The Martians have invaded, time to return the favor!

The Martians have invaded, time to return the favor!

Saturday, December 29, 2007

19th Century Sudan Wargames Armies


From Author:
My interest in Colonial Wargaming was largely
ignited by my father, who was a big fan of the
film Zulu and always wanted a Stanley Baker
style pith helmet.

When the Perry Brothers released their Sudan
figures, therefore, I knew I had to have them,
even though the Sudan theater would not have
been my first choice. However, once I started
to read up on it I decided that it was, for so
many reasons, a very good period to game: large
battles, patrols, skirmishes, steamboats, Gatling
guns and very varied troop types from British on
camels to Egyptians in chainmail. Wonderful!

http://sudan1883.blogspot.com/

Uniforms Great War


In the many multi-volumed histories of
the Great War that were published either
in serial form during the war or afterwards,
it was almost traditional that lavish color
plates were included of the uniforms of the
combatants.Naturally one's own side and
nationality were over-emphasized, but even
so the collections could at times be quite a
colorful array of illustrations, featuring
exotic and seldom seen uniforms. That these
displays bore little relation to sartorial
reality on the battlefield was of scant
consequence. The drawings were colorful,
patriotic and inspiring.

Uniforms of the Anglo-Zulu War


Uniforms of the Anglo-Zulu War, 1879
British and Colonial Forces

42 Plates, 60 Text Pages Each
text page on this CD outlines a
regiment’s participation and
service history, including dress
notes, types within a unit, and
regimental differences, all
enhanced with eye-catching
spot illustrations.

Pluck Over History!!!!


There's nothing better than a bunch of zany loons dressing up in
Imperial British uniforms and pelting one another with flour
bombs and newspaper swords. That's exactly what
Alf's Imperial Army
does:
"...brave men and women carry out of their own free will
those missions which Her Majesty the Queen would not
dare ask the Empire's citizens to undertake for her honour
alone. ALF's Imperial Army struggles to safeguard proper
Victorian standards of propriety and cumbersomeness in
dress, architecture, technologies, and entertainments. Its
members dress in the 1880s-style redcoat uniform which
they quite rightly believe to be the epitome of style. They
keep themselves in readiness to respond to anything that
might be taken as an excuse to be offended on behalf of
the Queen, her family (or at least those presently in
favour), and the sacred institutions of the British culture
and state such as corgis, morris dancing and weak chins.
They challenge those responsible to battle unless
grovelling apologies are offered."
Previously, the Army has gone into battle with the
"Green Republicans" lead by Field Marshal Keith Locke.

Imperial German Uniforms 1842 to 1918



















http://www.kaisersbunker.com/gtp/

Another great find by Tas at :
http://pauljamesog.blogspot.com/

I've added a few German colonial troop
types.

Second Battle of the Pyramid











Tim did another great game, part 2 of:


Following the defeat of the Cephalods at the First Battle
of the Great Pyramid the British expeditionary force
encamped on the field of victory . Their Imperial Martian
allies had suffered great losses so retired to their cities to
regroup.Many weeks passed and they were put to good
use fortifying the position with stone walls and artillery
sangars. The construction was ably supervised by
Major J Chard V.C. of the Royal Engineers with his
team of experts. In all this time no sign of the Cephalods
was detected. Then one day large dust clouds were seen
to the North and scouts reported three columns of
Cephalods approaching. As the encampment was put
into a state of defence an Imperial flyer landed with news
that the Imperial troops were a short march away and
rushing to aid the British. The Cephalods struck first.

Two large bodies of Cephalods made straight for the
main defensive square and the British confident behind
stone walls made ready to receive them. A third column
of Cephalods on their right wing swept past the pyramid
and made for the laager of the armoured brigade. The
Cephalods had learned the lessons of their previous
encounter and generally the fighting machines preceded
their numerous infantry.Their cavalry and flyers were
held in reserve.The armoured brigade and Cephalod right
wing locked into an indecisive struggle that caused significant
losses to the Cephalod infantry but the tanks and fighting
machines, protected by armour, fought on though suffering
damages on either side. The main British position was
hammered by the Cephalod centre and left wing columns,
becoming slowly written down in the exchange. The
Cephalods were able to withdraw units that had suffered
casualties but the British, tied down in their fortifications,
dared not follow up for fear of being caught in the open by
the fighting machines. Fresh Cephalod units were fed into
the fight, including flying riflemen, the fighting machines
closed to short range and the British started to crack. First
the artillery was silenced then the redcoats started to give
ground.

As the infantry fell back into the open they were cut down
by the fighting machines. The Naval Brigade were pinned
on their face of the fortification and subject to a devastating
charge, in the rear, by the winged lancers. The ensuing
Cephalod flood swept all before it. On the Cephalod right
pressure by the arriving Imperial Martians allowed the
armoured brigade to disengage but it was too late to save
the British infantry as the victorious Cephalod fighting
machines blocked their path and badly disrupted their
formation.

That's where we closed the evening. It's going to be difficult
to write this one up in the Official History of the campaign
(currently in preparation for our club's amusement). I think
my way out will be to invoke the 'Indians don't fight at night'
excuse and oblige the Cephalods to disengage. This game will
force a reshaping of the next couple of chapters in the history
but that's not a bad thing.


The game was played on 12th December at Staines Wargamers.
As always the author has been somewhat biased by being the
commander of the Cephalod army but this is how we saw it and
we wrote the history :o)



Tim

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Japanese Ship Building

I'm building a Japanese squadron of a larger gunboat, two
smaller gunboats,a troop barge, and (not to be used this
time)a seaplane tender.The inspiration for my ships comes
(as so often is the case) from another gamers work.

http://www.angelfire.com/games3/jacksongamer/beyond04.htm






















He was doing 1920s China. I figured that since our alternate
history runs from the 1880s to the 1920s I'd build ships that
can serve in that spectrum.Photos up shortly.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

3,000 Visitors

Some time during the day we went past 3,000 visitors!

I think we may even be borderline acceptable in
descent company!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Building 15mm gunboat


Since we are all at boat building, Tas put this up
on his blog a few days back....might help!

No Sudan game would be complete without Nile
gunboats! The big problem? Other than the Melik
and some drawings of the Tamai class, there exists
very little information about colonial gunboat operations
on the Nile. This despite the fact that in some operations
there were close to 30 steamers in the combat zone! Not
only that, the Mahdists did have steamers and gunboats
of their own, but the onlyreference I’ve seen is the one
that was put out of action by French forces near Fashoda.
Gordon’s forces operated gunboats continuously during
the siege, but again, little is known about the actual combat
operations.


http://www.wfhgs.com/PDFFILES/gunboat.pdf

The Thin Red Line




Royal Welsh Fusileer 1854 (Crimea War)
Serjeant, 11th Hussars 1854 (Crimea War)
Trooper 14th Light Dragoons 1855 (Crimea War)
Trumpeter, Royal Horse Artillery 1856 (Crimea War)
Infantryman 99th Lanarkshire Regiment 1860 (China)
Sgt.Major, 1st Kings Dragoon Guards 1879 (Zulu War)
Colour Sergeant 24th (2nd Warwicks) Regt. 1879 (Zulu War)
Corporal, 17th Lancers 1879 (Zulu War)
Mounted Infantryman 80th Staffordshire Regt.1882 (Sudan War)
Trooper, 11th Hussars 1885 (Home Service)
Private 92nd Gordon Highlanders 1885 (Sudan War)
Major Royal Welsh Fusiliers 1890 (Home Service Undress uniform)
Lieutenant Royal Fusiliers, 1895 (Home Service - marching order)
Driver, Army Service Corps 1899
Sergeant, Royal Welsh Fusiliers 1898 (Boer War)
Major, Royal Welsh Fusiliers 1898 (Boer War -Staff officer)
Private - Rifle Brigade 1855
Crimea to Boer Corporal,21st Lancers 1898

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Nautical Challenge!


Gentlemen I propose the following
challenge, that we over the holidays
each build one ridiculously armed
warship and two smaller gun boats
each in 15mm. For a game to be
played at the end of January, in a
scenario similar to (but our own and
in a nautical nature) the great work
of the gang at Major General Tremorden
Rederring's Colonial Wargames Page. Of
course as you've probably guessed I'm
referring to Al Bunrab Ouargistan's
Landship Trafalgar.

http://zeitcom.com/majgen/841albunrab.html

**********************************
Of the very few guidelines that I will offer
you one is the size of your large ship is not
to exceed 15" in length and 5" in width. The
small craft can be a maximum of 8" long and
4' wide. Also refer to the Major General on
his building and Gaming with Ships and Boats
philosophy, they will apply.
*********************************

Replacement rule, you may build two more
smaller ships in place of the large one if you
wish. Remember the armor will be lower and
will not last as long in a fight as the larger
would.
**********************************

Each player will also be assigned by dice roll
an ally from a selection on non-western not
as highly developed groups....just to make it
interesting. These will be supplied by me from
my collection of War Junks, Dhows, Xbecs,
and others.
**********************************

I further propose that our resident "Old Slat" Sir
Paul act as judge in the building phase, if he will
accept.
**********************************

Other rules will be worked out as time allow, and
we agree to etc.
**********************************

Gentlemen I want this to be epic and silly as hell,
I know you wont let me down!

Friday, December 14, 2007

Scratchbuilding Etherships

The ships below are at 1/300 scale. They are made from readily
available plastic sheet and tube sections. As you can see they are
a somewhat abstract characatures of dreadnaught era Naval ships
with the addition of flight, suitable for use with the Iron Stars
rules set from Majestic 12 Games.




Thursday, December 13, 2007

From All The Staff

A Splendid Little War


In the spring of 1898 the United States
went to war with the empire of Spain.
It was our Nation's first major conflict
since the Civil War, and the first
major foreign war in our Country's
brief history. It was a war for which
the United States was unprepared
militarily, but a war that had been
looking for an excuse to happen for
a quarter-century.

It was a war that lasted less than a year from declaration
of war to signing of the Treaty of Paris ending it. Violent
conflict spanned a period of only 115 days with less than
400 American combat deaths. It was an unqualified victory
for the United States, a success that propelled the young
nation to the forefront as a world power.





http://www.homeofheroes.com/wallofhonor/spanish_am/01_intro.html

Transport Corps Spainsh American War


Getting to Tampa

When the President called for
troops to invade Cuba, important
arrangements were made with the
railroads to move the troops to
Tampa. The efficiency railroads
was the one bright spot in
preparation for this war.The
railways moved 17,000 officers
and 435,000 enlisted men at low
rates and in reasonable comfort.




http://www.transchool.eustis.army.mil/Museum/Spanishwar.htm

Spanish-American War 1898


Battle History Of The 4th US Infantry Regiment

http://scouts87_90.tripod.com/id39.html

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

New 15mm Trench System










From Dave historyguy1776@yahoo.com

This is just one piece of 14. After the trenches are done
I'm moving into hedgerows, roads, and about 2 dozen
other projects! These are well underway:

Straight 4"
MG Straight 4"
Mortar Straight 4"
Artillery Straight 4"
AT Straight 4"
End Straight 4"
Corner 4"
Angle 4"
T Intersection 4"
Small Bunker
Large Bunker
Small Corner Bunker
Command Bunker
Objective Command Bunker Straight 4"

From Mena Camp Egypt, 1915

This points out the starting similarity between
Texans and Australians.. ;-)



Sentry: Halt. Who goes there?
Voice: Demak Patel, 614, Corporal, Ceylon Rifles
Sentry: Pass friend.

Sentry: Halt. Who goes there?
Voice: Johnson, Otago Mounted Rifles, New
Zealand Expeditionary Force.
Sentry: Pass friend.

Sentry: Halt. Who goes there?
Voice: What the F*** has it got to do with you?
Sentry: Pass, Australian.

The Zeppelin Library


On July 2nd, in the year 1900, The people of Friedrichshafen,
Germany came out to witness a momentous occasion. For
two years a huge floating building had been anchored on lake
Bodensee and in this building, the local Count, Ferdinand von
Zeppelin had been spending all his time and resources with a
small band of engineers and builders. As the building had
progressed, the Count was often made the object of ridicule

Monday, December 10, 2007

Greetings and Salutations!


Dear Sir,


I was most honoured to receive your gracious invitation to join the band of merry men here, and am most pleased to accept. I trust and hope that this is the start of further close relations between the madness here and the insanity at my own Blog.

As is only right and proper, I have extended a reciprocal invitation and hope you accept in kind. In anticipation, I have had the mess stewards polish the Regimental silver and chill a dozen bottles of the finest bubbly available!

Yours in a white wine sauce!

Sir Paul

Anti-Dino Harpoon








I'm working on fitting out the HMS Scylla with a harpoon gun
to go after Sir Paul's beastie. So I'm in the process of trying out
several designs.

http://www.whalecraft.net/Shoulder_Guns.html

Sunday, December 9, 2007

The Hunt 3 (Sir Paul)


6. Italian Fort Fronteggiare
7. Sportello Bancomat " Hole In The Wall"
8. Pescivendolo "Fishmonger"
9. Small Military Post
14. Zumarrie Village
15. El Shakoosh Kabir
16. Zumarrie Royal Village
17. Old Fortified Town
18. Slaver Camp
19. Donaldson Hunting party
wiped out with very few traces.
20. City Of The Watchers

*********************************

Encounters (Red) : 1
It was intended to avoid contact with
the natives as much as possible. This
was not possible as it turned out as
Zumarrie scouts were watching the party's
progress up the river since it started.
Fortunately Sir Paul had a great deal
of experience in dealing with native
peoples in his travels (he won the die roll)
and had gift offerings for the king. The
scouts then honor bound, conducted
the party to the royal village. Sir Paul
explained his desire to bag one of the
legendary great saber tooth cats. The
king not only agreed to provide guides
but was very grateful as one of these had
taken many cattle and more than a few
people.The King said he would host a
great celebration on the party's return....

*******************************

Encounter (Red) 3 The Hunt.

The Hunt 3 (Sir James)


6. Italian Fort Fronteggiare
7. Sportello Bancomat " Hole In The Wall"
8. Pescivendolo "Fishmonger"
9. Small Military Post
10. Remains of Professor Scaperilli found
under a rock slide.
11. Hadusa Country
12. Hadusa Royal Kraal
13. City Of The Old Ones
14. Zumarrie Village
15. El Shakoosh Kabir

******************************

Encounters (Red) : 2
Native attack one Askari Killed
two bearers wounded. Ten natives
killed attack drove off.

The Hunt 2


6. Italian Fort Fronteggiare
7. Sportello Bancomat " Hole In The Wall"
8. Pescivendolo "Fishmonger"
9. Small Military Post
10. Remains of Professor Scaperilli found
under a rock slide.
11. Hadusa Country
12. Hadusa Royal Kraal
13. City Of The Old Ones
14. Zumarrie Village
15. El Shakoosh Kabir

Friday, December 7, 2007

And Now For Something Completely Different


Excerpt from the journal of Col William Somersby-Smyth
Royal Marines, found in the destroyed British embassy
Syris Major.
**********************************************
Our armies were at long last victorious in driving back
the threat from evil the Cephalods. We'd gone on to
pacify allot of the Imperial Martian cities and have
made trade deals with most of the others. It looked
as if we were at the dawn of a new Raj. Then one
dark night reports reached us of a powerful new enemy.
Incredibly they arrived in a planet that came moving on
it's own through out system and taking up its own orbit
in-between Earth and Mars! Then fantastic weapons
even by the standards we have come to know attacked
all in their path. Our Æther ships fought valiantly
against the small but incredibly swift and powerful craft
of this new enemy. Hordes of enemy ground troops
of inconceivable description some that could even
fly, attacked our forces, and drove all before them.
There is still hope with th.........................pages burned
beyond recognition

Hunt Start


1. French Fort Courageux
2. Entrepôt "Free Port" (Base Camp)
3. Ville Nouvelle "New Town"
4. Causeway
5. Nouvelle Vague "New Wave"
6. Italian Fort Fronteggiare
7. Sportello Bancomat " Hole In The Wall"
8. Pescivendolo "Fishmonger"

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Hunt Map


*Blue Villages are friendly
*Red Villages are known
to be hostile
*Black are unknown
*Black Skulls are where
other hunters have been
lost.

Bills Big Hunt

I'll be carrying the Remington Dino Slayer Mk II
as my primary weapon.


My trusty Grordbort ManMelter 3600ZX will as
always be at my side.


Along with my ever present Bowie Knife

and of course my flask of good ole Kentucky
sipping whiskey (carried for purely medicinal
and antiseptic reasons you understand).
I choose to be well equipped for this outing!

Hunt Is On!


Big game hunt this weekend,
after action report to follow.
Rules: Elements of Space 1889,
Soldiers Companion, and Tusk.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Full Steam 1889


A set of home rules for using Full Thrust for Sky Galleons of Mars.
http://www.paleotechnic.com/1889/ft1889.shtml

Mummified dinosaur may have outrun T Rex


One of the most complete dinosaur
mummies ever found is revealing
secrets locked away for millions of
years, bringing researchers as close
as they will ever get to touching a
live dino.

The fossilized duckbilled hadrosaur is
so well preserved that scientists have been
able to calculate its muscle mass and learn
that it was more muscular than thought,
probably giving it the ability to outrun
predators such as T. rex.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071203/ap_on_sc/dinosaur_mummy