A VSF Diversion

I'm making some progress with my four assigned projects for the year. But not a lot. Actually, it's more like very little progress. It's been a busy few months and I didn't really believe te warnings that new parents pick up every illness their baby brings home. 

Here's a quick summary of where I am at:

Judge Dredd

No progress

Slaughterloo

No progress

Muskets and Tomahawks

No progress

Star Wars

No progress (well, I bought lots more figures and organised my collection...)

So, yeah, not the greatest of starts to the year! And to compound it all I've been circling the idea of 2mm VSF using Areonef, Land Ironclads and the hex based Space 1889 skyship rules. Of course, the plus side is that it isn't necessarily an expensive diversion!

I ended up buying PDF versions of all the above rules and printed off Aeronef and Land Ironclads. I don't know why, but I have never used the booklet printing option on my printer before. So I tried it out and ended up with some nifty A5 rule booklets. Much better than a pile of A4 printed on one side. 

Then, with the aid of a Battletech map and some home-made counters, I was ready to give Land Ironclads a go. True, the rules are not written for hex maps, but it was easy to convert them. I set a 200 point British force against a pair of Martian Tripods. 

Above is the initial set up. Two tripods are at the top. The British have two lines of infantry and then three artillery batteries and a unit of tank contraptions. 

A turn into the game and the Martians have eliminated one artillery battery. They have chosen to ignore the infantry entirely  as they can pass through them and are almost impervious to their fire. 

During the following turn, the Martians eliminate the tank contraptions. The human infantry have tried to wheel round and face their foes, but it has not helped much. Artillery fire was moderately successful, but only inflicted a couple of points of damage. 

Unfortunately I caught a stomach bug soon after this point, so I have not continued. That said, I think it would have been a clear Martian victory. The cannon would have been next to feel the heat rays and the infantry really weren't up to much. 

In the plus side, I think the rules worked very well and gave a game with a good feel to it. I think I might have to pick up a few bits and play with proper miniatures. I can see myself playing alternate history games, using Land Ironclads during the ACW or staging a joint French/German invasion of Britain. But also I like the background of All Quiet On The Martian Front, which sees a second Martian invasion take place in 1910, so I'd like to develop some good Martian and Human forces for that. Then, of course, there is the option for Space 1889 type adventures with skyships flying across Mars. So lots of potential!