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Steam Wars – Navy Marine Corps

A week or so ago, these guys were supposedly the next in line for some paint.  The arrival of a flight stand and its effects on my painting focus has delayed their start.  Ten chaps in total and planned as the Navy Marine Corps arm of the force, they have been started now at least.

A newer expansion to Black Pyramids range of Navy troopers. I wanted to build a few, cheap, core units for Steam Wars and these chaps fit that place well.  The largest effective unit in Steam Wars is 6 wounds. These five, one wound, chaps leave me space for a specialist of some sort to be added in later.

A simple white paint job and some sand bases allow them to stay very like the rest of the force.  A dash of colour to their trousers makes them stand out as slightly different from their Naval Rating companions.

My current Navy Figure count stands at well over 50 figures with assorted support weapons and crew.

I feel a group shot coming on…

(Then I probably need to do a group shot of the unpainted stuff for this force to bring me right back down to earth!)

Steam Wars – Flying Corps Biplane Finished

When last seen, this was still in the undercoated and prepped stage.  Often that ‘prepped’ stage can last years in the shed…  This time the Navy Air Corps has been moving along nicely though.  With all its units coming together quite quickly.

When base coating the model I tried to spray the base colours from two directions giving me a blue colour to the underside (camouflage in the sky) and grey to the top.  It worked surprisingly well but doesn’t photograph all that well…

I have used a couple of decal sheets from a US Navy Goshawk kit for the majority of my army so far.  The sheets I bought for the job were in two scales. I have found it very useful to have decals in both 1/48 scale and 1/72 scale.  This affords me a number of matching decals, with differing sizes, for use on all my various tanks etc.  This was the first time I had used them on an airframe as they were originally intended.

Did I tell you that the blue photographs poorly?

Pilot Johnson ready for duty.

Ah, that’s better…  Its the first time I have had to use a decal fixer as well.  The wing detail and shape meant that the decals were lifting as they dried when water was used alone to apply them.

A little decal fixer and they almost dissolve into the surface of the wing.  Very effective and it’s a new tool that will be on hand in future on my paint station.  I have done a more subtle weathering of the model than my usual method (slap copious amounts of dark tone ink on it).  Wider flatter surfaces are not always easy to ink, I think I have done a better job of it this time.

Steam Wars – Flying Corps Up-armed Gyro

So much for plans.  While I was sorting parts for the other projects in the shed I came across these 1/72 scale resin bombs.  Originally these were purchased from ebay and planned for use with the Hot Air Balloon that has not been fielded in a game of Steam Wars as yet.  They reminded me of the hand dropped bombs used by pilots in WW1.

So the unarmed spotter has become…

A uparmed bomber…  In 1/72 scale they are the right size for my Gyrocopter’s pilot to drop when passing over those unsuspecting troopers or steam tanks. When the bombs are all spent, he can then go back to spotting for those indirect fire weapons…

Steam Wars – Naval Air Power

With their paddle steamer now able to fly ahead and lead the force, some reinforcements need to be drafted in.  Luckily many more fliers are sat in the painting queue.

Ironclad Miniatures make this wonderful little Gyrocopter. I had picked up two of these as pre release models a while ago. They were built and then undercoated a while back.  The original plan was for them to be the scouts for my Steam Wars naval force but, as with most items that enter the shed, they haven’t progressed too quickly along the paint queue.

The recent work on the growing Naval Air Corps means that they have now been pulled out and finished (well, one has anyway).

The reason one has been held back is the fact that the pilot appears to fix a small problem I had in finishing off the Navy’s other flying unit.  My Biplane kit originally came with a terrible blob of plastic that was never going to be able to fly this wonderful plane.  The pilot from the second Gyro appears to fit in perfectly though…

Too small for the new Oshiro flight stand, this little flier needed a stand of its own. Thankfully we found a solution in the form of a small bespoke MDF flight stand base, ordered by Coronasan a while back for his own Steam Wars fliers.  This was made by Jim from Products For Wargamers and works nicely for what I need.

Aluminium tubing with a small magnet in the top means quick and easy removal.  A larger more heavy duty magnet in the base of the resin cab was required as the rear of the model is metal and surprisingly weighty.

The same magnets were used for the Biplane but as this is a fully plastic kit (apart from its new metal pilot) it holds in place a little more easily.

I will be making a couple of these stands over the next few weeks, as the remainder of the flying units get done.  I plan on making them in a couple of differing rod lengths to allow for a bit of variation in their look.

All finished and looking fine.  As this is an unarmed Gyrocopter I suspect it will be fielded as a spotter in Steam Wars.  This will allow the 2 indirect fire artillery units that I have to stay out of sight while the gyro hovers above and directs their fire.

Steam Wars – Flight Stands

I have been playing about with ideas for launching my Steam Wars Navy into the air for quite some time.  I have, on occasion looked at the various models in the Navy force and made zooming noises as I moved them about above table height…  But enough about that…

How I would get the models to become flying was always going to be an issue.  Various ideas have come and gone.  I have quite a few things that fly now in the shed, and not all of them are in the navy force.

One item in particular was the final solution for the dilemma that had stalled me…

When I first came across the Martian Skiff that I own, on Google images, it featured in a grand melee against a range of other Martian forces.  I wrote to Jimbibbly over at Oshiro Models and ordered one quite quickly.  Then it sat doing nothing (as is normal in the shed). The inactivity was mainly because I didn’t plan in any way for how to mount it in a game.

As so many other items were similarly paused for this exact reason, something was needing to be done.  It turned out to be good old Jimbibbly who again provided the answer to my problem. When I revisited those images on Google recently I realised that the answer had been there all along.  Each Martian Skiff in those images was flying above a nifty Perspex flight stand…

My plan was to pick one up at Salute but sadly none were available on the day. That’s my lack of planning again (Note to self – preorder things for show pickup in future). A couple of emails later though and one was winging its way to me.

Tall enough to get above most of my buildings and in clear plastic so less obvious than a number of other ideas I had.  The wide top holds most things safely and a small post inserted through the hole in the centre locks them securely in place.

This stands first outing is likely to be with the Navy as I can now finally ‘float my boat’ above the table.

It does mean I have no excuse but to finish off the flight base I made for the paddle steamer I guess.

When completed, the Navy will have a flag ship to be proud of.  I may have to try and hold back on those zooming noises though, as I am told that it appears unseemly behaviour for a 40 something gent… I can’t think why!

Steam Wars – Specialist Navy Fire Starters

More US Navy Steam Wars figures have been painted this week.  Only three new men have been drafted in this time but they represent reinforcements for my three existing units of Naval Ratings.

The miniatures are based on the Black Pyramid British Steam Lancer. I have made them into Naval Ratings with a simple head swap and pristine white uniform.

The steam weapon they carry could be a flame thrower or over sized gun of any sort really so I can profile them up in Steam Wars in a number of ways.  My units of Naval Ratings lack any form of close combat or assault weapons so this adds an extra element to the unit and offers me the chance to bring them up to the max 6 wounds allowed in the rules.

Next up should be a couple of units of Naval Ratings in Sennit hats. I plan to play these guys as a couple of units of Naval Marines. The units are each led by an officer and carry a selection of rifles. I get the feeling that they need a specialist of some sort to join them.  Someone with a heavier weapon, or bit of special equipment of some sort, but I need to get back on to the Black Pyramid website to find a suitable chap that will fit in with the finished unit.

Steam Wars – At Last, Some Of Those Rocketmen Get A Bit Of Love And Attention. 

About a year ago I ordered 10 of Pulp Figures Rocketeers from Bob Murch in Canada.  The range has been sold here in the UK by North Star for a while now but the Rocket Corps were not in their lists until quite recently.

Mine were based and undercoated and then placed in the painting queue early on but have held a place of shame for a while now.  They sit at the back of the paint table in full view every time I sit down to do something…  And there they stayed for 12 months.

They can be found lurking in the background of a large number of photos on this blog. Photos of other finished miniatures that have jumped their position the queue.

They have now had some long overdue love and attention.  Well, at least 5 of them have…

The original packs mix pistols and SMG armed troopers. The 2 packs I bought allow me to field either the mixed units, as packaged, or 2 units of 5 men, all with the same weapon.

This unit, planned for deployment in my next Steam Wars game, all carry SMGs. Hopefully allowing them to swoop in and deliver a hail of bullets to unsuspecting foemen.

It marks the continuation of my push to get all the US Steam Wars Navy force completed over the next couple of months.

I have never claimed to be a great painter but even I cannot fail to achieve a good finish when the figures start off as iconic and full of style as these guys do.

A Couple More 1970’s Computers

I recently completed a small Power Console that I picked up at Salute.  This proved to be a simple kit but taught me a few things about planning and pre painting parts.  At that time I also picked up a Computer Console and a Cooling Panel.  These are a few of the Crooked Dice designs and are really nice cheap kits.

My Computer Console was almost a replica of the power console.  All the parts went together easily and, with the fore though to paint some parts before building, it all went together much easier than the first console.

The one part I had not planned for was the computer screens.  Silver foil and glass beads might have worked but I went with the usual multi directional graphite application that I use for windows!

Yep, that’s right, I coloured them in with a HB pencil!

The Cooling Panel was just as simple but the base of the tube box that sits to one side is oh so fragile when you take it off the MDF frame…  I broke a corner off on the first attempt but was able to refit the parts and get them whole again without too much fuss.

Its a great little set and there are others I have my eye on at the moment.  I think Coronasan picked up a Safe kit while he was at Salute so we now have a number of items to use as scenery or as objectives for our games.

Steam Wars – Last Playtest Game. 

The last, somewhat rushed, painting run has been due to a planned upcoming game of Steam Wars. It was meant to be our latest playtest game but looking at the way it played out it may have been our last.  All we changed were some simple special rules and a few rules wording issues.  All in all Coronasan has pulled together a fine set of rules, that play simply and quickly, and allow us to get into a game without needing to refer back to a quick reference sheet or book all that often.

The US Navy (me) deployed south of the town while an invading Mechanica force (Coronasan) approached from the north.  Ball walkers were their main force of heavy guns while the technologically lower human force deployed steam powered tanks and their Rollerbots to deal with them.

The Mechanica force used small scouting drones in an attempt to outflank the Navy’s traditional forces but they were halted by a stream of HMG fire and failed to get into the flank of the Navy.

Steam tanks patrolled the long lines of the streets leaving themselves exposed to the possibility of return fire without cover.

The Mechanica force refocussed their efforts on their right flank and began to reduce the Navy’s hold on the town square.

To counter the numbers of Mechanica troops gathered there, the Octo Divers (the Navy’s newest development in close warfare) were deployed to force the machines back.

Their efforts were effective at first, but they lacked any effective backup and were soon to be out numbered and overwhelmed.

All in all a great game.  Lots of fun and it has renewed my desire to get the remainder of my Navy force done so that I can get the Martians fully underway and ready for their first outing.

Steam Wars – The Big Push Before The Game

The painting continues while I try to get a second new unit ready for our latest playtest game of Steam Wars.  The Rollerbots are definitely in for the game.  These Divers from Scheltrum Miniatures have been in the shed for over a year as I bought them at a past Salute.  The miniatures themselves are old school and detail is limited but the Octo-backpacks are a classic in my opinion.

While painting these five for our game I tried to take a few photos. But as they are so damned difficult to photograph, I ended up giving up and finished setting up the table for our game.

Steam Wars, as is the case with a number of games, benefits from plenty of scenery. However, it doesn’t make moving through said scenery a more complex or difficult than it should be.  A simple 1″ movement penalty for troops hopping a fence is all it takes.

Games should be easy to play so they can be played fast and without having to check back in the rulebook too often.

One final shot, when they were completed, was able to show their detail better.  These guys hate cameras as the auto focus can’t decide what part of them to lock on to…

My basic game sized (1500pts) Steam Wars force looks like this…

 

Lord Lavatt in his bath chair

3 units of Naval Ratings

2 HMG Teams

1 unit of Octo-Divers

1 unit of AT Rollerbots

1 unit of HMG Rollerbots

1 Tesla Cannon

2 Steam Tanks

1 Walking Steam HMG Armoured Platform

2 Steam Trucks (Transports)

 

Ready to play…