Spring Heeled Jack

Gentlemen, with the festive season now upon us, it is important that we all keep our wits about us and twelve-bore to hand to protect our loved ones and wine collections from nefarious villians such as the one shown here in this chronophotographic record of the bounder known as Spring Heeled Jack!



Seemed appropriate for post 666! :-)

Steam Trek: The Moving Picture

Gentlemen, further research on my personal Babbage engine has unearthed this exciting chronophotographic record of the adventures of the crew of an astronef on an alien planet, though I must confess I am slightly dubious to its veracity in parts...

Pax Britannia: Dark Side

Blooming Memsahib! Seems she toke umbridge about my reference to cook's Christmas Puddings yesterday and has banished me to the gardener's potting shed. Daft old bird... Fortunately with the snow laying all crisp and even I had the good sense to grab a bit of game pie, a bottle of brandy, my cigars and the latest Pax Britannia penny dreadful!

That wordsmith Green don't half knock them out you know? Dark Side is the newest Quicksilver adventure and what a hoot, definitely the best to date! Following his brother Barty to the her Majesty's colony on the moon, we meet up with characters from the short story Vanishing Point and have astronef, Martian separatist anarchists, asteroids, mechanical automatons on the rampage, more pesky Nazi Prussians, a plethora of fillies, a series of murders, infernal devices, selenites, secret bases, tragedy, vengeance and the possibility of the end of everything, everywhere! Blimey, one needed a stiff one after all that I can tell you!! Hats off to Mister Green for a highly entertaining romp...

As usual he treats us with a short Quicksilver story entitled Proteus Unbound. A tragic tale featuring two of the survivors from the Leviathan penny dreadful that brought a veritable lump to the throat and proof to gentlemen everywhere to be wary of what those medical quacks try and force down your throat to cure your gout of lumbago! I'll be making sure mine takes a quick swig first in future I can tell you!

Pax Britannia: Movies On The Moon

Shocking revalations appear to be afoot gentlemen, having accessed this chronophotographic record via my personal Babbage engine regarding the next installment of Ulysses Quicksilver adventures. I will be giving them a thorough investigation imminently and will report back toodle suite (as they say over the Channel). It looks like it could be our hero's most challenging adventure yet...

Pax Britannia: Blood Royal

Wonderful smells wafting from the kitchen this snowy morn' as cook prepares some grub for the festive feasting. Her brandy mince pies are jolly spiffing and I can't wait to get my hands on her Christmas puddings you know!

Whatever, whilst relaxing in the library with a nice snifter of sherry, for it is that time of the year, I finished reading another jolly jape from that wordsmith Green, this time called Blood Royal.

This volume follows on from the catastrophe that befell our fair capital in the last penny dreadful with London subject to curfew as strange beasties roam the streets. Our hero, Quicksilver, is soon drawn into intrigue following the kidnapping of a friend's daughter and an adventure follows that leads him to far flung places such as the Isle of Wight and Moscow. Airships, vampires, bandits, femme fatales and werewolves, this book is chock full of exciting derring-do and will certainly keep one on tenterhooks to see whether that dandy agent succeeds or not.

As ever there is a short Quicksilver yarn at the end entitled White Rabbit which is very, very strange. Obviously Green has been spending too many nights in the opium dens of Whitechapel and needs a good thrashing with a birch to beat this laudanum induced nonsense out of him! Jabberwocky indeed...

Pax Britannia: Evolution Expects

What ho chaps! Apologies for the lack of updates recently but I've been helping brave little Belgium in her efforts against the pesky Frogs! More on this another day but suffice to say those snail-eaters were soon beating a retreat to Paris with their tails between their legs.

Anyhow, I was pleased to find that the Memsahib had not only packed a fine bottle of brandy in my traveling chest but some of the most recent penny dreadfuls by that Jonathan Green wallah. Evolution Expects is the fourth Quicksilver yarn which sees our hero pitched into an adventure to save the capital from old enemies, whilst encountering all manner of strange friend and foe including Spring-Heeled Jack and the Limehouse Golem. A ripping yarn up to the usual quality and worthy of adding to any gentleman's library.

As usual Green provides us with a short story after the main course and this little triffle, entitled Conqueror Worm, is set two hundred years before the time of our usual hero and recounts an adventure of some filly called Cassandra Tyrell, a female secret agent would you believe, dealing with a secret cult at a stately home. Bit different one must say, but a jolly wheeze and one would certainly like to encounter that Cassandra filly again, harrumph!

You always need more

And here is the excuse you've been looking for!


As for the previous couple of years, we're running a blanket discount rather than specific special offers, since everyone seems to like them. Although there are a few exceptions, this isn't a '15% of selected items' or 'Up to 15% off' sale, it's a real '15% off everything' sale.

So once again that's 15% off all of our models - Aeronef, starships, Land Ironclads, 15mm and 6mm tanks, Iron Stars, WWI Belgians... all except Celtos, where the Celtic Gods are being even more generous and giving 25% off.

And that's it - no minimum or maximum orders, just a blanket discount until January 3rd. So what are you waiting for? Go out there and shop!

http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/Xmas.html

Nemo's War

A solitaire VSF game I've just ordered - looks fun!

Jules Verne’s classic novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea tells the story of Captain Nemo and his astounding ship, the Nautilus. Set in the year 1866, this amazing electric-powered submarine travels throughout the seas tacitly on missions of research and exploration, but it isn’t long before two captive crew members, rescued from the wreck of a Nautilus attack, Professor Aronnax and Canadian whaler Ned Land, realize that Captain Nemo’s motives are far more complex and possibly sinister.

Can you command the Nautilus on its year-long cruise to destiny? Can you fend off giant squids? Discover the South Pole, the Arabian Tunnel or the lost city of Atlantis? Can you scourge the high seas and create enough fear in the great maritime powers to free the colonial peoples of the world from them? There really is a whole world to explore and master when you are adventuring in this amazing solitaire game: Nemo’s War.

http://victorypointgames.com/details.php?prodId=94
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/39232/nemos-war

PS While at Victory Point Games, check out  another of their games:  "Toe-to-Toe Nu’klr Combat with the Rooskies"

The Defence of Melbourne

Real documentation for the defensive plans for the colony of Melbourne (against those dastardly Russians most likely!), including the layered use of shore batteries, coastal forts, minefields and the local flotilla (including the HMVS Cerberus).

http://www.awm.gov.au/journal/j35/kitson.asp

Note too the potential use of scouting dirigibles!

Skyship!

Flagship Games have annouced that they are "currently busy working on Skyship! a set of rules for Aeronef style VSF battles. Designed for smaller actions of 1-12 ships it will feature full 3-D flight rules, boarding actions, heroic heroes, and fantastic newly discovered super-weapons!"

You can join their Yahoo Group here.

Lest We Forget

Dystopian Wars: Further Previews

Pics just released by Spartan games:

Prussian Imperium Sky Fortress

 Kingdom of Brittania Battleship

 Empire of the Blazing Sun Sky Fortress

 Bombers and Flying Craft

Rules for Steam Vehicles in Saurian Safari

Here are some rules for using Steam Powered Ironclad Vehicles in Saurian Safari - now Sir and Ma'am dont' have to walk, and these new fangled contraptions can provide a means of rapidly getting back for tea!


Movement

Steam vehicles move at a speed of 1D6 per turn. They can move forwards and backwards at this speed but must stop for one turn before changing direction. Any number of turns of up to 45 degrees may also be made during each move at the cost of 1’’ of movement.

A steam vehicle may climb low hills or slopes but steep slopes are impassable. It can travel through any areas of vegetation including forest or jungle without penalty, clearing a path the width of the vehicle as it goes. A steam vehicle cannot cross swamps, marsh, rivers or soft sand. If it attempts to do so it will become permanently bogged down.

Crew and Armament

A steam vehicle has a carrying capacity of four plus one engineer. When travelling by vehicle, one party member must be allocated as engineer and may not use any firearms whilst at the controls, unless the vehicle is stationary. It takes one move to embark or disembark from a steam vehicle. The rules for restarting a stationary vehicle (p14) do not apply.

Vehicle mounted machine guns or light cannon are permitted but may not be removed from the vehicle at any time and require a gunner and a loader to be used. If mounted in a turret they will have a 360 degree arc of fire. To traverse the turret takes one move. Any vision ports in the machine may also be used as firing positions for a single figure with a 45 degree arc of fire and line of sight. When rolling to spot a dinosaur from within a steam vehicle, add a minus 10% modifier due to restricted visibililty.


Malfunctions

At the start of the movement phase, a D100 roll must be made to determine possible malfunctions of the steam vehicle. Only one malfunction can occur in any one turn, so do not roll for malfunction if one is already in effect. Apply effects as indicated on the following chart:

01 – 60% No malfunction, Full Steam Ahead!

61 – 65% Steering jammed (vehicle may not change direction for D6 turns)

66 – 70 % Gears jammed in reverse (vehicle will travel backwards at 1D6 per turn for D6 turns)

71 – 75 % Low Steam Pressure (vehicle grinds to a halt and will remain stationary for D6 turns)

76 – 80% Boiler Leak (crew must abandon vehicle for D6 turns until steam has dispersed)

81 – 85% Turret / Gun Jammed (may not fire or traverse for D6 turns until fixed by crew)

86 – 90% Track or Wheel Thrown (no movement other than a 45 degree turn in one direction)

91 – 95% Piston Valve Gasket Spring Reciprocator has broken (no movement for D6 turns until fixed by crew)

96 – 98% Safety Valve Jam (will blow up after D6 turns unless fixed by a crew on D6 roll of 5-6)

99 – 100% Boom! (roll a D6 for each of the crew: 1-2 Dead / 3-4 Wounded -1D6 strength / 5-6 thrown clear)

To fix a malfunction, one crew member must be tasked with the repair attempt but may not perform any other action during this time.


Dinosaur Encounters

The majority of creatures will ignore a steam vehicle as it looks a lot like a dinosaur.

However, carnivores and pack hunters will attempt to attack a steam machine as they assume it will taste nice (refer to the relevant reaction charts). These attacks will have no effect on the armoured plated exterior of the machine, although pack hunters will swarm all over it and any self respecting carnosaur will attempt to bite and chew bits off. After D6 turns, the dinosaurs will give up and wander off, unless they have already been KO’d or killed by the crew. The steam machine may attempt to crush pack hunters under its wheels or tracks with an automatic chance of success if the dinosaur is silly enough to stand directly in the vehicles path.

Any encounter with a Ceratopsian or Ankylosaur will have more serious consequences. Use the reaction charts to determine if the dinosaur attacks. If it does charge and makes contact, roll a D100, with a 50% chance of the steam vehicle being tipped over on its side. Any occupants will be unharmed but the vehicle will be immobilised and the turret and/or gun will be out of action. The dinosaur will then wander off allowing the crew to bale out via the escape hatch.

If a stampeding Sauropod happens to collide with a steam machine there will be a 75% chance of it tipping over. Other dinosaurs that collide with the vehicle will merely bounce off (and get a headache).

Many Thanks to Jim who posted these rules here:
http://jimswargamesworkbench.blogspot.com/2010/02/rules-for-steam-vehicles-in-saurian.html

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Dystopian Wars: More Previews

More sneak peaks at the forthcoming faction fleets, thanks to Neil at Spartan Games.