In Which the Blogger Shows Off Some More Figures

I had better luck with lighting and focus when I took some pictures tonight.

Ephraim is a member of the Rotten Row Drainers - a street gang who often provide muscle for Doctor Cornelius' Most Excellent Company. He's from the Irish Brawlers set from Brigade Games.

This is the Invisible Man, being invisible, from the Parroom Victorian Science Fiction range, also available from Brigade Games. The Invisible Man is part of the Extraordinary Personages 3 set. I have shown Doctor Griffith Hugh previously, which is the Invisible Man with his clothes on.

Obidiah is another member of the Rotten Row Drainers, and another member of the Irish Brawlers set from Brigade Games. He is armed with an old hanger or falchion he seems to have picked up in his travels.

From Eureka Miniatures Pirate Range, this chap is the Turkish Pirate Captain. Originally, he was going to be the Turkish Ambassador - one of a number of international figures drawn into the orbit of Doctor Cornelius. After watching a documentary about late Victorian Stage Magicians, I have decided this character is now Swami Yami - Master of the Mystical Mind Arts of the Mysterious East. I have since found that Swami Yami actually exists - on the Internet, anyway.

I follow Scott Pyle's Four Color Figures Blog and recently he announced that he was releasing some Bug Warriors through his little figure company, Aegis Figures. I took one look at the bug warriors and thought "Selenites".

With two head types, and two body types, and eight arm/hand/weapon types, every Selenite can be unique.

I ended up painting the Selenites three different body colours, both for variety and to represent different Selenite castes or nests.

These are great figures and I'm really glad I got them.

And here's a shot to give you an idea as to how large the Selenite/Bug Warriors are in comparison to a standard 28mm figure.

Now, I just have to point them up for In Her Majesty's Name.

In Which the Blogger gets Surveyed

A busy few weeks have eaten my time.

Tonight I had hoped to post photos of four more completed characters but none of pictures I took were in focus. I have also pretty much finished my five Selenites from Aegis Figures, just waiting on some "tufts" to arrive from a local on-line Hobby store called Hobby Supplies. If all goes to plan, I hope to have some photos for tomorrow.

In good news received today, my survey for my Meridian Miniatures Kickstarter rewards hit my Inbox. As I mentioned back in July, I had backed this project to Corporal level and am now looking forward to the arrival of my great-coated soldiers. I also have a couple of officers coming as well, plus a sprue of Arc rifles.

While the standard troops are scheduled for a September release, it appears that the great-coat troopers will be following along a little bit later. I'm really looking forward to their arrival.

In Which the Blogger Plays a Second Game of 'In Her Majesty's Name" Part 2

Last Saturday night, Jonathan, Chris and I got together for a second game of In Her Majesty's Name. John, in spite of being stricken by the lurgy, managed to join us as well.

Chris fielded Selous' Scouts, while Jonathan fielded a modified Society of Thule Company. John deployed Lord Curr's Company while I used a modified version of Cornelius' Most Excellent Company - as posted in my previous post.

After some brainstorming, the following scenario for our encounter emerged:

Mr Singh waiting outside his house on Water Tower Hill.

Mister Amadeus Singh, renowned amateur astronomer, has detected something most singular in the heavens. To fund further research, he has indicated that he is willing to impart this information in return for a suitable gratuity and four Adventuring Companies are striving to gain the Professor's information.

Looking north from the canal towards Mr Singh's house.

Selous' Scouts entered the field from the south-west, docking their river boat beside the Boras Warehouse,

The Society of Thule emerge from the mists by the canal.

while the Society of Thule came out of the canal to the east of the crane.

Looking south towards the canal.

Lord Curr's Company near the north-west house.

Meanwhile, Lord Curr's Company entered the field by the north-west house, near the Park.

Cornelius' Company cross the Old Barrow.

While Cornelius' Company came on behind the old barrow to the north-east, beside the Old Abbey.

Selous' Scouts advance across the rail lines.

Selous' Scouts pushed forward across the railway line, while their machine gunner kept watch from the roof of the Boras Warehouse.

The Society of Thule advance on the Striker Building.

East of the Scouts, the Society of Thule moved up around the Striker Building.

While Curr's Company advanced into the Park beside the Linus Building.

Doctor Cornelius and his Company close in on Mr Singh.

Two of the velocepedes (random steam-powered vehicles) nearly collide outside Mr Singh's house.

Coleman and Roger, the Two Rotten Row Drainers, take up position beside the water tower.

Maxim Destroyanevsky, the Anarchist Marksman, slips into the copse beside the water tower. From there, he downs one of the Society of Thule's Jaegers beside the Striker building, only for the corpse to be re-animated as a todh-truppen.

Selous' Scouts had to scramble quickly across the open ground around the twin railway tracks.

The Scouts then had to dash up the ridge to the Linus Building, even as Lord Curr's Company managed to scramble onto the roof, ahead of them.

Eventually, Selous' Scouts managed to force their way around the western end of the Linus Building, and picked off Curr's men on the roof.

The unofficial truce between Lord Curr's Company and Doctor Cornelius' Company came to an end when Lord Curr attempted to abscond with Mr Singh.

Moving rapidly to Mr Singh's assistance, Doctor Cornelius and Lofty, his Man, confronted Curr, Two-Gun Tess and one of Curr's Minions.

Cornelius' Company were also coming under heavy fire from the Society of Thule around the Striker Building. Both Maxim Destroyanevsky and Seamus O'Tipple where swiftly brought down, even though Maxim was able to pin Von Stroeheim, himself, briefly.

The Society of Thule began to push forward, crossing the road as another velocepede rattled towards them. One of Cornelius' Rotten Row Drainers moved to engage them. Doctor Kobalt, the Society of Thule's Occult and Technical engineer, used the Eye of Odin to peer through the water tower and fire on the other Drainer with his Arc pistol.

A brief battle raged around Mr Singh's house. Lofty Terrified Two-gun Tess, causing her to flee. But he was too quick for her. As he attempted to seize her, Lord Curr and Doctor Cornelius exchanged blows. Their confrontation was quickly cut short by a burst of fire from the Society of Thule's machine gunner, firing from the railway yard. Curr, Cornelius and Mr Singh were cut down by the deadly volley.

Singh's demise pretty much ended the battle - a victory for the Society of Thule on points - with the survivors of Curr's and Cornelius' Companies slipping away into the night.

Here's another photo on the water tower - made by Chris from cardboard. A truly impressive model.

All photos taken by me on my tablet under available light.

In Which the Blogger Plays a Second Game of "In Her Majesty's Name" Part 1

As mentioned in last Sunday's post (which, rather confusingly, was written on the Saturday and referred to events of that evening), we got together for a second game of In Her Majesty's Name. This time, along with Chris and Jonathan, John was able to join us and fielded Lord Curr's Company. Chris fielded the victorious Selous' Scouts, while Jonathan fielded a modified Society of Thule company.

I took Cornelius' Most Excellent Company for a second outing though, this time, with some changes to the roster. Colonel Count Otto von Horsentrappe was absent, while the deadly Russian Anarchist, Maxim Destroyanevsky responded to Doctor Cornelius' call.

	Doctor Cornelius' Most Excellent Company
	AC	Pluck	SV	FV	Speed	Talents				Equipment	Points
Doctor Edgar Octavian Cornelius	8(11)/11(14)	2+	+1	+4	+1	Leadership+2		+2 Iniative		Faraday Coat (AC11 vs Arc Weapons	54
						Erudite Wit		-1 to enemy SV/FV within 12"		Knife - +1 FV/SV, Pluck +0, 6" range
						Martial Arts		+1 FV, +1 Speed
						Intuitive		+3 Armour 1st time shot at
Seamus O'Tipple	9	3+	+4	+4	+1	Leadership+1		+1 Initiative		Brigandine	52
						Gunslinger		Can split SV b'tween guns		2 x Pistols +1SV 9" range, Pluck+0
						Marksman (Pistol)		Ignores Target's cover		Knife - +1 FV/SV, Pluck +0, 6" range
Lofty	9	4+	+2	+5	+1	Tough		+1 Pluck Rolls vs SV and FV		Brigandine	50
						Terrifying		Enemy must make Pluck to attack
						Numb		Ignores 1st hit against him
Maxim Destroyanevsky	9	4+	+4	+2	+0	Marksman (Rifle)		Ignores Target's Cover		Brigandine	51
						Hunter		Can select target in group		Pistol +1SV 9" range, Pluck+0
						Fanatic		Rerolls 1st failed Pluck		Hunting Rifle +4SV 36" range Pluck-2
A Minion	9	5+	+3	+0	+0	Medic				Brigandine	16
										Pistol +1SV 9" range, Pluck+0
The Rotten Row Drainers
Coleman	8	5+	+3	+3	+1					Jack	16
										Club - +1 FV, Pluck - 1
Roger	8	5+	+3	+3	+0					Jack	13
										Club - +1 FV, Pluck - 1
											250

More to come.

In Which the Blogger Recruits Some Selenites

Scott is a prolific painter, and rules writer - being part of the creative team behind The Department and the developer of the GoalSystem rules. His blog, Four Color Figures, is well worth following for painting ideas.

As a sideline, Scott also runs Aegis Figures, a boutique figure production company. Recently, he mentioned that he had more Bug Warriors in stock. I took one look at them and thought "Selenites!"

I ordered a couple of packs of Bug Warriors/Selenites last week, and they arrived today. The following pictures are, literally, straight out of the packet:

Bug Warrior/Selenite bodies - two basic poses. There is quite a bit of surface detail - straps and belts.

Showing the arm holes - nice, deep holes that the arms plug into. Clean casts and will give the arms a lot of support.

Assorted arms and heads. The heads come with either mandibles open or mandibles closed. There are five right arms and four left arms, with a variety of primitive weapons as well as a grasping hand (separate torch supplied) and a closed fist. Plenty of combinations possible across the two body types.

And I picked up a pack of ganger heads - lots of goggles, a couple of breather masks, as well as a hooded head. The painted examples on Scott's blog show the detail better, but they are clean sculpts with lots of potential. The heads come with neck lugs, so will drop into a pilot hole nicely.

Drop Scott an email through his blog if you need further details. I'm looking forward to painting these up.

In Which the Blogger Finishes Some More Painting

Just in time, I have completed another four figures for my Company, and one will get his first outing tonight!

Maxim Destroyanevsky - Anarchist

During our first game of In Her Majesty's Name I discovered that Doctor Cornelius' Most Excellent Company lacked long ranged weapons. This proved rather crucial in the rather cover-free Railway Yards. While I have some rifle-armed troops coming from Meridian Miniatures, they are part of the Kickstarter project and won't be available until September.

Fortunately, one of the two Anarchists I got from Brigade Games' own Storm in the East range is armed with a very servicable rifle, and he became the Anarchist, Maxim Destroyanevsky (and a pun on the name of a Russian broadcast engineer I worked with).

Olga Petronova - Officer of the Okhrana

The second member of the Anarchist pack looks slightly feminine to me, and her uniform looks more para-military, so I decided that she would be Olga Petronova, an Officer of the Okhrana.

Doctor Griffith Hugh - Chemist 

Doctor Griffith Hugh (or Doctor Hugh - I'm having a bit of a punny day) is a chemist, and an ally of Doctor Cornelius. Unfortunately for Doctor Hugh, a chemical compound he was working on has rendered his body completely transparent to light. Forced to cover his face in bandages to hide his affliction, if Hugh disrobes, he vanishes from view.

Prince Dekkan

Less well known than Prince Dakkar, Prince Dekkan dislikes the Imperial British presence in his homeland intensely. From a secret base in the South Sea, he roams the globe in his Zeppelin, raiding Imperial targets and taking what he needs to continue his struggle.

Both of these last two figures are from Brigade Models' Parroom Station range.

In Which the Blogger Plays His First Game of "In Her Majesty's Name" Pt2

The encounter took place in a rail yard. Three companies; Selous' Scouts, the Society of Thule, and Cornelius' Company, had heard that three crates of advanced mechanical technology had been left in the rail yard. As the battle commenced, Selous' Scouts entered the railyard from the East, while Cornelius' Company entered from the North. The Society of Thule came on from the South-West.

Selous' Scouts head into action

As Selous' Scouts moved around the south-eastern side of the Fabrication Building, Selous sent his machinegunner up on the roof to cover the center of the railyard. Meanwhile, a couple of Jaeger and Dr Kobalt moved along the western end of the Lloyd Morrison Plant while Von Stroheim, Kreig and a Jaeger moved past the west side of the crane.

At the northern end of the railyard, Cornelius' Company moved around the eastern end of Engine Shed #5, while Colonel Count Otto von Horsentrappe cut across the railway tracks towards the Fabrication Building.

Doctor Cornelius, Lofty and a Minion look east towards
the Fabrication Plant

Lacking long range fire arms, Cornelius' Company had to rely on any speed advantages they had to close the distance with their opponents.

Colonel Count von Horsentrappe and
the rest of Cornelius' Company advance

As Count Otto crossed the second rail line, Selous' Scouts moved into the open.

Selous' Scouts move into view

It wasn't Count Otto's day, and he was soon out of the fight.

Cornelius' Company head south-west around
the Engine Shed. 

While the Scouts secured the eastern crate of mechanical technology, the Thule Society moved in on the crate, just north of the crane. Meanwhile, the rest of Cornelius' Company made a dash towards the third crate, near the Engine shed.

Krieg reached the crate first but before he could secure it, Coleman moved to engage him. As the rest of the company bore down on Krieg, and began taking fire from Selous' Scouts, O'Tipple stepped forward and planted Krieg with a single shot.

Across the yard, the Jaegers beside the Lloyd Morrison Plant were coming under heavy fire from the Scouts. Dr Kobalt dropped back along the track as men began to fall. As his Arc Generator kicked into action, their Revivifiers activated and they rose again as Tod-truppen.

The machinegun and the hunting rifles of the Scouts were soon wrecking havoc amongst both the Thulians and Cornelius' Company, and the demise of Dr Kobalt and his Arc Generator deprived the tod-truppen of their motivation. As Doctor Cornelius made a dash for the central crate of technology, a shot from one of Selous' marksmen put him out of the fight as well.

Seamus O'Tipple and Lofty confront Von Stroheim

Finally, O'Tipple and Lofty cornered Von Stroheim and a crate of technology behind a large mechanical crane. Lofty's ferocity was batted aside by the fearless Von Stroheim, but O'Tipple brought him down with a well placed shot.

Retrieving the crate, Lofty and O'Tipple made a dash under cover along the western side of the Engine Shed as Selous' Scouts moved to cut off their escape. As the machinegunner missed his shot, O'Tipple stepped out of cover and engaged two of Selous' men, as Lofty bolted for the exit. Missing both shots, O'Tipple was gunned down, while Lofty shrugged off a rain of bullets to make his escape.

---

So, a convincing win to Chris as his Selous' Scouts stuck to the plan, secured two crates of technology, accounted for all bar one of the Society of Thule, and all bar one of Cornelius' Company - for no loss. I managed to retrieve a little honour by having Lofty escape with one box of technology, but was badly equipped for a long range gunfight. I also should have remained in cover and come down the western side of the Engine Shed to engage the Society of Thule at close quarters. Jonathan also learnt a harsh lesson - by dividing his force, and allowing his Arc generators to get too far apart, he could not take advantage of his Company's tod-truppen and was taken out piece meal.

In Her Majesty's Name is fast, furious fun, but we are thinking of including the option for "Honourable Surrender" where the victor gets half-victory points for all surrendered figures, but the loser gets to prevent his Company being massacred.