The Martians have invaded, time to return the favor!

The Martians have invaded, time to return the favor!

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

RajGrunt


Stuart Murray provided suggestions on combining the StarGrunt rules with Victorian era troops. Laserlight (aka Chris DeBoe) provided about three minutes (his words) of editing plus the name RajGrunt.

Imperial Forces

  • British Army, 1860 to 1895: blue to orange. Home Service units may be green, while Rifles would be orange.
  • Gurkhas: blue to orange
  • Indian sepoys: blue
  • Punjab Frontier Force: orange to red
  • Regular artillery: blue
  • Royal horse Artillery: orange
  • Cavalry: green to blue
  • Lancers: green to blue, with some exceptions--Bengal Lancers are orange.

Enemies of the Crown

  • Pathans: mostly green with occasional blue
  • Afghan Regulars: green and blue
  • Egyptian Army: green, with later units blue
  • Sudanese regulars: blue
  • Zulus: mix of green to veteran depending upon unit type
  • Ansars: green
  • Fuzzy Wuzzies: blue

Weapons

  • Musket: FP 0.5 Impact D6 (regular troops one action to reload, irregulars 2 actions, may not move and fire)
  • Jezail: FP 1 Impact D8 (2 actions to reload, double range like a sniper rifle, may not move and fire)
  • Snider-Enfield/Trapdoor Springfield Carbine: FP 1 Impact D8
  • Martini-Henry/Trapdoor Springfield Rifle/Rollingblock Remington: FP 1 Impact D10
  • Lee-Metford/Krag-Jorgensen/Mauser: FP 1 Impact D10. Can use FP 2 but must use a Reorg action (or, for Krag-Jorgenson, two actions) to reload before using FP2 again.
  • Nordenfeld: FP D6 Impact D8 (Jam on 1-2 on D6)
  • Gatling: FP 6 Impact D10 (Jam on 1 on D6)
  • Maxim: FP D8 Impact D10
  • Cav/Lancers: one/two shifts up in close assault. Lances cause Terror.
  • Bayonets: British regulars openly fixing bayonets before a charge should cause a penalty to the close assault Stand roll for Pathans and Boers.

Organization

Irregulars come in bands of 10-20 figures, with one overall leader. All irregulars will have melée weapons. The proportion with guns will depend upon their nationality:
  • Pathans--up to 50%
  • Zulus--20%
  • Ansars--up to 50%
  • Fuzzies--10 to 50%
Regulars form platoons of 15 to 20 figures led by a leftenant and sergeant, with two to four platoons per Company ("platoon" and "company" correspond to the Battalion page's "company" and "battalion wing"). The Company is led by a Major and Company Sergeant Major. Ancilliaries may be Bugler/Musician, Medical Orderly and Colours, plus baggage consisting of perhaps five mules per company for ammunition. All Regulars, both British and Indian, are organized similarly. Indian units have Indian NCOs and officers but the Company is commanded by a British officer and CSM. Gurkha units have both British Lieutenants and Company officers but the NCOs are Gurkhas.
Artillery comes at no more than one artillery piece per platoon, or even less, possibly one per company.
Regulars may change formations, using one action to do so. Formations include March (on roads), Open Order, Square, and Line. Units in Line may take two separate fire actions in an activation, firing front and rear ranks.

Other Changes

The Regimental Sergeant Major has leather lungs and retains a six inch communications range. All other leaders change communication range down to 3 inches. Command reactivations for units outside this range must be passed by a messenger--for the British, this is normally a mounted officer.
Detachments must be given specific orders in advance.
Given the ferocity of the natives and their treatment of prisoners, both sides should have a bonus to make Last Stand rolls--especially any French Foreign Legion units.

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Technical Analysis Of War Of The Worlds (part-1)

This article is a “history” of H.G. Wells classic science fiction novel,
“The War of the Worlds”, as if it actually happened, complete with
technological assessments, logistical evaluations and strategic analyses.
Naturally, the first subject will be prominent given the vast
technological superiority of the invading Martians.


Technical Analysis Of War Of The Worlds (part-1)

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Alternative Armies: 15mm Body Blanks or Dollies released

Alternative Armies: 15mm Body Blanks or Dollies released: Now released at Alternative Armies a pack of formally internal use only industry quality 15mm scale blank bodies. These 'dolly' po...