MONI Workbench Article

Another of Dampf's great scratch-build works has been featured at TMP's workbench section.

For a full view go here: http://theminiaturespage.com/workbench/4896/



Great work once again Dampf!

Leviathans

Catalyst games has been showing off its new project- Leviathans: an alternate history miniatures game of air fleet battles set in 1910. For us that means more pulpy airship goodness!
(actually, Ive been excited about this one for awhile - see my post here: http://pauljamesog.blogspot.com/2008/08/leviathan-new-vsf-game.html)




Over Togo's head the Zed flag was burning. The pride of the Japanese fleet, the battleship Mikasa, his Mikasa, was sinking. His aide tried to pull him toward the lifeboats, but Togo stopped and looked up. He saw the battered Russian leviathan claw its way into the blue sky. And at that moment Admiral Togo Heihachiro knew that Japan would not rule the east, after all. And one more thing. It was not the age of the gun.

It was the age of the sky.

There is also a promising new associated blog, "Monsters in the Sky" started up here:
http://monstersinthesky.com/

Hold onto your goggles chaps, this is looks to be a good ride!

The Defence of Melbourne (CanCon 2009)

I have been meaning to get around to posting about this excellent emo game put on at CANCON 09, yet sadly haven't found the time. But now, I've found this excellent Blog by the guys themselves:

http://defence-of-melbourne.blogspot.com/

It was a great game using 25mm figs and modified TSATF rules. And as you can see, the scratchbuilt models and terrain are just stunning!

2026 EDIT: Through the magic of the Wayback Machine, I have recovered most of author Greg's original material. I offer it here unaltered and in homage, so that it will not be lost again. Note that not all pics had higher res versions captured.

CanCon 2009 - The Russians Have Arrived

https://web.archive.org/web/20190810081546/https://defence-of-melbourne.blogspot.com/2009/01/cancon-2009-russians-have-arrived.html

The frowning guns overlook the Russian Infantry as they gallantly row their boats for shore.

The main barracks at Nepean; the Fortress commander sips his tea on the verandah. He does not realise how difficult it will be to get substantial re-inforcements into the fort if the Russians break in.

Cerberus with the Naval Brigade lining her decks. Their rifle fire with the many machine guns carried by the ship caused the Russians huge casualties among the crews of their deck guns during the course of the third game.

The Vladimir Monomakh steams toward her fate. She was sunk in each of the three games played, but not before absorbing the attentions of the Victorian Fortress artillery and that of the Cerberus for almost the entire game.

Russian marines and light artillery pull for shore. They did a fair job of pinning some of the Victorian militia down during game three, eventually overwhelming them - but far, far too late in the day.

By the third iteration of the Game the Russians were getting desperate; nothing seemed to be working. They decided to put their Cossacks in boats and run them ashore in the Vladimir Monomakh. It ended poorly; one unit got ashore, advanced bravely up the cliff then failed a number of morale tests and surrendered. The other unit were all shot down in their boat by artillery and machine-gun fire.

So much for that bright ideaski!

The Victorian Navy steams into action; Albert is towing two units of Victorian Militia in boats. This is a desperate ploy to bring them into action quickly before the infantry defending the fort all succumb to the tender attentions of the Russians.

Duelling Ironclads. The Cerberus and Vladimir Monomakh close, exchanging main armament fire as they go, pom-poms and Nordenfeldts raking each others' decks.

General view of the fort from the end closest the entrance to the Bay. Russian Infantry would come swarming up these slopes... slowly.

The whole area counted as difficult terrain whicin TSaTF terms means that of the three movement dice your infantry throw, you loose the highest D6. Ouch.

The figures on the board are engineers hoping to act as speed-humps. They are effectively poor-quality infantry. They held up two Russian Cossack Units for almost the whole of the game.

Russian Sea-Cossacks surge past the Vladimir Monomakh. Figures by Askari Miniatures.

In the movie industry they call this a "Beauty Pass". *sigh*

Two 8" Hydro-Pneumatic (HP) guns to the right and a 9" RML in an open pit to the left. The trick was to keep the gunners at their guns; the crew of HP#2 fled in the first two games, while that of #1 fled in the third

Steadfast Victorian Infantry lie on their guns, waiting to "Stand To" as soon as the Russian Infantry hit the beaches. The Nordenfeldt Gunners (one gun is at the right of the picture, the other is out of shot to the left) shelter in the bomb-proofs before they rush to man their guns.

Main barracks in the foreground. This building was a bit of an impediment to re-inforcing Victorian forces and I am sure the Victorian Commander was secretly overjoyed when a stray Russian shell reduced it to splinters at the start of game three

The front of the fort as we set up. The land to the left of the building at right is impassable, forcing any troops landing at the quay to march left up the tram tracks.

Dolphins'-eye view of the Russian landing boats. The figures in the foreground are Old Glory Boxer Rebellion.

More Russians going ashore. In the first game this took a long time and the Nordenfeldts caused one of the boats quite a few casualties.

Victorian re-inforcements wait patiently to - er - reinforce. They needed to roll 1 on a d6 in turn 2, 1-2 on turn 3, 1-3 on turn 4 and so on. I consistently rolled high!

More CanCon Pictures

https://web.archive.org/web/20190810081538/https://defence-of-melbourne.blogspot.com/2009/01/more-cancon-pictures.html

Courtesy of the very kind Mr Stephen Finlay:

Here and below, Victorian militia assigned to the fort stand to as the Russians enter the Bay. Note the gunners in the distance rushing to man their Nordenfeldt.

"Here they come..! Steady lads, steady..!" cries Sgt Bourne, his own voice cracking a little in the excitement of the moment.

Rough (!) terrain.

The only way is up. Russian Infantry really had only one practicable way to attack - one unit at a time up the tram line.

Those cliffs were the only other means buy which the Russians could assault into the fort. A tough proposition.

Green pants infantry on the left; gunners on the right. About to come ashore for a hellish baptism of fire.

Fort Nepean; a tough nut to crack.

Cossacks in close country.

The last of the Fortress infantry desperately trying to hold out against the Cossacks who are on the Parade Ground. HM is not amused!

The Parade Ground formed a delta, the frontage of which the infantry could match their diminishing numbers to. It was excellent defensive terrain.

War of the Worlds with LI

A TMP thread discusses the use of :LI to fight out WOTW scenarios:

Fires in the Night Sky or How I learned to stop worrying and love the Madhi

SitRep: The Madhi forces had been pushing hard along the Nile toward a small port of Abba-Dabba Do. An Anglo-Egyptian force has marched to protect this town from the advancing enemy. During the night before the battle, huge fires in the Madhi camp lit the night skys and the frenzied warchants of the fathful could be heard. The defenders of Abba-Dabba Do steeled themselves for the coming assault.

When the dawn broke, the defenders were in for a suprise….

http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=166839

More pics here:

http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z320/Evad77/War%20of%20the%20Worlds/

Great job chaps!

Land Ironclad errata

Brigade have posted the official LI rules errata to their page here:

http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/Frames/Gaming/LandIronclads/Errata.html

Thanks lads!

MiniWarGaming

Just found this nifty site, which can direct you to a bunch of other neat gaming places and leave you utterly lost in cycberspace - Bravo, I say!

I've registered this humble site there, so feel free to check it out and leave a rating for the old YIAWWS - cheers old bean!

http://www.miniwargaming.com/siterater/s67wEhocteWG

Savage Space 1889 Announced!

Pinnacle Entertainment Group and Frank Chadwick are proud to announce Space 1889: Red Sands!* Using the award-winning Savage Worlds system, Pinnacle will release a single Savage Worlds Plot Point Campaign (TM), entitled Space 1889: Red Sands.

Red Sands pits a desperate band of heroes against the Inner Circle of the Brotherhood of Luxor. The Brotherhood, led by the mysterious Kronos, King of the Titans, plots to bring about the end of all worlds. From the mountains of Mars to the swamps of Venus, our intrepid explorers must stop the Brotherhood from plunging the entire solar system into a bloody war to end all wars!

Shane Hensley of Pinnacle said "Space 1889 is one of my all-time favorite settings. Being able to play in Frank's amazing world is a real treat for all of us."

Space 1889: Red Sands will be a full-color hardback release. Page count and price is not yet determined. It is expected to release in September of '09.

The Savage Worlds core rules are required.

http://www.peginc.com/Art/Articles/Space1889/Space1889.html

More Weird WW1

Part 4 has been uploaded now - I love the barrage balloons!

http://steelonsand.blogspot.com/2009/03/weird-wwi-1919-part-4.html

Wotan Review

"JohnCS" has posted a review (and some nice pics) of Brigade's WOTAN class Land Ironclad for the Imperial German Army:

http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=711

Thanks John!

Land Ironclads: Weird WW1

One of the most satisfactory things I am finding about being a co-author for a set of wargaming rules (apart from the obvious enjoyment of them by players, that is) is to see people use them for completely different purpose than when you we them.

The blog "SteelonSandBlog" has developed a 'Weird World War 1" angle for Land Ironclads and done a lovely job.

http://steelonsand.blogspot.com/search/label/Land%20Ironclads

and to go with these models, the following scenario has been contrived. We look forward to more!

Land Dreadnoughts: Weird War 1919

It is 1919.

The Archduke Franz Ferdinand sits stolidly on the throne of Hungary, dismissing the attempt to assassinate him five years previously in Sarajevo as the "backfiring of a horseless carriage".
The war that failed to materialise in 1914 still simmers below the surface, with the Entente Cordiale sinking fast, as world-wide recession and colonial ambition strain the ties of peace between the Great Powers.

The Ottoman Empire is now not the only 'sick man of Europe'; all mankind is struggling to cope with the Influenza Pandemic, which has at least put paid to the recent Martian attempt to invade the Earth.

The likely arrival of other races of Alien origin has triggered a belated and somewhat haphazard arms race; military budgets starved of funds are now receiving greater priority, and technological innovation is driven by the need to gain supremacy over the other competing Powers, as much as to defend the Earth from further intrusions from Outer Space.

This is the Dawn of the Age of the Land Dreadnought:

The fight for global supremacy has begun!