British on Mars with Earth Pattern Radium Rifles

This past week I worked on completing a unit of 10 British Soldiers armed with Earth-pattern Radium Rifles to use in my "Terror Devils of Mars" GASLIGHT game, Saturday night at Cold Wars.

I constructed these figures using the plastic Wargames Factory Zulu Wars British Firing Line Infantry, and the rifles were from a set of plastic Warzone Bauhaus Ducal Militia.   I imagine the rifles to be earth constructed radium rifles copied and modified from the Martian originals.

  I painted them in an alternate history 1880's-'90's uniform, that envisions the British reissuing the red tunic for Mars service, but keeping the standard khaki trousers.
   The figure shown below is a man-portable Gatling armed soldier, also made from a Wagames Factory figure with a Warzone heavy weapon added.

GASLIGHT at Origins 2012

This past weekend, Buck Surdu, Dave Wood, Greg Priebe, and I, traveled out to Columbus, Ohio for the Origins convention.  Out goal was to showcase our "G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T." and "Look,Sarge, No Charts" rules systems to a different set of gamers other than the regular folks we see at the local HMGS East conventions.
   Buck and I each ran two GASLIGHT games and two LSNC games, and Dave Wood ran three additional LSNC games.  The two GASLIGHT games I ran were a Fleet Battles by GASLIGHT scenario and a regular Basic GASLIGHT scenario.
  We arrived Thursday evening, and Friday morning I set up my first game which was my Fleet Battles by GASLIGHT scenario called "Hunt for the Valkyrie on Mars."  The back story for this scenario was that a large German aircraft carrier on Mars had been caught in a Martian storm and blown off course and badly damaged.  It was now lost in the middle of nowhere and crippled.  The German and British fleets were searching for her, the Brits wanting to destroy her, and the Germans wanting to save her.

The German Aircraft Carrier 'Valkyrie' launches two fighter groups in an attempt to fight off a pair of attacking British patrol ships.

A player moves his ships.

A view of the battle, as ships from both sides swarm around the Valkyrie.

Two players check the range for ship to ship firing

The fighter groups attack again.

In the end, the Valkyrie's engines failed her as she suffered a series of failed Sustain rolls, leaving her susceptible to torpedo attacks from the British.  She eventually took a critical hit, and broke apart and fell to the Martian surface.  All the players seemed to have  good time, and i really enjoyed GM-ing the game.

That evening I ran my "Lost Legion of Venus" GASLIGHT game.  This game has a French force consisting of Foreign Legion and regulars which is lost somewhere on Venus and has become surrounded by hordes of local Parrotmen and Lizardmen.  The French must survive the battle and beat off the attackers to win.

A view of the table near the start of the game.

The French form what the players dubbed the "French Question Mark" formation

The Lizardmen's pet dinosaur moves to attack a French Walker

A view of the French defensive perimeter.

The dinosaur attack on the walker damages it's gun barrel and the player controlling the walker coincidentally rolls to Shoot and jams the gun (a roll of 20). The dinosaur, however falls down (roll of 20 on a melee attack) and our heroine, Victoria Hawkes seizes the opportunity and rushes forward to attack the beast while he's down.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the French line, the second walker has succumb to a shot from one of the Parrotmen's big guns, and is destroyed. It's crew however survive and bail out of the wreck.

Another view of the table as a player measures their rifle range.

A brave Foreign Legion officer, his company destroyed, fights off two lizardmen and the Lizardman King.

The French defenders are slowly overwhelmed.

The game was declared a marginal Venusian victory at the end.  The French forces were shattered, and their walkers destroyed or disabled. Though surprisingly, Victoria Hawkes, usually a bullet magnet, survived!
  All the players seemed to have a good time, and really got into the spirit of the game.  For me, the great players and the way the battle unfolded, made it one of the best runnings of a GASLIGHT game I have had the pleasure to run.

Cold Wars Report Part Two: Saturday

On Saturday Buck and I met at 7:30AM to start setting up our 9:00AM "Look, Sarge, No Charts: WWII" game: The Battle of Lvov. This scenario was a 'what if' engagement based on historical circumstances that took place during the invasion of Poland in '39. The Poles controlled the small town of Zboiska near the center of the table and the Germans and Russians each started at opposite ends, both with the mission of capturing the Pole held town of first. The Russians and Germans weren't allowed to shoot at each other. We ended up being a few players short, so I pitched in and ran one of the battalions as well as assisting in GM-ing. The game resulted in a near Russian victory.
You can click on any photo to enjoy it larger.

The German battalions advance.

Polish cavalry moves to defend the river line.

The German Panzer Grenadiers race forward.


Meanwhile, the Russians have their own line of Polish defenders to deal with.

The fighting gets close and desperate in the woods around the river.

A small amount of Polish armor moves up to help stem the German tide.

Polish and German infantry engage.

Russian and German armor maneuver to attack the town of Zboiska

Saturday evening at 7:00 I ran a Fleet Battles by GASLIGHT game called, "He Who Controls the Canals, Controls Mars." The game pitted a British fleet against a German one for control of the airspace above an important Martian canal junction.

A British cruiser patrols along the canal. It was the first casualty of the game following a lucky shot from the approaching German battleship.

The opposing fleets begin to duel at close range.

Another shot of the battle as it swirls above the canal juncture.

German and British cruisers exchange fire.

The British battleship deals a crippling blow to the German battleship effectively ending the game.

Next up will be my Sunday report.

Historicon Report Part 1: Look, Sarge, It's Mars Game

I had a great time at Historicon. I ran two games and played in one. Jennifer and I arrived Friday morning and toured the convention center, locating where everything was. We checked in around 4:30, then headed down to the HAWKs room to set up my Friday evening game: Look, Sarge, It's Mars.


For the game I used 2mm infantry from Irregular and land ironclads and areonefs from Brigade Models. (See previous articles on this blog for more information on the figures) The rules were A Union So Tested, also called Look, Sarge, No Charts: ACW; modified for the inclusion of the ironclad vehicles. I have posted the stats and added rules I used on the Look, Sarge, No Charts, and on the 2mm Yahoogroups.


We got 4 of our 6 players, and with a little rearranging of forces were all set to go. The scenario took place in 1895 on Mars, between German and British forces. The table was cut into four sectors by two intersecting canals, with a city located at the juncture making a fifth sector. The Germans start the game controlling two of the sectors and the city. The British advance from the other two sectors. The winner was determined by who controlled three areas of sectors: either two land sectors and the city sector, or three land sectors.


The Germans began the game with a small force that could be placed anywhere on their side of the table, with the rest starting from one of the short table edges in their area. The British began by setting up in their area, 18 inches from the canal that divided the two areas. There were four bridges (The only place the canal could be crossed) one in the center of the city and one on each leg of the canals. A good time was had by all, and I, as gamemaster, was very pleased with how the modifications to the rules worked.



Now, on to the pictures!
(Remember to click on any photo to view it larger.)

View from the south west. Germans controlled the city in the center, the sector to the south and the sector to the east.

View from the south east.

British Aeronefs prepare to cross into German territory.

On the German left, a cavalry brigade with a battery of horse artillery was tasked with holding the bridge. The artillery does some damage to two squadrons of approaching British Gun Carriers.








Over view of the battle after a few turns, looking north east

A view from the British side, as a British ironclad brigade and cavalry brigade crosses over into German territory and assault a German infantry brigade taking cover in a field
.

Me (in the tan shirt) answering a players question.

British ironclads still trying to dislodge the German infantry from the field on the German right. The British cavalry have turned to face an approaching German light ironclad brigade.

On the German left, a land-train provides covering fire from the edge of a woods as a unit of German contraptions forces its way over the bridge into British territory in the face of fire from two regiments of British Martian allies.

An air battle develops overhead, as British infantry masses on their side
of the city for the final push. The British overwhelming force in the city marked the end for the German defense and the British were declared the winners.

2mm VSF for Historicon: The British

In my last post I featured some example bases of the German VSF troops that I am preparing for my Historicon "Look, Sarge, It's Mars" game, using modified "Look, Sarge, No Charts: ACW" rules, Brigade Models Land Ironclads, and Irregular's 2mm troops. Today I am featuring examples from my British forces.
As before, all troop and vehicle stands are 3 inches by 1.5 inches, HQ and battery stands are 1.5 by 1.5 inches. I also wanted to expain that I purposely did not paint the windows on my ironclads. I feel that in battle they would have some sort of protective shutters on them, rather than expose the crew to lots of shattering glass.

British Infantry

Battery and Brigade HQ

Mk. I Armored Gun Carrier






Warlord Class Ironclad

Britannic Class Ironclad

Sovereign Class Ironclad

Lancers

Dragoons

Dismounted Dragoons

Posting these now to show I once painted eyes on a 2mm figure: