France needs Liftwood! (Part 2)

The distant sun was low on the horizon when the French and their Martian allies commenced their advance upon the unsuspecting British.

On the right, the massed gashants of the Hill Martians pushed hard but the boys of the Royal Gashant Corps (along with a some imported regular cavalry from Earth) proved stout opponents and held their own.

In the centre, the Martians assaulted the British encampment and their bravery was met with a fierce fusillade.

With the British pinned in the centre and right, the French advanced to seize the primary objective: Liftwood!

Sound the Advance Messieur!

The savage Hill Martians poured out of the Ishtar trees to intercept the advancing French

Would the French seize the liftwood? Tune in for the final instalment!

France needs Liftwood! (Part 1)

A Space 1889 themed game, played with tweaked The Men Who Would Be Kings rules. The protagonists were the British Forces from Syrtis Major with some Martian Hill tribesmen, and the French with their Canal Martian allies from the Xanthe basin. The game involved 6 players, 3 per side and each with forces of around 40-50 points.

French Orders 

France is under Threat….!!!

The only thing worse than being Stuck directly between England and Germany .. is being under them both… so to speak .. , and that is where we are Mon Ami…. without Martian Liftwood to power up our New Aerial fleet  …Merde ..

General Pepe Le Pew: You are directed to  take your Small French Expeditionary force , and Martian Allies , and seize the Yearly Liftwood Shipment from Krag Pymble, before it can be “ sold on “ to the British or those upstart Germans.

 

British Orders

Lord Darling ,

Britain has the largest Colonial Army on Mars, make sure you use it well.

You are tasked with securing the Liftwood destined for our airship yards and no one elses' ..

Secondly there is an Archaeological Expedition on site , with one of Prince of Wales favourite cousins , secure their safety .. or Prinny wont be happy ..and it will look bad for you old Boy .

The French and allied Martian contingent arrayed for Battle!

 

Battle was joined on a friend's great looking 15 foot table with all new terrain.  It was quite a sight to behold, especially with his very fancy Oshiro Model Terrain Aphid Class airship looming overhead!

Each third of the table had objectives to seize, but the main prize was the liftwood shipment which was in the process of being delivered to the British. The French had to take it by force to provide the supplies to construct their own Aerial Flotilla 

The precious Liftwood shipment, guarded by a Royal Navy Armoured Landing Party (figures by Ironclad Miniatures)

The Archeological dig site - what wonders will it reveal? 

The French force ready to Advance!

with their Allies from Ideus Fons guarding their flank!

An account for the Battle will follow in Part 2!

Battle of Xanthe

Canal Martian riders, supported by French lacers on gashants

This week saw our first foray into battling with our new Space 1889 forces: the Battle of Xanthe!

After a number of Hill martian raids on trade caravans, the Canal forces of Ideaus Fons (supported by their French sponsors) set forth on a punitive expedition. At dawn on the third day, the Hill Martian tribes mounted an assault upon the French encampment at the Xanthe liftwood grove...

Hill Martian Gashant riders emerge...

Hill Martian skirmishers advance ahead of their larger cousins (who doesn't want Tharks on Mars??)

French Foreign Legion and Martian Tirailleurs form up to receive the assault

We used The Men Who Would Be Kings as our tactial rules. They worked pretty well, though we have drafted a few house rules for to suit the setting and will trial them next game. If they work well, I'll publish them here.

Lancers charge home into the Thark flank

But another mass of the Green devils tore into the Legion!

Mounts spent and surrounded by hill Martian infantry, the gallant Lancers fell.

On the left flank, the bellowing clash of gashants was deafening

As the battle reached a crescendo, the hill Martian infantry crashed home into the French line

Thunderous volleys of Lebel 1886 pattern rifles took down many a brave hill Martian!

Well armed with courage though they were, the Hill Martians were unable to carry the day

And so the French returned to their base at Ideaus Fons having consolidated their grip on the Xanthe Chryse region, and planned their next expedition to expand their sphere of influence.

A great day pushing the new lead around - the table looked great and plans are afoot for a bigger game next time!

Et Voila! Mon Armee de'Mars!

Mesdames et Messieurs, en presentat ma premier Armee de Mars!

Tirailleurs Martiens;

La Legion Etrangere:

Ready for an expeditionary operation in the Ideaus Fons basin where the Nomadic Hill tribes have been ambushing caravans from the northern valley viticulture district.

Very happy with these- finishing off four units in 4 weeks in some kind of record for me. After about of decade of mulling and planning, it's great to be off and running. I do work well to a deadline it seems!

Modelling notes re basing: Wood filler basecoated in GW Doombull Brown, heavy drybrush GW Jokaero Orange, final drybrush GW Lugganath Orange

French Armee d'Martien progress Pt 3

Four posts in one month? Inconceivable!

Spahi test fig (mounted on a loaned gashant)

The Infantry are all painted now (2 units of Legion Etrangere, 2 units of Tirallieurs) as are the canal Martian Spahis.  Time to get basing while I move onto the Chasseur d'Mars and all of the gahsant mounts.  

Really happy with the way these are coming along - on track for our game in early December

I've painted all of these in the past four weeks - amazing progress for me!

Mon Capitan 'Lefty' - a great Foundry fig that a mate gave me

Tirailleurs progress

 Second unit of Tirailleurs completed - now onto some gashant mounted Spahis and Chasseur d'Mars!

Not the best image but you get the idea!

Tirailleurs Martien

My first unit of Canal Martians is painted! Not based yet but I'm excited to have gotten a start on the project. These Tirailleurs Martiens are furnished with modern rifles and a European “Adviser” officer. They are based in the Canal city of Ideus Fons, the French seat of power on Mars.

The Canal Martians are from the RAFM Space 1889 line, while the French Officer is an Artizan figure. The 12 figure unit is sized for Osprey's The Men Who Would Be Kings rules

Thats 4 units done (3 French, 1 Martian) - one more of Tirailleurs and I’ll start the basing en mass. Then its time for the Gashant Cavalry!

First Frenchman for Mars

After years in planning and another unpardonably long absence from this blog, I have finally commenced my French on Mars project. Well a test figure anyway!

It’s a long way to Idaeus Fons Messieur...

We are using a Space 1889 setting with Osprey’s The Men Who Would Be Kings as our tactical rules, so I will be focusing on 12 figure units for Regular and Colonial Infantry, and 8 figure Cavalry units.

My initial French force plan is:

    2 units of Legion Etrangere infantry

    1 unit Chaseur D’Mars (mounted on Gashants)

    2 units of French trained and equipped Canal Martians Ideaues Fons

    1 units of Colonial Mounted Infantry (on Gashants)

    2 Artillery Pieces 

    1 Mitrailleuse

This is my first test fig, which is from Artizan’s March or Die range. I’m going for something simple so I can churn them out quickly. A mate is working on his British Force with the aim of us having a game in December.

Mars pour le Francias!    Mort au Prussien!