The death of All Quiet on the Martian Front.

A real shame for those interested in fighting the Martian wars, but hardly a surprise given the well documented difficulties in obtaining promised items and general lack of customer service.

Definately a lesson for future creators within Kickstarter not to get carried away when you see so many people backing and funding your creations.

Let's hope someone can step in to keep some of these ranges in existance.

"We regret to announce that effective January 27th, 2016, Robot Peanut Studios, LLC, and its associated brands, Architects of War and Alien Dungeon have permanently closed their doors. Our sales plummeted precipitously in the 3rd and 4th quarter of 2015 and never recovered across our online retail operations as well as hobby shop and distributor sales. We could not maintain our business under these conditions and despite a continuing series of sales and marketing efforts, we have been forced to file for bankruptcy. The case has been filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania at case number 16-20247. Please contact an attorney if you have any questions. We set out six years ago to start a company providing exciting and entertaining intellectual property primarily in the analog gaming market. RPS began with miniature games with the intention of expanding to board and digital games. While the All Quiet Kickstarter project brought in significant sales for us, the cost of development, manufacturing, and shipping exceeded the sales numbers and we were relying on sales beyond the Kickstarter in the broader market to carry the costs and expand the game. These sales never materialized in sufficient quantities. It is just that simple - we sold stuff through the Kickstarter that essentially ended up just above cost and then paid for the shipping. All Quiet just didn’t generate enough money for its scale. In addition, our original cost estimates based on quotes and time frame from various vendors Pre-Kickstarter were exceeded, making the business model untenable without retail sales that never materialized. We are very sorry that it has come to this. Certainly not the outcome we dreamed of when we started the company. To our investors, the Kickstarter supporters and our loyal customers, we’d like to thank you for your support. It has been difficult not communicating during this legal process, but we have had to go through a process and that has been well outside any of our previous experiences. This will be our last communication. Customer service inquiries will not be answered and there will be no additional communication on Kickstarter. We do not know what the final disposition of All Quiet and or other product brands will be at this time. We have to forfeit our participation in such matters to the court. Barb and I must move on and find employment and start putting our lives back together. To our friends, investors, vendors, and loyal customers, thank you for helping us try to fulfill our dream and we wish you the best possible future." Yours Sincerely, Barb and Ernie

Wargaming H.G. Wells - War of the Worlds - Carey Suits.

One of the iconic images of H.G. Wells - War of the Worlds is the Martians use of the black smoke, or black powder used to eliminate groups of humans, especially artillery crews Any animal or human inhaling this deadly smoke is killed almost instantly; but the smoke becomes harmless on contact with water and the Martians would dispel it after each use with jets of steam .

The Armoured Infantry were a freebie from the AQOTMF Kick Starter and I figured I could find a potential use for them, within the 1898 setting of the 1st Invasion.

Looking over the castings I went off to find some historical background and found the following which seems the prefect back drop for this project.

Source: English Mechanic and World of Science – Volume 53, 1891 – Page 351

Col. William Carey, C. B., late R.A., the “crustacean diving dress,” which he has protected by [Great Britain] patents 3083, 4467, and 6494 of 1890.

THE CRUSTACEAN DIVING DRESS.

Publication date    Oct 27, 1891
Filing date    Oct 31, 1890
Inventor    William Carey

Patented in England February 26, 1890,No. 3,083.

Be it known that I, WILLIAM CAREY, C. B., colonel Royal Artillery, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and a resident of Southampton, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Diving Dresses.

My invention relates to diving-dresses, and is designed to improve the construction and increase the efficiency of the same. Heretofore diving-dresses have usually been constructed in such a manner that when the diver is in the dress one or more additional weights are required to cause him to sink in the water. Moreover, such dresses have ordinarily been so made that the pressure of air within the diving-dress has had to be maintained equal to that of the water on the exterior of the dress. Consequently with the diving-dresses hitherto constructed the diver himself when working at great depths is subjected to very heavy pressure.

My present invention is designed to facilitate the carrying out of submarine operations–that is to say, to enable divers to work with safety at greater depths and for longer periods than has hitherto been practicable, and to move in the water with greater ease and comfort than heretofore. 

I so construct my improved diving-dress that it will withstand very high external pressure, thus obviating the necessity for introducing air under similar pressure into the dress. The pressure of the water is therefore borne not by the body of the diver, but entirely by the dress itself. 

My diving-dress is made with peculiarly constructed spherical joints, whereby the separate parts of the dress are united in such a manner that the diver can freely use his limbs, and which are so constructed that the outer spheres of the said joints, which are formed in separate halves or parts, will be firmly closed and held together by the external pressure of the water, and very light clasps.

Another feature of my said invention is the construction of the diving-dress in such a manner that the head-piece or helmet and the trunk or body portion extending to the stomach of the diver are or may be formed in a single piece, whereby a considerable increase in capacity is secured, and a storage of air is obtained sufficient to enable the diver to breathe for a considerable time in the event of injury to the air-tubes.

With the Martian incursion some 8 years later a few adaptions and you have yourself a suit designed to withstand the Black Smoke and a degree of historical context to boot.
Hence the Carey Suits were pressed into service on dry land.

Looking over the castings it appeared they were armed with a heavy weapon of sorts, so I figured moving the period back 25 or so years why not arm them with large calibre rifles capable of firing things such as the Nitro Express Cartridge which was invented in 1898.
That should give the martian invader something to think about.

It was the creation of the world famous London gun maker John Rigby, recognized founder of the Nitro Express and the .450 double rifle that fired the cartridge. A nitrocellulose-based cordite that was far more effective because it gave off almost no smoke and was three times more powerful than black powder.

John Rigby called his powerful new rifle, the "Nitro Express Train Rifle". A short time later, the train rifle part was dropped, leaving Nitro Express as it stands to this day.  

Who says sci-fi can't be educational....

Suggetsed Martian Empire Stats for those interested.

	Type	No. of Stands	Hits per Stand	Fire Factor	Combat Factor	Morale Factor	Points
Carey Suit Infantry	Regulars	4	3	8	7	9	150	Weapon range 40cm.

Wargaming H.G. Wells - War of the Worlds - Farthing Class Land Ships.

I have always been drawn to the stories of H G Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs and Jules Verne – visionaries of the future and Victorian belief in man's triumph over all. 

War of the Worlds arguably the greatest work of science fiction ever written, Published in 1898 the novel of a Martian invasion of Earth has never been out of print. It is a work of enormous vision and imagination, predicting space travel, laser technology, chemical weapons and robotics.

Over several years I have been building up a collection of forces very much in the true style of British Home Service forces in 1898 and Martian forces inspired in no small way the Jeff Wayne 1978 album art work.

When Alien Studio launched their kickstarter a few years ago, I spotted a small number of items that would compliment the collection of Martians and Crown forces that I already owned from Blackhat Miniatures, but hopefully without going to over the top or to daft and fanciful and keeping to the style and design of the period.

AQOTMF Mono tank seemed to fit the bill, but having made the decision to move to the Martian Empre rule set and keep the game in the victorian era  I figured it deserved a new name.....

I give you the Farthing Class Landship

 

 

whilst the miniature range for AQOTMF is stated as 18mm, the drop down to 15mm looks fine and the naval blue and general design takes it away from the feel of Little Willy in the WW1 era which was really developed to counter the difficulties of crossing trenches.

The proposed stats are set out below.

HMLS - 311, 312, 313 Her Magisty's Land Ship - Farthing Class.

	Type	No. of Stands	Hits per Stand	Fire Factor	Combat Factor	Morale Factor	Points
HMLS Farthing Class	Regulars	1	7	8	8	8	150	Holds a crew of three. Move 30cm, Weapon range 40cm, large target.

As to the name.
It just sort of felt right.

 

Ottoman Reinforcements - Bashi Bazouks

This evening sees the first real outing of my Ottoman Turk Army vs that of the Russian Empire.

The plan is to use a scenario generated from the excellent Platoon Forward suppliment from the Too Fat Lardies, designed with a WW2 in mind, a couple of tweaks are required to make it suitable for the Napoleonic period.

The plan is for the Russian Commander to generate a scenario and the select his forces available from a core set of units. Typically 5 regular sections and 1 Elite/Veteran section, together with 5 Bigmen.

Perry Miniatures Bashi Bazouk based on a Warbase Stand.

Bigmen Commanders Kirmizi Atesh & Musad Chuma

Perry Miniatures plastic Ansars.

The Ottoman's last took to the field prior to Christmas, where they lacked both numbers and firepower, these time around I have bolstered their number with extra foot troops and a new unit of Bashi - Bazouk Infantry. Available from Perry Miniatures but they seem to fit in well with the general Ottoman feel.

I have also painted up a couple of recent purchases from Architects of War, the Desert Well and Donkey Mill are full of character and add some life to my Middle Eastern Village.

These are not cheap but they do paint up rather well....

Random events in the Sharp Practice rules call for livestock, Damn and Blast! Scared by the firing some local livestock have escaped, moving 2D6” away from the group each turn in a random direction.

Never first on my list of purchases, these goats from Empress Miniatures will be useful across several periods.

I have created the Big Men for my Ottoman Army and being rather lazy stumbled across the attached link, which creates Turkish names, perfect when insiration is lacking.

http://www.gypsymagda.com/turkishnames.html

Full AAR to follow.

Wargamers are so difficult to buy for?

Can I be the only one who gets that question leveled at them?

I don't see what the problem is....... so it's not available in the high street, can I help that?

As a gamer with varied interests in numerous periods I have a great list of things on the wargamers want list.

I hit the big 4 0 recently and finally convienced those around me that Wargaming goodies are the best presents...

I was really impressed and thanks to all.

On the reading front, I probably have enough to keep be going into the summer, a selection of Osprey books on Elizabethan Warfare, I blame Christmas Holiday TV for that request, I caught the Sea Hawk on one of the more obscure cable channels and that set me off on a new project (more on that soon..)

Anyway the following will prove to be useful inspiration to the half a dozen blisters from Foundry and their Elizabethan range, which are making there way up lead mountain.

279 The Border Reivers

256 The Irish Wars 1485-1603

Elite – Elizabethan Sea Dogs 1560 – 1605

As usual Angus McBride’s illustrations are top notice with plenty of detail and character.

The Egyptian Project has stalled in recent weeks, what with Gloucester Minicon and various real life issues  but I am hoping that the following reads will spark some life back into the project.

Napoleon in Egypt by Paul Strathern

Napoleon’s Egypt – Juan Cole

Both give some great accounts of the French in Egypt and the challenges they faced in a strange land and a fearless foe.

As a light read, I also received a copy of The Last Days of Thunder Child by C.A. Powell, I have been a big fan of H.G. Wells, War of Worlds for several years and have a 15mm British Home Front Army and Martian Tripods which need an outing.

The climax of the original book tells how the HMS Thunder Child takes on 3 Tripods to save the Steamer, this short novel gives the perspective from  the crew of the Thunder Child.

 

On the gaming front a number of items have found their way on to the need to paint pile.

 

Anisty Castings

Barricades (1503)

Trade Goods (3304)

I thought the Barricades would come in handy for ACW makeshift defences and for any other period that require a below par defensive position, perhaps even a barricade to keep out zombies if I can push ahead with the Pike, Shot & Zombie Stuff.

The Trade goods compliment my African and Middle Eastern Village and whilst never a first on a wargamers wants list, they come in so handy for all kinds of scenarios.

Architects of War

Desert Well

Donkey Mill

I have been a fan of the Architects of war stuff for quite a while but always felt it was a little on the expensive side, One of my rules of terrain buying is that it must be able to be used across several periods and genre’s. Having started on my Napoleon in Egypt project and already having a pile of stuff for Mexico, the above two items fit really well.

The resin elements come in a sand coloured finish that will make applying the initial undercoat, the pieces are really detailed furnished with additional pots and sacks, although the donkey looks a little small, it must be all that hard work....