VSF - Prussian Army

Forces of Prussia on Mars.

Just a few pictures of my Prussian expeditionary force for our VSF setting.

This is a combined Human / Martian army for our campaign.  

Large forces of Termigon serve under the Prussian banner.  The promise of spoils and injured enemy troops for both food and slaves are all this cowardly despicable race need to be motivated to fight.  Although poorly trained and undisciplined the cannibalistic Termigon can prove terrifying in large numbers.  They attack smaller weaker enemies with a savagery not seen elsewhere on Mars.

Prussian special forces come in many forms.  The Elite Prussian Guard specialise in the extraction of important hostages.

Units of Prussian Grenadiers are tasked with assaulting hard to penetrate defences.  With satchel bombs capable of breaking apart the toughest of bunkers these troops lead any assault against a dug in foe.

Clockwork Cranks excel in tight confines where their armour is almost impervious to regular rifles.  Armed with devastating and gruesome close combat circular saws, mechanical pincers, light mortars, meat grinders and light machine guns these constructs are sights to behold on the battlefield.  

Leading them is the Command Clank that plays propaganda from the gramophone sealed withing its armoured chest. 

 But the Clanks are far from perfect.  Bavarian Wind-Up merchants keep the automatons moving with their giant brass keys.

Elite Prussian Mars Shock Troupen leap across the battlefield in semi-controlled flight.  Sporting rapid firing machine guns these fast attack troops can give a punch at almost the exact spot when needed.

Armoured Penny farthings with both light machine gun and light cannon are excellent troops for running dispatches between officers.  Their armour saving them from rifle shot as they manoeuvre quickly around the battlefield. 

Just like on Earth cavalry have an important role in the blitzkrieg across the red planet.

Although becoming rarer every year the war rages they still feature prominently within the ground forces of Prussia.

Hundreds of squads of infantry form the backbone of every Prussian army. 

Of course there are also a multitude of characters that have in one way or another contributed to the rapid expansion of Prussian influence on the red planet.

Artillery is also used in strength.  Essential for breaching defensive positions and for taking out enemy landships from afar.

Sea Battalion troops work alongside the regular Prussian infantry when they are not aboard their floating Aeronefs.

Following every army is an almost countless number of noncombatants, Chefs, Servants and Doctors are just a few of the professions on offer for those able and willing to make the long trip from Earth.

A sample Prussian Expeditionary force.

Cheers.

VSF - Prussian Cavalry

Horses on Mars.

When the first Interplanetary Aeronefs made the voyage from Earth to the Red Planet a vast number of beasts of burden were loaded aboard the huge floating ships.  Amongst those were of course horses.  Thousands of horses to be more precise.

For years the horse has worked alongside mankind in both economical and military enterprises so it was almost a forgone conclusion that this unison would continue on Mars.

Unfortunately this was not to be.

The harsh desert winds and blistering heat of the deserts, combined with the scarcity of plant life suitable for the horses to digest caused considerable frustration to the investors who lead the expeditions.  The initial solution was to transport food up to Mars whilst farming settlements could become established and provide a more long term method of feeding the livestock.

For a while, this worked.  Crops grew, feed was produced and everything appeared to be working.  After several years, and a noticeable lack of any newly bred horses scientists started to become concerned that something was causing the infertility issue.

In 1898 renowned French Scientist Albert Calmette discovered that small micro bacteria in the soil was the cause.  Although this bacteria had no noticeable effects on humans the effect on the Equidae species was to render it infertile.

Over the next few years the horse population began to decline.  Death from injuries and old age being common causes as were raids my Morlog parties who found the meat of the creatures quite satisfying.

For horses to continue to be viable on Mars a different solution had to be found and vast funding deals were offered to whoever could find a remedy.

With the outbreak of War on Mars the Cavalryman became an almost luxury addition to any force.  Horses being in such great demand and expensive to keep it was a foolish general who would risk losing his cavalry in pointless attacks.  Sure, riders could be trained, but horses themselves, they were almost priceless.

And so the the once popular cavalry arm has deteriorated to mere hundreds.  Indigenous creatures like the mighty Rhinox have now been drafted into labour and although extremely difficult to train and control are worth their weight on the battlefield.  Mechanised steam tanks and landships have also become more commonplace as each nation struggles to keep one step ahead in the rapidly mobile theatre of war.

I finally managed to finish my Prussian Cavalry for our Victorian Science Fiction ongoing campaign.

The figures are from Renegade Miniatures as for the rest of my Prussian force.

I like these models as they paint up nice and quickly.  They have just enough detail without being over complicated.

I think this pretty much concludes my Prussian land based force for the time being.  

I may have to add a small scout Aeronef or two in the future but for now I think I am done.

I need to work on some more Martian troops but I don't think they will be hard.  I have already found the figures I want to use for the Morlogs and also some suitable looking models for a small British expeditionary force.  

But for now I may head back to Earth and do some Darkest Africa figures that I have had sitting around for a while now.  

Cheers.

Building - An Infinity City

Future City

Its been a really slow start to the year hobbywise and for that I must apologise.   

I am currently working on some more models to add to my VSF Prussian army and also have had a delivery of models for Gangs of Rome which I am looking forward to doing.  

Anyway in order to add some content I thought it would be nice to share a few pictures of the futuristic city I have.

The plan when I started building this was to use it for both games of Infinity and Judge Dredd and other 2000 AD related stories.

There is still more that I can do to this to make it come alive, small scatter terrain and street furnishings, civilians in their multiples and neon signage are all considerations and something that I may come back to at a different time. 

I have tried to use a limited palette on the buildings and add most of the vibrate colours through the addition of futuristic vehicles.

The addition of stairways to higher levels of the gaming table has caused some really tense moments as they form choke points that can be hard to attack and easy to defend.