Monday, 15 September 2025

Ace McGuire and the Robot Legion!

Its been all quiet on the Space 1889 front, with nothing looming on the horizon. So I thought I'd share something different but related from a great day catching up with my mate Rich in Fairfax County. Today he hosted me at his place for some classic SciFi pulp gaming using Wiley Game's Galactic Heroes.

Overall I found the game system intuitive, quick playing and fun! It flowed well and was all about cinematic action. Rich's great figure and terrain collection really made it immersive too, as you can see...

Yes, I may have used AI to make this but isn't it COOL!

The Mechanical Minions of the Robot Legion had seized Planet Thomas—and with it, the proud Galacteer Starbase! Now its shining towers were draped in steel tentacles of tyranny, its halls echoing with the clank of mechanical boots! Worst of all—beloved Galacteer heroine Jane Hunter was a prisoner of the fiendish machines, her fate dangling by a wire!

Only one man dared answer the call—Captain “Ace” McGuire! Dashing, daring, and just reckless enough to challenge the cold claws of the Robot Legion! Whispers across the fleet hinted that his zeal was more than duty—after all, wasn’t Jane Hunter his secret flame?

Ace wasn’t alone! By his side thundered Rocky Rizzo, trigger-happy sharpshooter with a Heavy Laser that could vaporize a tank-bot in a single blast! Dr. Zahn, cool-headed science officer and battlefield surgeon, carried his trusty med-kit, ready to patch up heroes on the run. And leading the Astro-Angels, a laser-rifle squad of daring dames, was none other than Sergeant Stacey, as bold as brass and eager to save her mentor!

Into the Jungle of Peril!

The rocketship set down beyond the reach of the Robot Legion’s scanner towers. The steaming jungles of Planet Thomas swallowed the Galacteers as they pushed forward, sweat gleaming on their brows. Suddenly—movement in the underbrush!

“Clankers at twelve o’clock!” barked Rocky. Without waiting for orders, he cut loose! KRA-KOOM! His Heavy Laser roared like thunder, blasting a hover-sentry into flaming wreckage!

Ace and Dr. Zahn dove aside as a gleaming Robot Centurion marched forward, flanked by two clattering sentinels, eyes glowing with cruel red light!

“Blast ‘em to bits, boys!” Ace shouted, drawing his laser pistol with a flourish. ZZZAP! A hover-bot exploded in sparks as he twirled his weapon back into its holster with a grin.

“Onward, men!” Ace cried, striking a pose that could have graced a recruitment poster.

The Angels Strike!

Sergeant Stacey surged ahead, her Astro-Angels fanning out with deadly grace.
“Go get Jane, Captain—we’ll scrap these scrapheaps!” she barked. 

The jungle blazed with fire as laser rifles chattered and a grenade launcher belched WHOOMPH! A chorus of zap! zap! zap! rang out like a symphony of destruction.

The Centurion staggered, showering sparks. But just as the tide seemed to turn, the ground shook. The trees trembled. Something monstrous was coming- fast!

From the shadows thundered a titanic Warbot, its steel fists the size of meteors, its glowing eye crackling with deadly energy!

“SEEK! FIND! DESTROY!” it boomed, shaking the very air with its metallic bellow!

The Warbot of Doom!

“Back off, Ace! This one’s mine!” roared Rocky, bracing his Heavy Laser. 

KRA-KOOM! The blast staggered the towering titan, but it charged forward, its laser-eye firing a sizzling beam that seared through Rocky’s jumpsuit and scorched his arm!

“Gotta keep moving—Jane’s inside!” Ace shouted, grabbing Rocky by the shoulder. Together they ignited their jetpacks, rocketing toward the sealed blast-door of the starbase.

“Our turn now - take it down, Angels!” Sergeant Stacey commanded, her squad unleashing a hurricane of laser fire. 

One shot—no one could tell whose—smashed through the Warbot’s glowing eye! With a hideous metallic groan, the giant staggered, sparks flew, and it toppled into the jungle with a crash that shook the heavens!

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall!” Stacey grinned, rallying her squad.


Into the Steel Fortress!

At the starbase door, Ace’s fingers flew across the controls. Sparks danced as he hotwired the lock. The door hissed open—revealing two steel sentries waiting inside, weapons raised!

Rocky didn’t hesitate. His Heavy Laser swept the corridor with BRRZZZZAP!—one robot collapsed in a smoking heap. Ace vaulted through the door, blasting the other into scrap with his trusty sidearm.

Dr. Zahn caught up and started binding Rocky’s scorched arm.
“I ain’t got time to bleed,” Rocky growled.
“Not on my watch you don't!” Zahn snapped, tightening the bandage with brisk precision.

Behind them, Sergeant Stacey and her Angels cleared the jungle of the last robot stragglers. The path to the heart of the base was open.

The Heart of the Base!

“Forward, Galacteers!” Ace cried, leading the charge down a gleaming steel corridor. But suddenly—ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! A squad of Robot Blasters ambushed them from the shadows!

The corridor became a storm of energy fire. Ace took a sizzling burn across the shoulder and stood stoically with a grimace. Rocky, for once, was forced to duck behind cover. But the Galacteers pressed forward with courage! One by one, the Robot Blasters fell, clattering to the floor in showers of sparks and scrap metal.

At last, the smoke cleared. Dr. Zahn slapped the panel on the final blast-door. It slid open with a hiss—revealing none other than Jane Hunter herself, looking resplendent in her tight green space suit with hair and make-up somehow intact.

“Jane!” Ace cried.

She rushed past the doctor with a quick “Thank you!” and flung herself into Ace’s arms, confirming every rumour whispered in the fleet!


To Be Continued…

The Galacteers had saved their heroine—but danger still loomed! For who commanded the Robot Legion? What fiendish master directed their steel claws? And what sinister plan threatened not just Planet Thomas, but the galaxy itself?!

Find out next time in… “Ace McGuire and the Shadow Over the Stars!”

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Great pulpy fun that was really enhanced by the themed cards produced by Wiley games. You can use any card deck of course, but it was way better using these ones!

Thanks again Rich, for a day of gaming that was out of this world!

See you next time Space Cadets!



Friday, 2 May 2025

Ben Buckler Disappearing Gun Emplacement

Constructed in 1893, the Ben Buckler Gun Emplacement (aka "Bondi Battery") is one of the last coastal fortifications but in the colonial era before Australia's Federation in 1901. Fitted with a 9.2inch naval gun, it one the last part of Sydney's outer defence perimeter and the culmination of the iterative fortification of Sydney since the Crimean War.







In 1871 a string of works were undertaken at outer and inner Middle Head, Georges Head, South Head, Steele Point and Bradleys Head. However, improvements in armaments led to continual redundancy of the fortifications by the 1880's. 

The batteries, including Ben Buckler, were aimed to maximise the new gun technologies of the era, and as a deterrent to hostile attack by increasingly efficient naval vessels. The coastal guns were used in a 'counter-bombardment' role - to repel armed ships approaching, passing or bombarding population centres like Sydney. They had to be equal to the power of ship-mounted guns, and were used in association with smaller guns aimed at attacking vessels entering port, and with other harbour defence systems such as mines and torpedo boats. The 9.2 inch breech-loading gun types were originally designed for the Royal Navy. An 1879 British Ordinance Committee had earlier identified the need for Britain and its colonies to be able to match arms developments such as those of the German Imperial Army and Navy (Krupp guns). 



The Ben Buckler ('Bondi') Battery - specifics 
The three single guns batteries consisted of a gun pit that incorporated a Mark '6' 9.2" (234mm) British-made breech-loading Armstrong 'disappearing' gun. The disappearing guns were prevalent at the end of the nineteenth century throughout Britain, its colonies and the United States. They were chosen because of their range and power, and upon firing and recoil, the gun retracted into its concealed pit and was therefore a lesser target to attacking naval vessels. The domed metal shield that covered the gun pit was devised to deflect incoming shells striking the battery. 

During the late nineteenth century, ten (10) 9.2" breech-loading 'counter bombardment' guns of this type were established in Australia. These comprised three (3) at Sydney's eastern suburb batteries, plus a spare barrel; four (4) in Victoria at Fort Nepean and Queenscliff, and two (2) in South Australia (purchased in 1888). The Adelaide guns were never established into Fort Glenelg but were bought back by the British government in 1915. 

The Sydney guns were purchased with three (3) hydro-pnuematic mounts and had the following serial numbers: Shark Point: #7317; Signal Hill: #7318; Bondi: #7319, and the spare: #7320. Of these guns, only the Signal Hill, Vaucluse barrel survives on public display at the Royal Australian Artillery Museum at North Fort, North Head. 

The Armstrong Foundry gun at Ben Buckler was cast in 1891 and established within its concrete casemate in 1893. The casemate allegedly had ten-metre (10m) thick concrete walls. Transportation of the gun from the Victoria Barracks, Sydney, involved a team of thirty-six horses and took three (3) weeks. The gun weighed 22 tons and was installed on an EOC Hydro-pneumatic Mark '1' disappearing mount, operated by hydraulic power. The gun was fired through a slot in the iron 'top' shield and could fire a 172-kilogram armour piecing projectile to a range of 8200 metres (8.2 kilometres). 


A report in the Sydney Morning Herald of April 1908 reported the findings of a Board of Enquiry into the premature firing of the Ben Buckler gun - illustrative of the dangers associated with this technology. 


It was not until the 1920s that Australian coastal defence sites began to be re-equipped with modern breech-loading 9.2" naval guns. These comprised the seven two-gun 'Mark 10' 9.2" batteries completed by World War Two. The new Sydney batteries comprised North Fort at North Head, and the Banks Battery at La Perouse. These sites still exist (minus the guns). 



Current Status
The Ben Buckler gun site has survived today through a series of unique events. Obsolete by the outbreak of World War Two, the gun was held in reserve. With the Federal military disposal program after the war, the majority of coastal gun fortifications were dismantled.  

The Australian coastal defence guns were generally offered for sale to be cut up for scrap value. No buyer was obtained for the Ben Buckler gun so it was allegedly buried under direction of Waverley Council in the 1950's, complete with its hydraulic raising mechanism and concrete emplacement works. The work allegedly involved the dumping of five feet of sand into and over the emplacement which was then incorporated into public grasslands.  

The gun's existence was forgotten until disturbance by excavation trench works associated with the Bondi sewerage treatment works in 1984. The exposed top of the concrete casemate was uncovered by mechanical diggers, photographed and surveyed by the (then) Waterboard Authority. The existence of the fortification led to its inclusion in the Waverley Heritage Study commissioned by council in 1990. At that time, the approximate location of the site was added to a modern plan of the Hugh Bamford Reserve. The gun is believed to have been retained within the below-ground level emplacement, although its existence has not been confirmed. The gun site survives as a buried archaeological feature.

From: http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=5056455






Wednesday, 1 January 2025

Into the New Year!

 Happy New Year one and all! Best wishes for 2025!


My other gaming blog has a fulsome wrap-up of my hobby year for those interested: https://tasmancave.blogspot.com/2024/12/2024-in-review.html

BUT the key update is that just before Christmas, we moved from Australia to Hawaii for work reasons. So my French Army is now in storage for the new few years, which is probably lucky as it was rather fulsome and needed no further expansion!  


The nuances of moving internationally being what they are, I couldn't bring my voluminous array of paints with me. But Fear Not! I have a cunning plan moving forward to continue my dalliances with VSF gaming (which have been going for awhile now in different forms, it must be admitted)

"Into the future Mon Ami!" (pic from the Musée de l' Armée, Paris)



An exploration of debauchery, vice and other reasons to be a man!

An exploration of debauchery, vice and other reasons to be a man!