[6mm Science Fiction] An update and a new diversion

I've managed to get a swag of 15mm Science Fiction figures completed over the last six to eight weeks, including a Ventauran Company and a Mid-tech Company. As I was expanding the Mid-tech company, I realized that of the figures I was using (A Flytrap Factory MERC pack, some Hardened Militia from Peter Pig, some Oddzial Osmy NVL from Pico Armor, and some Republic of Arden National Guard from Ground Zero Games), the Flytrap Factory MERCs and Peter Pig Militia worked the best together regarding equipment and general size of figure. The RANG troopers have more body armour and are taller. At the moment, I'm looking at splitting the RANG out as a separate force, though they are currently uniformed in similar colours to the militia and MERCs and could also serve with them as an elite unit. The Oddzial Osmy NVL fit between the extremes in both armour and size of figure, but will probably end up mixed in with the RANG.

All this painting is part of my Traveller project - painting up sufficient forces to be able to actually tabletop game some of the conflicts I have happening as part of the metastory of my Traveller campaign. And, as periodically happens, having been struck with a bit of painting ennui, I re-examined my project. I have an idea for a conflict that escalates, from either a civil disturbance or from a clash between rival colonies, into a major inter-polity war. I have copies of a variety of wargames rules with which to play out this scenario, but at the moment I'm seriously looking at Two Hour Wargames' 5150: Battalion Commander as a rules set, and 6mm as a scale in which to fight bigger battles.

I have a bunch of CAV plastic grav tanks I painted up a while ago, and which, along with some Epic Imperial Guard and Eldar Infantry, I used in a play test of the Command Horizon rules. Some of these figures will see action again as forces of the Outrim Alliance. For the Imperial side, I went to Ground Zero Games Dirtside range.

Work in progress DSM-111 Kivruzh Grav Tanks and DSM-123 Virnazh APCs from Ground Zero Games

Work in progress DSM-111 Kivruzh Grav Tanks

Work in progress DSM-123 Virnazh APCs - detail of underside of APC to left

For armour, and rides, I decided on the Kivruzh Grav tank and the Virnazh APCs. These are really nice models, with a lot of fine detail, such as the grav units on the undersides of the APCs. They are also the closest match I could find for my existing 15mm grav vehicles - the GZG High-tech Grav Light Tank and Light APC.

GZG UNSC Marines in the process of being painted up as Imperial Marines

For Imperial Marine Infantry, I picked up a pack of GZG's 6mm UNSC Marines. In spite of a couple of mis-casts, I was able to make up two Marine platoons with associated command and heavy weapons squads.

GZG New Israeli Infantry in the process of becoming Imperial Army troopers

For the Imperial Army, I picked up two packs of GZG's 6mm New Israelis to use as my Imperial Standard Tech Level-12 Infantry. This should give me four Infantry platoons, plus associated command and support weapons squads.

I had forgotten how quick 6mm figures are to paint, and how effective a couple of colours can be at this scale. I've got a few ideas as to how to make up an Aslan force, and how to recreate the Geithurian Republic Alien Legion in 6mm, so these will probably be next on my list of figures to get.

[RRtK] Teeny, Tiny Toy Soldiers Arrive

Yesterday, my first order of 6mm figures for my Rally Round the King project arrived  from Nic at Eureka Miniatures. I had ordered a selection from the Irregular Miniatures Men of the West range as the basis of the Valgasmaan army, and then spent a couple of hours working out how I was going to base them.

I have decided to use 40mm x 20mm plasticard bases as the frontages match other basing systems, and the plasticard is both thinner, and not likely to curl like card. At the moment, I'm intending to base the heavy infantry four strips to the base, while the pikemen will be six strips to a base (five strips of pike and a command strip). Light Horse are one strip (six figures) while the Knights will probably be two strips to a base.

So, once I had the basing worked out, I had to snip some of the strips to fit everything on the way I wanted them, and then tack-glued the figures to some painting trays. Today, I undercoated everything - I'm pretty impressed with the amount of detail that a wash of watery black undercoat brought out. 

The command strips, top right, has a pair of nicely moulded flags though, at this scale, they're probably about six inches thick. 

The Knights have Maximilian-style metal barding. The lances, apparently, are a point of weakness so I have been very careful when straightening them.

I'm looking forward to putting some colour on these guys.

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While I haven't done any more work on my campaign map, I have had some further thoughts.

The white area in the northern, snow-capped  mountains is a glacier, which is also the source of the Great River. The glacier is called the Rimebeard and is rumoured to be the hold of the Mountain Giants. The province of Jaebelitz, north of Mt Gorfang, has been over run by an army of Beastmen, who are determined to establish their own state. Foranimenagii explorers are attempting to establish a colony on new-found lands to the south of the sea. They will soon discover that these lands are not empty.

In Which The Blogger Ponders the Future of the Blog

It has been nearly two months since I last posted an update here.

We haven't actually played a game of In Her Majesty's Name since I completed my Selenites. Instead, we've played several games of Ronin, a new Skirmish game from Osprey set in Feudal Japan, and I've started painting up a Buntai (Ronin-speak for a company).

Also, I've discovered a set of Fantasy battle rules from Two Hour Wargames called Rally Round the King, which I really like. As I really can't see myself doing Fantasy gaming in either 25mm or 15mm, I've decided to branch out into 6mm. This is likely to be a solo project as I can't really see my group wanting to get into another period. Fortunately, Rally Round the King has solo play rules.

So, what is to become of this blog? I'm thinking of expanding my gaming coverage to cover all three systems as starting up extra blogs seems like a dispersion of resources. The Endoscope will continue, but there will be other elements in it.

In Which the Blogger Considers Some Intriguing Political Situations

While considering the gamut of Victorian Science Fiction, I began to wonder about was actually happening at the time, in real life, as often our real-world fears and concerns end up being reflected back to us through our popular culture.

The latter half of the Nineteenth Century was the zenith of the Colonial period, when various European Powers dominated vast swathes of the rest of the Earth. In England, in particular, there seemed to be a growing feeling of disquiet. While the most powerful naval power on the planet, with the most extensive empire, growing internal political divisions - between those who believed that England should rule with might, and those who believed England's dominance should be used to enhance the daily lives of all English subjects - contrasted with a growing external sense of unease at the the rapid unification of Germany and the rise of Prussia. By trickery, Belgium's King Leopold II had helped himself to the huge, and rich, Congo Basin, while Russian forces pressed ever south towards the Hindu Kush and England's resource-rich holdings in India. The sense that Britannia Ruled the Waves, and a plucky Englishman was worth 10 Johnny Foreigners, was a legend only held up by eternal vigilance on the part of agents of the Crown.

In some late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century novels - The War in the Air, The War of the Worlds, and The Thirty-nine Steps - we see England damaged, invaded, betrayed. Yet, while institutions might fail, the bravery and honesty of an average Englishman will often win through.

And then, we throw Science into the mix.

In Which the Blogger Tinkers with his Blog and hopes bits don't fall off.

A weee bit of reformatting and jiggery-pokery on the blog today - starting to populate the links and Blogs I Watch fields. Of course, things have changed since I last set up a blog and what was once straight forward, now involves a bit of headscratching.

I need to have a scan through my library for inspirational books and authors to talk about once things really get going, but without a decent foundation, you can't build anything of a lasting nature.

In Which the Blogger considers the Nature of Victorian Science Fiction

Victorian Science Fiction, or Steampunk?

I saw a quote yesterday - "Steampunk is just Fantasy with cogwheels" and suddenly a number of ideas that have been flapping around in the recesses of my brain found roosting spots.

I'm about to "get into" skirmish gaming in a setting the encompasses the Victorian and Edwardian period up to the early 1900's. Gaming in this period is characterised as "Colonial Period" - and often seeks to recreate the various colonial wars waged by the Imperial powers of the period. Lately, however, we have seen games such as Warmachine, with steam-powered warjacks, gaining in popularity, and a cosplay movement that seems to believe that slapping some goggles and a frame brace on a duster somehow makes one a "Steampunk".

The science that excited writers such as Verne and H.G. Wells and which drove their Speculative Romances has been overshadowed by the excesses of Victorian Advertising and the Gothic or Heroic Romances of Shelley, Stoker and Dunsany, and rather than attempt even a feeble explanation of why something may work in a particular way, we see authors resorting to handwavium or other such forms of mystic deus ex machina to allow their narratives to leap nimbly over holes in their plots.

So, this Blog will look at various Victorian Science Fiction stories, and at games set within this period, and at modern novels that play "true to form". But like any good villain, I will have my secret escape hatch already set, to allow myself to flee into whimsey if I so wish.