Battle over the English Channel

Jackson Gamers' 19th Century Aerial war game
We played this at Jay Stribling's home in Jackson
MS . Bill Hamilton was the game-master and
provided the very attractive Aeroneuf ships.

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

Shooting Friendship

Recovering after her injuries in a train wreck in 1901,
Annie suffered a spinal injury that required five operations
and even left her partially paralyzed for a while. Although
she recovered very well. As a recent guest at president
Roosevelt's western hunting camp in Wyoming she met
and befriended Grand Duchess of Menzies on the Minges.
Annie soon had Lady Vivian shooting clay targets at up to
ten yards. Annie was heard to exclaim "Lady Vivian your
a natural!" The two women were soon inseparable and
Annie agreed to accompany Lady Vivian on the rest of
her tour across the states.

Good Will Tour

Grand Duchess of Menzies on the Minges Lady Vivian at a western
hunting camp hosted by president Roosevelt.Her ladyship demonstrated
her accomplished shooting during the several day hunt of big game
in the mountains of western Wyoming. Her trip to the US and Canada
are part of a good will tour and will continue on to Washington,

Philadelphia, and New York over the next two weeks.

Turk Walker

Around the World in 80 Models !

The Turkish Landship Scarab Class is based on both British
and German designs and uniquely suited to the tactical
requirements of the Turkish Empire.

http://s237.photobucket.com/albums/ff218/redleg58/Turk%20Landship/

Gurkhas In Battle

Gurkhas Nepali Warriors

There was little battle here since the Gorkha force was
so superior but the fact that the British Officers had
remained to try to hold their ground and had not fled
greatly impressed the Gorkhas. They asked Young and
his subordinates why they had not also ran away and
according to legend Young replied, "I have not come so
far to run away. I came to stay." And stay he did. For
about a year the Gorkhas held Young captive but during
this year the Gorkhas developed a sincere and deep
respect for Young and the British fighting spirit which
much resembled their own. And, indeed, it was Young
himself who was able to recruit the first Gorkhas to serve
under the British flag -- 3,000 Gorkhas divided into four
battalions. Young went on to serve as the commander of
the Sirmoor Battalion of Gurkhas for 28 years and,
amazingly, was able to report his battalion service ready
after only six months.


http://www.himalayan-imports.com/gurkha.html

Airship Drawings

http://profile.imageshack.us/user/bbzwbbzw/images

Praetorian Newsreel

Praetorian Newsreel - The Ranks Are Swelling!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ-NQwx1MyA

Praetorian Newsreel - Conflict on Praetoria!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TNh1QDzn44&feature=related

Nothing at all to do with VSF but, captures the feel
rather well!

Happy Mothers' Day

Aztec Rex

Aztec Rex (was Tyrannosaurus Azteca) to show on Sci Fi Channel this month

Cortes and his conquistadors encounter a small tribe of Aztecs who worship a thunder lizard.

Cortes and his conquistadors encounter a small tribe of Aztecs who worship a thunder lizard.

A bit outside our area and time period....but it is a Dino hunt!

http://www.scifi.com/aztecrex/

Steampunk Moves Between 2 Worlds

“MEET Showtime,” said Giovanni James, a musician, magician and inventor of sorts, introducing his prized dove, who occupies a spacious cage in Mr. James’s apartment in Midtown Manhattan. Showtime is integral to Mr. James’s magic act and to his décor, a sepia-tone universe straight out of the gaslight era.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/fashion/08PUNK.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

The Naked Prey

In the bush country of South Africa in the late 19th century, chauvinistic hunter Gert vanDen Bergh calculatedly offends a local tribal chief. Given several opportunities, he refuses to apologize. As consequence, vanDen Bergh and the rest of his hunting party are captured by the tribesmen and grotesquely tortured to death. The only white man spared is safari-guide Cornel Wilde, whom the natives respect and vice versa. The tribesmen offer Wilde a chance to survive; stripping him naked and giving him a knife to defend himself, they set Wilde free in the jungle, in preparation of hunting him down like a lion. Given a head start equal to the distance one of the tribesman can fire an arrow, Wilde is pursued by the tribe's six most accomplished warriors. The rest of this thrill-a-minute film follows Wilde into the underbrush in his desperate, resourceful flight for life. Cornel Wilde's The Naked Prey was filmed entirely on location under circumstances nearly as dangerous as the plight of its protagonist.

http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:34402

Future Landship: Argo

Raj Grunt

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.

China Vs Japan

With the production of Eureka Miniatures 15mm
WWII line there is now available an excellent selection
of Chinese troops suitable also for earlier conflicts.

http://www.eurekamin.com.au/

That said here is some video inspiration!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yyq5w5WmYys&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg8oHYybfnE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M50CU78TX-o&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPXlIjgaHQ4&feature=related

The Tsar"s 'Batmobile'