VBCW: Horse Guards

When North Star Military Figures announced they were releasing these figures, especially with a deal for a 10-figure unit, I knew I had to have them. Although intended for ‘steampunk’ I saw no appreciable difference between them and 1930’s (or indeed 2020’s) uniforms. Experts will no doubt point out dozens, but I generously ignore them.

Not only will these provide a colourful and interesting unit, but they will present as an old Britains toy soldier unit, adding to my joy as my various tanks, guns, and artillery are all stand-ins for the toys I could not afford as a child.

To this end, I needed all arms at the slope, and Nick did not fail me. He generously supplied me with that arms I requested, and followed up checking that all was OK. Great customer service as always.

I removed the cast-in-place trumpet banner and printed a new one on my computer. I also added a sword hilt to the trumpeter’s scabbard, as he had none.

There are two poses available, plus the officer and trumpeter. All except the officer share the same body. Each has a separate head and scabbard, and (except for the officer) sword/trumpet arms, The scabbard strap needs to be bent to fit but it is easy.

When they arrived, I wasn’t thrilled with the sculpting, the bodies looked sort of bulbous, and the proportions were off. Then I looked at actual troops, and the cuirass is bulbous and throws their proportions off. All in all, the sculpting is fine, and they paint up nicely.

Banner for Trumpeter – Print at 300 DPI

They are useful for VSF, VBCW, Pulp, whatever. They are nice figures.

VBCW: Great War Scottish Infantry

This is another unit built just because I wanted to paint the figures, sort of. They are Great Wars Miniatures WW1 Scottish infantry. I bought them for VCW use, but they will of course fit in my WW1 forces as well.

Looking through a website one day, I found some lovely WW1 Scots in Glengarry caps. They looked to be nice sculpts, but for some reason they were not available. I was sad about this, because the uniform looked great. But imagine my joy to find figures in the same dress order in the Great War catalogue. The figures looked to be just as good, at a better price, and in production. So because I saw one set of figures, I bought these instead.

I bought them, and I was not disappointed. They are single-piece castings, well detailed and cleanly cast. Of course there were extra figures left over from the packs I purchased – I still have surplus figures, but at least they are painted!

I also bought the matching HMG so they would have some support. (But mostly because I like making HMGs) It goes together well, and looks good, I think.

So I painted these figures because I wanted to paint different figures, but that’s how I roll.

SPACE 1889: Wild Men of Mars

SPACE 1889 has various races of Martians, each a distinct branch of a common evolutionary tree. There are Steppe Martians, and Canal Martians, and the bestial Kraag Martians. In my campaign we also have the primitive Wild or Cave Martians.

Unlike the other races on Mars they are hairless, with large skull-like heads. They are also unique in having long, pendulous wattles, resembling human beards. (This has led to anti-human propagandists claiming that Humans are related to the Cave folk.)

The Wild Martians have been forced to live in the worst parts of the most uninhabitable areas of the planet. As a result, to many Martians, they are a mere folk-tale, of savagery and cannibalism.

But they are fierce warriors, armed with stone-tipped spears and simple shields. They can be found as cheap cannon-fodder in other people’s armies, or fighting on their own behalf, trying to hold onto what land they have.

The figures are North  Star ‘Steampunk’ Alien Tribal Warband. They are good sculpts, open -handed, and come in a random assortment of 10. Size-wise they match well with SPACE 1889 Martians, and their feet and ears suggest a common ancestry.

I could have tarted them (and their wattles) up with more war-paint, but was prevented by my lack of imagination.

I replaced the supplied weapons with wire spears, and used some Darkest Africa shields.

They make for a frightening warband, and a useful threat to any party in the wilderness.