Prussian Exo-Armour

In preparation for a large Steam Wars game, I had to finish off my latest Bob Olley Exo-Armour Scrunts from his recent Kickstarter.

I painted these up in the same dark blue to match the rest of the infantry, but these had loads more gun metal on the extensive armour!

With a total of ten models from the Kickstarter, I was able to organise three units of three models for Steam Wars and have one spare to be used as a Hero.

For a little more variety, I changed two close combat weapons, one on the Hero and one regular trooper.

I hope that these are the last models I will be adding to the Prussian Scrunts as there really are quite a lot of them now.

Whats On The Table?

In preparation for a large Steam Wars game, I am getting some paint on my latest Bob Olley Exo-Armour Scrunts from his recent Kickstarter.

The first three are finished, the next three are just getting started.

Exo-Armour Scrunts

My Bob Olley Exo-Armour Scrunts arrived a few weeks ago and I have been wanting to get them put together and ready for a game with the Prussian Steam Wars army.

I have two sets of the five models so plan to make three squads of three and one “hero” model.

I am currently mulling over how to dish out the various weapon arms. I think I will have one squad as very close combat orientated, one as ranged weapon specialist and one somewhere in the middle.

I have since trimmed off the tabs to make fitting them to bases a bit easier.

Exo Armour Scrunts

I know it is the last day of January and I know the Exo Armour Kickstarter was not due to deliver until February, but it has arrived today, early I tell you. If only all other Kickstarters would take note.

Of course this does now present me with a problem, my well thought out modelling and painting schedule has now been jeopardised and I need to rush these to the top of the pile.

With a bit of luck, the promised snow will arrive tonight, grinding the entire UK to a halt and I will be forced to stay at home, and stick models together over the weekend.

Land Train Game

Joken and I had a large Steam Wars game recently with 2600 points per side!

It was just about everything Joken had in his Teutonic Knights army, so I gave him my Scrunt Land Train to have a go at, supported by some APC’s and a few Zeppelin airships.

The Teutonic objective was to try to stop the Land Train from getting across the table.

I had to create some Leviathan rules to give it some chance of achieving its goal. Basically it could Advance and still fire all weapons. The distance it needed to go meant it would be the fifth turn when it would escape off the table. If it could.

The Tuetonic Knights brought plenty of heavy firepower as without it, damaging the Land Train would have been pretty difficult.

There were plenty of flying machines around, three Prussian airships and one Teutonic biplane.

Once the Land Train had made a couple of moves to within Tuetonic weapon range, the carnage started. Concentrated attacks against the Land Train quickly took off the three trailers.

The Prussian armoured supports flanking move failed as the lead light tank was taken out .

The Teutonic forces made good use of cover, this forced the Prussian infantry to disembark from their transports and make a close combat assault.

The resulting combat was over quickly, both sides fighting simultaneously and both wiping each other out.

The Teutonics continued to advance, getting in possition either side of the road, ready for ths final salvo.

It was not looking good for the Prussian Land Train, rumbling ahead into some serious trouble…

The end came swiftly, the Land Train engine was destroyed and the rather upset Kaiser left the burning wreck. The Prussian Wechseln Angriffseinheit unit used their jump packs to move to protect their leader.

With the Land Train halted, the Teutonic began to mop up the surviving Prussian units.

It was a convincing victory for the Teutonic Knights, a fun game with the chance to use loads of our models in a big game.

The Prussian Land Train had a long way to go and actually left behind most of its supporting forces. In retrospect, I think the scenario needs tweaking a little, either a shorter distance to go but slow it down so it still takes four or five turns to cross the table, so go across rather than down the full table length. I also think the Land Train needs some more Leviathan abilities.

Scrunt Cavalry

These took a while to get hold of, but I picked up some of Bob Olley’s Scrunt Cavalry and have painted them up for my Prussian Scrunt army.

They took a bit longer to paint than I thought they would as there are plenty of straps and buckles on the tack.

Exo-Armour Kickstarter

I have been looking forward to these Exo-Armour Dwarfs for some time and I am pleased to say they have arrived on Kickstarter this week, released by Bob Olley of Olleys Armies fame.

There are two sets of these heavily armoured tin cans, a set with more of a chaos flavour and a set that are more pillbox-like, and it is those that will fit in much more with my existing Scrunt army.

For my Steam Wars game I will require six models to allow me to take two units of three models. Of course, I could always go for more units…

I have already worked out a potential model profile for these which is a bit presumptuous.

One thing I can be sure of is that Bob will deliver this Kickstarter bang on time and these stout chaps will get added to the might of the Prussian Scrunts!

Steam Wars Skirmish

So it has been a long hot summer, not a lot of painting, not a lot of modelling and only a little gaming. I did manage a small of game of Steam Wars last week with a visiting old friend from across the pond.

The game was set up on a 4′ by 4′ table using my new cobble boards and plenty of terrain.
This was a small game, the British Empire defending against the Prussian Scrunts. Both forces were mostly infantry with only a couple of light vehicles.
The British started with only half their force on the table when the Prussians launched their attack, the rest of the force were alerted when the attack commenced and could come on from turn two.
The mission was for the Prussian forces to disrupt a British resupply of the Aeroneff HMSS Reliant. The Aeroneff was scenery for this game and was not going to be taking to the air.

The British Sky Hussars made good use of the Reliant, using their jump packs to leap to the deck ready for a subsequent jump.

The Prussian jump troops, the Wechseln Angriffseinheit charged into the British Iron Man heavy infantry and their close combat steam weapons killed three of the defender.
The British Treadbikes roared on to support the infantry and were eliminated by the combined firepower of the Ungeheuer (Bob Olley classic Ogryns) and a Heavy Machine Gun.
The British troops were struggling to keep back the attacking Prussians, the fire and maneuver blitzkrieg tactics were working perfectly.
In the end the British defence collapsed and the Prussians not only stopped the resupply of the HMSS Reliant, but were also able to subsequently sabotage the Aeroneff.

Steam Wars Game

We had a game with what should be the final final version of the Steam Wars rules. It has only taken eighteen months to get to this stage, which is not bad for a part time project I guess.

I got to use my new TT Combat crane and a new warehouse in a factory setting complete with some very freshly painted roads.

For this game, my Prussian Scrunts faced off against the Mr Steinberg’s US Navy including several flying contraptions. We went with plenty of flying machines to really see how the game played with lots of air power.

The largest of the US Navy Skyships was this formidable frigate complete with Aether-thrusters to keep it majestically floating above the battlefield.

At ground level, we had some exciting battles with each side grabbing the advantage at different stages. The US Navy tentacle armed divers demolished a Prussian infantry unit before being demolished themselves by a Prussian Assault unit. The ebb and flow of melee is fickle thing.

The Prussian Zeppelin was carrying a unit of infantry that were going rappel into action at an opportune moment, but it never quite arrived. In the end, they deployed into the center of the complex and took up a defensive position. I may have to look at giving the Zeppelin a speed boost.
The Prussian Scout Zeppelins each took a flank and moved up a fast as possible bringing their twin-link HMG’s down on any units in range. They did not get to use their bombs as much as I would have thought.

The US Navy infantry in their best whites occupied the Aeroneff landing station and hung onto it for the duration. But whatever you do, don’t ask Mr Steinberg about the four 1’s he rolled…

The Prussian Abhumans (Bob Olley’s Orgyns from many years ago) had a very bad day and got themselves surrounded by Rocketeers deployed from the US Navy Skyship and a unit of infantry.

Over all, I am really pleased with the way the rules have turned out, it could not have been done without Mr Steinberg’s and Joken’s massive help in play testing over the last year or so. In that time we have refined rules here and there to create a game that plays the way we want it to play.

And finally, thanks to Matt Lyon for creating the truly brilliant Steam Wars logo, it is as if he knew just what I was looking for.

So that’s it, apart from wanting to add some more images, the Steam Wars rules are done, done I say!

So although I can post the rules anytime, I still need to write up the force creation rules and release a rather complicated spreadsheet.

Ancestral Zeppelins

I do like these Titan Forge Ancestral Zeppelins. I have only had the opportunity to use one in games so far.

At some stage, when the Teutonic Knights get their second (and third?) unit of Luftlancers, I will get the opportunity to field two or even three.

Mr Steinbergs US Navy will also be getting some Rocketeers and Copters soon so they may even be first to go up against multiple zeppelins.

These have been armed with Twin-Linked Heavy Machine Guns and some nice big bombs.

I do use my custom mdf flying bases with nice long clear plastic rod to have them fly at a decent height.