The Shastapsh Chronicles

Landship Down Revisited

2011-10-29T06:40:00.000-07:00

A week ago we gathered for a massive Martian game at the Game Matrix. I'd talked Mark Waddington into a game a few weeks ago, wanting to sneak in some of my newer units. He agreed and offered to pull out Landship Down, a scenario he developed a few years ago in which a landship, together with British infantry and auxiliaries were being rescued by an overland expedition fighting its way through Martians interdicting their advance.

The naked initial terrain set up from the Martian left. The center woods tied down a fair number of Brits, but would also cost a lot of dead Martians.

The damaged British landship with its defenders.

Simple concept. Mark made me a Martian commander and allowed us 25 units plus some additional goodies. 15 of the units had to be Martian, but the remaining ten could be various mercenary/allied troops.

The initial British setup for its rescue force. You can see the force of mechanicals at the British disposal.

The Martians decided to ring the broken landship and its escorting force with foreign troops that could keep them under considerable fire. This led to a lot of British casualties as the German and Fenian units were on a par with the Brits, and superior to the Martian auxiliaries. As things devolved into a kind of trench warfare, the Brits waited for help.

The Martians had a small flyer which never had quite the effect on the game the big British Zeppelin had.

The Indians set up on the right side of the table. The steam elephant has already sustained some mechanical damage due to a bad breakdown roll.

Help was indeed coming. The remaining Martian units were hunkered down in or behind every terrain feature left on the board, hoping to delay or degrade the mass of troops and, tanks and walkers coming our way. The battle that progressed down the length of the sixteen foot table seemed to divide into a left, center and right. On the (Martian) left troops defended a ridge and valley to the some woods. In the center quite a few Martian units defended the woods and two important hills in the chief killing zone of the table. On the right was another ridge line lined with troops and Martian weapons.

Things are starting to get tense for the Indians. The steam elephant is down and destroyed and Gatling fire from the "Big Walker Spitting Death" has caused casualties among the Madras infantry.

The Martians opened the game with a quick attack on advancing British units with a unit of Amazonians. John McEwan hoped to catch the Brits napping and knock out a couple of quick attackers. Unfortunately the dice gods didn't go our way (for most of the game) and he was repulsed. The British were able to advance with a mechanical lancer unit that did considerable damage on that flank and to the rear of the woods, rendering out center tenuous.

In the center it was a meat grinder. Advancing with a tank, British regulars with Martian auxiliaries were able to slowly advance through the woods tearing up Martian defenders, but at considerable cost to themselves. Without an effective answer to the British armor, there was little they could do to the tank. The first hill in the center was not occupied by our troops. The Brits parked an enormous walker there, which we were able to damage pretty well with artillery fire, but just could not a strong enough hit on to penetrate it and get it out of the game. That walker generally served as a fire base, blasting away with its medium gun and However Brits did not move troops into what we called the "valley of death."

It's the last turn and the Indians, together with Martian troops have launched a last glorious charge. The flying Martians on the left flank were repulsed, but the Indians and Martian legion were locked in a continuing melee.

On the right, my Indian troops defended, together with a Martian Legion against a couple of British regular units. After being bombed and shot by a British zeppelin, the Baluchi unit was down to 60 percent strength. The Madras infantry also was peppered by fire and by the time it was engaged was down a couple of figures. Eventually they made their way to the front and ended the game with a charge on British units attempting to advance on the Martian gun positions on the right flank. As the game ended, both units were involved in a hairy continuing melee on the British right flank.

The one unit we had few answers for was the British airship. Though we scored one rocket hit on the leviathan, it did little damage, and didn't set the catastrophic fire needed to get it out of the game. With three bomb loads and some guns to boot, it really tore up some our defenses.

The game was massive and we played four and a half hours, considerably longer than any of our other games. At the end of our time, and players needing to leave, the game was still a draw. However, the Martians were pretty thin everywhere, and one turn of of bad die rolling anywhere would have led to a British breakthrough. I didn't see the same problem for the Brits anyplace.

Mark did a fabulous job of running the game. Usually I would help with one end of the table and he would run the other end. But, I confess, I wanted to play with my new units. There are a couple of times when the game bogged a bit, but it was fun.

Alas, my new troops didn't do that well. The Indians go smacked a bit, but redeemed themselves with their final charge. The steam elephant damaged a British tank, and exchanged shots with the really enormous walker. It was an uneven fight and eventually had its legs shot out.

Stonehouse Miniatures Steam Elephant

2011-10-17T21:18:00.000-07:00

Sometimes miniatures are too cool to pass up. Four or five years ago I bought the steam elephant offered by Stonehouse miniatures. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it, but eventually the germ of an idea emerged in my mind, and the elephant walker became part of it.
I decided to put together an Indian brigade and picked up some of the Old Glory figures from the Northwest Frontier range. What more to do but add the steam elephant to this group of figures.
The miniature is pretty darn nice, cast in white resin. Any irregularities you see in the casting are my failings. It isn't a lot. Some air bubbles pop up, mostly in the rivets, but the body and head is pretty clean. There was some residual flash along the bottom of the turret that I failed to see clearly and clean properly. My bad.

The elephant comes with a separate head, base for the turret and turret. The tusks and the light gun come cast into a resin "wafer" and have to be cut out. An X-acto knife and file are all that's needed to clean these up. I opted for the tusks rather than the rockets that could go in their place.

Before I assembled the figure, I tossed the pieces into a bowl of warm soapy water and used a toothbrush to remove any releasing agents that might be on the model. I assembled the bits with Zap-A-Gap. I did file down the stud for the head, so it would fit the body more closely.

I didn't quite have a clear idea of how I wanted to paint the assembled figure. I took a look at the complete mini on the Stonehouse page and liked the idea of the gray with metal strap supports. Rather than try to brush paint the entire sizable figure, I decided to spray it with Testor's Light Aircraft Gray. It took several shots from different angles, but eventually I had reasonable coverage.

I made a decision to try to provide some weathering and detailing to the kit, but kept it pretty simple and straightforward. To accent the armored panels I painted between the plates with Vallejo Neutral Gray. I painted the metal strapping with Vallejo Gunmetal Gray. When the model was painted, I made the decision to give it some weathering. Thinning out some Ceramcoat golden brown, I added some rust spots near the edges of adjoining plates, particularly near joints on the legs. Then I gave the whole biz a black wash.

I like the miniature quite a bit. I'm hoping the mini, together with the rest of the Indian contingent will make it into Saturday's really big Martian battle. The Stonehouse steam elephant is $30, and worth the money.

Reinforcements

2011-10-13T18:52:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a new storyline for Mars. I'll publish them in the near future as the project nears completion. The story calls for some new units that I've added to my painted pile of lead. The good news is that the lead piles is shrinking rapidly and it is getting painted.

First up are hill Martians from RAFM. They are supposed to be semi-impoverished tribesmen. They appear different than my other indigenous troops. Their skin-color is reddish instead of yellowish-perfectly appropriate a la Edgar Rice Burroughs if not Frank Chadwick. They are untrained, fast moving swordsmen, counted on to take advantage of the unwary in rough terrain.

My second group of figures are mounted light horsemen, er, gashantry. These are, again, RAFM miniatures for both the riders and mounts. I wanted to do something different with these figures, so I peeked into an envelope of left over goodies from an order of Conquest Comanche figures. I had lots of weapons, some shields and feathers I thought might give an unusual irregular look to them. I made one spear, and together with the feather decorated shields, was pleased with the come with what you have look. They are actually my favorite Space 1889 unit.

Last, but not least, I painted up some command figures. Riding with the native mounted is an Indian trumpteter. I also painted an Indian command figure and a British commander. These are Perry figures from their Sudan range. They don't sit the Gashants perfectly, and because I'm too lazy and don't plan far enough ahead they sit above their mounts a bit. Even so, they don't look ridiculous. Why are they here? More information to follow.

Next up: The Stonehouse Elephant Walker. Ahh, c'mon everybody needs one.

Something Old, Something New

2010-11-23T19:05:00.000-08:00

I took some time away from my American Revolution project to work on some new Sky Galleons vessels. I have a fair amount of unpainted lead from a purchase I made from Stone Mountain a couple years ago. They found some old Lizards Grin Martian ships in their basement and sold off the lot. Needless to say, it was pretty popular stuff and I picked up some of the ships I wanted.

I've painted up a Macefield, a couple of French Harpon gunboats, a Warm Winds merchant kite, and a Mikasa class armed merchant. These together with some Brigade Miniatures patrol gunboats gave me an idea for a new scenario.

Alert class gunboats by Brigade Miniatures. Their two 4.7" quick-firing guns provide punch, but their light armor and limited secondary armament are vulnerabilities.

Lizard's Grin Warm Winds kite. The scale of the kite is way out of line; with a hull size of 20 it should be the largest vessel I own. It isn't.

Lizard's Grin Macefield. Not a great model, but it'll do.

French Harpon class gunboats by Lizard's Grin. Not a bad representation.

The next air battle in our Shastapsh campaign will take place outside the of the island city. A change of scenery will do us good. I've also come up with a new terrain feature I want to try out. It has some tricks and some down sides, but it's worth a try. Don't want to give away too much.

Lizard's Grin Mikasa armed transport. A useful addition to my collection

The tricky part is getting all the Red Captains together to play out the scenario. Everyone is pretty busy and as we head in to the holidays will only become moreso.

Plastic Fenian Ram right out of the Sky Galleons box (masts added.) Everybody needs Irish Rebels on Mars.

Lizard's Grin Hamburg. Take two.

A Game to Get Excited About

2010-08-25T17:16:00.000-07:00

Yes it's been a while since my last post. No I'm not dead, nor is this blog. It's been a while since our last game, and a couple of those were one sided horror shows. On Saturday the 21st however, we had a gathering at Bruce Meyer's house in which the Martians got to hand out a little payback for some of the indignities they've suffered at the hands of the colonials.

After being shoved through the passes guarding the approaches to Shastapsh, Martian forces made dawn raid on elements of the British forces preparing to besiege the rebel city. Taking advantage of the misty conditions, Martian troops slipped through two of the passes facing British Imperial troops massing for their siege and assault on the island city. Though pickets were out and active, their efforts to alert troops in their encampments did not lead to a quick response to the Martian advance.

To the south, hill Martians quickly overran the fixed fortifications and engulfed the British encampment. Despite a short, sharp defense, three British companies were quickly overwhelmed by the hillmen and city troops led by Willie Fraser.

The center British defenses were wholly unprepared by the appearance of a subterranean device. Two armored vehicles befuddled defenders when they emerged from the ground, disgorging two companies of infantry. These troops immediately captured British defenses and engaged infantry as they tried to come on line. Martian combat engineers, the brave "red poles" attacked and severely damaged a British walker and steam tank before their crews could even emerge from their tents. The "mole" infantry appeared to be regular Earth infantry, perhaps Germans, and disrupted British efforts to halt and isolate the Martian attack. Despite one of the vehicles being disabled by British artillery, it is clear these new weapons can have a decisive effect on the outcome of a battle.

Across the valley, to the east, Martian artillery and legionary troops held off furious British efforts to drive them back through the center pass. The action opened with gas fired from the discharger across the canal. These impaired the defense of a company stationed in an advanced position and eventually led to their demise. An attack on legionary troops was stymied when explosive round from lob mortars, also located across the canal demolished a steam tank supporting legions in British service.

All in all it was a difficult day for the defenders. The Martians inflicted serious losses on the Brits and their allies, while losing few troops on their own. In addition to spoiling the upcoming offensive, Martians also damaged, destroyed and captured a considerable quantity of British armaments, including some previously seized by the Brits.

It was a fun game, for me at least. A special thanks to Bruce for providing us with a space to play as well as ably running the moles and their denizens. But a special, special thanks to Mark and Joe Waddington for planning and Game Mastering the scenario.

Disaster in the Skies

2010-08-25T17:04:00.000-07:00

Maybe this could more accurately be titled Disaster in the Campaign. Nobody had a greater hand in its making than me, the scenario designer.

This sixth campaign game, and the last of the Sky Galleons battles, was drawn from the original three SGoM games I designed years ago. I did some ship design, and tinkered with some modified weapons systems. I used my big scratchbuilt Skyfire named Shastapsh armed with ACW guns--which really did make it more potent as I intended. But I also added some lightweight Smutts launchers, which were far more effective than I envisioned.

The Martians didn't help themselves by setting up close to the British entry point. Deploying on the opposite edge of the table would have forced the Brits to traverse the Shastapsh defenses, which were formidable. Even so, in my heart, I believe I just gave the Brits too much firepower.

The game effectively lasted two turns. The Martians kites, modified with two Nordenfeldt guns and carrying a passle of marines to attempt rams against the British. One kite missed the ram of the small gunboat Hercules, while the other struck Reliant. Reliant would have been a nasty ship to dispose of, but it was the only vessel with a hull size larger than the two Whisperdeaths. Instead, the two vessels were locked in combat, while the Brits raked the Martians with massive Nordenfeldt fire. The Martians suffered massive casualties, and even the huge load of marines was not enough to make the difference in the boarding action

The remainders of the Martian flotilla was torn apart by British weapons. Though there were seven lob cannon on the board, only one hit, and the resulting damage did not cause the kind of plunging trim loss needed to tip the battle. One of the little British torpedo boats was hit and destroyed, but not until it fatally loosed its load into Shastasph.

After turn two, the Martian survivors were forced to beat a hasty retreat up the canal, leaving the British air flotilla to ravage the city's air base. Needless to say, the Martian air minister was publicly impaled. (Would you expect any less?)

I Get Glory at Last

2009-10-04T19:43:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago we played our sixth campaign game. It was much fun. Mark developed an elaborate multi-player scenario in which each player was trying to capture gold from some obvious hill defenses. The ten of us each got to choose our forces based on a point valuation. I selected two Martian militia units and a hill Martian unit armed with Martini Henry rifles, plus the organ gun I unveiled in the last campaign game. It turns out I chose wisely.

I was flanked on left and right by a unit of earthers. I made a deal with Dave Schueler on my right to cooperate, or at least stay out of one another's way. I thought I had a deal with Gary Griess on my left, but in the first turn he fired a Gatling gun and unit of redcoats at me, so I had no choice but to give him the business. For three turns I shot him and meleed him with superior numbers while his second unit move up the hill toward the gold, only to be blasted by Masked Minions defending the walls. It's okay, I maimed the unit I faced, and took the Gatling. Nothing like a unit of Martian militia with a Gatling gun

We eventually declared a truce and I began heading for the hill. Like the other units that struck for the pile of gold at the very top, I rapidly bogged down under fire from the Minions. They were protected by walls, wore armor and had some exotic weaponry. However, I had a special secret weapon-Hill Martians. The Hill Martians pay no extra cost for terrain, so a couple of decent die rolls put me in position to rush the hilltop.

I made my way to the foot of the Minions' defenses on the same turn they disappeared, and the following turn made my rush to the hilltop and collected the gold--on the last turn of the game. That saved me from being blasted by all my "friends" on the way back down. The gold earned me the right to buy the large gas projecting gun in the right of the pictures, as well as a figure of renown to use in upcoming campaign games. Makes me happy.

The Battle for the Passes: Fifth Campaign Game

2009-07-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we met at Game Matrix for our fifth Mars campaign game. The usual suspects, Gene Anderson, Dale Mickel, Joe Waddington, Scott Murphy, Chris Bauermeister and I were all in attendance. Gene brought along his grandson, Matt. We had a guest appearance from WAB-meister and all around good guy Adrian Nelson. Mark Waddington, as usual, designed the land-based scenario.

In this game, the British try to change up the strategic situation. Symied in their effort to force their way into Shastapsh by way of the canal, the Brits try the ol' end around through the mountain passes. We'd played this game once before. The British really got bogged down in the high ground, and paid a nasty price, but eventually fought their way through using a flank march through a second pass to drive the Martians out of their position.

This scenario was tricky and included some great decision making by both sides. It also involved the unveiling of some new Martian gimmickry. One was the introduction of the lob cannon firing exploding shell. I rationalized the improvement of this Martian weapon with the metal carriage constructed from the wreck of the HMS Thunderer (campaign game number three) and the capture of munitions from that wreck. Another weapon we introduced was the organ gun or super sweeper. Really an earth medieval weapon, I used a venerable RAFM weapon in the game as a short range gun that was nasty but slow to load. Both weapons were surprising in their performance, though not necessarily in a good way. There was also a diplomatic maneuver in which the nomad prince captured in the canal fight was exchanged for 10 Martini-Henry rifles, and given to the unit of hill Martians that captured him. This proved to be an exceptionally good move.

The British opted for the head-first assault. The rationale for the game was that the Brits had forced marched to the valley of death (my description, nothing official) while the Martians quick-marched to oppose them. Martian forces consisted of two gashant mounted cavalry units, three legion units, two units of hill Martians, a unit of banded rifles, a medium gun and the previously mentioned secret weapons.

The game began with the limeys massing behind cover, with a massed battery on a hilltop ready to deal death to any Martians that might show their faces. The Martian units, represented only by poker chips moved to their positions. On game turn two, with forward observers in place, the Martians unleashed the first of the new uber-weapons, the improved lob cannon. With many units clustered together, just waiting to be blasted, Scott Murphy unleashed the first round--and promptly blew up the gun by rolling a 20 on a 20-sided die. Gack!

The battlefield was fought over a series of geographic spurs. In pre-game planning the Martian planners agreed to preserve our light troops (hill Martians and banded rifles) as much as possible while inflicting maximum casualties on the British. We immediately put a conservative, but effective plan into effect, withdrawing into the valley and maximizing Martian firepower.

For the first two thirds of the game, the massive explosion of the lob cannon notwithstanding, the Martian game plan succeeded. The British, advancing on two fronts, directly up the valley and across a ridge line was stymied. The advance into the valley, led by two subject Martian units as bullet catchers, were caught in a bloody crossfire by the organ gun and Martian infantry. However they did hold things together long enough for British regulars and artillery to catch up to them.

On the ridge line, the Martian positions were held by the Martini-wielding hill troops. Aided by a unit of gashant lancers the hillmen made no less than five successful charges, driving off sepoys and British regulars. The gashants made two terriffic charges, driving off one unit and then another, but were shot away. Things were looking bad for the Martini/hill troops as the British massed to take crush them. Brits began ascending the hills surrounding them, their only hope was skedaddle.

At game's end (when I had to leave and take my toys with me,) Mark awarded the British a victory. I think we could have prolonged things longer, but the last third of the game we simply hadn't hit as well as in the first parts of the game and the British were moving to a position where their superior firepower would have produced unacceptable losses. I thought it was important to preserve our forces-it is a campaign-and frankly I thought we gave a lot better than we got. We could haul off the medium gun and organ gun, and our draft grohsks hauled off the wreck of the lob cannon for major refit. The Brits were in no position to pursue with any speed, and we could justify another place for a defensive stand.

Kaboom!

2009-06-18T06:55:00.000-07:00

Nobody wants to hear these words: Your computer can't read your hard drive. That's what I heard last night when my computer screen went dark.

For the time being, I'm offline. I hope to have things up again in the next week, but in the context of a major car repair, not one but two sick dogs, and a host of other small expenses, my blogs may be down for a bit. I'll be able to access e-mail (though I don't have everyone's addresses at the moment.)

Some Really Big Guns

2009-05-29T10:14:00.000-07:00

We always crab about the relative impotence of Martian heavy weapons. Yes, they have some random artillery that can be effective it actually hits, but the chances to hit are lower than Earth weapons.

One gun that everyone fears is the Martian lob cannon. These were massive mortars that fired a huge stone that was so large that if it struck an air ship it would cause an immediate trim critical. I managed to pick up a couple of the steampunk cannon by JR Miniatures. These are ground mount lob guns that could be used as anti-air batteries, or for bombardment. Pretty cool. They're cast in light resin, and put them on stone platforms. They look like ACW mortars on a massive platform, but aren't ornate like some similar Games Workshop guns, and their relatively cheap prices made them bargains.

Of course, every big gun needs some smaller guns to protect them. Of course there are no Nordenfeldts or Gatlings in the Martian armory, so I decided it would be quite possible for them to have a multi-barrel, slow loading weapon like an organ gun or ribaulequin. So I picked up a couple of the RAFM organ guns and they're ready to go. I haven't quite invented a rating yet, I'll have to come up with something. I'm thinking two dice per barrel, but they only fire every other (every third?) turn.

Amphibious Assault

2009-04-26T07:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday we played game four of our campaign series on Mars. It really was a great game with lots of moving parts, posing many challenges for both sides.

First, the battlefield was very unique. The scenario called for an amphibious assault up a canal with many requirements on the British forces. The 8' X 5' board was bisected lengthwise by a canal, crossed by a single bridge. Though it was possible to take small boats across the canal too, I can only presume the process would have been very time-consuming.

Four scattered Martian militia units were allotted to defend the canal area. As Martian defenders, we chose to defend high value targets that would take considerable time to rebuild if destroyed. These included heavy gun batteries, the bridge crossing and the Thunderer prisoners from the previous battle. The role of the Martian defenders was to hang on as long as possible until help could arrive.

The defenders' disillusionment began immediately. The British and their allies achieved complete surprise, sailing quietly past the defending shore batteries and disembarking their troops directly onto the bridge. There, these troops rapidly overcame the few sentries and secured both ends of the important canal crossing. Flanking parties landed near the heavy Martian cannon defending the mouth of the canal, and quickly spiked the guns, though the gunners and their defenders inflicted some loss on the landing force.

More adventurous was the airlifting of two companies of Egyptian troops up the canal to attack Martian supply points. These troops were landed far in advance of the British drive and attacked Martian militia units and disembarked . . . just as Martian reinforcements began arriving on the table. Far from British support, these troops began to receive unwanted attention from an imported walker, spraying Gatling rounds at flyer and soldier alike. Though they recovered some important documents, their demolition crews were killed and they recalled their transport for rescue.

The British advance halted, not because of any action taken by their enemies, but because they were willing to settle for half-measures. As Martian troops began streaming down both banks of the canal, it was clear that their massing was going to result in some serious bloodshed. The flyer lifted off with its charges, taking damage as it went. A small force of Martian reinforcements arrived on the north bridge road, behind the British flank. Rocket fire struck the flyer, and the fanatic Sverdlinkers launched a desperate attack on a band of Hill Martians.

The Hill Martians, firing bows, and massing their own much larger force to receive the crazed red-men, quailed under the initial assault. Eventually the tide turned and each swordsman in was slain except for their leader, the Prince Imperial, and he was carried off, bleeding from a half dozen wounds, with his fate to be bartered by the wild hillmen.

As the Sverdlinkers met their fate, the British decided to retreat up the canal. Pre-positioned charges destroyed the bridge. Guns were spiked and captured supplies were destroyed. Using their firepower to cover their retreat, Her Majesty's soldiers and sailors and their native allies re-embarked. The Martian commander Willie Fraser arrived on the scene just in time to vent his frustration. Grabbing the Thunderer survivors, he dragged them to the tallest watch tower. Fraser kicked the remnants of a destroyed rocket launcher down the stairs before hacking the head from each airship crewman with his highland broadsword. Then he tossed each headless body from the watchtower as the British raiding forces withdrew.

The British once again damaged the city's defenses with relative impunity. The damage was not so bad, but it demonstrated once again the Martians' limited ability to respond. More scarce resources would be spent on repairing valuable infrastructure. On the other hand, the British missed an important opportunity devastate the city's suburbs.

A note on photos. These were taken by both Mark and me. The top left shows an assault on one of the gun batteries defending the mouth of the canal. Sverdlinkers and Martian askaris attack the front and right flank of the gun, while sailors make their way around the left. The gun is defended by the gunners and a unit of militia muskets.

Two views of the British flotilla on the canal. The first is of the British gunboat leading the way, crashing into the bridge. This is the paper gunboat model by Reviresco. It's first battle, it was nice to get this in action. The guns mounted on this vessel were source of constant irritation to the defenders. The second view shows the Brits in position on the bridge after overcoming the few Martian defenders.

The middle view shows the Sverdlinkers' counter attack against the Hill Martians near the end of the game. In our game the Sverdlinkers are fanatic swordsmen who receive a +2 in melee combat. The Hill Martians are indifferent troops, but I had twenty and he had four. Eventually the weight of numbers ran against him and I captured the Prince Imperial. This is a personal character (mine is Willie Fraser) so this is a great loss for the British allies.

Last, but certainly not least, is Chris Bauermeister's beautiful flyer. Armed with a couple of Gatlings as well as two companies of Egyptians, the flyer was all over the place. It shot up a couple of militia units and air landed its charges behind enemy lines. Took a lot of damage too, but survived the game after braving fire to extricate its cargo.

Campaign Battle Four

2009-04-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is our fourth campaign battle. It should be big. It should be fun. It should be wild. There are a few folks attending who haven't played in our big Martian slugfests, so there will be new blood.

Mark asked me to bring along a couple of the vessels I've built. None are scratch-built. I'm taking my little Reviresco paper gunboat, and I also have a couple of Merrimac shipyards resin longboats that I've painted up for my Lewis and Clark scenarios.

Mark is the mad scenario designer, and he's put my character, Willie Fraser in command of the Martian forces. We'll see how this turns out.

Mea Culpas

2009-04-05T18:37:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know, I'm late. It's been a month and half since our last game, and I confess that all of my attention is wrapped up in my Lewis and Clark project. We have another campaign game scheduled for the 25th, and I still have a few of Mark's articles remaining to post. I'll try to stay on it.

I've included three pics of Chris Bauermeister's superb scratchbuilt flyer. It's a hybrid airship/kite, armed with gatling guns. Very spiff stuff.

Squeezing Nippletown.

2009-04-05T11:13:00.000-07:00

Air Vice Marshal Adrian Steiner-Pugh was outraged by the attack on the fleet evacuating diplomatic officials from Shastapsh, and pledged vengeance. Referring to the oddly shaped domes of the city, he declared, “ I’ll squeeze Nippletown until she screams.” Steiner-Pugh immediately planned for a punitive raid, designed to destroy city infrastructure as well as any vessels that rose to meet them.

In addition to his flagship, the aerial monitor Thunderer, Steiner-Pugh added the corvette Reliant. He also waited for the new gunboats Perseus, Theseus, and Hercules to finish their fitting out, adding their new 4.7 inch quick firing guns to the mix. As this squadron prepared to set out, Cmdr. Griess with his light gunboats squadron, Aphid, Ladybug, and Dauntless made plans to rendezvous over the target area.

The Martians received word of the British invaders from their signal stations. With their screw galley squadron allocated out on missions, the Bowel and his planners depended on their kite squadron to intercept the invaders. Supplemented by a pair of Small Bird screw galleys and the last of the anarchist torpedo rams, Vengeance, the kites seemed primed to use their size and exotic weapons to successfully engage their enemies.

Steiner-Pugh’s squadron emerged from the hills with the gunboats clustered near the monitor and the corvette. As the kites moved to intercept them, Griess’s small gunboats appeared on the other side of the canal, shooting up the water pipe as they carefully avoided the Martian ground batteries.

Tragedy struck Steiner-Pugh’s force early in the engagement. Vengeance moved quickly to engage Theseus. Though the ram struck the gunboat squarely and detonated the spar torpedo, some design flaw caused the mysterious craft to plunge into the canal below. However , Theseus suffered trim damage as well, halting its fall directly above Thunderer. The kite East Wind struck Theseus again, dropping the gunboat directly into Thunderer. The monitor immediately lost trim and plunged into the canal below. Theseus managed to regain control, but the loss of the flagship seemed to bode poorly for the British.

Unfortunately for the Martians, the loss of Thunderer and the commander-in-chief seemed to energize their foe. Seemingly a step ahead of the kites, the British seemed to stay just out of reach of the much larger rams. British gunfire too, seemed to fill the sky, setting fires, knocking out guns, killing crew. East Wind and South Wind burned like torches , and the remaining Martians ships withdrew from the city to defend the aerodrome.

British vessels wreaked havoc on the city. Two of three bridges were seriously damaged, with the third suffering moderate damage. The Bowel’s palace was also severely damaged with the Bowel and S’fink’tor seeking shelter in an adjacent neighborhood. Most importantly, the city’s water system suffered nearly catastrophic harm when the pumping station was destroyed, water pipes were damaged, and water storage lost considerable capacity. Service to the south side of the city and the island was interrupted. All of the city’s resources were committed to repair of the water system. Water had to be transported by barge, and a Martian disease like typhoid broke out in the southern suburbs.

Damage to Shastapsh’s infrastructure prevented much further fortification against the attack that must come. However, men were detached to salvage the wreck of the Thunderer. The impact of the plunge destroyed most items of technologic value. However, engineers managed to save a six inch gun and two Nordenfeldts. However, the salvage teams also saved large quantities of munitions of all calibers. Of equal value in the rescue were the large quantities of armor plate and liftwood.

Then there were the survivors of the plunge. Steiner-Pugh and Captain Woodstern were dead. Only ten men survived the crash. Of those, four died of their injuries. Helmsman Caleb Binghamton and trimsman Harry Jones and four seamen were put to work repairing the city water works and the Bowel’s palace.

In the first picture the Griess squadron enters and begins shooting up the water pipes. This force was never opposed. The second pic is of Mark, my good friend, taking his pictures of the game. The third photo shows a pair of burning kites, which, sadly, was the Martian story. The last picture shows the resting place of Vengeance and Thunderer. Beyond the monitor's tragedy, the British suffered little other significant damage.

USS Kearsarge

2009-02-11T17:20:00.000-08:00

USS KEARSARGE A converted Martian Sky ship.

Outside of the British naval yards at Syrtis Major there were no modern (by Earth standards) facilities for building iron armored air ships. Almost all the countries that sent colonies to Mars quickly realized the importance of air travel and air power. Zeppelins were a popular alternative to the rare iron clad air ships but there was another source that was readily available for a price.

The native Martians had been building wooden sky ships for centuries and while their technology stopped progressing, the art of ship building reached heights of excellence. All of the Martian ships were wooden hulled and powered by either the wind or by a crew who spent their time literally cranking the shaft that ran thru the ship to power the propellers. These crew members were called “turncranks”.

Most Martian ships carried at least a minimal armament and those that were purpose built as warships were not only quite heavily armed but many also boasted double hulls with rocks between the two parts of the hull to add a layer of protection to weapons and crew.

The various earth nations immediately began to purchase any ships they could get their hands on and rearmed them with modern earth weaponry. Several countries also added steam powered engines to replace the turncrank method. The Americans were famous for adapting existing equipment to meet their own needs. A perfect example of this would be the airship USS Kearsarge the first ship adapted and rebuilt by the Americans from a Martian design. The turncrank method was replaced by a modern force draught steam engine that drove the ships propeller at a steady speed that Martian turncranks could not match.

The most modern weapons available along with an experienced crew made the small vessel a worthy opponent for all but the largest ships.

How the ship was made: While a good portion of what I do is scratch built this particular ship was adapted from an existing Star Wars tatooine skiff toy model. They are readily available from Ebay and run around $40.00 though you can find them for half of that if you are patient. The original toy came with a 4 inch tall Luke Skywalker action figure so you can see that the ship was not originally scaled for 28mm. A cut here and a hole drilled there and presto! A perfect scale ship to go along with the other flying creations for Mars.

I cut down the rails, built a “steam” engine from plastic for the center, gave it a mast, glued on a planked deck, added a propeller, put the all important liftwood on the bottom of the hull, cut a gun port and added a ram in the front. A fair amount of work all-in-all but the effort paid off with a fine looking model.

The only real issue I ran into was that the main hull of the model was the soft poly plastic and required a special glue to make things stick. CA or epoxy was worse than useless on this type of plastic.

My next project in-the-works is a Martian Hullcutter circa the Space 1889 designs. Anyway thanks for looking and if you have any questions you have but to ask! Damn the Tethers! Full Speed Ahead!

Mark

Evil Minions

2009-01-28T15:41:00.000-08:00

Mercenaries at their very best (or worst if you prefer). The troops representing the Evil Minions are always working toward their own specific goal but occasionally will work for the highest bidder to earn a bit of cold hard cash. At the very least they will do whatever they can to disrupt one or both sides in any situation just for the pure pleasure in doing so.

No one really knows who the Evil Minions are, who controls them, or where they come from. Their equipment is obviously of earth origin and always of the highest quality and latest technology.

Best guess is an ex-military officer from some army that has his own personal goals and is creating and training his own military force. No one has any idea where their main headquarters is and the few prisoners that have been taken have all taken cyanide before disclosing any information. All attempts at infiltrating or even meeting with the Minion organization have failed. No army can predict when these fellows will appear or what their main purpose might be.

On one occasion a strong force of Evil Minions arrived during a battle, attacked both sides simultaneously for over an hour, and then retreated back into the hills. One can only assume it was some sort of training exercise but who can be sure?

Several rumors abound centered on the use of what is called a lightning gun. A fascinating concept but all earth scientists have stated that such a weapon could not possibly exist.

The amount of times the Evil Minions have appeared has been slowly but surely increasing. They are obviously preparing to complete whatever goal they have chosen. Hopefully it will not disrupt the upcoming campaign against the rebels in Shastapsh.

The figures and guns in the pictures are all available from The London war Room.

Mechanical Steam Cavalry

2009-01-23T22:48:00.000-08:00

After the success with creating flying steam driven ships and then tracked steam powered vehicles it was not surprising when the British shipwrights and mechanics developed a steam driven mechanical horse.

The popularity of the design led the British to fully equip several cavalry units with the new mounts. Like other mechanical contraptions of the age they are prone to breakdowns and must have access to a steady supply of water. The advantage of these new beasts is that they are nearly impervious to small arms fire and offer a high level of cover to their riders.

They may move exceptionally fast in a charge (by pushing the engine beyond its standard capacity) and the shock value of the iron horse in open terrain is tremendous against unarmored targets.

Once again it is the younger officers and troopers who have shown the most interest in volunteering for these new units. It will take time to see if the new units prove themselves a true asset on the Battlefield.

Note that there was a serious incident at the shipyard and a troop of these new horses went missing. At first it was presumed to be a transport error but rumors now abound that the missing “animals” have been seen in the city of Shastapsh ridden by rebels.

Kevin’s unit is based in Shastapsh and is the 1st Virginia Steam Cavalry. The unit is composed of ex-Confederates fighting in the city service. They distinguished themselves fighting against the Oenotrians during the city’s revolt against their masters, despite some mechanical failures. The riders are Dixon figures from their fine ACW range.

How they were made:

The horses were taken from the Mage Knight series of “Click base” figures know as Galeshi Cavalrymen. The rider and original base were removed and the mechanical horse lightly touched up and then dry brushed and remounted on a different base. The new riders are from Redoubt miniatures. Lancers seemed the perfect fit.

Any questions? Be happy to answer them!

Mark

HMS Aphid

2009-01-23T20:53:00.000-08:00

With the arrival of the first British envoys on Mars came the discovery of what is called Liftwood. This wondrous tree was capable of the amazing ability to lift heavy objects into the air. The native Martians had been using the special wood for hundreds of years and with the arrival of earthmen the demand for this rare wood increased dramatically. Much of the effort of the various earth nations that had stations on Mars went to the acquisition of the incredible and extremely rare wood.

For the first few years the British purchased wooden hulled airships mostly from the Parhoonese and equipped them with modern earth weapons. It was not until 1882 that the first purpose built iron clad aerial warships (The HMS Aphid & HMS Ladybug) were completed at the new naval yards in Syrtis Major.

In 1885 control of the newly formed Royal Aerial Service was given to the Royal Navy. The governmental decision caused much bitterness among the officers of the aerial service. Many of these officers resigned their commissions and returned to private life. The group referred to as the Red Captains is now full of these officers and men formerly of the aerial service.

The design of the Aphid and her sistership Ladybug proved to be incredibly successful though they both suffered from engine difficulties. The ships were easy to manufacture and both were refitted in 1886 with better force draught engines. Later vessels in the Aphid class were also equipped with a 4 inch Long front gun adding a bit stronger punch to the vessels firepower.

Note that the Aphid class ships were meant as patrol gunboats and only carried a small crew of 15. They were just over 90 feet long and while armor plated offered little protection to the open deck gun crews.

How she was built:

Unlike most of the other vehicles and ships in my collection the Aphid is almost completely scratch-built. I spent a bit of time pouring through the various Space 1889 rulebooks and supplements and settled on this particular design. I scaled it for 28mm and then proceeded to the actual building phase. The basic ship was built from a pine block and covered in sheet styrene. All of the superstructures, boilers, fins, and ladders were also built from styrene. The liftwood portions underneath were cut from wooden clapboard and stained a “Martian” red. The riveting was done by hand. The decking was purchased from a hobby shop and is cut from wooden planks that were glued together with dark glue so the individual planks show up well. All the guns were ordered from The London War Room and Riveresco. The rail stanchions were from billings boats and the handrails themselves bent from brass rod. This ship has participated in several dozen tabletop battles with various different players in command and has yet to suffer a serious mishap. Those Brits build a damn sturdy ship!

More questions? Just let me know!

Mark

German Medium Landship – Das Eisen Biest

2009-01-17T17:43:00.000-08:00

The success of the British landships along with their ease of manufacturing (compared to walkers) made the Germans design their own version of a landship referred to as the Eisen Platten Land Schiff Mark I.

The name was quickly shortened to Das Eisen Biest. (The Iron Beast). It was considerably larger than the British vehicles with heavier armor, a medium gun in the hull and light gun plus a machinegun in a rotating turret. The extra armor and guns added drastically to the weight which required adding a second engine (one to drive each track).

Even then it was still slower than its lighter British opponents. This was offset by the heavier frontal gun and the ability of the turret to rotate to face an enemy without having to turn the whole vehicle.

Offering extra protection to its crew of 5 the Iron Beast could also carry a small unit of armed troops inside the spacious hull. This capability offered a new aspect to the tactical possibilities of the vehicle which the Germans have quickly adopted. Even with the high level of quality that the Germans put into everything they create the vehicle still has a tendency to breakdown at the most unexpected times.

German efficiency however, gets the machine back up and running quickly even in battle conditions. So far the machine has been tested only against native opponents and has yet to face an enemy its equal. As the German military force on Mars continues to expand and British eyes are turned toward the revolt in Shastapsh this opportunity may come sooner than anyone thinks.

How it was built: Do you recognize the basic vehicle?? No? Ah, come on! It’s the body of an Imperial AT-AT from Star Wars! It was taken from a kit made by AMT (from Ebay of course). The turret is actually one of the feet! I added blocks of wood underneath to represent tracks and all sorts of styrene pieces on the outside for tanks, stacks, guns, panels etc.. I just kept adding stuff till it looked “right” Black paint, a quick dry brush, and the spots of Rust (Martian Soil) finished it off.

Any questions?? If so I’m happy to answer any and all! Mark

American Monitor Class Bipod Walkers

2009-01-12T16:47:00.000-08:00

The Americans have never really adopted the idea of colonialism on earth and this policy has been carried over on Mars. As of 1889 the U.S. had only a small armed military force stationed on Mars. In the trading center in Thymiamata there were three Companies of the 14th Infantry regiment, One Battery of the 2nd Artillery and One Troop of the 5th Cavalry. In addition there was one company of U.S. marines at the U.S. legation in Syrtis Major.

The major area of American interest was in gaining new trade markets (both legal and illegal). Openly the American traders will try to visit and set up trade relations with every Martian Kingdom or Princedom on Mars. This openness has led to the Americans expanding into trade areas previously blocked to other nations.
While the regular trading has met with good success the main portion of the American trading has involved illegal gun-running. The Americans have a large surplus of artillery and guns left over from the civil war and every bit of it is in demand on Mars. Most of the European nations on Mars turn a blind eye to the American activity but Britain and Belgium both are actively attempting to stop these illegal American guns from being brought to the red planet.

There is nothing the British can really do to the offending Americans without starting a war but those shipments that have been “found” by the British have all mysteriously been lost and apologies sent to the American shipping companies. With the extremely high demand for earth weapons it is very unlikely that this illegal activity will end anytime soon.

In fact the Americans have developed their own armored vehicle to assist in guarding such shipments. These new vehicles are two legged (bipodal) iron clad steam powered walkers. The actual turret is of medium armor, rotates and is of similar design to the original U.S.S. Monitor. Armed with a medium gun and two gatlings the American Monitor Class Walkers are formidable opponents.

Several nations both Earth and Martian have approached the Americans about the possibility of purchasing these new mechanical devices.
How the Machine was built:

The Monitor Class Walker was originally a six piece resin kit with an extra bag of white metal pieces (guns and such). The resin casting left much to be desired as most of the rivets were unformed and / or air bubbles. The turret top originally looked like it was supposed to be a wire type mesh or something I was never quite sure. Instead I covered the upper casement with styrene and made my own vision ports. Overall a nice kit that required a bit of extra work to get it serviceable. I would give the resin kit a “B -”. The white metal parts were really well cast (best gatlings I’ve ever seen) but the main gun supplied was way too large and barely fit in the turret. The main gun in the picture is a smaller Dahlgren I purchased separately.

I mounted it on a 3 x 3 base, painted it black; dry brushed it and then added the rust (Martian soil). Ready for Battle!
Questions? If so, you but need to ask!

A Primer on Martian Military Tactics

2009-01-12T16:45:00.000-08:00

Your Martians must deal with the trained volleys of earth foot soldiers, their machineguns, and their incredibly powerful artillery, not to mention the appearance of the metal clad steam powered monstrosities. When possible you are upgrading your weaponry and adopting some of the impressive earth tactics (such as mass volleys) but as a whole you are still fighting with outdated equipment and tactics.

To offset the overwhelming firepower of the invaders you have numbers, a well trained, if under-equipped, army and some unique tactics that when used properly have proven quite effective against the earth forces. Martian leaders have also taken to the art of diplomacy and have managed to use the greed of the different earth nations to acquire equipment, trainers, and even occasional direct military support.

Your first and foremost tactic is to avoid earth firepower at all costs. The range of their rifles and machineguns is two to three times most of yours and they are far more accurate. Keep your troops under cover!! Do not leave your units stationary in the open and / or in light cover as they will be cut to pieces. Try and keep them out of sight until the enemy is within range or you decide to attack.

Once you decide to attack do not hesitate. Form columns and if at all possible concentrate your legion forces. Your shield gunners offer a high level of protection to your troops and if you can close your choppers will cut through the most determined defense. Use your legion shooters as skirmish or flank troops to support the attack. Try to avoid attacking piecemeal as that will allow they earth troops to concentrate their firepower on one unit at a time. You will never survive.

Use your fast moving Hill Martian allies to try and force the flanks of the enemy line and better yet support a legionary assault. Their speed might also allow them to close-assault the enemy ironclads or as a follow up to a successful assault by your legions. Be careful as they are not always the most dependable of troops.

If you are in a defensive position there is a good chance that your artillery will be your single biggest asset. While not as accurate as the Earth weapons you have the advantage of numbers and can sometimes lay down a wall of firepower with your guns alone.

Though they are rare you occasionally will have a unit of “banded” shooters. These weapons load slowly and fire slowly but have a range that exceeds the earthen rifle equipped troops by 20%. They can be the perfect choice to “pester” dug in earthen units.

Should you have a unit of flying High Martians to command you can be sure that the enemy will move very cautiously. Use them judiciously. Always keep them in a position to attack but never attack unless the target is too good to resist. Better yet use them to support an existing planned assault. The combination of being attacked from more than one side at a time will quickly crush any opponent. You can also use them to threaten enemy supply or artillery units. This will force the enemy to defend these targets leaving fewer units to go on the offense.

Earthmen fear your Gashant mounted cavalry and especially your lancers. Like your High Martian allies their numbers are limited so use them wisely. They are deadly troops, are hard to kill with rifle fire but are only effective in the attack.

As time goes by your troops will possibly have more advanced technology to use and perhaps your own inventors might come up with ways to add new items to support your firepower.

In conclusion, keep your troops under cover or hidden until the time is right. Use your mobile troops to force the enemy to defend its flanks and rear and then to support your frontal assaults. These tactics have been proven to have a high level of success against the new foe from earth.

FANATICS (SVERDLINKERS)

2009-01-10T08:15:00.000-08:00

On Mars there are occasional groups that are dedicated to the performance of one task and do everything in the extreme.

One such unit that has appeared in the last decade are the Sverdlinkers a group of fanatics dedicated to the eradication of all things from earth. While they are a secret cult they have no problem accepting assistance from any source (including other earthmen) in the completion of their task.

Be aware though that in the end even the “friendly” earthmen will be targets of this group. They are all masters of edged weapons and disdain the use of firearms or even armor.

Once given an order by their leader they will die in the attempt rather than admit or accept defeat. If their leader is killed or wounded they will fight even harder (Melee Bonus) to avenge his wound / death. They are probably the deadliest foes on Mars in hand-to-hand combat and are feared by all who face them. Being unarmored they move quickly through even rough terrain. They are considered elite troops and get a melee bonus for their special training. Since they also receive a bonus for charging and are guaranteed to close you can see that they can be devastating shock troops.

As long as the leader is alive (even wounded) the troops will do exactly as ordered. If the leader dies they will attack the nearest enemy force and will fight to the death. A wise British officer should consider staying out of the reach of this devastating unit and using his troops exceptional firepower to weaken the threat before entering melee. Unfortunately “Fall Back” is not a command taught with any emphasis at officers training back on Earth and several British units have paid the price in blood for their refusal to give ground to these “native” troops.

Martian Banded Riflemen

2009-01-09T14:16:00.000-08:00

The Martians had several surprises in the makeup of their armies and weaponry. One was the use of what is referred to as banded rifles. These are extra long rifles that held an overly large powder charge. They had excellent accuracy and an effective range that exceed the more common British Martini Henry by almost 20%. Their single downside is that they were slow to load.

The banded rifle was difficult to manufacture and was given only to troops strong enough to bear the fierce recoil along with the extreme weight of the weapon. Similar to the jazail used on earth by the Afghanistan’s during the wars there earlier in the 1800’s. Martian tactics commonly used the banded rifles specifically as long range weapons to force the earth defenders out of there protective defenses.

Earth troops had to make sure that they were supported by heavier weaponry (MG’s and artillery) to counteract the effect of the longer range of the Martian banded rifles. Luckily there was usually only a single unit or two of Martian troops equipped with the deadly weapon.

The figures shown are from The London War Room.

Characters: Wee Willie Fraser

2009-01-05T19:29:00.000-08:00

Willie Fraser, was born in 1845 in Edinburgh. He was the son of Simon Fraser, a redoubtable soldier in the 93rd Regiment. The elder Fraser, following in the footsteps of his father was killed in the Crimea in 1854 at the Battle of the Alma assaulting the Russian batteries on Telegraph Hill. The boy Fraser was left to be raised by his mother and grandparents, raised on stories of Bonnie Prince Charlie, the disastrous retreat from Corunna, and the glorious rout of the French at Toulouse.

When the boy grew to be a strapping youth, a veteran of the woollen mills of the city, he enlisted in the Auld Regiment. Unfortunately the 93rd was not recruiting in Edinburgh, and Willie instead chose the 91st Regiment. No longer a kilted highland infantry regiment due to regimental misbehavior, and not the Sutherland Highlanders, Willie vowed to make a name for himself. Enlisting in 1862 at the age of 17, Willie quickly earned his nickname "Wee Willie." By that age Willie was a behemoth at six feet two inches, 225 pounds. He showed himself a prodigy with Enfield rifle-musket, able to load and fire rapidly and with accuracy. He was a master with the bayonet, and could fight equally well with highland broadsword or sabre. However, his true genius appeared somewhat by accident, when he cleaned out an Edinburgh pub of Sutherland and Seaforth Highlanders, as well as the military police come to arrest him.

Willie was soon posted to India with the rest of the Argyllshire Regt. He served with distinction in the Zulu War, single-handedly holding a Gatling gun position when the supporting Naval Brigade troops fled. Ripped by no less than a half dozen assegai wounds, two of them serious, Fraser piled a mound of no less than twenty corpses around him-shot, bayoneted, or necks broken.

When the 93rd was posted to India, and the 91st and 93rd merged under the Cardiff Reforms to become the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, Willie was already an "Old Sweat" bearing sergeant's stripes together with his new kilt. Unfortunately he was also beginning to feel the physical effects of his many exertions, wounds and demands of the Queen's service. When the Argylls were posted to Syrtis Major in 1885, Willie, recovering from a broken leg received while chasing bandits through the Khyber pass, was beginning to feel every one of his forty years. Retirement from the army loomed as a possbility when his enlistment ended in 1889, together with the 93rd's rotation to Mars.

Upon his arrival on Mars Willie noted that the slightly reduced gravity had a rejuvenating effect on his aches and pains, and he felt ten years younger. He learned that he also loved the Martian folk as he enjoyed no terran culture so when his the end of his enlistment neared, he chose to remain on the red planet. He found work as a bodyguard on survey missions and liftwood expeditions, singlehandedly driving off an ambush by Kraag warriors.

The Bowel’s agents sought him out in a pub in Syrtis Major to secretly train militias in Shastapsh for revolt against the Oenotrians. Knowing this might bring him in conflict with his mates, Willie took the job anyway. He knew the story of “Baron” von Steuben in the American Revolution, and how the proper training could turn the tables on even the best adversaries. He recruited the finest material he could for his Black Flag battalion, equipping them with surplus American rifle-muskets and bayonets, providing some with a bit of 93rd Highlander tartan. They developed a reputation of an elite formation in the City army.

Fraser is often seen in native dress glowering beneath his tartan cloak clutching his highland broadsword to swat a trainee or decapitate an enemy.

Fraser is represented by a "dead earthman" figure from the Barsoom range by Bronze Age miniatures. The rest of the miniatures are from the range of single Martian figures by RAFM.

2009-01-03T07:45:00.000-08:00

The Parhoon Rifles

Since the initial landing on Mars in 1870 the British have been establishing a foothold on the Red planet and developing initial friendly relations with the rulers of the city of Parhoon. In 1878 the Anwaar (ruler) of Parhoon and his son were assassinated in an attempted coup. The coup was crushed by the small British armed force that was located in Parhoon in less than a day. The only remaining heir was a three month old child who was established on the throne and Queen Victoria assumed the regency of Parhoon to be administered by a British commissioner. (Sir Phillip Adelaide).

It was the first major British foothold on Mars and they quickly expanded their small armed contingent with additional forces from both earth and local levies. The first native unit formed by the British was a battalion of Martian citizenry led by British officers. It was equipped with Martini Henry’s and organized identically to a standard British battalion. The unit was given the name of “The Parhoon Rifles” and went on to become one of the most famous units on Mars.

After the assassination the neighboring city-state of Gorovaan sensed an opportunity and attempted an invasion of Parhoon in early 1879. The war gave the British and Parhoonese a common enemy to fight and the success of the campaign cemented the Parhoon and British relationship. The Parhoon Rifles earned their baptism under fire during the war and took the first steps toward building their fearsome reputation. The city of Gorovaan was annexed to Parhoon and so began the first steps of the expansion of the British colony.

The figures shown in the pictures are from RAFM and are still available.

Eight-Legged Walkers

2009-01-02T11:10:00.000-08:00

Eight Legged Walkers Germany got a late start in expanding into colonialism and has expended most of its energies into colonies on Venus. German political and military influence on Mars is small but growing quickly as Germany now has prioritized the acquisition of liftwood and along the way to disrupt British influence whenever possible.

Much effort has been expended in trying to influence and finance opposition to British control. Since the "Mylarkt Incident" in 1886 (an exchange of gunfire between German and British aerial vessels on Mars) there has been a steady deterioration in Anglo-German relations.

The Germans first delivered several sections of steam walkers to Mars in 1887 to the military posts in Western Dioscuria that are needed to protect their trade interests in the region. They have slowly begun to build a strong military contingent but their lack of suitable transport from earth will never allow them to fully match the established British power. To increase their influence they have spent much effort in winning over any Martian prince with gifts of arms and money. The recent uprising in Shastapsh against the British has given the Germans the perfect opportunity to seriously disrupt their opponents influence in the region.

Rumor has it that one troop (3 machines) of the German Armored Walker Contingent has deserted the German side and joined up with the Shastapshians. The British ambassadors have demanded that the Germans re-capture their deserters but as of yet the German command has been “unable” to do so.

The Germans design concepts have coincidentally followed their British counterparts as the machines are all lightly armored and have either light guns or gatlings. The main advantage is the Walkers abilities to move through rough terrain with ease and their height allows them to see over low terrain features such as buildings and small hills. The Germans also introduced the concept of a rotating turret which has greatly increased the Walkers potential as a fighting machine. As per most Walkers their main area of weakness is directly underneath so infantry support is important.

The Germans have also introduced several other types of machines which will be discussed in a later article.

How the machines were built. As you can see in the pictures the original machine was a Burger King toy from the Wild Wild West line. These can still be found on occasion on Ebay but are becoming fairly rare. I removed the figure and hand crank shown in the picture and then used various pieces of plastic styrene to create the new turrets, smoke stacks, and guns. Close up pictures show the different tanks and stacks that were added. I did almost nothing to the lower part. The whole vehicle was painted in grey, given a dark wash and dry brushed with rust and / or Martian red.

Any questions? Love to answer them! Mark

2009-01-02T10:57:00.000-08:00

BLACKPOLES The Martians were initially shocked at the arrival of earth technology especially armored vehicles which were almost impervious to anything but a lucky hit from their largest guns. Martian infantry was helpless when confronted with the steam powered beasts and so the “Black Poles” were formed.

Blackpole is a name given by earth troops to Martian anti-vehicle units as these troops are easily recognizable by the long pole they carry that has a large explosive device attached to its end and the whole assembly, of course, is usually colored black. These explosive devices are designed to hook onto or be placed underneath a vehicle and then be detonated from several yards away via a pull-rope. The rope gives the trooper a slim possibility of finding a bit of cover before detonating the device.

Martian anti-vehicle troops are fearless and will always close with any vehicle they aim for (assuming they survive the advance). They are not intentional suicide troops and will probably die if they advance alone. Advancing as part of a group reduces the chance of being the specific target.

Black Poles must be within 2” of a target (measure from center of figure stand to edge of target) in order to detonate their explosive device. Against armored vehicles the device automatically hits with an attack value of a light gun. Against lightly armored vehicles this can be devastating!
Blackpole troops are highly regarded and highly rewarded for succeeding in their task and could afford to retire for the rest of their lives in splendor. It seems though that within the blackpole organization there is a fierce pride and competition to be the one who destroys the most vehicles and lives hence no successful Blackpole has ever chosen the path of luxury.

The sighting of a Blackpole warrior should be cause for concern for any opponent!

The figures used to create the Blackpoles are from the RAFM legion set. The blade at the tip of the spear was removed and plastic tubing, brass wire, and string were used to create the explosive device at the end of the pole. An interesting and deadly character! Mark

More Game Pics

2008-12-29T19:45:00.001-08:00

This morning's blog entry included Dale's great photos of Saturday's game. I decided to take a look at those I took as well, and came up with some pretty good ones.

Top right is a face off between two units of hill Martians. This is an action that will quickly turn nasty with those at the bottom of the hill charging those on top, with the frequent bad result for those that charge uphill.

Next are the City forces' set up. Black Flag militia on the left backed up by a unit of militia, militia in the redoubt with a light gun holding the right.

The third photo is a view from the redoubt at those three advancing imperial legions

Top left is a view from the City troops right flank at those advancing Imperial legions. The black flag legion would later desert to the Shastapshi.

The last photo is a great picture of the German walker trashing some Imperial legionnaires. The walker was superbly handled with bravery by Dale.

Freedom for Shastapsh!!!

2008-12-28T13:05:00.000-08:00

The Red Captains met yesterday to play out game two of our Martian campaign. According to the "Official History" of Shastapsh, written by your humble blogger, upon the ejection of the British from Shastapsh, the Shastapshi replaced their hereditary ruler the Bowel, and formed a revolutionary council. Declaring the canal city free and open, they replaced their ruler with a more representative leader, Ranzi Yukkus, and officially severed their ties to the Oenotrian Empire.

They called for freedom lovers everywhere to come to Shastapsh, Martians and Earthmen alike. Fenians and ex-Confederates, leftist and rightist radicals answered the call and flocked to the city, as the traditional residents enlisted in militias formed to keep the city free from Oenotrians and British imperial troops.

The first response came from their former masters, the Oenotrians. Choosing to fight them in open ground outside the city as the Bowel prepared his defenses, three militia battalions with light artillery support were rushed to meet the advancing enemy. Two of the militia were semi-trained cutter and musket units (with the odd bow for those with that proficiency.) The third militia unit was trained by former Regimental Sgt. Maj. Willie Fraser and armed with minie-ball muskets. It was agreed that the militias would use the terrain and create field defenses, fighting a holding action, with reinforcements to follow, retiring to the next line of defenses as the situation on the field demanded.

The Imperial forces advanced across a broad front. On the City troops' left flank were hill Martians, the Imperial artillery and a unit of elite banded riflemen. In the center were three Legions of cutter and musket infantry, and on the right were two more legions. The Oenotrians also had a unit of Gashant mounted Royal Carbiniers who were committed to the advance on the right.

The battle really evolved as three separate actions from the City troops's left to the right. On the left flank, Willie Fraser's Black Flag battalion occupied some high ground and field works to oppose the advance of the banded riflemen and Hill Martians. These advancing troops were also supported by some medium guns. These forces took advantage of their long range weapons, and immediately began inflicting damage on the militia. Fraser was wounded in the thigh, and as he ripped pieces from his Argyle and Sutherland kilt to stanch the bleeding he said: "Is naethin'. You should see what the damned Zulus did tae me!" He immediately bared a six inch scar from a stab wound across his left breast.

Fraser's own troops replied as the bandeds advanced, taking advantage of their own fire discipline and faster rate of fire. They remained at their post, until the deployment of the Carabiniers to their flank made their position untenable. Later they joined a second militia unit and a gatling (donated by the newly arrived Anarchist community of Shastapsh) in a second defense line. Events on the left flank petered out when the Carabniers made an ill-advised charge across the front of the left flank forces and suffered horrendous casualties. The left flank held.

In the center, the Martians advanced with three legion units against one militia unit in the Grand Redoubt. This advance was distracted by the arrival of a German built walker mounting two gatling guns. Two of the three legions received fire by from the defenders. Two of them lost their commanders in the resulting casualties, but advanced grimly forward. One of the legions took on the walker, failing to do much damage to its armor, but fighting with courage and determination. The walker also drew the attention of the artillery deployed on the left flank. It advanced through a hail of shot and shell dispensing death from it's many-barreled guns. The two remaining legions assaulted the redoubt, taking casualties from the defenders, but eventually ejected the militia holding the position, who fled from the veteran Oenotrians. This represented the attackers' sole success on the field, achieved at a terrible cost. They were not able to advance further.

The action on the right flank may have been the oddest of all. The Oenotrians were slow to advance on the hilltop position. It was held by a unit of Earthmen gone native-chiefly sword and pistol armed troops and a light artillery piece. They had received a note from one of the legions prior to the battle offering to come over to the City if they were not fired upon. The position was weak, and as the two Imperial legions advanced, it appeared that their superior numbers would swamp the defenders. With the fall of the Grand Redoubt this position looked hopeless, however the Imperial Black Legion fired their muskets in the air and continued marching past the flank of the City troops and on into Shastapsh where they offered their service to the Bowel, Ranzi Yukkus.

However, fighting remained to be done on the right. The remaining legion engaged the Earthmen in a close range firefight to neither side's advantage. The Virginia Steam Cavalry eventually arrived, plagued by breakdowns in the difficult terrain and charged into the Imperial legionnaires driving them away from the hill. Though the Oenotrians eventually massed for a second attack, they eventually withdrew from the general engagement.

This battle for Shastapsh was a tremendous victory for the city defenders. They inflicted considerable harm on the Imperial forces at relatively little expense. The addition of the Black Legion to the City's garrison provided a veteran, steadying presence to the growing City militias. The German crew of the light walker deserve considerable praise as its presence on the battlefield was of considerable moral support to the inexperienced defenders. It disrupted the attack on the right flank and in the center and was under continuous fire from the Imperial artillery.

Game three of our campaign is scheduled for January 24th. It will be the SGoM revenge raid on Shastapsh. It should be fun and continue to have considerable influence on the campaign.

Notes on pictures: The first picture is the initial deployment of the Black Battalion led by "Wee Willie" Fraser, former Regimental Sergeant Major of the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders. They held the field fortification and hilltop in the opening phases of the battle. Fraser is my personal character in the campaign.

The second photo is of the imperial deployment in their center and the defender's left. The third photo shows the arrival of the walker on turn two. It really made a mess of things for the Martian imperial commanders-Joe, Gene, Chris and Gary. The fourth photos shows the game at mid-point-On the left I'd been forced back to a new defensive position, the bloody assault on the Grand Redoubt in the center and the two legions advancing on the right.

The next photo shows the assault on the right. This is really the most tense moment in the game as the City commanders desperately hope that the Black Legion will follow through on its promised treachery. The last pictures show Joe blowing yet another artillery roll to take out the Walker. Sad, very sad. Finally we see the Gashant-mounted Carabiniers about ride Balaklava like off to attack my Black-Flag militia battalion. They never quite arrived in one piece.

Our thanks to Mark Waddington for conceiving and running the scenario. Pictures are courtesy of Dale Mickel.

First Royal Mechanology Regiment

2008-12-28T12:29:00.000-08:00

First Royal Mechanology Regiment (1^st RMR)

1879 was the year that British troops fought their first major engagement in the Gorovaangian War fought between the British regency of Parhoon and the city-state of Gorovann.

The war was a close run thing and brought out a need for a higher level of technology. In 1881 the first ironclad airship the HMS Aphid was launched. (This is discussed in a later article). The transport of iron plate and weapons from earth was a long and slow process but within a few years there was enough surplus for the shipyards to create one of the first armed and armored land vehicle to ever exist. (The vehicles were originally built and manned by the navy hence the common use of the term “land ship”).

This first vehicle was equipped with a light gun, a crew of 3, and could move at the speed of a marching column of infantry. It was loud, smoky, and prone to break down every few hundred yards but in its first battle it was such a success in clearing out stubborn enemy defenses that the British command immediately asked for several more to be built.

The second machine was very similar to the first but armed only with a gatling gun. The third vehicle was made a bit wider, supported a crew of 4 and was equipped both with a medium cannon and a gatling gun for close in defense.

In 1888 the first Royal Mechanology Regiment was officially formed. The vehicles were still incredibly loud and would sometimes breakdown at the most inopportune times but their success, not only in impressing the native Martians but in actually winning engagements, ensured their future use. Armor thickness is still an issue but the size of the vehicles and the power of the engines allow only a minimal amount of armor due to weight.

While protected against most small arms, a good hit from most any artillery piece has been known to be catastrophic. Note that the fear of dying in these new fangled contraptions has not stopped hundreds of British troops from volunteering to serve in them. They have been particularly attractive the new breed of young officers arriving on Mars looking for adventure. Newer vehicles have addressed some of these protection issues.

The Oenotrian Empire declared war on the British in 1889 and several of the new machines were lost due to being hit from enemy airships with bombs and flame. (One was actually captured by the Oenotrians). As can be seen in the pictures a Hales rocket battery was added to the larger vehicle in an attempt to defend against such an occurrence.

How They Were Built

All three of the models started out as the main vehicle included in the Disney Atlantis “The Spanner” Battle Builders toy set. (See Picture).

Portions of the front were cut off, the cheesy turret removed and plastic styrene was cut to build up a cab area to mount the gun. Plastic tubing was used for the gun and front mantlet along with tanks and smoke stacks in the back.

Rivets were added with glue (a secret method which I will be happy to tell anyone who asks). All the doors and vision panels were added with more styrene. The larger vehicle had the two halves of the original Spanner spaced a bit with styrene but all the rest of the process was the same.

All the vehicles were then sprayed black, dry brushed a bit, and then dusted with “rust” or if you prefer “Martian soil” for the color. Considering they have been in heavy play in convention and private settings they have held up remarkably well! Later articles will show several types of walkers, other land ships, and of course the flying craft used on the red planet.

Any questions will be happily answered!

Royal Gashant Corps

2008-12-28T12:26:00.001-08:00

On of the purposes of this blog is to share with you, the reader, some of the things we Red Captains are doing with our interpretation of Space 1889. In doing that let me share a little more about us. We are all historical miniature gamers. Mark does WWI in Palestine and the French and Indian War, I do the American Revolution and the War of 1812, Scott and Dale are into ancients, Chris does World War I and naval miniatures, and Gene does whatever the rest of us are doing. I think we do our Martian adventures because of the possibilities it allows us. We've used the Chadwick universe as a framework, but we've very much made it our own. We've written our own history, created our own timeline, and even created some of our own troop types. If you are an orthodox Chadwickian, more power to you, but I think we all gave up orthodoxy in any thing years ago.

This is the first of many entries that shows off some of our troop types and models. Most of the articles are written by Mark Waddington, and they also feature his photos. If there is something purposeful for me to add, I will do so.

The Royal Gashant Corps

The Royal Gashant Corps or “RGC” was formed soon after the British arrived on Mars. The lack of water and appropriate fodder limited the range and abilities of the few horses sent from earth. To correct this issue volunteers were asked to form a new unit mounted solely on the Martian equivalent of a horse called a Gashant.

The Gashant stood half again as tall as a horse and weighed over twice as much. They are temperamental beasts but once tamed are quite loyal to their rider. They can maintain very fast speeds over difficult terrain and minor wounds seem not to affect them at all.

As the new unit was envisioned as mounted rifles the majority of the original volunteers were from the infantry. There are many humorous stories centered around the first few weeks of training as the recruits were first introduced to their new mounts. Once the unit had settled in it quickly started to establish a name for itself.

Its first action was deep in the Martian desert north of Parhoon as the unit surprised a strongly protected caravan of illegal spice. (The British considered the spice market to be under their control and did not want to share the profits with anyone else). The troops guarding the caravan had little idea how to defend against the fast moving and well trained tactics of the earthen troops and after a short but sharp fight surrendered. From then on the reputation of the new unit grew in leaps and bounds.

Note that the unit is not meant to be cavalry and has little shock value in a charge. Instead it was designed to get rifle and lightly equipped troops to their destination as fast as possible as scouts or even as blocking units that would hold a vital pass or area until relieved.

Even the British command took note of the successes of the RGC and have kept them busy with a constant string of tasks to accomplish.

The pictures show a small section of the unit both mounted and dismounted. The Gashants are from the original Space 1889 figure sets and can now be purchased direct from RAFM. The soldiers (mounted and dismounted) are from Redoubt .

Flight From Shastapsh: The Campaign Begins

2008-12-02T14:29:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday the Red Captains met at Game Matrix for the first game of our campaign. The concept for the campaign grew out some games I've hosted several times and have morphed into an "official history of Shastapsh conflict." The outcome of this game is intended to shape the next campaign, scheduled for December 27th.

According to the Official history, Shastapsh was ruled by the Empire's minion, the Bowel, but had increasingly suffered under the increasing influence of British bankers and business men. In fact Great Britain's official Secretary of State for Martian Affairs, Sir Percy Carnaervon, Lord Meepsor, established his offices in the city. Civil strife ran rampant giving cause for the British to send troops into Shastapsh, seize control of the palace, even taking control of the Bowel's palace. In the unique British manner of belief that it is better to be the lowest gutter dwelling Englishman than the greatest of any other culture, the occupiers soon made themselves odious and obnoxious and the Martians responded with ferocity. Finding themselves at the end of a very long supply tail and far from reinforcement, Meepsor made arrangements to evacuate the city of all military forces, as well as prominent families and officials.

Our campaign begins with the air evacuation of the city. The dirigibles carrying the British notables and their escorts HMS Aphid, HMS Ladybird, and HMS Dauntless are at altitude, preparing for exit and return to Syrtis Major. However, rising from behind the suburbs to the north are air ships that are not of clear origin. As the airships and gunboats struggle to make their altitude, they are set upon by the attackers.

The metal-clad cigar-shaped vessels seem to be armed with a tether mine on a pole, and strikes one of the smaller dirigibles. The two smaller vessels, clearly of Martian origin, fire Hale rockets, striking the great Zeppelin Z-2. Two rockets explode in the gas bag, and the entire structure is eventually enveloped in flame. All of its twenty civilian passengers and twenty marines perish in the fireball or are spilled to the ground below. The smaller airship, contacted by the spar torpedo boat, suffers a similar fate, as the mine explodes, detonating the inflammable hydrogen gas bag. Unfortunately, the weapon proves as dangerous to the attacker as it does to the target. As the dirigible erupts into fire, the mystery boat loses trim control and plunges to earth near one of the great bridges spanning the canal.

All of this occurs, scarcely before the British know their leaving is to be opposed. The escorts attempt to shepherd the airships toward escape, firing at their adversaries as they may.

On the south side of the canal, further dangers arise. Martian vessels begin climbing to altitude from the great Oenotrian aerodrome. Their intentions are unclear. While severe tensions exist between the two great empires, war does not presently exist. Will they too participate in a dastardly attack on the peaceful diplomatic mission? HMS Dauntless is dispatched to eyeball the potential adversaries and shots are exchanged. Damage is inflicted and losses are taken, but none severe enough to bring down any of the adversaries. The remaining dirigibles and their escorts are able to escape the horror of the Shastapsh evacuation with tales of the Oenotrian perfidy and rumors of the mysterious attackers armed with Earth weapons. Who are those guys? Despite the loss of innocent life, Meepsor, in his prepared statement reminds the press that it could have been much worse. The British Air Vice-Marshal, Adrian Steiner-Pugh calls for retribution that is swift. "We'll make Nipple-town scream," he said.

SGoM at the Gamefest

2008-11-16T18:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, as promised, I put on a couple of games at the Emerald City Gamefest in Seattle. Unfortunately my Sky Galleons games did not attract a lot of interest among non-miniaturists, but thankfully there were friends available to run the game. Dave Schueler suggested that one problem at such mini-cons is that most games played there only last an hour or so, while miniature games frequently require a much longer commitment. I never thought of it that way.

I ran an old chestnut in the early game period, the revenge raid on Shastapsh. I thought about providing more options for both sides, but ran out of time to determine if I had anything like play balance with the forces, so I stuck with my original vessels.

The Brits have Thunderer and Reliant and three smaller gunboats with nastier armament than the run of the mill Aphid. I use the Brigade models with armored turrets and give them 4.7inch quick firing guns. That's unpleasant. They have fairly unremarkable secondary armament. The Martians have five Whisperdeath kites. The British have the onus of blowing stuff up as part of a reprisal raid and can target lots of things-royal palace, pipelines, water pumping stations, neighborhoods, bridges, but with five large Martian kites about to descend on them, they need a good plan. The British did pretty well the first turn, knocking out ground defenses and pounding the pumping station pretty well, but were caught low by the kites spewing Martian fire and dragging drogue torpedoes.

Once the Martians engaged the British, the action hardly moved at all, taking place over the north bridge. Reliant was quickly faced with fighting a level five fire, eventually putting it out over three turns. Thunderer likewise was doused. However, most of the bad stuff happened to the three hapless gunboats, Perseus, Hercules, and Theseus. Theseus burned. Hercules fought a desperate boarding action, but was eventually overwhelmed and scuttled by its captors. Perseus was the only ship nailed by a torpedo, and saved itself from plunging into the canal at the last possible moment. No Martian ship was destroyed, but many were ravaged by gunfire and the ubiquitous Nordenfeldt fire.

The Britsh suffered from a certain amount of bad luck, winning the initiative only on the first turn. They always went last, meaning the Martians were always dropping flaming nastiness on them or trying to torpedo them. They also missed many of their best shots, even though they hit on a 4-6, though the burning ship issues didn't help. They also didn't have a great plan once the Martian ships closed in..

Surprisingly, the Martians didn't attempt any rams, though I think there were a fair number of opportunities. Nevertheless, it was clear that the British were going to sail off with their tails between their legs.

I've scheduled another SGoM game for Saturday the 30th, after Thanksgiving. This is also a do-again scenario, which will kick off our SGoM/Space 1889 campaign.

The first picture shows the blue roofs of the Royal Palace guarded by tethermines. The tethermines are actually Gametech flight stands put to a better use. All the buildings including water pipes and bridges are from the 1/300 Middle East range by JR Miniatures. JR is cheap and easy to deal with online. I'd actually like to add another 30 or so buildings (which would cost about $40.) In the next photo you can see four kites ganging up on one of the smaller gunboats (if you look carefully you can see Thunderer creeping into the background.) The little gunboat is one of the Osprey Class patrol nefs offered by Brigade Models for Aeronef. Don't care much for Aeronef, but I like the Brigade minis to fill out my own vessels. The kite minis are straight out of the SGoM game with wire and paper masts and sails. They're alright, but sadly they are quite out of game scale-they should be much larger. The third picture shows my Gametech Whisperdeath (also too small) with my Gametech Reliant (a little too small) with two of the Brigade gunboats. The Gametech vessels are simply mini-masterpieces. Love 'em. Wish somebody would pick up the molds and the Chadwick's license.

All of my models have brass wires set as posts into their hulls. I use brass tubing cut to five different levels corresponding with very low, low, medium, high and very high. This tubing is set into weighted plywood bases. Any time a ship changes altitude I just swap out bases. For the my ground batteries, I use 1/600 scale mortars and guns for American Civil War batteries from Bay Area Yards. They are great, cheap, and not too large.

Last but not least, Thunderer is a beautiful miniature that I love to use in games. It is a scratchbuilt, and not by me. Larry Enoch built it for me some years ago together with an Intrepid and two Triumphs. They are highly detailed and just amazing. Larry is an incredibly talented artist, scratchbuilding American Civil War ships, and other sci-fi vessels, as well as the Space 1889 stuff he did for me.

Emerald City Gamefest

2008-11-09T16:48:00.000-08:00

Emerald City Gamefest is a cute little con in Seattle that contacted me about putting on a Sky Galleons of Mars game. I agreed to that and some Thunderboats! for Saturday the 15th. I've talked some friends into heading north with me, just so I can depend on having enough players to play the games.

I'm running a tried and true scenario, so it should be pretty fun. Lots of death and things burning. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

Last weekend I spent most of my time making safer carrying containers for all of my airships. I built little mini altitude markers by drilling holes for brass tubing and supergluing it into left over Litko bases. Then I glued some sheet magnet on to the bases, and setting them on some roof flashing at the bottom of a box. Nothing slides around much and that was the whole point. I had the miniatures poorly stored, so this was worth the time and effort.

Shastapsh City Militia

2008-10-26T21:12:00.000-07:00

These are some new toys. I've actually had them nearly complete for about a week. Alas, they needed a flag, which I finally finished tonight. I'm painting five units of Shastapsh city militia. They are identifiable by their different colored loin cloths and flags. This is the purple flag unit. I took this opportunity to present their flag in the purple and gold of my alma mater, the University of Washington. As you may see I carefully inscribed the flag with important Shastapsh political slogans, including "Go Dawgs, fire Willingham!!"

All the city militia unit will be twelve figures. Of these ten of them are from the RAFM Space 1889 range. They are equally divided between shooters and swordsmen. I don't find these figures to be as nice as the original Bob Murch sculpts for the Space 1889 range (still available as boxed sets at very reasonable prices.) Still they do fill out the range, and I like their physical characterizations better than the skinny Parroom Station Martians. I do believe they are over-priced at three bucks a pop, and I didn't order them until the Space 1889 sale during the summer. Two of the figures are from the Dead Earthmen range from Bronze Age miniatures. Some very nice miniatures indeed. They are from the John Carter of Mars range (though they can't call them that.) They represent Red Captains-Terran leaders of native units.

There's No Truth in Martian Skin Color

2008-10-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

I'm one of those common cases in historical miniature gaming. I am owned by the history. Even greater than the geekdom of playing games with toy soldiers is the geekdom of getting the history right. And it's getting worse as I get older.

No such problem on Mars. No history. Or at least I can more or less make it up as I go along.

In the summer of 2005 I painted up all of my RAFM Martian Legion figures. I singly mounted them on washers, primed 'em with my faithful Testors spray flat white enamel and had at it. I decided on the old Ral Partha dun horse color for their skin tone. I like it, the color was not too bright, but clearly not human. Bad move. I can't get it anymore and the Iron Wind substitute isn't the same shade of biscuit yellow. Oh, well.

After I showed off my Martians to collaborator Mark Waddington, he set about to paint his own pile of lead. However, he wanted to get it right, and make our figures more or less uniform. My response was that there are no Osprey books for Mars. "There is no truth in Martian skin color."

And this is the way we've approached our project. We've tried to focus on the fun. Our scenarios have told a story about Mars, but it is a narrative of our own making, tied into the Chadwick story, but not limited by it. One of our more noteworthy scenarios is Landship Down. Mark's design is loosely based on the story of Blackhawk Down in Somalia, a steam tank goes bust, supported by a couple of units of infantry, while the Brits mount a rescue mission complete with armor and air support. It's always a fiasco, because the colonials dither, while the Martians slowly pick off the defenders. Sad. Sad and sorry.

I designed a scenario around Fredrick Weyerhaeuser's purchase of some liftwood forest, and the rush to seize it by British and Imperial forces, while Weyerhaeser and his work crew try to defend it.

More to come soon about our rules, campaign plans, and upcoming games.

The two pictures come from our Landship Down scenario in February 2008. The first photo is of the lonesome British left to defend the broken down steam tank. The other picture is of the rescue force. No pictures of the Martians, but then they fought as though they were invisible.

Beginnings

2008-10-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

I've been interested in Sky Galleons of Mars (SGoM) and Space 1889, since the former was published as a GDW board game and the RAFM produced their excellent range of figures in 1989. I took a gamble on some Game Tech miniatures which languished in an unpainted state for years. Finally I decided to reproduce the GDW map of Shastapsh on a felt mat and made hexes out of it.

Once the mat was made there was no stopping me. Limited by my small collection of Game Tech minis, one not likely to grow much with the demise of that fine company, I acquired some nice scratch-builts, adopted some of the nice Brigade models, and even painted up some of the Houston's plastics from two copies of SGoM. I developed several scenarios that I took on the road from the Breakthrough convention in Surrey, B.C. in 2002, to Dragonflight in 2004, and ConQuest 2008. All of the scenarios were based around an airship campaign to take or hold the city-state of Shastapsh.

I decided to add some three dimensional qualities to the city that could be just representational or be included in the scenarios. The buildings are all from the JR Miniatures 1/300 Middle East range. The domed houses are all painted different colors and glossed for an exotic effect. I also picked up the storage tanks, pipeline, and pumping stations that would be necessary for sustaining a water-starved landscape, as well as the bridges running from the central island to the mainland. I've used 1/600 scale ACW gun batteries, including mortars as the dreaded lob guns, beads on bases for tethermines. The altitude stands are based on friends' designs for a miniature version of Mustangs, the Avalon Hill World War II air combat game.

In 2004, at the final Breakthrough convention, after a my third and final scenario for SGoM, Mark Waddington and I began comparing notes regarding our knowledge of Space 1889, and our unpainted piles of lead. I didn't know Mark well then, but our comparing of notes set me to work the following summer on my boxes of Oenotrian legions.

The top two pictures show my game from ConQuest Northwest last February. The picture at right is of a Game Tech Whisperdeath kite. It is simply an incredible miniature. At bottom you get a view of my Shastapsh map with all of my goodies. This photo was taken in 2004 at the Breakthrough convention, when Mark and I began hatching plans.

The Red Captains

2008-10-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

I'm keeping this blog on behalf of my friends who together form the Red Captains. We're a group of Space 1889 enthusiasts who have enjoyed playing 28mm miniature games in the Frank Chadwick universe. Let me introduce them to you:

Mark Waddington,, from Renton, WA is our miniaturist sans peur. His scratchbuilt Aphid and Ranger gunboats are virtually museum quality. His walkers and steam tanks, kit-bashed from toys, are inventive and very cool looking.

Joe Waddington is Mark's son and has participated in all of our major productions. He has helped conceptualize our rules and problem solved some our more thorny issues.

Chris Bauermeister is our Venusian enthusiast. Chris is from Olympia and has piles of interesting lizardmen from the old reptiliad line by RAFM. Always in it for the fun, Chris is a great member of the team.

Dale Mickel is also from Olympia and a founding member of the Red Captains. Some day Dale will build the perfect flyer. But until then he will lead Hill Martians into hopeless attacks or land masked minions from Mark's airship.

Scott Murphy is another Olympian. His interest is, like mine in the Chadwickian city-state of Shastapsh. Scott is currently working on Fenian mercenaries for the support of the island city.

Gene Anderson hails from beautiful Centralia, fifty miles south of Tacoma. He dutifully drives up to game with the rest of us, when it doesn't conflict with his hunting plans. Though Gene doesn't have any miniature plans of his own, he provides the comic relief and we couldn't do without him.

I'm Kevin Smyth from beautiful Puyallup, WA. Mark and I originally envisioned the Space 1889 project together. I am a fairly prolific painter, though I am frequently distracted from the Martians by other projects. I'll also be the official keeper of the blog.

Our group is preparing a campaign based in Shastapsh. This blog will be our record of preparations, rumors and just foolin' around. We hope you find it fun and useful