans using Axes and Sickles, Greeks using Short-Swords).
Yet if you play Overwatch, you know that two characters with similar weapons aren’t identical at all (Reaper and Roadhog have shotguns and self-healing for example). Spartan Hoplites were effective at holding a line using their massive Aspis Shields, Macedonian Hoplites were assisted by Cavalry to be both aggressive and defensive with their long Sarissa Pikes. Zulus, lacking Cavalry support and being extremely fast runners, used their mobility to rush and outflank their enemy.
Also: bonus points for their epic warcries; especially NYUM NYUM!
Weaknesses[]
The non-metal shields of these Africans were not designed for a defense, it’s the opposite of the Spartan Aspis. By rushing at the enemy, the exposure to enemy projectiles is minimized. And with the Africans using their speed, they are able to close the distance so that the enemies flinging their projectiles were unable to fall back and reposition for continuing their bombardment.
This is especially true for one of the WORST shields I have seen for ANY warrior: the Zande Wicker Shield. I understand that Zande don’t have the best resources, but Wicker is what you use to make BASKETS. Deadliest Warrior confirmed that it can’t block arrows, it can get destroyed by a heavy sword, and I’m guessing that anything that isn’t bare fists or slings will eventually break this wall of tissue paper. TECHNICALLY it’s better than nothing, I will admit that, but I would think it would just get in the way considering other African tribes were using Iron-Age weapons as well.
Also since Heavy Crossbows can penetrate light armor; it could overwhelm these warriors due to the range advantage, especially if they can penetrate these light shields. Any archer will have a range advantage, especially since the Zande Botto & Pima is too light to penetrate even light armor.
Now this would assume that heavy armor tanks like the Samurai, Knight, Legionnaire or Hoplite would dominate these African tribesmen; but keep in mind this is Africa, a continent that is either dry and hot or a muddy, humid jungle. As mentioned before; this is why plate-armor was uncommon in the Middle East: Persian, Arabic and Ottoman Empires did have the resources to have Knight armor but couldn’t go all in, knowing their warriors will overheat.
I would consider the Persian Immortal and the Ottoman Sipahi as the best counters for the Zande and the Zulu. Both the Immortal and Sipahi had enough armor to be considered light-tanks; allowing them to avoid overheating. Persians might be using Wicker Shields as well, but at least they are thicker and of reasonable quality: so they could be used to block more effectively. Also both the Immortal and Sipahi used horses; which could outrun even the best Olympian runners. African tribes rarely fought against armor or horses, I don’t know how they could cope with that without adopting a new style of warfare.