Irr Wb (F)

Attack on an Empress - A Gridded Naval Game Summary

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 19:39:00 +0000

After painting up the Pre-Dreadnought fleets, I had to put them into action. As mentioned earlier, I am interested in the Jeune Ecole ideas around using torpedo boats against ships of the line. so I set up the following forces:

Imperial Fleet

Battleship Empress Beatrice classed as a modern Pre-Dreadnought
Cruiser Lady Jane classed as a protected cruiser
Destroyer T. Horton classed as a torpedo boat destroyer

Republican Fleet

Cruiser Mousketon classed as a protected cruiser
6 Pistolet class Torpedo boats.

The objective was for the Republicans to sink the Beatrice.

I have a big map so it took awhile for the opposing forces to close to fighting range.

Things Get Interesting

A flurry of gunfire and a brace of torpedoes sent the Horton limping off the board.

First Blood to the Republicans

The TBs could have sunk her but needed to keep their fish for larger prey. In these rules, torpedo boats have no guns - well none that can do any damage to an actual ship.

Tally Ho!

With the Horton rendered Hortons de combat (sorry), the Republican small ships surge towards the Empress while the Lady Jane tries to intervene. Shots are exchanged between her and the Mousqueton, chipping paint initially to no great effect.

Another One Bites the Dust

Unfortunately the Lady Jane strays a little too close to the sea borne gnats and a brace of torpedoes sends her limping off the table as well. The Republican fleet pushes on with proletarian determination, their approach to the Empress allowing the big ship to bring her equally big guns into action. The Empress' gunners haven't had time to warm up and their shooting goes astray leaving one Pistolet afloat but also heading off table.

Death to the Peasants!

Under the Gridded Naval Game rules, all ships fire simultaneously at the start of the turn then roll for initiative, the loser moving first. Throughout the game, the Republicans have rolled poorly allowing the Imperial ships to better unmask their batteries. In this case, the Empress unloaded a full broadside of main and secondary guns into the Mousqueton sending her to the bottom in very small pieces.

Pour la Republique!

Though the loss of the Mousqueton is a severe blow, the remaining republican boats press home their attacks using their higher agility to stay out of the deadly Imperial broadside. Main armament fires at half strength in the bow or stern arcs and secondary guns can only fire to starboard or port. TB torpedos fire into the side arcs, with a range of 3 hexes and rolling 3d6 for damage. For comparison, a modern Dreadnought fires at 9d6 losing 1 dice for every hex of range.

Last Gasp for the Republic!

In the whirl of melée, the remaining Pistolets land several of their fish, bringing the Empress almost to the critical point but her devastating firepower smashes the tiny boats. End result: Republicans blown out of the water, Imperials left with three heavily damaged ships, including Beatrice, pride of the fleet.

It was a useful test game to try out the rules, though admittedly I made errors early on. I think it captures the period well, like Nelson you want to cross the T to maximize firepower but unlike Nelson you don't want to get too close, or the secondaries will come into play. You can also appreciate why the Dreadnought design with more guns bearing at a greater range came to dominate later conflicts. The torpedo boats were tricky to handle. They need to work to achieve that 3 hex bow or stern sweet spot to survive. If you keep failing initiative for movement that can be very difficult.

I will be playing more of this in the future.

Before the Dreadnought...

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 02:55:00 +0000

So it's been awhile since the reboot post. Part of the delay was figuring out that coming up with clever engaging posts is not the point, getting content out there is.

Thanks to Space 1889 I have an interest in the quaint and sometimes bizarre ships of the pre-Dreadnought period. The Ironclad and Ether Fliers rules from the 1889 family are a little clunky and finding ships has been an issue. That last has changed recently as 3D printing and model design has taken off.

There are a number of excellent ship models available, but they are rather larger than I want. I already have a 1" / 25mm hex, so - why not make my own ships to suit the map? It would also be a good way to re-familiarize myself with OpenScad, a code based design package.

Rules-wise I decided to use Bob Cordery's Portable Wargames Rules, specifically his pre-Dreadnought set - free download here, though I sprang for the full set: Gridded Naval Wargames.

So what were the results?

The first batch were pretty good but needed some tweaking.

First test hot on the printer

I went through several iterations, adjusting the models to fit the hex size, adding descriptive text to the bases and making the bases thicker and less likely to fly away on the breeze.

Works in Progress

Here is a rough physical timeline of the adjustments made:

Iterative iteration at work.

I got to the point where they were not perfect but good enough so painted up a couple of opposing squadrons.

Fleets in being at last.

The top row is a fairly conventional Not British at all collection of ships of the line and supporting lesser vessels. Beneath is an escadron de torpilleurs of the Not Gallic Jeune École.

Over this coming weekend, I hope to put them out to sea and test these two competing philosophies of naval warfare.

So here we are again or "The Return of the Seven Year Itch."

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 02:31:00 +0000

So seven years, one world spanning pandemic, at least two wars, one threat of invasion, one actual invasion and general political chaos across the globe, why bother?

Well for all those reasons. Facebook is useless, Twitter has imploded, Bluesky has justifiably become focussed on politics and AI generated crap is flooding Youtube.

We need to return to actual human gamer generated content. That and I want to write more.

So here's a taste of things to come:

"Beer Mat" terrain

3d Printed 1/72 Cheap Normandy Project

1/56 Early War / Sealion

Walmington on Bromley End, Bloodford - Homes for the Home Guard

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Sun, 20 Jan 2019 23:43:00 +0000

As I slowly move through my lead pile of things Home Guard related, the realization set in that I would need terrain and a fair bit of it if I wanted to replicate Dad's Army, Went the Day Well or The Eagle Has Landed. I toyed with making up buildings out of foam core and other materials but practically, that wasn't a realistic option. With some Christmas money in hand, I went shopping. There are many good manufacturers out there with some very nice products in 28mm / 1/56. Some of the resin offerings were beautiful but expensive, and for many companies, their UK styled offerings were focused on terraced housing.

I decided to go with Sarissa primarily because of their very generous shipping terms and because they ship Royal Mail. (As mentioned in a previous post, courier companies like to gouge Canadians for customs fees). The order was placed and a few weeks later, my order arrived in my mailbox. It came in two separate packages, both properly marked as to contents and value and with no import fees payable - a double bonus.

First up is the L016 Stone Cottage. This is a pretty little kit with double walls allowing for the outer wall to lean in - see below and for prototypically thick windows and doors. The interior fireplace and flagged floor was an unexpected add on. A reasonable amount of stone detail is laser etched into the MDF but the effect was still too flat for my liking. At various points in the assembly, I used my Dremel tool to deepen the lines and add more texture. The material used by Sarissa is thick enough and robust enough that I was able to significantly improve the appearance especially around the chimney. I used a very small ball cutter to deepen the lines, followed by a grinding point to round the edges and a wire wheel to soften the effect over all. As always when working on MDF, proper breathing protection against the dust is a must.

Godwin's Cottage

End view

Next is the N005 Small Shop. A basic two level building with removable roof and first floor, it is a great addition to the high street.

Sinistre and Sons Dry Goods

The astute among you will notice that the front door and and window are reversed compared to the official version shown in the link above. This was intentional. Sarissa uses several standard sized components across different models in their ranges. On opening the shop flat pack, I was delighted to see that it included a wall section with a rather pretty arched door and window. Rather than use this at the back of the shop, I swapped it out with a standard wall and window section from the one of the single story houses below. To keep the front and back doors in opposing corners, I reversed the shop window and put the door on the left. I like that the replacement wall gives a barred window effect for what would be the shop stock room.

Anti-theft protection around the back

Which brings us to a pair of N021 Single Story Houses. First is the stock version:

Foxglove Cottage

A simple little building that will make a good hiding place for a Vickers or an angry housewife with a brace of Molotovs. And the modified version:

The Irises

Swapping the walls gives me two versions of the same building while breaking up some of the same-iness common to MDF structures.

Last of the buildings is the N009 Small House. Another functional building that will blend in on the high street or act alone as a larger farmhouse.

Biggles' Farm

The last piece from Sarissa is the N048 Stone Bridge - Double Arch shown here with a Die Waffenkammer Neubaufahrzeug on its way to put the jackboot to an unsuspecting bucolic English village.

Bloodnok Bridge

It comes in several versions with up to three arches. I went with the double arch version for maximum flexibility. The ends and middle seem to be very stable as is, but I may add rare earth magnets to lock them together if required. Size wise it is probably a little over scale width, but that is a positive for us wargamers.

With Warlord Sherman

The Sarissa products are quite a bit smaller than my Charlie Foxtrot pub but I don't think that will be a problem. The pub is a large piece for any table.

The Pub Next Door

Laid out, I think I now have enough buildings for a rather exciting urban fight.

We are the only Germans in the Village!

Overall, I am happy with the results. The price was good and I was able to get some extra variety out of my purchase. There is a lot more work to do on painting, finishing and the roofs, but they're fine for play testing scenarios as is.

If I only had a lathe....

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Wed, 05 Dec 2018 01:56:00 +0000

I was looking into buying a Taig lathe to do some hobby related machining but by the time I priced out all the bits needed to actually do anything, it cost significantly more than what I had in my budget - at least for now.

Instead, I wound up buying a Dremel tool, which I have been wanting for awhile, and an assortment of wood steel and brass bits to build one of these: Fonly Lathe

Loosely based off a watchmaker's lathe, the design has been successfully used for making 2mm/foot scale model railroad parts. I made a whole series of beginner errors starting with buying a stainless steel bed plate thinking it would be easy to drill (Hahahahaha......). That was followed by some fun drilling holes in the brass block for the tool holder. I'd always used a pin vise on relatively thin stock with no real problems so I wasn't expecting the bigger drill bit to grab the brass as badly as it did. If I had a drill press, it would have gone much quicker and straighter. In then end I wound up with this:

It looks pretty crude but everything is solid. The block on the right is the tool holder. I got this far then ran into a period of frustration because I couldn't get the damn thing to cut. I was able to do a little shaping of brass and wood with hand held files but I couldn't get the hang of making and setting up the cutting tools.

Much research and Youtubing followed and finally I made a leap in progress.

The wood jars and most of the brass were shaped with files. The aluminium stock is a 1/8" dia roofing nail and the pin on the end was turned down by hand using my new tool. I haven't measured it but the penny should give you an idea of how small it is (I got the calipers out this morning - it's 0.3mm - not bad for free hand).

I'm pretty chuffed.

Having made it this far, I have a few lathe bits to make over and I want to make a taper slide for turning gun barrels.

A week's work

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Sun, 08 Jul 2018 00:58:00 +0000

I have been on a weeks holiday in part because family have been visiting. That doesn't mean I haven't found some time for a little painting and gluing down in the games room.

First up is some base work on my 20mm WWII plastics. Not much to see really, but when they were first done, it was more important to get them based rather than to get them based well, the immediate object being to give the finger to the black dog. They're still not perfect but they are good enough.

In the same theme, a long while back a friend gave me some markings for the Canadian 4th Armoured Division. The Sherman was marked up as from the Governor General's Foot Guards - my old militia regiment, the M3 as the Lake Superior Regiment in keeping with the infantry. The Lake Sups were the Motor Regiment that worked closely with the armoured regiments of the 4th division. I had the jeep kicking around so I remove the pintle mounted .50 and marked it as from the 15th Field Regiment - also from 4th Armoured div. It will be the ride for my FO. Many thanks to Richard for the transfers.

side view

front

rear

A couple of notes. The decals were a bit too big for the jeep and far too big for the rear of it and the front of the M3. The M3 is an M3 and not an M5 because that was what I had on hand. The Bren on the M3 is based on a photo of a Lake Sup vehicle. It was a bugger to attach and some creative use of super glue and baking soda was needed to make a solid mount. It passes the 3 foot test and that's all I need. The stars are skewed intentionally - this was a period Canadianism - we are not always sure how to define ourselves but we know we are not Americans - no offence to those of that house. The Sherman is the very old Airfix plastic kit - let's just say I felt a bit bad for putting such nice decals on it. Still, it also passes the 3 foot test. Once the decals were set up, I did some basic weathering with GW Nuln oil and earth shade purchased with a birthday gift certificate from my offspring. I am happy with the results - but the price....

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That's it for now - more to follow.

Goldfinching

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Fri, 18 May 2018 17:26:00 +0000

One of the interesting aspects of wargaming is that it allows one to examine history from different perspectives. These perspectives are frequently a-historical since in our games we do not want to contemplate the savage realities of combat with sword and spear and we focus on some units hard fought last stands while ignoring their previous war crimes. Colonial wargaming in particular tends to focus on the thin red line of civilization facing off against the Native masses with some rules giving control of the natives to to a referee or a set of tables and dice. VSF takes this further, literally dehumanizing the natives by putting them on another planet.

All this philosophising is a little heavy for what is just a game of toy soldiers, but for me at least, it is possible to mix a little unpleasant history into table top amusement. Blackbirding was, and sadly still is, the practice of recruiting native workers through deceit, impressment or outright slavery; "blackbird" referring to the colour of the unfortunate natives' skin. As the fluff for Space 1889 makes clear, what happened in Earth history, also happens in alt-history on Mars.

Some where outside the Coprates Valley, a village swelters under the Martian sun. Close by, silted water flows slowly through an ancient canal.

Table setup

A river boat chugs up the canal and a few armed figures debark, and saunter into the village. Korvetkapitein Rom of the Force Publique Martienne watched the mercenary recruiters depart. He kept his men on deck - they were there for security, not to get their hands dirty.

The river vessel Kurtz

5 barrel Nordenfeldt and 12 pounder on the fore deck

With no trouble expected, the gun crews waited under cover - and in the shade.

Corralling the "Goldfinches"

The "recruiters" gather up a flock of "volunteers", their rifles proving more persuasive than the meagre pay promised.

But news of the riverboat and the sorrow it brings spreads quickly up the canal.

The Copratic rescue force.

The table was setup to be interesting. I made some allowances for fields of fire from the artillery.

The three recruiters are armed with magazine rifles and are well experienced in their field. They are rated V3S

The Force Marines are armed with single shot breech loaders, Being posted to a backwater on Mars, they are not the best of their corps and are rated T1.

The two gun crews are rated T0, the 0 being important later in the game.

On the Martian side, the villagers are un-armed and will generally seek to move away from any firing or conflict. When being "escorted" by the recruiters, they will move reluctantly, slowing things down for the recruiters.

The Copratic states infantry are Veterans, half muzzle loading musket, half spear rated V2. and the cavalry are heavy lancers (because I wanted to see what they could do) rated V0H

On the move

The capture team begins to move the villagers out to the waiting river boat, while a dark and ancient stone god watches in silence from a nearby ceremonial mound.

Years ago, I was given a bag of large and small Cthulhu figures so I have to use them when I can.

Here comes the cavalry!

In the distance, the Martian relief rides and runs hell for leather to save the villagers from a short and brutal life in the gumme fields.

All hands on deck!

Alerted by the shouts from shore, the gun crews saunter to their positions.
"No targets", muttered the master gunner to no-one in particular, "It's likely just some dirt digger on his way home from digging dirt." He spat into the slow flowing silt laden water below.

Advance!

Winning the initiative, the relief force moves forward. Generally I don't worry too much about movement costs for formation changes out of direct combat.

Get moving you yellow dogs!

The recruiting team manages to chivy along their volunteers, out of the village,

Faster! Faster!

...and into the open. The reluctance of the natives slows progress considerably. I rolled for movement normally then rolled another dice for direction and a third for revised distance creating a wandering path for the group. In the end the effect was not really worth it. Next time, I'll just knock a dice or two off the regular move.

There they are - get the Earthers!

I'm still using the stock initiative system meaning the passive player doesn't have much to do if they can't shoot.

Chaaaarge!

Gashant paws thunder making the parched sand tremble ... shots ring out from the enemy but all go wide. Closer to the canal bank, the shooters and cutters fan out and begin creeping through the brush.

Hold the Line!

The Earthers hold their ground while the villagers flee in terror - or is it relief.

Hold your fire you fools!

Hearing the lever on the Nordenfeldt rack back, the master gunner shouts; "Hold your fire you fools! You'll hit our own people"

In fact, there is nothing the the Soldier's Companion rules to prevent firing in this case, I just wanted to see what would happen when a heavy lancer charge goes in. Call me a cheater if you will, it's my table ;)

Meanwhile....

The foot component of the rescue force works its way up to the edge of the brush line - unseen in all the commotion.

Again in the rules as written, moving forces cannot be concealed, but we are talking natives here so I gave them a pass, like the scene in Zulu where the impi advances and disappears into the grass.

OoooooLaaaaahhhh.....

The charge goes in and magazine rifles crash a mad minute wreaking slaughter in the ranks of the oncoming Gashants. 2d6 per rifle instead of the normal 1d6 for breechloaders.

Revenge!

But to no avail, the cavalry pass their morale check and the charge goes in sticking the experts like pigs.

Freedom!

The cavalry reform while the villagers keep running for cover. On the bloody ground, not all the Earthers are dead. Wounded left on the field in the face of the enemy results in a hefty hit to future human morale checks.

Clear lanes of fire.

The master gunner looked over the carnage - the men were dead or close enough to it that his guns would just hasten them on their way. "Target, massed horse, all guns - Fire!"

Boom! - R-r-r-r-rip!

And the big guns let fly!

Crump!

And more gashants go down under a hail of lead and fire.

Vengeance grows from the barrel of a gun...

And the rescuers are defeated....

Checking for the dead....

With the obvious threat eliminated, the Force Marines double time out to see if anyone is left alive and round up the volunteers.

Two survivors are helped along with the terrified natives following behind.

Two men are detailed off to carry the wounded back to the Kurtz while the rest of the marines round up the villagers.

OOOLLLLAAHHH!

The Marines, carrying the wounded are just about back on board when from their hidden position in the bush the Cutters charge the boat and the Shooters charge the Marines. And thereby gaining initiative. The charge move roll was an amazing 26" for the cutters and "enough" for the shooter. This time I did allow defensive fire.

Crash!

Some cutters and shooters go down, but their morale holds and they charge home!

Repel Boarders!

The Cutters get in amongst the gun crew on the lower deck while the shooters overwhelm the marines and wounded.

Abandon ship!

The gun crews hold for a while but fail their morale - thanks to the Marines leaving wounded with the natives and decide to jump for it before they are cut up for bait. The Captain orders the hatches closed and dogged, sealing his crew into an armoured citadel away from the ravaging natives. I was not surprised to read that this was a common practice on riverboats, including those on the Missisippi - lose the cargo, save the crew. It has come back into use as a counter to modern day pirates.

Ils ont le bateau!

The remaining Marines fire ... to no great effect.

Attack!

Grasping the nettle, the cutters charge in, screening the shooters as they go.

Crash! Crash

Volleys are exchanged...

Sauve qui peut!

Casualties are light but the Marines already fragile morale snaps and they break and run.

Catching a breath....

Past the village and over a small rise - they think they are safe.

No rest for the weary....

Bu the natives catch up and the Marines are scattered to the desert to be rounded up later - if they survive....

Time to depart

The Kurtz retrieves her soaked gunners, and seeing no further chance to intervene, departs. Reports will be written, accounts will be settled.

At the end of the game, I rolled for Martian casualties and the dead were rather less than expected which bodes well for future Copratic-Belgian encounters.

It was an interesting scenario to game out, in reality some communities fought very hard to save their members from this ugly aspect of colonialism. It gave me a chance to try out artillery on the table and I was pleased to see how effective the heavy lancers were. Their close combat dice modifiers are impressive. Magazine rifles were proven again to be over powered en mass, but are a useful balancing item when fielding small heroic forces.

Overall an enjoyable game in my new space.

Transformation

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 15:03:00 +0000

Earlier I posted an image of the new floor in the games room. Now all the painting has been done, new lighting put up, and most of the furniture built and installed. To see the difference I offer up a before and after picture:

Before:

And after:

Off to the right is a new painting desk and a recycled book case and to right of centre are 4 folding tables, allowing gaming space up to just under 5 feet by 12 (1.5x 3.5 metres).

Currently I am putting back in all the gaming bits and bobs. Art will be going up shortly and I will be acquiring some really useful boxes to help organize things.

A new year

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Mon, 08 Jan 2018 17:07:00 +0000

So here we are in 2018. A new house, a new year and a new games room with the picture above showing the new floor. Later this month, all the walls will be dry-walled, plastered and painted. Later will come shelving and a gaming table or tables - I'm still in the process of deciding.

One thing I started before New Years was committing to 30 minutes a day doing something war gaming related. Apart from reducing the lead pile, I find it helps with my mental health and that's a good thing.

I am hoping for an exciting year to come in war gaming!

Foot notes and a brief hiatus....

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Wed, 30 Aug 2017 18:29:00 +0000

Despite the horrific dice rolling in the last game, I was very happy with the results. As a way to explore the rules, it was a success and I thought that the gatling did exactly what it was supposed to do. However, I now have to pack everything away for a while because we are moving house. We have been planning on downsizing for a couple of years now and after a brief conversation with relatives, we decided to put the house on the market and see what would happened. In short, within the course of a very busy week, we had sold our old house and purchased a new one with that holy grail for all likely readers of this blog - a dedicated wargaming space.

While the move means no more games until at least the end of October, it near guarantees that I will be able to play more often and post more often. Where my current space requires a lot of faffing around in the garage, the new space will allow me to leave the table set up free from interference from camping trailers or cats.

More to follow

Kas'trum Campaign Pre-Season Game Two - Into the Valley of Death?

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 02:08:00 +0000

The Hereford's adjutant was back at his desk. This time it was the reconciliation of the Mess accounts. No matter how he worked the figures he always came up two bottles of claret short - and then there was that troublesome rumour that porter had been seen at table. Most distressing...

A loud cough came from the door behind him - the the endless knocking of junior officers and senior NCOs who needed his help to sort out one minor problem or another had threatened to bring down the whole structure thus a change to a less violent announcement was required.

"Enter - What is it?" the major snapped, his eyes still focused on the mess accounts - where were those d---ed bottles of claret?
"Burning party ready to depart sir!" replied the Sergeant Major pushing aside the tattered "door" as he entered.
"What's going out Sar'n't Major?"
"One company of regulars, a section of Trucial Scouts and a Gatling gun..."
"A what!?"
"A Gatling gun sir, a type of small bore revolving cannon from America. It's said to have firepower the equivalent to a company of rifles. The Royal Navy swears by them, sir and we 've been ordered to field test one and report back on the results. Begging your pardon sir, I see the written order from Battalion there on your desk, just under those two bottles of claret..."
"Yes, yes, very good..." was the waspish reply as the Major tucked the offending bottles out of sight beneath the desk, "Who's leading this little scientific gun testing party then?"
"Captain Cybbel sir, late of India I believe. Fancies himself a bit of a writer."
"Ah yes him. Do you know if he fancies porter? No never mind that, he has his orders, tell him to get on with it, I have to get back to more pressing matters."
The Major turned back to his accounts, oblivious to the smart salute rendered by his most senior NCO who depart with all the briskness appropriate to his rank.

The Sergeant Major strode over to the waiting column ending his march with a crashed of highly polished black leather on dusty Martian sand next to a ragged looking horse and a rather less ragged looking rider. He followed with a mathematically precise salute.
"Begging your pardon Captain Cybbel, the Major says you're to head out sir."
The rider was staring fixedly at the two reptilian gashants packing the mechanical gun,
"What rhymes with 'dinosauria,'" he thought to himself, "Sorry Sergeant Major, what was that?"
"The Major says you are to head out now"
"No words of encouragement to the men from him then?"
"No sir, he just made reference to your written orders...."
"Hrrmm," Cybbel replied looking concerned, "that's a touch cold given what happened to Puller's lot. I'll have to come up with something myself then. Thank you Sergeant Major, you are dismissed."
The NCO saluted smartly, the Captain returned the salute equally smartly and returned briefly to his previous thoughts.
"'In memoria', yes that might work it wasn't perfect - but then it didn't really have the tone he needed to elevate the men's spirits."
Cybbel shook way that particular remembrance and turned to the men and Martians of the little column arrayed before him.
"Now listen up men, we have a job to do and I know you are the right men for it...." his voice was swallowed by the morning mist as he he did his best to instil some pride and honour in these men, no his men that he was about to lead into battle.

The Valley of Death

Once more unto the breech

On the Earth side we have:
Captain Cybbel commanding
Second Company, Earl of Hereford's Regiment of Foot Regular V1, Single Shot Breech Loaders
Special Detachment 1st Askari Rifles Regular X3S Muzzle Loader Rifles
No. 7 Experimental Battery Regular V0 Gatling Gun.

The Martian forces are:Har'd'tak commanding

Har'd'tak's Hellions (Num'da's Raiders) Irregular V2, ½ Musket, ½ Bow armed

First Band Kas'trum Marines Regular V2S Rifled Musket

Har'd'tak looked down the narrow valley. Loyalists in the Earther occupied village off the main canal had sent word that a column was on the move, undoubtedly to seek revenge for the massacre at the temple ruins. The prizes, both in loot and hostages were significant, but some of the tribe felt that they were not worth attracting the attention of the invader. The riders had long since passed through carrying with them the booty of rifles, loot and, it was said, a prisoner or two.

The decoy.

Har'd'tak's job was to slow down any incursions by the red men. His band was split between those armed with bows and those with muskets. Given the reports of the blundering nature of the Earthers, he put his bows behind a protective row of thorn tress felled for just this purpose. With any luck, the red men would stumble into the bows, allowing these short ranged weapons to have some effect on the battle.

The ambush.

He placed his musket armed troops along one of the ridges defining the valley. They were to hold in place and in cover until the Earthers were occupied with the bows and then sweep in from the flank.

The reserve.

On it's way was platoon of Kas'trum Marines whether or not they would arrive in time to be useful was the question.

Cybbel looked down again at his printed orders. Yhey read in summary and decreasing order of importance:

Locate and recover any breech loading weapons and if possible ammunition.
Locate and recover any officers or gentlemen held by the enemy.
Regardless of the outcomes of items 1 and 2, burn any buildings and confiscate any live-stock or portable goods.
Locate and recover any other imperial property such as uniforms, helmets, belting etc and liberate any enlisted men.
(in a different hand that looked suspiciously like that of a certain senior NCO) Assess the utility of the attached Gatling Gun in field operations, compile a report of strengths and weaknesses, and include a list of recommendations in favour or against.

At the bottom inked in large letters was the admonition:

Under no circumstances are wells or other water sources to be interfered with!

The army had its priorities one supposed but at least that last bit made some sort of sense.

Scouts out and into battle!

An odd array of thorns trees blocks blocks progress.
The glass beads mark the limits at which the Trucial Scouts will uncover the two ambush parties.

The Scouts press forward - Alert to danger.

Back out of sight behind the ridge line

Concerned that the Scouts were getting too close, Har'd'tak pulled his men back off the ridge.

The Martian view

Looking up the valley as the red tide approaches.

Discovered!

The orange bead shows the limit of bow range.

The Redmen pull up behind the scouts

Skirmishers to the ridge!

The Trucial Scouts open fire!

One hit!

A quick note: In the Soldier's Companion rules, the base number to hit is a 6 on a d6. This base number can be modified up or down by various factors - usually up. For hit numbers greater than 6, a 6 still counts as a hit but the defending player has a chance to "save" the hit by rolling under the difference. However, saved hits still count towards the morale check. See below.

But it's saved.

Open order skirmishers behind cover get a healthy defensive bonus.

The morale roll...

The bowmen hold.

The ambush team fires....

Only half of the figures count as firing because they are using muzzle loaders then factor in long range and nothing much happens. Afghanis with jezzails these are not.

What's that odd machine? The Gatling deploys.

Fancy Footwork

All those years in the grammar school marching band finally pay off as the second rank pivots to face the new threat.

"Give me an L!"

Though not in the letter of the rules, what's the point of having two rank regulars if you can't do fancy marching about things with them?

Hellions Fire!

No hits on the red men.

One hit on the traitorous Scouts!

Easily saved

Gatling test script Item 2: Open fire at the enemy

Har'd'tak watched a small red coated figure as it did something at the side of the odd looking gun. little flashes of light flickered from it and for a moment the Hellions watched unconcerned. Then a sandstorm of bullets kicked up the sand up and down their position. Khaki clad figures could be seen running between the gashants and the gun, bringing ammunition to feed this terrifying beast.

Two hits!

Doubled thanks to Yankee technological know how

MGs double all hits. This didn't help here and both were saved.

Morale Failure!

However as noted above, all four hits still modify the morale roll and the skirmishers run away in terror - but still intact.

Run Away!

Har'd'tak's men squatted nervously on the other side of the ridge. They would not face this new terror for treasure or glory and wishing to live another day, they quietly withdrew.

The Scouts Make another ineffectual effort

Under less than withering fire, the bows continue to hold.

Scouts Withdraw!

Time for the regulars to have a go!

The Red Tide approaches!

Martinis Thunder!

Begging your pardon sir....

No hits?!

There seems to be something wrong with our bloody Martinis today

No hits again?!

The bows execute a tactical retreat

The Earthers advance

The bows keep running

Another shot

No hits?! What madness is this?

The Bows saunter away

Fer C___t's sake - Hit something, anything - even the bl__dy dirt!

And the game ends as the last bowman walks calmly out of sight.

Cybbel looked down from his mount.
"So what was the problem Sergeant?"
The NCO held out a handful of shiny gold metal fragments.
"Old ammunition sir - the wound brass type case. It's been in storage so long it's starting to fall apart. The men are cleaning their rifles now and I have the platoon NCOs taking stock of the drawn case ammunition and redistributing that. We should have enough for another engagement without haveing to draw on the old stuff"
"Thank you Sergeant, carry on."

With things well in hand, Cybbel turned back to his poetry.
"When you lie bleeding on the red Martian Plain...."
No that wasn't right...

In a simple mud hut, in a simple mud village, two dishevelled figures listened expectantly to the sounds of battle in the nearby valley. One sat listlessly, the other searched the ground behind him with his finger tips and having found a not quite blunt bit of rock, began sawing at the thongs that bound his wrists. Help was coming.

Kas'trum Campaign Pre-season Game one - One of our Ruperts is missing.

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Mon, 05 Jun 2017 01:52:00 +0000

The early morning Sun licked steaming humidity up from the marsh surrounding the canal hamlet of Roogie's Landing. The adjutant of the Earl of Hereford's Regiment of Foot (The Hedgehogs) was doing his best to shuffle papers in the marsh reed shack that served as the battalion office but the damp made the pages stick together in a most unsatisfying manner. There was a knock at the door - or rather a series of thumps on the door frame. "Enter"
"Morning sir," came the voice of one the captains as he pushed aside the the thin blanket that served as the door to the shack. "We've heard rumours that a shipment of contraband has just arrived and is being stored in some ruins just up the abandoned canal. It is probably nothing like all the previous rumours but I'd like to send a patrol to take a look."
"Who do you have?" "Well there's the new chap, Puller. Fresh from Sandhurst. He landed a couple of weeks ago and could use some seasoning." "Right give him a couple of good NCOs and send him out. The usual reminder about no heroics of course." "Right you are sir, I'll put him on it." The captain stepped out through the door and the adjutant turned his attention back to the petty administrative tasks that even the most g-d forsaken outpost of the Empire required - At least it wasn't Venus. "Mister Puller", the Captain said in a voice that while quiet, seemed to permeate every corner of the Officer's quarters. "Sir" replied a young thin voice. "I have a job for you. You will be taking out a patrol today, nothing too strenuous. You'll be assisted by Sergeant ----- and Corporal Jones. Two good men. Follow their advice and you won't go wrong. No heroics mind. Out, a quick look around and straight back to report." "Yes Sir!" replied Puller. "Get your kit together and I'll see you outside in a couple of minutes to brief the men. The sergeant has them well in hand."
After the Captain turned and left another voice piped up "I say, Toffee! Off to have a go at the natives wot? Good show!"
"Right you are Pomfret, I"ll give them one of the old school tie!"
As his batman Puller wasn't quite so sure, but he daren't let anyone see his nervousness. Stiff upper lip and all that....

I wanted to run a quick pre-campaign game to refamiliarize myself with the Soldier's Companion rules. I have a set of revised SoC rules by Bob Giglio that I will be trying out later in the campaign.

I decided to go with a British platoon versus a full warband of Hill Martians. In theory this should be roughly balanced, but I wasn't too worried about a perfect match.

The Patrol sets out

The British head out in column for rapid movement. The notional objective was a set of ruins on a hill at the back of the table.

What's that on the ridge?

Eyes hidden in the boulders.

End of the trail - or is it?

The Martians reasonably placed pickets out while the main mass started concealed. This bends SoC a little but makes sense.

Red and barren vistas.

Looking up the table. The terrain is simple but I think effective.

Look sir! Up there!

The British spot one picket and are in turn spotted. The classic desert problem of no cover.

Reporting back.

Winning the initiative, the picket moves off the hill and behind the ridge to report. I ruled that the main Martian body would not move until they knew what was going on.

Advance with resolution!

The British shake out into line to maximize firepower.

The conference.

The Martians decide what to do.

Moving up the valley

While the British, seeing no opposition, move up the valley to the protective boulder field at table centre.

Secure the centre!

Under the rules as written, the British (or European regulars) will win the initiative more often than Matian/Native armies composed of irregulars. This can give them several moves in a row. This has been a bone of contention with some SoC players. Bob Giglio's rules change this up to allow a reduced number of actions for the non-initiative player.

Open order and into the rough

Moving forward, the British take a half move to open order so they can move into the rough. Knowing when to use mass or open formations is essential when playing Soldier's Companion.

Take firing positions men!

Into the rough and taking cover.

The cunning natives plan.

Finally getting another initiative, the Martians shake out into two separate groups.

In position.

Under the rules, the British could just stay in line and all would be good, Spreading them however, just looks better.

One band heads up the hill.

One band headed up the hill.

The other heads west behind the ridge.

The other heads behind the ridge.

The rough ground holds things up.

There were some bad movement rolls that delayed the flanking force.

Hold your fire - They're too far away lad!

I measured the distance to see what the ranges were and figured I should show that on the table.

Up, and over!

Up on the hill, the second band heads toward the broken ground on the hill top. The rules say that a low wall does not impede cavalry so I went with an action shot.

Shaking out behind the ridge.

The flanking group tries to get into position. Low rolls and infrequent initiatives make this difficult. Again Bob's revised rules will make this go a lot faster.

The natives head into the rough.....

The Martians disappear into concealing terrain. Not really allowed under the rules as written but it fits the theme.

And disappear - the cowards!

Into line.

The flank force moves into line - not a legal formation for irregulars but of no consequence in the long term.

And the earthers wait under the blazing sun.

A long series of initiative rolls was made here. When the British won, they didn't want to leave cover in the face of possible cavalry. In turn, the Martians weren't going to charge light cavalry against infantry in cover.

Orders are orders, move out!

I ruled that the British would eventually think nothing was going on so would proceed the mission.

But the hills have eyes.

The Martians chose to wait.

A quick look then back to barracks.

The British move forward in open order - not the best for defending against cavalry but better when facing snipers.

Forming mass to charge.

Mass or open - those are the choices for irregulars and charging in open order is a bad idea. By declaring a charge by a hidden unit, the Martians take the initiative.

Why have the dice gods forsaken me?

The charge goes in - Not! The roll gets halved for charging over the hill. But still that's a crap roll.

Re-checking the rules didn't help.

And yes it is - charging cavalry gets 8 dice not 4 but the extra 4 dice still come up garbage.

Over the hill!

The charge comes up just short. Frustrating.

But come up short, ending in disorder....

Puller takes a shot!

I let Puller take a shot with his Webley but to no effect.

Fire!

And the whole line opens up.

Casualties on the hill...

The left wing firing on a second charge coming down the hill dropping one rider.

Form triangle!

The British win the next initiative, allowing them to form triangle - a very period formation.

The riders fire!

Mass formation limits the number of figures that can fire and muzzle loaders halve that rate resulting in an anemic effort.

As do the band coming down the hill.

The other band takes a shot.

Like Earther like Martian - the only thing taking hits is dirt.

Also forgetting to check ranges first. This does highlight the difference between muzzle loading and cartridge firing weapon ranges.

From disorder to line to lay down fire.

The charge having failed, the band shakes out into an open line to maximize firepower and defence.

The hill band charges!

The hill band makes an excellent charge roll.

Puller's men fire at the skirmish line taking one down.

In the defensive phase, the British fire.

As the second charge is about to hit, the triangle fire!

Inflicting hits.

Two more hits!

But no effect!

But no kills.

Hits on the second charge.

The charging band does not fare as well...

Taking hits...

And Martians drop....

And taking kills. But the Martians make their morale check and the charge goes in.

But not all...

The melee is relatively ineffective with the Martians being mounted, coming out a bit better.

The reluctant warriors steel themselves and charge again!

Allowing the Martians on the ridge to charge in. The morale roll to charge in open order passed with a squeek.

The mass of melee

With the melee joined and the British surrounded, this was the deciding moment.

And the British fall under the knives of the Martians.

But the British could not hold leaving some men left to be captured.

Num'da looked at the fallen earth men. "Take all their arms and ammunition - we can use that later. Share out any cloth and metal and be sure to set aside the widow's portion."
"And the bodies War Leader?"
"We don't know their burial practices - lay them out in rows. We're not barbarians."
"The roogies will get them...."
"They might, yes - but let the red mens' ghosts bother the roogies and not us. And move the goods out of the ruins - they know we're here now."

The Captain watched as a full company scoured the site of Puller's last stand. His men were busy dragging the scarlet clad bodies to a waiting cart, handkerchiefs wrapped around their faces to keep out the stink and the flies.
A sergeant approached "Guns, ammunition, leather, cloth and metal all gone. It looks like they were stripped and then cut to pieces. It might have been animals... From what we can find it looks like two are missing from the patrol. We can't tell who yet."
"Animals indeed!" snapped the Captain, "The most vicious animal on this ball of dust walks on two legs. Get them on the cart, and for God's sake find a tarpaulin to cover them before we take them into camp. A patrol wiped out is bad enough without showing the results to the new arrivals."
There would be a price to pay.

Kas'trum Campaign details, details, details.

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Sat, 27 May 2017 18:56:00 +0000

So having a broad goal in mind, let's put some structure around it. Drawing inspiration from the Too Fat Lardies At the Sharp End campaign supplement for Chain of Command, as well as earlier ideas of how Kas'trum fits in to the broader fluff of Space 1889, I came up with a rough ladder campaign as shown below. Each number refers to the "rung" hex two rows down. Each hex is notionally 20 miles across representing one day's march under normal conditions though this scale will be stretched or compressed as required. Movement for earth forces along the canal will not be too difficult as there is easy access to water. Moving deeper into the desert will create severe transportation problems as the amount of water needed by pack and draft animals rapidly outstrips their ability to carry it. Martian forces will be much less constrained.

The "Ladder"

At the left on the main north-south canal we start with Roogie's Landing, a minor backwater of a hamlet surviving quietly under Human occupation. Unfortunately, the earthers have discovered that the inhabitants have been carrying on a bustling trade in black market goods of Crocean origin. What was not immediately clear is how the goods were being smuggled in, that is until it was revealed that Roogie's Landing was not just a simple village in the wetlands but that it was the endpoint of a heretofore unknown canal going to who knows where.

To the east of the landing is campaign location 1, a stretch of Martian desert with not major features. Location 2 features some ruins, or perhaps not depending on how much terrain I want to make. Three will have some sort of temple or monolith. Four is more desert leading to five, an as yet unnamed small village providing respite for smugglers as well as farming for trade. Six, seven and eight are all variations of endless sand and stone. Nine is a border village between swamp an sand. Ten is swamp, allowing for possible naval action bringing us at last to Kas'trum proper.

I sat down with an rand() function and the Soldier's Companion book and came up with the table below:

Proposed specs for Kas’trum - randomly generated

Population	10 = 100,000 inhabitants
Government	Weak Prince Strong Merchants
Corruption	Honest
Economy	Mixed
Economic Vitality	Wealthy
Army Quality	Good
Mercenary Quality	One level better so Excellent
Army Size	9
Fleet Quality	Trained
Fleet Size	10
Fleet Value	400K
Attitude	Very Friendly

Not bad and about what I wanted but Kas'trum should be a minor power and not a major city state.

So let's tweak it a little. In actual lead, I have six bands of Kas'trum foot with another of mounted, possibly borrowed from Crocea. In addition, I have a company each of Hill Martian foot and mounted, a smattering of artillery and of course Antevaax' flying hordes. By the book, each population number provides two bands infantry, one of mounted and two guns. Wealthy cities have one additional band each of mercenary cavalry and infantry and an additional two guns per number.

I'm ok with recycling units to a degree but that's usually reserved for the barbarian hordes so let's drop the numbers a little. I also don't think Oh'ktava'an, I mean the merchant's guild or should that be the Prince would really be "very friendly" to the locals let alone off world invaders, so let's tone that down too.

Revised specs for Kas’trum - Final

Population	4 = 40,000 inhabitants
Government	Weak Prince Strong Merchants
Corruption	Honest
Economy	Mixed
Economic Vitality	Wealthy
Army Quality	Good
Mercenary Quality	One level better so Excellent
Army Size	3
Fleet Quality	Trained
Fleet Size	3
Fleet Value	140K
Attitude	Indifferent

So there we have it. Now I just need to re-stat my existing units and we are good to go.

City Troops:

Oh'ktava'n's Experimental Company - The Stalwarts: Regular E0
Kas'trum Fencibles: Irregular X0

First Kas'trum Marines: Regular V1S

Loyal Kas'trum Company: Irregular T2
Kas'trum Civic Guard: Irregular X2

Red Caps and Blue Bonnets: Irregular V1s

Foreign troops and Mercenaries:

Num'da's Raiders: Irregular V2

Kas'trum Scouts: Irregular V2

Second Oenotrian Lancers - The Canal Terrors: TBD

British stats will be pulled from one of the stock units.

Lots more to come.

Kas'trum Campaign

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Thu, 25 May 2017 17:14:00 +0000

Kas'trum

One aspect of history and war gaming that has always interested me has been the underdogs, the ordinary, the forgettable and the forgotten. It's easy to get excited about the heroic, the dashing, the elite troops with all the kit as well as the skills and attitude to go with it. But I was never into the easy.

Space 1889, and its mass battle rules The Soldier's Companion, is human and European focused. There is nothing wrong with this but to me at least, it is unsatisfying. Martian culture is supposed to be very old - older than that of Humanity in fact, yet it is presented as a culture in decay. The Martians, even when allies of Earth, are plot points or antagonists with the odd NPC thrown in for interest. Where are the stories from the Martian perspective? Why must they be two dimensional? From the classical colonial perspective this makes some sort of sense, The Canal Martians stand in for the Raj with the Hill and High Martians taking on the roles of Steppe Tribes / Plains Indians and slightly exotic barbarians respectively.

Over hundreds of years of inter city conflict we are expected to believe that the Martians lack any technical finesse, any sense of strategy. At the very least, flying ships are something they know intimately while the Earth empires are just trying to figure them out.

It is also somewhat unsatisfying to see that in the fluff the British campaigns are held up not because of any skill on the part of the Martians but due to human incompetence. The Zulus and afghans got more respect than this.

I need to change this narrative so I give you the Kas'trum Campaign. this will be a series of battles fought using a ladder structure rather conveniently based on a British expeditionary force moving up the canal. The British force will be somewhat automated. It will receive support as its fortunes ebb and flow. The Kas'trum forces will be more fixed, with compromise required to get assistance from the hill tribes or High Martians as well as the larger city states in the area. The aim of the game for Kas'trum will be to maintain its independence while driving back the invading Earth forces. This could be through a negotiated peace with the Earthers or causing them enough casualties to make them withdraw.

More to follow in the coming days.

Unexpected Reinforcements

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 17:14:00 +0000

In late October of 2016, a package arrived on my doorstep. It was a cookie tin, the classical war gamer storage container of choice. In that cookie tin was "some colonials you might be able to use with your VSF" an unexpected and very generous gift from one Mad Padre. I had a quick look and with winter temperatures closing in on the Man Cave, I put them away for warmer days. This last week, I took a good look at them.

The pictures below do not do them justice. They are beautifully painted to a standard I will likely never achieve.

Artillery

Two units of Egyptians

Pathans with skirmishers

Highlanders in trews

British Infantry

I cannot say enough how nice these figures are. Apart from VSF, they will be used for The Anglo Egyptian war and plans are afoot to acquire more Pathans for the North West Frontier.

Thank you again Michael!

Housekeeping:

6x6 - B-17 is back on the list as I am now flying the Circle A with the 509th out of Italy see 509th (H) B-17 Virtual Bomber Group for details. No Pasaran!

After much faffing around the blog appears to be presentable again. One post was gumming up the works so has been removed.

2017 6x6 Challenge - My List, First 2017 Post, and a house keeping note.

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Tue, 03 Jan 2017 17:45:00 +0000

So 2016 has finally gone, while it had some very good parts, like our trip to Malta, it had it seems more than its share of pretty crappy parts as well; walking out of Rogue One only to find out that Carrie Fisher's passing had been made public while we were in the theatre, being one of them.

Now on to:

My 6x6 Challenge List:

Ace of Aces Handy Rotary edition

A WWI air combat game that combines a flip book for graphics with a choose your own adventure style mechanic for movement and combat. A true analogue flight sim. 6 games complete against eldest's boyfriend over New Years, 4 losses, two draws - the boy is good.

B-17

An Avalon Hill board game of WWII air combat. Derided by some for minimal player input, this solo game does capture the looming predestination felt by bomber crews trying to hit the magical 25 mission mark.

I am dropping B-17 from the list. The reasons behind my initial enthusiasm have not proven strong enough to last. What the replacement will be is yet to be determined.

Chain of Command

My go to WWII platoon level combat game. Santa provided a pub in my stocking so expect to see the home guard out in force defending this important strategic asset in the coming months. I want to get my 20mm stuff out on the table as well.

D&D OSR.

If I can stop myself from being sidetracked by interesting campaign details, I hope to be running several short sessions for friends with lives and little time.

Gruntz

15mm Scifi. I have multiple armies now and it is a fun little game.

Soldier's Companion, Space 1889

I have the toys, the table, and the terrain - now I just have to play with them. :)

BONUS GAMES

Air Force
Another Avalon Hill board game of WWII air combat. Fairly detailed with some interesting mechanics.

Luftwaffe

Yet another AH board game of WWII air combat, this time at a more strategic level. I have not actually played this one at all.

Car Wars

3x post apocalypse with converted matchbox cars because Furiosa.

So there we are. Now you may notice a lot of air combat games in there - I have the germ on an idea in my head for a game design and want to do some research in that vein.

A Housekeeping Note:

Those of you following IrrWb(F) for any length with notice that the blog template has changed to a modern interactive variation. This is not due to a desire on my part to make it "fresh and exciting" but simply because the old template became corrupted and I am still deciding how and if to rebuild it.

November 11

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 13:26:00 +0000

Blighters 

The House is crammed: tier beyond tier they grin And cackle at the Show, while prancing ranks Of harlots shrill the chorus, drunk with din; “We’re sure the Kaiser loves the dear old Tanks!” I’d like to see a Tank come down the stalls, Lurching to rag-time tunes, or “Home, sweet Home,” And there'd be no more jokes in Music-halls To mock the riddled corpses round Bapaume. Siegfried Sassoon

More Boat Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 14:37:00 +0000

I recently read somewhere about making a type of decal using clear packing tape. The process is to laser print your image, apply a piece of clear packing tape over it then soak the whole lot in water. When you rub away the wet paper, the ink remains on the tape and you can use it much like you would a transfer.

I liked this idea but when I built the riverboat, there was a seam between the two pieces of wood I used to make the superstructure that I want to cover up. I very quickly drew some hatches and portholes in GIMP and added some rust streaks because why not? The printed sheet was mounted on card with spray adhesive and the individual sides cut out.

Printed mounted and about to be cut.

With the pieces cut out, I still applied the packing as a protective layer and trimmed.

Cut taped, trimmed and resized

I found that I had mis-measured the length of the forward cabin, so I had to do a little recutting to extend two of the panels. If needed, the vertical join will be concealed by a length of drinking straw painted up as some sort of pipe - the corners will need a bit of prettying up too.

Here's the finished product:

Waiting for the for'rd port side panel

Aft deck house.

For'rd panel cut and installed.

Overall I am very pleased with the effect. With a bit more time and effort at the design stage, there is potential to add a lot more detail. Now to build up those gunwales.....

Mechanical Men Revisited

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Sun, 16 Oct 2016 18:35:00 +0000

Last weekend I ran a couple of test games using the rules from my last post. The basic scenario used a company in line against a single medium mechanical man - mech from here on in. The mech was armed with a gatling ranged 24"/48" and the riflemen were armed with breech loaders later magazine rifles. the games started with the mech just moving into maximum Gatling range (48") The mechs orders were:

If you fired last turn, move forward 9" otherwise, if you are over half range fire with 3 dice or if you are at half range or less fire with 5 dice.

Using the standard Soldier's Companion initiative and turn sequence, this created some unusual situations. In the most basic case, the mech would slowly move forward firing most often in the defensive phase 3. The defensive fire phase ensured that the Gatling could fire every turn there was no movement. Even at 3 dice the sheer number of shots had an effect on the company and in one or two trials it broke before it got a shot off. When the mech did get within rifle range, the sheer number of shots put out by the company ensured there was at least one golden BB to assure its destruction. Changing to magazine rifles only sped up the process a bit. Oddly the best tactic for the defending company was to advance as quickly as possible into range and overwhelm the mech with fire power - not really the result I was looking for.

Simple probability means that two volleys from breech loaders will pretty much guarantee a kill even with 6+ to hit and a natural 6 to fail the save.

Next up, I am going to try a standard defensive bonus of +4 for mechanical men but use hitpoints for the four types of mech:

Small: 1
Flying: 2
Medium: 3
Large: 5

We'll see if this feels any better. We'll also put the company behind some cover.

Mechanical Men for Space 1889 Soldier's Companion

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Sat, 01 Oct 2016 21:04:00 +0000

A friend recently gave me a number of spare Heroscape miniatures, most of which will get re-purposed in one way or another. The RPG side of Space 1889 features mechanical men as an item of technology that can be developed using the science rules. Sadly, they do not appear in the Soldier's Companion, so I developed some draft rules to use them on the battlefield.

Mechanical Men

Mechanical Men - Flyers

Mechanical Men for Space 1889 Soldier's Companion

Mechanical Men are un-piloted autonomous mechanical devices of varying sizes and configurations - including some decidedly un-manlike. They come in three sizes small, medium and large plus flyers. This isn't canon, but allows a range of after market figures to be used. I thought about going larger to represent mecha style big stompy robots but I think a variation on the tripod rules would better suit that concept.

Small

Small mechanical men are roughly the size of an average dog and weight several hundred pounds.
They receive a defensive +3 modifier to hit in fire combat to represent their light armour.
They move 12" per turn.
They are equipped with small arms or a machine gun and an effective close combat weapon.

Medium

Medium mechanical men are roughly human sized and weigh around 1000 pounds.
They receive a defensive +4 modifier to hit to reflect their moderate armour.

They move 9" per turn.
They are armed with any small arms, a machine gun or any artillery piece with a weight of less than 5 tons on the conveyance table. They are also equipped with a close combat weapon.

Flyers

Flying mechanical men are winged devices of small or medium size only.

They receive the +1 flying bonus when airborne but have no armour.
They move 6" on the ground and 12" when airborne.
They are equipped with a carbine or smaller ranged weapon and a close combat weapon.

For my thoughts on flying in Soldier's Companion see: Space 1889 Soldier's Companion High Martian draft house rules

Large

Large mechanical men are gorilla sized and weigh around 2200 pounds.
They receive a defensive modifier of +5 modifier to hit to reflect their heavy armour.

They move 6" per turn.
They are armed with any small arms, a machine gun or any artillery piece with a weight of less than 10 tons on the conveyance table. They are also equipped with a close combat weapon.

Orders

These rules are a direct crib from the old Striker rules for Traveller. Mechanical men must be given orders - preferably written down and interpreted by the referee.
There are three parts to any order all of which are optional:

Movement

The movement order must specify a location or a direction and speed. "Move at full speed toward the Top of hill one and stop." It can also be a distance or position relative to another unit. "Stay in line with the Second Fusiliers 6" from their left flank."

Fire

Fire orders must specify an enemy or range. "Fire at any enemy cavalry unit within 12 inches" or supporting fire "Fire at any enemy charging the Second Fusiliers"

Rally

Rally orders specify a fall back location and may contain a simple conditional statement. "If unit casualties are over 50%, fall back behind the farmhouse."

Ad Hoc Orders

Ad hoc orders are issued by an authorized sentient being - typically a human commander. Because they are not fully programmed before the battle, these ad hoc orders can only have one of the three components. "Move to hill two." To fire on the way, the unit must be given an order to stop in one turn, then an order to fire on the next and finally a new order to continue to move toward hill two.

Fire Combat

Fire combat is conducted as normal though using the modifiers above. It may be desirable for mechanical men armed with more than small arms to have a limited number of shots per game to reflect that they are not conveyances with normal ammunition stowage capacity. This is at the discretion of the players or referee.

Melee Combat

Ground based mechanical men are slow but very strong. Opponents receive +1 in Melee Combat when facing mechanical men to reflect this slowness. However, on a higher score that is not double, mechanical men kill opponents rather than force them back. If mentioned in their orders or specifically ordered to, mechanical will fight to wound. Casualties are then assessed at the fire combat rate of 2/3 wounded, 1/3 killed. This behaviour is often used in crowd control situations.

Flyers kill or drive back opponents as normal in close combat. They are also considered weak opponents.

Morale

Mechanical men do not suffer from or benefit from morale effects and no morale checks need be made. They will carry out their orders until destroyed or told to stand down.

I built a boat.

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 02:46:00 +0000

It was a rough start to the month, but one of the ways to keep the black dog at bay, is to keep doing things that make you happy. Gaming does that for me. I determined that, apart from snuggling up with my wonderful wife this weekend, I would build something - but what I wasn't sure.

Then Malc Johnston over on The Wargames Website, posted the second part to his Trouble on the river Liu River 1900 series, and there was one of the simplest little gunboats I have ever seen. Even I could do that! So off to the man cave I went.

HMS Demetrius

The Story of the Demetrius

The HMS Demetrius was originally the SS Demetrius the result of a failed private commercial venture to modernize grain shipping on the canals of Mars. One Thomas Pincham, of the automated loom threader Pinchams, fancied himself an off-world Brunel and invested his fortune in transporting a small single screw steamship to Mars. A devotee of ancient Greek culture, he christened his endeavour Demetrius or The Servant of Demeter, goddess of grain. Pincham had visions of his ship sailing up and down the canals, unfettered by wind or flood, delivering the harvest of the fields to the cities of Mars and of course their British advisers. Where trade lead, the Empire followed! Accomplishing this first required many trips and naturally massive transportation charges as each etherliner had limited space for mercantile cargo and that was at a premium price. The parts of the SS Demetrius arrived in fits and starts. Each shipment was placed in what was supposed to be a secure storage yard until assembly could begin.

...or is it Detritus?

Sadly this was not to be. Due to varying capacity on the etherliners then in service, parts were shipped according to their size and weight rather than their ability to be joined up in any coherent fashion with the components already landed. Over time, the costs mounted siphoning away the Pincham fortune into the ether eddies of too many interplanetary voyages. Finally though, the last item on the last manifest was checked off and using the dregs of his bank account, and rather too many loans, Pincham could get to work.

Only, the storage yard was not as secure as might be hoped and some of the local workers found the temptation of so much refined iron irresistible. Several major and many minor components had disappeared over the back fence only to resurface as unrecognizable tools, jewellery and trinkets in the local bazaar. Pincham was devastated. But fate was not done with him yet and the final blow fell - the customs man arrived with a very large and very unpaid bill for duties owing on Steamship (1) parts and accessories. With financial ruin certain, Pincham could not also face the social opprobrium of debtor's prison.

Fortunately for Pincham, if not for Mars and the Empire, it was at this moment that Oenotria decided to flex her muscles and attempt to force the Earthers out. Steam vessels of any variety were desperately needed. The boilers and machinery of the Demetrius were not suitable for airship use but the vessel itself could be useful for control of the canals. Pincham magnanimously and patriotically, offered the Demetrius to the Government for the price of his customs bill with a bit left over to support him in at least comfort, if not the luxury he had once been accustomed too. His one requirement being that the ship retain her name as a symbol of "A great British mercantile dream now lost to the savage winds of war!" This was agreed to and the ship or her parts at least, were signed over to the Imperial authorities. Pounds in hand, and reputation mostly intact, Pincham left the planet without delay and disappeared into middle class obscurity.

It was now that the Royal Navy, her engineers and their civilian counterparts arrive to take stock of what they had bought. One less polite senior engineering rating remarked:
"It's not a ship! It's a f______ pile of c__p! I've scraped things better able to float off the bottom of me boot! HMS Demetrius eh? More like HMS Detritus I say!"

The name stuck. It took many months and much improvisation but the HMS Demetrius was finally launched and placed into service. Her work on the canals was initially uneventful but recent attacks from the shore and air and have required that the original wooden wheel house be replaced with an armoured one. Because of the lack of armour plating, Martian concreted armour was used instead giving the structure the look of a pillbox.

Build Notes

The Demetrius is quite literally made up of bits of scrap wood and MDF from the workshop. Malc's build showed me that you can get a good result from simple materials. The smoke stack top and base are parts of a small decorative wooden apple drilled out to take a length of dowel I already had on hand. The galley chimney is spent .40 brass I picked up at a range years ago. The superstructure is glued and screwed and set back from the deck edge to allow a single rank of figures on either beam and a standard artillery base fore and aft. The armoured wheelhouse is a Type 22 pillbox that didn't print as well as I would have liked. I located it off centre to add a little visual interest even though an off centre weight his high up is generally not a good idea. All it needs now is a coat of paint and some deck cargo for cover, and it's off for action on the Martian canals.

20 mm Conversions for Chain of Command

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 02:13:00 +0000

First, a couple of warnings. The photos are not great - the camera is old and I am no Karsh. Secondly, 20mm is my cheap and dirty scale to do North West Europe quickly and with a small investment. Efforts are focused on getting toys on the table rather than on painting and I am no great painter to begin with. Finally, painting and basing is not entirely complete. For those that were supposed to be, I was unable to find matte spray so had to settle for eggshell. Even though the can was very thoroughly shaken eggshells are apparently shiny. Everything will get shot of proper matte in the future.

One of the practical problems one can face when playing low rated forces in Chain of Command is the need to provide support. When playing a Canadian Motor / Infantry Platoon in NWE or Italy and possibly facing Elite Fallschirmjaeger the need becomes urgent since up to 26 points of support might need to be provided. To address this I need to make up a few teams that don't appear in the usual boxes of 1/72 plastics. For others, I just wasn't happy with the provided poses.

Flame and Bren

First up is a flame thrower centre with a Bren gunner on the right. The source figure is on the left. For the Bren I just cut away the barrel of the Enfield and replaced it with the forepart of a Bren cut from another prone figure, The flame gun is just a length of stretched sprue. Having looked more closely at the life buoy unit, I would use a Thompson figure next time as the grip looks better.

Back of the life buoy

I cut away the existing backpack to make room for the iconic fuel tank. I had hoped to use a tiny rubber O ring for the tank but I was out, so I used a 1/72 wheel retaining bushing from the bits box instead. It is too square in cross section but will do for now. The fuel line is thin solder.

PIAT to Bangalore wire cutting figure

Just a quick slice operation to remove the PIAT and Sten then a hole was drilled to take a length of brass rod cut to length.

Demolitions Unit

A simple swap of the original PIAT ammunition carrier on the right to a satchel charge on the left. The satchel is two 25mm US small packs glued back to back. An earlier attempt used two full packs but was well over sized.

Polish Mine Detector (right)

Another simple conversion by cutting away the rifle and using plastic sprue. The detector unit is a part number tab from from a model kit that just happened to be the right size and shape. Though the back pack had most of the detail scraped off to look more like an electronics box, I felt that trying to make the headphones was a route to insanity. There should be a counterweight on the end of the pole but I have yet to find a good picture.

Medic and casualty

This is not much of a conversion as all I did was cut away the Sten (see below) and add a medic bag using another US small pack and a bit of flat dental floss to make the strap. All but one of the pictures of Canadian Medics I found show the armband on the left arm. I felt though that it was more obvious on the right and was also much less of a pain to paint (and I do have one supporting reference).

Officer to Platoon Sergeant

The original figure is on the far left. As noted above I cut away the Sten from another of the casualty figures - it was a bit delicate slicing it off the leg without damage - a sharp #11 blade is required. It was then a simple process to trim away the pistol and swagger stick and glue the Sten in its place.

Forward Observer

Very minimal work here. The radio operator is a stock figure. The FO is a kneeling Vickers gunner with a bit of thin brass sheet cut to size and inserted in a small slit to make a map.

Sniper Team

Even less work on this one. Just a bit of stretched sprue for a scope. Yes I know it's too big, he traded some whiskey to an American for an unofficial civilian model....

2" mortar crews - Conversion left and out of the box right.

Revell made a rather good British infantry set with all sorts of useful poses, Stens and support weapons. Sadly it is now out of production. On the left is my attempt to put together a mortar team out of mostly Italeri/Esci bits. The mortar was made from a bit of brass rod. The mortar man's arms were trimmed and re-positioned to hold the tube. Both the mortar man and the loader were originally less than useful Esci Bren figures who donated their weapons to create more dynamic LMG gunners as noted above.

After making one of these, a package arrived from certain paint sniffing dog. In it was the much sought after Revell set! The mortar team from this shown on the right. While I am proud of my little conversion, the pre-made one was a darn sight easier to put together. Thank you Dog!

Dinos on the Dance Floor!

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 10:15:00 +0000

I had a lot of fun with the dino-hunt back in May so I thought I should paint up some more victims for future such games. I wanted to avoid the usual green lizard patterns so I just went with whatever I fancied. The sharp eyed will spot one influence, the real cammo nerds - another.

For the final spray I was unable to find any matte varnish so made do with satin. It works ok for dinos but not vehicles or or human figures.

Triceratops in a daring print

Mega-velociraptor Maltesi

Steggie - No change other than a wash and spray

A pack of small carnivores

Mid to late war Tyrannosaur

Bus Conversion - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 02:23:00 +0000

As mentioned in my last post, during my travels in Malta, I picked up three toy busses. Two have been put aside for display and future use in a Hercules game but the third was earmarked for my British Home Guard.

Three Busses

I will note here that there are several different scales and manufacturers of busses available and at wildly varying prices. These were the nicer of the 1/48ish scale that I found. I picked them up from a store in the otherwise touristy Buggiba at 12 euros for 3. The exact same models were 8 euros each in the airport store. Caveat emptor!

Not being a Bedford expert, I believe that these were from a primarily post war series but a handful were built in '39 and they look right, so I am not going to sweat the details.

The Victim

The models are of Chinese manufacture and feature a white metal body on a plastic chassis with plastic windows and detailing. The chassis is fixed to the body with two phillips screws so disassembly was trivial.

Bits and Pieces

The chrome bits are held on by the chassis pins and the windows just pop out with a gentle push on the securing tabs. Some detail is created using stickers but overall the paintwork is actually very good. I was actually reluctant to carry out the next step.

Stripped for Service

Into the paint stripper went the body. Unlike some Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars I have stripped for Car Wars where a thick layer of paint obscured significant detail, the paint was quite thin and came off easily and cleanly.

At this point, I am not sure how I am going to proceed, My initial thought was a simple conversion with the windows as is. As I look through various period conversions, I am now leaning toward armoured radiators and rifle ports in plated over windows. This will involve a lot more modelling work though. Much to ponder and more to follow.

Introducing the Colonel

noreply@blogger.com (PatG) — Sat, 06 Aug 2016 15:07:00 +0000

At the end of July, my family and I spent a wonderful two weeks in Malta, where my ever enduring wife's family is from. Prior to my trip over, I had looked into war gaming groups and resources on the islands but apart from one club, there appeared to be nothing much. I did pick up a number of Malta specific military history books and a couple of toy buses for conversions, but other than that (and the usual plastic tourist tat Knights of St John figures), the islands appeared to be lead free.

In the very last hour of our last trip to the main city of Valetta, I was on the search for bottled water - it was 35 C in the shade - when on a side street, I saw an unassuming looking shop with some toy cars in the window. I went in and found I was in Pace Models on Old Theatre street in Valletta. They had cars and busses and figures.... hand painted 54mm figures. I looked at the prices but at 15 Euros a pop, my Scots blood rebelled and I left empty handed.

After not acquiring water at less than ruinous prices, I linked back up with the family and yet there was a restlessness and incompleteness in my soul that only fellow gamers would understand. With less than 20 minutes left before we had to catch the bus out of Valetta, I ran through the heat and back to the store. I resolved to just buy one figure as purchasing the whole set could have lethal consequences, and this is what I came away with:

Colonel, Cacciatori Maltesi

The Colonel is 54mm and hand painted. He is but one figure in a good, if very specialized, range of Maltese related figures produced in Malta by David Grech of DeGree Miniatures.

There are several more in the series of Maltese themed display and toy soldier figures on their website and many more not pictured on the web yet. DeGree also has a line of Maltese politicians, including a dog, and transportation themed miniatures.

I am very proud of my acquisition and while he may never be part of an army (though I am working on that), he will take pride of place in the Wargames Room. I am very sad I did not have more time to spend at Pace Models looking at more of their offerings.