Stonehouse Miniatures Steam Elephant

 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

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

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

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

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

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

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.