Prussian Steam Strider

Found this lovely Steam strider pic, complete with an accompanying squad of gas-masked prussian skirmishers - Fur Kaiser unt Vaterland!

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy7AhvKb82QTqxvTZsPMb7fkb2SYTbLpOBf-2F_LMAaCSKGjVNqUKJ5JhmjWfddkdU52iHpWfQY4KgAH7g_3K7KJzAc10Q2twODJc-0a-U2gSrVdJCneNahcwNBsQupnAn_OZH_w/s1600-h/

Good work - please tell me if its yours!

Airship fleet artwork!

You may recall the excellent initial artwork done by Isotx for their Iron Grip universe. Chekc out their latest efforts showing the Rahmos airship fleet!

http://www.moddb.com/mods/iron-grip-the-oppression/news/iron-grip-artwork

(Thanks to Don from http://vsf15mm.blogspot.com/ for the heads-up!)

Captain Baron Cherkassov

An interesting short article, which winds up rather badly for the Baron after he "had gone ashore that night to visit a lady friend, leaving his ship with torpedoes disarmed, all shells stowed save 12 and no extra men posted on watch."

later...

"The two disgraced officers were court-martialed for negligence and summarily stripped of all their ranks and privileges as well as being given a 3 year and 18 month prison sentences respectively. Tsar Nicholas II also went so far as to decree that the Baron was to be sentenced to perpetual bachelorhood, it being forbidden for him to marry so that he could not perpetuate his disgraceful family name."

Read on see why he was so horrendously punished and how "crew efficiency was further reduced" Article reproduced in full below from: http://ww1history.suite101.com/article.cfm/zhemchug_vs_the_emden_1914

[This article is dedicated with great amusement to David C.]

The ill-fated Russian protected cruiser Zhemchug, her crew in high spirits

Zhemchug Vs the Emden 1914

The cruisers Emden of the German Navy and Zhemchug of the Russian Navy were matched on paper but not in actuality.

A survivor of the crushing Battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese war in 1905, the Russian light cruiser Zhemchug remained in the Pacific Ocean to show the flag of the Tsar in the warm waters of that region. When World War One erupted in 1914 the 3,100-ton Zhemchugtook part in early convoy operations in the Pacific. Her general enemy was the German Pacific squadron of Kaiser Wilhelm II and her particular nemesis was the 3,364- ton German light cruiser Emden. The Emden had separated from the Kaiser's pacific squadron and raided the warm waters far from the European battlefields for months, sinking more than a dozen merchant ships and attacking British colonies. The two ships were well matched on paper; both were relatively new fast ships of a modern design capable of the same speed. The Zhemchug was armed with 8x4.7 inch (120mm) naval guns versus the Emden’s comparable armament of 10x 4.1 inch (105mm) guns.

In her search for the Emden the Zhemchug was brought to the Malaccan Straits where she stalked the Nicobar and Andarman Islands to no avail. Coming up empty handed the Zhemchug put into the Malaysian port of Penang on October 26, 1914. Feeling his ship safe in an allied harbor her Captain, Baron Cherkassov, departed his ship for leave ashore. The good baron left his ship in a deplorable state considering the Emden was thought to be in the region. The ship had no officers on watch as well as no lookouts posted. She was docked to where only one of her guns were able to fire on the harbor entrance, where any enemy would come from, and all of her 120mm ammunition save for a dozen rounds, was locked up. The keys to the ships magazines had been taken ashore with her senior officers for safekeeping. Worse still a number of local prostitutes were taken aboard the ship, further downgrading her crew’s effectiveness.

Zhemchung memorial in Penang (public domain picture)

In the predawn hours of October 28, 1914, another cruiser slowly entered the approaches to Penang. It flew the white ensign of the Royal Navy and had altered her appearance to look like the British cruiser HMS Yarmouth. The mysterious cruiser observed the Zhemchug lying at anchor with her lights on and no protective searchlights or torpedo boats around her. The mysterious cruiser in question was in fact the SMS Emden herself. The German cruiser, under the command of Korvettenkapitän Karl von Müller, quietly crept towards her sleeping target who had just days before been hunting for her. At 0515 and a range of just 400m she struck her British flag and ran up the Imperial German naval ensign while fired her torpedo tubes point blank into the Zhemchug. Working up steam the Emden sped past the stricken cruiser, turned sharply and re-engaged her. She raked the decks of the Russian cruiser at a range of just 700m as she passed with every gun capable of firing doing so. A second torpedo from the Emden finished the Zhemchug off, with the stricken ship settling in 30m of water. The unharmed Emden went onto sink a French destroyer also in the harbor and trade shots with the old French cruiser D'Iberville before making good her escape. The Emden, scourge of the Pacific would find itself sunk by the Australian cruiser Sydney less than a fortnight later.

The sinking of the Zhemchug was a traumatic experience for the Russian Pacific Squadron and virtually ended the Russian effort in that ocean during the war. Eighty-nine officers and men were killed and more than a hundred of the survivors were seriously wounded. These figures were very heavy indeed when you consider the Zhemchug complement was 354 men. Eighty-two of the bodies were recovered and interned in western road cemetery in Penang. The remaining crew was returned to Russia on the auxiliary cruiser Orel who had salvaged some of the Zhemchug 120mm guns in December 1914. Captain Baron Cherkassov as well as his second in command, Senior Lieutenant Kulibinu, was arrested on return to Russia. The two disgraced officers were court-martialed for negligence and summarily stripped of all their ranks and privileges as well as being given a 3 year and 18 month prison sentences respectively. Tsar Nicholas II also went so far as to decree that the Baron was to be sentenced to perpetual bachelorhood, it being forbidden for him to marry so that he could not perpetuate his disgraceful family name.

To this day passing Russian ships drop wreaths in the Malaccan Straits and the harbor of Penang to those men of the cruiser Zhemchug. Russians still gather at the monument to the fallen men of the Zhemchug in the western road cemetery at the end of October every year.

Sources

Pleshakov, Constantine The Tsars Last Armada, 2004 Basic Books

Russian Ambassador's Press Releasehttp://www.malaysia.mid.ru/int_e_03.html

Philips, John Spoilers of the Sea: Wartime Raiders in the Age of Steam, 1970

Rickard, J (27 September 2007), Penang Raid, 28 October 1914, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/raid_penang.html

Dirigibles And Dreadnoughts

A brilliantly (and recently renamed) blog, this shows Paul's great foray into the wondeful world of Nefs. He has some great stuff here, check it out at:

http://dirigiblesanddreadnoughts.blogspot.com/

A Good Word For Eureka Miniatures

I just got my order (in under two weeks from Australia no
less!) of 15mm WWI Italians from Eureka Miniatures. These
are great little minis, the machine-gun stands are minor
works of art! Very nicely done and as always a breeze to deal
with.
http://www.eurekamin.com.au/

The past 12 months of 'Sauce

This is what the past year of hits looks like from a geographical origin perspective (click http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/pauljamesog/WIP/wws_1year.jpg for a bigger version)

This will now be archived and a new one started - many thanks to the kind souls who contributed to all those red dots!

Bloodaxe Minis!

I just got my order of 15mm WWI Russians and inter war Soviets,
I must say their sculpting is excellent! The figures compare in
size with those from Peter Pig but have I think a nicer animation.
The price on Bloodaxe miniatures is also far better for we
American customers since there is no exchange rate or high
shipping costs to deal with.

I bought one of their 1914 Russian Infantry Regiment WWI
UNIT PACKS for $14.95, this one was a particular good value
it is based around the Spearhead system and contained 50 infantry
2 officers and 4 machine gun teams. I'll be getting another of these
soon along with their German WWI pack.

I also got some of their interwar period Soviet infantry in Budenka
Cap, very nice figs!

This is a very new company that seems to have allot going
for it and great future lines soon going to be released like
FIRST ITALO-ETHIOPIAN WAR. I do highly recommend
this one guys, they are fast and communicate with their customers
every step of the way. I'm really looking forward to more from this
bunch!

Don

http://www.bloodaxeminiatures.com/

Leviathan - a new VSF game

Catalyst Game Labs (makers of Battletech & Shadowrun) revealed at GenCon that they are working on a new miniature game which will be a VSF game with giant levitating battleships.

Randall David from talks about the upcoming game currently working under the working title of Leviathan - exciting stuff!



The news and video is from TGN's coverage of GenCon 2008.The coverage can be seen here:
http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/gencon2008
and if anyone is interested there are also three other short interviews with Randall Bills from Catalyst.

HMCS Redoubt

Bill Witthans, creator of the fine Prussian steam-powered landship posted to WWS previously, has kindly sent me pics of another of his wonderful conveyances- the HMCS REDOUBT!

Bill created this from the Scheltrum Miniatures "Jules Verne Class French Aerial Torpedo Destroyer" kit you can find here: (thanks for the information Ironmammoth!)
http://www.scheltrum.co.uk/ironclad.html
Great stuff Bill- many thanks indeed for sharing your great creation!

2025 Edit: Sadly this website is long gone. I did find a few pics from the Wayback machine for prosperity

Imperial Land Leviathan
Massive wheeled articulated land battleship. Multi-turreted and multi decked with additional deck mounted weaponry. The model features interior detailing showing the engineroom, magazine, battle control room and open bridge.

Subterranean Tunnelling Machine

HMLS Terrible
British "Behemoth Class" steam tank with hull mounted cannon and sponson mounted gatling-guns.

HMLS Nestor
British "Trojan Horse Class" assault vehicle.

Russian "Imperial Class" Mobile Naval Gun
Tracked and armoured gun emplacement with turret mounted gatling-gun and hull mounted naval gun.

.

TOP: An aerial view of the Battle of Basrah 1914-15...

...with Allies on the left and the Ottomans on the right.

Hi All,

First of all, Tas AKA Paul, the host of this site is temporarily detained with other domestic callings. His wife is away on business so he is filling in all the roles his family requires for awhile including father and maintainer of the castle, university researcher, student, military man, and much more. He can't wait to get back to gaming and this site, but it will have to wait until the domestic scene returns to its previous order. In the mean time, adjunct posters like myself will fill in content for Tas.

Last Friday on 18 July 2008, a number of gentleman got together to play a colonial game, although a late colonial game from World War I. Mark Steinberg and Mike McGraw hosted. The game was loosely based on the actual Battle of Basrah from 1914-15 although the results (an allied defeat) much more resembled the Siege of Kut, the battle that followed Basrah in 1915-16. For those readers still gaining proficiency in geography, Basrah is located in modern-day Iraq.

It was a great game with lots of beautiful terrain, a host of 28mm figures, a British armored car, several light artillery pieces, two massive river boats, the French Foreign Legion, plenty of Brits, plenty of Scots, Indian troops, Arabs, Askaris, Boers, and everything a colonial-minded gamer could adore. I had a fabulous time and it was a great way to spend a lazy evening.

Mark's notes:

Here are some photos of the BASRAH 1915 game. Players were Maksim, Tim, Mike McGraw, Mike O., Hal L., and Nils. I took the photos. Observers included Carl O., Jim C. and Mark Cuomo, Mikos, Mike S., Marcus, and George G.

And the photos:

TOP: By turn 3, the Allies (left) had taken considerable casualties.

TOP: One of the mighty riverboats, that arrived too late!

TOP: The other mighty riverboat!

TOP: The two boats heading upriver to Basrah.

TOP: The mighty river itself!
Ottoman lines on the right.

TOP: The Ottomans had the advantage of holding the town...

And the Germans had vowed "...to fight to the last Arab."

TOP: Maksim's Arabs set up in a strong town building...
The fellows out of cover were quickly routed.

TOP: The British forces were bolstered by an armored car (left).
It's machine gun tore up Ottoman lines.

TOP: The brave Scots troops charged Basrah with valor in their hearts...
...to no avail!
TOP: A set of ruins in the foreground saved the Allies from a worse defeat.
TOP: By turn 2, the Allied ranks had been decimated by rifle fire.

TOP: But the Allies still held the rocky outcrops outside Basrah.

TOP: Part of the motley crew of Colonial heroes!

The game itself went well and all had a good time, but the scenario was, perhaps tilted a little in favor of the Ottoman side since by turn two, the allied lines had been considerably thinned. In fact, the game was an absolute bloodbath with both sides taking roughly 40% to 70% casualties within just three turns! Next time, the Allies will receive more troops and the Ottomans less and we can see how it turns out!

Link to Battle of Basrah (1914-15):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Basra_%281914%29

First Link to Siege of Kut (1915-16):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Kut

Second Link to Siege of Kut (1915-16):

http://www.1914-1918.net/meso_bat3.htm

Have a great Friday!

And good gaming to you!

Shalom,

Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (...if it is indeed an infringement).

Skrapwelder news...

SLD News reporting from County Clare in the United Counties of Ireland

Construction of "Gae Bolg", the first of three fighting vehicles in production at the G&G Boilermakers and Foundry Works is now complete. Its companions: "Luisne" and "Claiomh Solais" are still in the construction process. Having left the assembly area where it has been fitted with an experimental Tesla gun "Gae Bolg" now waits to be painted.

With news of the Prussian invasion of England and the fighting in Teddington, security has been tightened at the foundry works in the event of any attempt the Prussians might make to abscond with the new vehicles.

Another online time-waster?...

A solar sailing simulator?

http://www3.ec-lille.fr/~u3p/Glenans/Glenans4.html

Back to the drawing board...

It has been quite a while since there's been an update on Project Nautilus but let us not interpret silence and inactivity. Computer aided design (or CAD) has generally not been possible on MAC platforms — until a comparatively recent upgrade. Rather than wedging the past notion of the venerable submarine into previously seen imaginings, I returned to the source material and have produced the above skeleton.

Hopefully, it will not be so very long until the next update and an actual model. The CADwork is to get the measurements right for a 28mm scale production.

Land Ironclads Goes to Print!!!

...this had better not be an April fool's joke! From TMP:

Land Ironclads - Wessex Games' game of Victorian Science Fiction ground combat - has gone to print.

A companion set to our popular Aeronef VSF flyer rules, Land Ironclads is not only a complete stand-alone game allowing gamers to fight games between armies including mighty landships, devilish mechanical contraptions and brave red-coated infantry, but is also fully compatible with Aeronef itself allowing combined air-land games to be played in a seamless fashion.
Inspired by the worlds of Griffiths, Le Queux, Robida, Wells and Verne, Land Ironclads comes complete with a detailed geo-political timeline from 1854 to 1901, a military overview (with unit organisation details) covering Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Austro-Hungary, Italy, Turkey, Spain and the Martian invader, statistics for over 200 different types of vehicle and troop types, a points system to allow you to create your own designs and five introductory scenarios set during the Great War of 1899-1901 and the Martian Invasion of 1901.

The rules, which can be used for straight C19th historical battles, also include rules for land ironclads, supply, ruses, ambushes, espionage, sabotage, flying craft, underground burrowers, chemical warfare and the dreaded Martian invader.

Brigade Models are producing a range of (rather superb) miniatures to support the game in the same scale as Aeronef models (2mm), but the rules can be played with any scale miniatures up to and including 15mm (in fact, with the standard 40mm unit frontage, you probably could well go larger).

Land Ironclads will be a 48-page (including full-colour cover) A4 rulebook.
We are hoping that Land Ironclads will be available to purchase at Salute from the Brigade Models stand on 19th April.


The discerning Gentlemen can tell that this is quality work by the embossed claim that:

"Land Ironclads is a set of Victorian science fiction armoured warfare warfare rules written by Matthew Hartley , Steve Blease, Paul O'Grady and David Crook inspired by the period fiction of H.G.Wells, George Griffiths and Albert Robida."

Huzzah!

Tony's Update Part 3

German steam powered land-ironclad squad – Chapter Three

In chapter three I thought I would update readers on the progress to date of the models. My plan was to produce a squad of Landships, or ‘Land Ironclads’, two assault tanks, one command tank and an assault walker.

(Please note that as one of the competition rules is not to post photos, I will hold back until the end of the 80 days). We may have to relax that!- Tas

So far the models are nearing completion the main fighting compartment is made from an oval shaped, plastic pencil sharpener bought from Wilkinsons for less than 50 pence each. The command tank uses two pencil sharpeners stacked on top of each other. The tracks on the two assault tanks and the command tank were constructed by me with wheels from a toy train and tracks from plastic card. Once the master was made I cast six sets in resin. The steam walker uses the same pencil sharpener – fighting compartment and the legs from a Wild, Wild, West Dr. Loveless steam walker, additional detail is from plastic card and plastic sprue.

The models are built to a scale of 1/180th, simply because I had some 10mm ACW artillery crew and I will be using them as crew.

In addition I was able to pick up some German WW1 crosses at the WMMS show earlier this month. My plan is to paint at least one of the models in a Flying Circus colour scheme as seen on German WW1 aircraft Jastas – for example the Red Baron!

The Fenian Airship (Toucan) – Chapter Three

As with the German Landships, I will be talking about the construction to date of the model airship ‘Toucan’. The envelope has been carved and sanded to shape from ‘blue foam’ then layers of paint, glue and filler are added and sanded, the process is then repeated until the shape is correct and the surface is smooth. The gondola area and control housing has been greatly reduced in size from my initial plan, with windows, detail and two gun ports are already modelled.The shape is very similar to a Goodyear Blimp!

I have also added the tail assembly, which follows the practice of early Zeppelins where the horizontal control surfaces are built as bi-plane assemblies rather than single surfaces. My immediate reaction is that the tail surfaces are a little too large but as I ‘Googled’ early airships I see that if anything they are too small!

Late in to the construction phase I saw pictures of an early airship that had noticeable fabric patches on the centre envelope section and I have tried to copy this texture by adding small sections sticky-back-plastic and paper labels across the main envelope. Having under-coated this section I believe the effect has been achieved.

I intend painting the centre section black (or at least very dark grey) and the nose and tail cream with a golden harp motif in the black section. I would expect the gondola to be painted brown to represent varnished wood with brass detail.

The comments above were copied from http://dampfpanzerwagon.blogspot.com/