How To: Steampunk Artillery for IHMN or Warhammer 40k

Welcome to November and our How To tutorial on Steampunk artillery. This project was designed for "In Her Majesty's Name" but could easily work with your Warhammer 40k Imperial Guard Forces on some dirt ball planet. It uses a good amount of recycled computer and printer parts plus old leftover copper wire.

The main base is a 1972 Tootsie Toy Howitzer which you can find at garage sales or eBay for a buck. This one was found in an old box hidden in an ancient antechamber.

We found a smattering of gears that fit well including the "wheel" with the gear on the end to be our tank. We arranged them in a way that would work if a real item. A key to good Steampunk projects is they should look like they'd work. A small square "gear box" was used behind the gears s a spacer.

On the other side a piece of copper wire was inserted into the tank and positioned upwards for our steam vent. A second piece of wire was positioned to power the gun.

We planned a shield for the cannon and used a chunk of plasti-card measured to fit across the front. A hole was cut in the appropriate shape to slide over the barrel. A second piece was cut as a reinforced edge

For the tire treads we found these belts from an old dot matrix printer being trashed.

We turned them inside out and the paper guides were shaved off using a hobby knife. Then the two pieces were cut to the circumference of the wheel and glued onto them. We used a dremel to shave some of the roundness from the wheels. Being flatter will help the glue hold. Also get a piece of masking tape to hold the ends together while the glue dries.

Using cardstock we cut two circles to cover the wheels. For the barrel we cut a section of a drinking straw and wrapped a thin gauge wire around it. A nut slid over the whole lot to pull it together.

On the wire side a third piece was attached to a recess on the canon and bent to travel up along the barrel, over the nut and onto the front.

Here she is primed and ready to paint.

We used "Metallic Gunmetal" on the front shield, the carriage, wheels and parts of the barrel. most areas did not get a heavy coat so the black primer would show through and look weathered. 

The tank and wires were painted with "Metallic Copper"

Next the gears were painted with "Antique Copper"

Final touches including the nut on the barrel and parts of the carriage were painted with "Pure Bronze"

Highlights on the Gunmetal surfaces were painted using "Aluminium"

To dirty things up for the worn look, a spotty wash of "Black" was applied . This was done mainly in the recessed areas.

The shield was given an extra dose of black wash especially under the gun barrel.

Last was a patina of "Laguna" on the copper areas .

There you have it! Our Steampunk Artillery is primed and ready to fire. 

The Bucharest Brigade stands by waiting for the word to open fire with their Arc Canon!.

Have a Great Battle!

The Old Crow

In Her Majesty's Name - Baron Măcelar and The Bucharest Brigade Stat Sheet

Way back in May we showed you the "The Bucharest Brigade" and their fearless captain, The Baron for In Her Majesty's Name. If you haven't checked out the game itself, it is a great steampunk skirmish game. Today we finally give you the stats for Baron Măcelar and the Bucharest Brigade.

Here we see a recent portrait of the Baron. Many have been speculating the Baron is in league with the Society of Thule. Others believe he has ties to the Dragon Lady because of his mysterious ways. In reality, the Baron is devoted to serving the King of Romania. From his hidden base deep in the mountains he launches his unrelenting quests for the King.

He is an inspiring leader to his men in the Bucharest Brigade and a powerful captain for any adventuring band. Because of the many "Legends" of the Baron's exploits his opponents find him terrifying. He is a talented tactician and ruthless fighter.

Baron Măcelar Intuneric
Pluck 2+, FV +4, SV +3, Cost: 93
Talents: Terrifying, Inspirational, Leadership +3
Equipment: Arc Pistol, Tesla-Phelps Arc Generator, Magneto Static Barrier, Sword

The Baron's dedicated second in command is Lt Kane Zaray. Kane is almost as terrifying as the Baron as he lifts his weapon single handed and sprays his opposition with the "Eckto Canon"

Lt Kane Zaray
Pluck 4+, FV +3, SV +2, Cost: 44
Talents: Tough, Strongman, Leadership +1
Equipment: Eckto Canon (treat as flamethrower), Faraday Coat, Combat Knife

The Bucharest Brigade has been serving the Baron faithfully since the founding of the Brigade. Their opponents call them as the "Immortals" due to their fearless and resilient nature.

Immortal
Pluck 5+, FV +2, SV +2, Cost: 28
Talents: Tough,
Equipment: Steel Breastplate, Military Rifle.

Any Immortal can have a Breath preserver (+2 points)
Any Immortal can have a Pistol (+3 points)
One Immortal can be given Strongman and upgrade to Machinegun (+11 points)


The Baron may use a heavy walker from time to time if the mission calls for its need. It is equipped with a steam-fist, Machinegun and has a Congreve rocket on its shoulder with 3 explosive rounds and 3 gas rounds. On these missions he will not take his arc gen, arc pistol or projection barrier but will instead carry a pistol, Magneto-static Jacket  (+69 points)


Let us know if you get a chance to use these guys!

Have a Great Battle,
The Old Crow

How to Paint The Baron for "In Her Majesty's Name"

Last post we showed you how we painted the core of our company of adventurers "The Bucharest Brigade" for In Her Majesty's Name. Today we'll show you how we put together and painted their fearless captain, The Baron.

Using some of the circuitry components shown in the previous post, we built a "Tesla-Phelps Generator" for his lightning gun.

We then attached a cable to the gun and ran it around to the generator. The barrel needed to be something unique and after trying several options none of them seemed to work. Finally, a tiny screw from another piece of electronics fit the bill.

Here you see the screw attached to the barrel of the Baron's lightning gun. It makes a great coil for the lightning! OK, he was primed with black and his trousers were painted the same "Soldier Blue" as the rest of the company.

Using a warm brown, we painted his gloves, belt and skull cap.

His goggles, buttons and part of the gun were painted with "Pure Bronze". The inner lenses of the goggles were painted "Clover Green".

The goggles were given highlights of "Kiwi Green". The gun received a coat of "Gunmetal" and then "Copper" accents

The wire coils and tubing on his generator were painted "Copper" too.

Next the Baron's collar was painted "Brick Red". Accents on his gloves and belt also received some red.

Final highlights of "Tomato Red" were added to the edges of the gloves, belt and collar.

For flesh we used "Mink Tan" and a dark grey for the mustache and eyebrows. Dark Grey accents were painted on the seams of his coat and on highlight areas.

His belt buckle was finished off in "Antique Gold" and his gun barrel coils received a light touch of  "Winter Blue". The mustache was highlighted in "Light Grey".

The backpack generator received a "Gunmetal Grey" base-coat and the top and bottom of the coil were then painted with "Metallic Aluminium". The energy tank was given a "Pure Bronze" top ad bottom and the center was painted in shades of blue to simulate a glowing center.

Final touches included "Flesh" highlights on his face, trouser shading and a wash to tone down the grey highlights on the coat.

And there you have Baron, AKA "the Dark One" Of Moldavian descent Baron Măcelar Intuneric hails from the Romanian Kingdom and is Captain of the Bucharest Brigade, otherwise known as the Baron's Brigade. Their opponents call them as the "Immortals" due to their fearless and resilient nature. The Baron is feared as a ruthless leader bent on completing any mission for the glory of the Kingdom! 

Here is a parting shot of the Baron's secret headquarters somewhere in Romania.

Have a Great Battle,
The Old Crow

"In Her Majesty's Name" Steampunk Adventuring Party Continues

A couple weeks ago we showed you the figures for a Steampunk Adventuring party we were starting for "In Her Majesty's Name". Well as you can see we have progressed a bit since then. Let's start off with the minions for our Baron's Brigade. As we mentioned, we used The Immortal Battalion packs one and two for our troops. So let's show you some of the steps to painting them.

Here we have the base blue on their coats and bronze on the armor and goggles.

Packs, holsters and belt pouches were all based in a medium brown.

Rifle stocks were also based in a medium brown.

Their helmets, boots, gloves and masks were all painted with a dark grey but allowing the black undercoating to show through in areas. The heavy weapons guy was given a yellow ocher touch for his drum magazine bags. Touches of copper were added to some of the weapons too.

The rifle stocks were given a coat of chocolate brown to add richness in color. All remaining straps were given the same warm brown color.

Gun barrels, canteens and buckles all received a coat of gunmetal.

Final touches and washes of burnt umber and black gave them a battle hardened feel.

Now onto modifying our second in command. We settled on these bits from the circuit boards we had dug up along with some old guitar string and a piece of plastic tube.

On the "lieutenant" we added the plastic tube for a larger barrel and drilled a hole for the guitar string.

A piece from our electronics went onto his back, hole drilled in the bottom and guitar string inserted to complete the mod.

Let's move on to painting. He was given the same blue on his coat as the troops. The warm brown was used for his leather skullcap and gloves. Brass and bronze were used for his goggles, buttons and weapon.

His tank and touches of his "eckto canon" were painted with copper.

Lastly his turtleneck was painted with a tan, then warm white and lastly a wash of burnt umber. Flesh was based with "mink tan", highlighted with "Skintone" and also given a brown wash. The wash gave him a nice five-o-clock shadow.

Shading was added to his coat, green in the goggle lenses and the "Ecxto" gauge was painted on the tank.

Their bases still need to be finished and given a theme which is yet to be determined.

So here we have the start of our "In Her Majesty's Name" adventuring party. Moving stealthily through some ruins in Bucharest.

Next post we'll show you the Captain of our team, The Baron! Til then, Have a Great Battle!
The Old Crow