Nemo and the Nautilus

 Another random army to add to the completed projects list. Nemo and the Nautilus and his soldiers.

Inspired by the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen's depiction of Nemo I decided to add Nemo and his force to my VSF collection.

As detailed in my post on the "Anti-Colonial Camel Corp or Sudan Dervish Army" I received a double delivery of a Pendraken order that Leon of Pendraken kindly suggested I keep. This doubled my Nemo inspired army, which is a good thing I thought but maybe not on reflection.

Here is the inspiration for the army.

Nemo and crew

Nautilus and equipment

 I have created the following army from my purchase.

Five line infantry units supported by five skirmisher units. All based as my other VSF armies.
Four armoured cars, two command units and the Nautilus.

Nemo command unit

Skirmisher support unit

Out of focus line units - not much better in focus I am afraid.

Armoured cars and slightly better shot of the line units

Nautilus - protected cruiser

Close up with Nemo on the bridge

Well, not particularly interesting. I used contrast paints for the army and the deck of the Nautilus.

I have to admit that my purchase of these was not well considered. The army is quite boring only having three elements as I did not buy any artillery or cavalry. A defect partially corrected by the armoured cars. I think it will be playable  but I really have to think more carefully in future about my purchases. Having retired I do have more time to plan my army purchases and hopefully I will not make the same error again. Although I am still considering the wisdom of the Chinese VSF army I purchased earlier this year and thinking I need some troops more recognizably Chinese than the 1905 Japanese army I purchased as proxies. 

I am also annoyed with my purchase of the ship. I have to stop buying these types of models as they are rarely, if ever, used, and cost me money and time assembling and then painting them.

Figures from Pendraken.

237 figures or vehicles painted

1 Large model completed. This is actually a Protected Cruiser built by the Chinese after the first Sino-Japanese war. It is 1/144th scale so perfect for 10mm figures and a lot cheaper than the Nautilus submarine that is available in the same scale. Also probably slightly more useful.

A good reduction in the unpainted lead mountain but a somewhat unsatisfying result. I do hope I get some use out of them.

Next up, I am not sure. I may return to posting once every two weeks.

Colonial Skirmishers

 Off the painting desk and into the photo booth four groups of colonial army skirmishers.

All painted old school to match with their comrades.

Prussians

another Prussian view

British skirmishers

French skirmishers

Irregular army skirmishers

So nothing particularly exciting but another 96 figures moved from the unpainted pile to the painted pile and adds another option to each of my colonial armies.

Based up on 4cm wide bases to match with the rest of the armies.

Next up Captain Nemo and friends.

Anti-Colonial Camel Corp or Sudan Dervish Army

 Another army rolls off the painting (make up) desk and into the photo booth. Is this why we call it modelling?

In early 2023 I had purchased a Dervish army to fight the British red coats and French blue coats and add a bit of African flavour to my collection. 

Due to non-delivery after  2 months I contacted Pendraken and said they had not arrived. Leon of Pendraken was very apologetic, said the tracking information had just gone dead, and had a new order sent out that arrived two weeks later. To my surprise, a year later the original order turned up having travelled by sea. Considering Captain Cook only took 6 months to get to Australia this was very slow. I offered to return them but Leon kindly said that I should keep them so my Dervish army suddenly doubled in size.

Here they are in their glorious paint job.

The six camel units

Slightly different view - coming over my improvised dunes

The army, camel units and infantry with their glorious leader

The infantry units

Six dismounted camelry units with their waiting camels

Close up of one dismounted unit

Close up of a infantry unit

Close up of a camel unit

Close up of the general - the Angry Ayatollah  

Close up of an infantry stand

Another close up 

A top down view of an oasis with camels - it can also double as a desert island for pirate adventures

So next time a French or British army moves across the desert they will have to deal with the natives.

Basing is for OHW rules and fits with my other colonial/VSF armies.

Painted figures - mostly with contrast paints.

Camels    standing 82

Camels sitting        18

Infantry    186

general    1

A good sized dent into the lead mountain.

My original intention was to have 6 camel units and 6 dismounted units so have been able to use most/all of the infantry figures but still have about 90 camels left.

I have just purchased five adobe buildings to make a small village but will need to add some scatter terrain of rough ground, some date groves and also will need some goats and civilians to occupy it all. These will be added to the next Pendraken order.

I will also make some better "dunes" - probably something that just fits under the cloth.

The flags just came from some random internet images, cropped and resized to fit.

Next up my purchases and plans for 2025.

After the (Third) Apocalypse - VSF

TL:DR    Ben needs an excuse to use his post apocalyptic terrain and play VSF battles.

______________________________________________________________________

1st January 2500 and it is the dawn of a new century and Europe is starting to recover two centuries after the Third Apocalypse. To be fair it was not much of a apocalypse. Just a shadow of the first one and less than a quarter of the second one.  The Third Apocalypse only had a gigaton of nukes and no chemical or biological weapons. 

The First Apocalypse in the late 20th century pummelled Europe, Russia and North America with the rest of the world just getting a smattering of nukes plus a good dose of biological weapons.

The Second Apocalypse in the 21st century pummelled China, India and Japan with once again the rest of the world getting a few nukes here and there. The USA and Russia also got a good pasting again as scores were settled and just because.

The Third Apocalypse in the 23rd century mostly hit Africa and South America with 500 megatons of ICBMs each with a few hundred tactical nukes spread around the rest of the world for good measure - to make sure no one else got too far ahead in the subsequent recovery.

So the new setting for my wargames is a recovering France - still in battle with the English and three quarters of the way through their Thousand Year War.

A shattered Europe with ruined cities, mutants and monsters, wild gangs, forbidden zones, secret lairs, lost libraries and technology, strange tribes, potential allies and probable foes, and always the scheming English. All these have to be navigated by the fledgling French empire as it struggles towards the future - hopefully apocalypse free.

The first few battles will be against the hated English - who have once again invaded a peaceful France that only wishes for Liberty, Fraternity, Justice and the complete domination of Europe.

England Invades

Protagonists     An invasion force from England consisting of five companies of infantry and four Gatling Guns.

                        A quick reaction defence force from France of three companies of infantry, three Gatling guns, two artillery pieces and a squadron of cavalry,

Situation    A small coastal town in Brittany. The evil English have launched another invasion of peaceful France. What evil designs do the English have this time?

Toys    Figures all from Pendraken. Ships are Bedford Whalers and a conversion for the gun ship. Fort is a DIY effort modelled on Fort Macquarie. Town and other buildings from Outland Models.

Rules    Neil Thomas's One Hour Wargames.  Impressed by Peter's work over at   https://gridbasedwargaming.blogspot.com/ I thought I would purchase the rules and I am very happy.  While simple, they still have a lot of flavour and can be easily adapted to different situations and genres. My first few games will play the rules as written (except see postscript) with the addition only of Gatling guns.

Opening situation. The evil English appearing out of the sea mist, have landed at the small port town and destroyed the defending fort, top left hand corner, and three companies are now moving to reinforce the defence against the French counter attack. From the bottom you can see the French forces. Three infantry companies with attached Gatling guns, a squadron of Cuirassiers and two artillery pieces.

Turn two and the French start to deploy while the English reinforcements rush to assist.

First blood is drawn as the French companies come under fire.

The French deploy for their assault. The English continue to hammer the French infantry companies.

The English on the hill have retreated due to the French cavalry attack and supporting infantry. One French company has reached its limits and is withdrawing. The English race to create a line.

On the right the French artillery and Gatling guns are decimating the infantry in the building. However, on the left their attack is faltering against the English defence. Outnumbered it looks bad for them.

On the right one English company has had enough and withdraws. However another company arrives to fill the gap. On the left the French assault falters as a the cavalry retreat.

The French retreat. Out numbered and out gunned even the fabled French Elan cannot close the gap between the forces. Nonetheless they have given the English a bloody nose.

Will the English be able to widen their beach head to land a force capable of defeating the French? Onto the next battle.

Postscript.  Well the rules are simple but so am I so I forgot a few things. Like adding two to the hit roll for rifles, dividing hits by two for units in cover.  But other than that it worked fine.

Anyway, I enjoyed myself and the game played very quickly over three nights. Much faster than the other rules I have used.

Rangers of the Apocalypse

 A new faction for my VSF forces and battles. Rangers of the Apocalypse! 

Guarding the fringes of the civilised areas against the men of the wastes and other undesirables such as mutants and monsters. The Rangers are the first line of defence, holding the line until the main army can arrive.

The Rangers often travel through the wastes to see what is out there or guarding expeditions that search through the rubble of the cities of yesteryear looking for advanced technology and lost knowledge.

Anyway something else to add to the painted pile.

Moving through the trees

A slightly different angle

And again

Painted to my usual standard.  The PVA I use to glue them to the bases looks very shiny in the photos but much less so in reality. 

All figures are Pendraken from their AWI range.

Men of the wastes!

 A new faction for my VSF forces and battles. Men of the Wastes! 

People who live well outside the civilised areas of a post apocalyptic VSF setting. 

Mostly armed with home made muskets and some just have swords and shields. No doubt they will appear suddenly on a field of battle as a supply train is going through a ruined city.

The wastelands horde - 24 bases

Close up from the front

Close up from an angle

Mounted Infantry

 A short post on a new unit of mounted infantry for my VSF games.

I have been unhappy with my other mounted rifles as they don't have dismounted bases to use when they enter buildings so decided to try this out. It seems to look OK so I will back fill for any mounted rifle/infantry I already have when I next order from Pendraken. I think it will look much better on the table.

All the figures. Mounted, dismounted and mounts standing by

Mounted up as usual three to a base.

Dismounted or Mounted down one base of three for each mounted base. I will have these firing at 60% of an infantry base of five.

Horses waiting around, one horse for each base plus a couple of guards for colour..

My usual "enthusiastic level" of painting.

VSF - Martian Assault - London Falling

 The Martians had broken through the fortress line on the outskirts of London and have advanced into its centre! The Army scraped together a final force to hold Westminster Cathedral and Westminster Palace. The Department of Dirty Deeds sent their three best (or is that worst) disreputable gentlemen to assist. 

A scratch force of parliamentarians was formed from the younger MPs and went into battle in their top hats. The City formed a company of bankrupted bankers who were itching for revenge on the Martians who had destroyed their portfolios. 

The rest of the infantry force was two companies of regulars and one of irregulars. Artillery was two large fortress guns, supported by some old muzzle loading cannons dragged from the depths of the Navy stores and a few pieces of field artillery and Gatling guns. The Household Guards supplied two squadrons of cavalry. The Navy also supplied a river monitor to guard against any assault over the Thames.

The Martian force was the familiar three large tripods supported by five of the smaller ones but this time with two supporting flying saucers and some ground troops.

London under attack

Westminster Palace

Westminster Cathedral

Department of Dirty Deeds and their bomb barrels

Parliamentarian Company defends the doors of Parliament

The Company of Bankrupt Bankers in their bowler hats

Mars advances

A Dirty Deeds explosion destroys a low flying saucer and a small tripod.

The Household guards charge in! But a disreputable gentleman has lit his barrels! (red marker)
Bottom left the Bankrupt Bankers have been destroyed. Only two remain to run away.

The Disreputable Gentleman's Bomb Barrels explode and two more small tripods are destroyed along with the Household Guards - oops!

The remaining Martian saucer flies over the city picking off the defenders! Safe except for the occasional fire from a Gatling gun.

The Parliamentarians charge out only to be devoured by a large tripod and end up in its blood tank! The large fortress guns have been destroyed. The muzzle loaders bravely continue firing.

Westminster Cathedral falls to the Martians

All is lost! The British defenders killed or routed. The Martian saucer lands.

Martians take over Westminster Palace! Now nothing stands in their way. Britain must fall unless there is a miracle.

Epilogue.

Before the Great Marvin could be crowned King of England in the Cathedral and elected Prime Minister in the Palace, all the Martians finally succumbed to the  germs of Earth. Britain was saved!

The history books would be filled with stories of valour and bravery against insurmountable odds and the defeat of the evil Martian Colonisers.

This is the last part of my Mars vs Britain Campaign. Fun to plan and play. Now I have a proper Victorian London town to fight over.