Current work bench as of march 2025.
Jack's Space 1889 Reports
Saturday, March 22, 2025
Saturday, July 27, 2024
Hill Martian Gashant Cavalry
Hill Martian Gashant Riders
![]() |
Unit of 10 hill Martian Tribal Cavalry |
Here's my first completed hill Martian gashant cavalry, which will be fielded as Tribal Cavalry using TMWWBK rules. As tribal cavalry, they are spear armed and are used as a very mobile melee unit, but I've also included a number of models armed with bows, so I can choose to field the unit as armed with Mounted Bows and give them the Sharpshooters trait for +1 point.
The models are kit-bashed: the gashants are toy dinosaurs with Green-Stuff sculpting for the gashant beaks and crests, the riders are made with Victrix Numidian cavalry for the bodies and the heads from Oathmark elf light infantry, and the weapons are mixed from the Numidians, elves and Wargames Atlantic Goblins. Also to note, the shields are from the Numidian cavalry sprues, cut into hexagonal shapes, as the Space 1889 books mention this as being carried by native Martians.
The kit-bashed gashants were a lot of work, but I quite quickly worked out how to expediate the sculpting process, so the second half of gashants came out much quicker than the first ones. Basically, a small triangle of Green-stuff gets draped over their head, which I can sculpt into the beak, eye socket and horn shapes. Then a second small semi circle of Green-stuff, with two small cuts into it, gets stuck to the back of the neck and sculpted into the neck crest.
Looking to the future, I'm planning two more Martian cavalry units, one as royal canal martian heavy cavalry, and another as colonial cavalry. I don't know if I will try to sculpt an entire unit of gashants out of toy dinosaurs and Green-stuff again, as it was quite time intensive. I've been working on using silicone molding to cast copies of RAFM gashants to build up new squadrons, and also sculpting a brand new gashant model, that I can also mold and copy, which will be great because RAFM have only ever released two gashant models, which doesn't give a big variety of poses.
Friday, January 5, 2024
Martian Native Forces
Martian history stretches back millions of years, and what was once a thriving, water covered planet, suffered enormous climactic changes, transforming the planet to the dry and barren desert it is today. From over 33, 000 years ago to today, empires and civilizations of Martian people rose and fell.
From ancient beginnings, technological advancement reached a peak around 25,000BC, before catastrophic drought and global warming stripped the fertile lands of water, and forced the Martian peoples to work together and complete the global canal-building project. Over 10,000 years of collective work resulted in the magnificent canals seen on Mars today. These canals, sometimes a mile wide, allow water from the natural ice caps to be distributed all over the planet, and maintain the life and vitality to Martians all over.
Following the success of the canal-builders, war and devastation followed; over 10,000 years of war plunged Martian civilization into the Dark ages, where technology and knowledge was lost forever. In 3000BC, King Seldon rose and conquered large parts of Mars, and produced a dynasty stretching for over 30 generations. This era of the Seldon Empire saw rediscovery of lost ancient knowledge, repairs to essential canals falling into disrepair, and rebirth of lost cities.
The era of success ended with the mad King Seldon XXX1 (31), who waged a war against technology, destroying much of the recently re-gained knowledge, and leading to a civil war between those for and against technology. It wasn't until the reign of Seldon LVII (57) that the wars cam to an end, and technology became a focus of mysticism and religion. The last of the line, Seldon LXVII died in AD1 with no heir, leaving his nephew to inherit the throne, however his rule was widely unrecognized. The empire fractured into individual city states, and scientific development stagnated mars-wide.
Mars today features city dwellers known as canal Martians, desert tribes known as hill Martians, and savage cave dwellers known as high Martians. Access to limited resources drive rivalries between the hundreds of cultures and traditions that exist across the planet, and now the arrival of humans has shaken once again the state of affairs on Mars.
![]() |
All of my Martian units in a combined force. |
The units available to me today, to fight on behalf of Mars. I've built models that represent a diverse range of Space 1889 Martians, and in lore terms, they wouldn't necessarily always work side-by-side, so in the future I'm planning to expand on all the factions. As usual, the units are organized to fight with The Men Who Would Be Kings (TMWWBK) rules.
Finding models to represent Space 1889 Martians isn't that easy, only RAFM specifically make them, and the range isn't that large, so I've kit-bashed a lot of my models to build up the diversity.
![]() |
Oenotrian Legionnaires (Choppers) |
Finding themselves head-to-head with the British invaders are the ground forces of the Oenotrian Empire. This is a canal Martian civilization with a strong military tradition that structures its soldiers into Legions, with half-companies of Choppers - armed with vicious melee weapons - and Shooters - armed with martian firearms.
These Choppers include a few RAFM figures, two Ironclad leader figures, and lots of kit-bashed spearmen. The recipe for these includes Victrix Spartan bodies, arms and weapons, and Wargames Atlantic Goblin heads. I think the pointy ears and painting them yellow gives a good Space 1889 appearance.
![]() |
Oenotrian Shooters |
Here are the Oenotrian Shooters to back up the melee fighters. They will fight in tandem with the Chopper soldiers, I'm picturing a similar fighting style to the pike-and-shotte tactics seen on Earth. Their firepower is not good for modern earth standards, utilizing obsolete Martian muskets.
![]() |
Six Cities Militia |
![]() |
Canal Martian levy infantry |
![]() |
Canal Martian gashant cavalry |
The first Martian riding a native Martian mount (the gashant). The gashant is a plastic toy dinosaur with a bird-like beak and bony faceplate added with greenstuff. Crafting all my gashants like this is a bit laborious, but is a money saver considering the cost to buy on ship each model from Canada-based RAFM. The rider is a Grenadier/Mirliton Elf rider I managed to find on eBay as a rider-only model (so perfect for me).
![]() |
Rummet breehr team weapon |
![]() |
Hill Martian Tribal Infantry |
![]() |
Sanwar tribesmen armed with jezails |
![]() |
Sanwar rocket artillery crew |
![]() |
A fearsome crew of kraag warriors |
Conclusion
So that wraps up my current collection of Martian forces. In the future I'd like to expand quite heavily, into different directions. I have at least 3 distinct factions I would like to build up (Oenotrian, hill Martians, and high Martians). I've also recently come across a very dangerous range of Martians made by Ral Partha Legacy (dangerous in the sense that I may spend all my money on it). They have very suitable models for martian militia, musketmen, artillery teams, royal infantry, cavalry riders and civilians).
To Build list:
- Oenotrian Legion. To paint up a bunch of RAFM Legionnaires, including shield gunners and all that lovely stuff. Will continue to paint them in the red and orange colors I've decided on for Oenotria.
- Oenotrian Native artillery crew.
- Hill Martian Tribal Cavalry. Will kitbash and greenstuff my way to 10 gashant mounted tribal warriors.
- Second unit of high Martians.
- Oenotria imperial gashant cavalry (armed preferably with carbines or lances).
- Second unit of hill Martian tribal cavalry, based on native American riders.
- More canal martian factions (Shastapsh, Tossia).
Saturday, December 9, 2023
British Army on Mars
The British settled their first trading colony in Parhoon, and after establishing good relations with the canal royal family, claimed a regency on the throne after an assassination was made on the ruling prince. Gorovaan, a neighboring canal city, and the presumed perpetrators of the assassination, launched an attack on Parhoon, which the British repelled with their Parhooni allies, leading to the eventual defeat and annexation of Gorovaan.
A second war of succesion broke out, against a coalition of three canal cities located to the south, Syrtis Major, Haatt and Avenel. A full detachment of the British Army sent to the Martian colony was able to repel the attack, and ultimately all three cities were integrated into the Crown Colony of Syrtis Lapis.
![]() |
All of my British Forces assembled. |
The total British forces available to me so far include 3 units of Regular infantry, 2 team weapons (machine gun and gun), 1 unit of human Irregulars and unfinished unit of Regular Cavalry. The units have been put together with the Men Who Would Be Kings (TMWWBK) rules in mind.
![]() |
Unit 1 of Regular Infantry. |
First up is a basic unit of Regular Infantry, made from plastic Warlord Games and Perry Afghanistan British infantry. The flag bearer is scratch built flag held by a Warlords figure, and the unit leader is a Perry metal miniature. I seem to be a few models short of a full 12-man unit.
![]() |
Unit 2 of Regular Infantry. |
![]() |
Unit 3 of Regular Infantry. |
![]() |
Incomplete unit of cavalry. |
![]() |
9-pounder gun and crew. |
![]() |
Team weapon, Maxim machine gun. |
![]() |
A group of plucky individuals representing the British forces on Mars. |
- 4 more Infantry men to finish my units (at least). I may switch up the uniforms, so far I've used solely the classic red uniform, but I know that Britain started to phase it out during this period in the late 19th century, in favour of more camouflaging khaki. What colour do you think the British army would have used on the Martian sands? The Space 1889 Soldiers Companion simply says "red uniforms, but often khaki on campaign".
- 5 more Cavalry models. I'm gonna make them in red uniforms, even if its not totally accurate. It will look dashing on the table.
- 7 more explorers and hunters models. To round out my Irregular unit to a full 12 man squad.
- Full unit (maybe units?) of colonial martian regular infantry. I have already started on these, but nothing is painted yet, more info to come in another post.
- An aerial flyer, real VSF stuff
- A special vehicle/crew weapon project, more VSF stuff.
- A Royal Navy Gatling gun crew.
- Naval Brigade infantry.
- Gashant Mounted Infantry.
Martian Legions and TMWWBK Rules
![]() |
From the "Mars Sourcebook", Oenotrian military figures. |
To properly reflect this characteristic on the gaming table, some heavily home-brewed rules are quite necessary. I saw a discussion of such home-rules on a Facebook group for Space 1889, and decided to try sharpen them up and use them myself.
(Apologies in advance for what is quite a wordy and essay-like post about to come 😂. Also, at some point at writing this I seemed to have forgotten whether the correct term is Cutters or Choppers? We can therefore assume I use the terms interchangeably...)
"First thing to note is that each Martian Legion has between two to six Companies. Next important aspect is that each 'Company' is split between a 'Shooters' and a 'Cutters' half-company. So those half-companies are the basic unit in TMWWBK.
To then be able to encompass other Martian types later, I'm setting these as Regulars - and then using the Special Rules & Options to further refine their abilities.
So to
reflect that 'Shooters' are mainly armed with muskets - smoothbores and/or
rifled - an obvious option is 'Poorly Armed'.
For the
'Cutters' there is no Firing factor, as they are the 'Up-Close-&-Personal'
troop-types. To enhance these further, you could then give them the 'Fierce'
Option.
As for
personal Armour, I'm keeping with the general ethos that mass-manufacture of
metal on Mars is not possible due to limited metal/mineral resources. But, to
then include the famed 'Shieldgunners', we can permit the 'Shooters' of the 1st
Company (only) of each Martian Legion to be the 'Shieldgunners' - and to
provide a simplistic benefit for the armour worn or carried, they can ignore
the first and/or second Hit, depending on the range from the Firers. This would
be a specific Option that would have to be purchased for that unit.
The important consideration in all this is that I wanted a format where Martian City States should be able to fight against the forces of other Martian City States. And that would be something that has developed a form of warfare between them over centuries - long before the 'Red- Men' (humans from Earth) arrived. That in turn provides a whole new element for when you introduce the Earthmen's warfare of modern weapons and different tactics."
I did not note the name of the author of these comments, if you are reading this and do know their identity, please feel free to comment and I shall give the credit where it is due.
The comments follow as such:
"The next new aspect was to give Martian infantry a specific tactical advantage, something distinct. This was to follow examples from other races, e.g., Ashanti ambushes, Dervish 'jehadiya' marksmen, Zulu 'fighting buffalo' formations, etc., etc.
I settled on an idea to give the Martian Company (so both Shooters & Cutters) an initial 'Phalanx' formation. This is where both the Cutters & the Shooters units are deployed attached, one in front of the other. This Phalanx can be activated as one unit to then move together. If the Shooters are the front unit, it can fire at enemy units. As a mass of infantry, it may be a slightly better target to hit, but it can also 'shrug off' a Pinned marker once per turn. The Phalanx has two specific special actions too - it can switch which of the two units is the front unit as a special Move action - and it can also 'split' or separate into it's two usual units, either deployed side-by-side, or by dropping one unit back. And only 'Elite' quality troops can reform a Phalanx in a battle once that 'split' has been made.
Hit allocation to a Phalanx works on a 'two-thirds & one-third' manner. E.g, if 3 hits are inflicted on a Phalanx, two are on the front unit, one on the rear unit."
So with these concepts in mind, I set about writing up a specific ruling that could really reflect the canal martian Legionary warfare. Note to readers, I play using centimeters, where I always double the number inches as written in the rulebook, to give a distance in centimeters (i.e. NOT a mathematical conversion of Inches x2.25=cm's).
Martian Legion Rules
Company Deployment: If legionary units are deployed in an army list, they must be deployed as at least 2 units of half-companies, to form one full company. Also, they must be deployed as shooters and cutters units in a 1:1 ratio.
Elite: Companies of legionaries can be deployed as Elite; if so both half-companies must be deployed as elite.
Shield Gunners: For +2 points, the Shooters unit may replace up to 3 models with Shield-Gunner models. The unit (or combined phalanx) adds +1 to hits required to take casualties from firing at long-range (like cover). Any received casualties must be taken first from the shield gunner models, until they are all taken out. From then on, the unit receives no extra protection from enemy fire.
(Credit to Paul James Blogspot for the idea to replace models with Shield-gunners to increase hits required and require them to be taken out first from the unit).
Phalanx:
• Shooter and Cutter unit may deploy together at start of game, in Phalanx and Close Order, one in front of the other. Either unit may take the front rank, and the phalanx maximum speed is 8cm. No At the Double allowed.
• Front rank unit is the only unit allowed to fire.
• Unit may make a special Split/Merge/Switch move. Instead of a move action, the units may swap position (front to back) or split side to side or front and back into separate units (no movement rate allowed in conjunction). Units may reform into Phalanx if moved adjacent to each other and they both have the Elite quality. Either half-company may initiate the merge maneuver, if the other unit is a maximum of 1 inch away.
• Phalanx always counts as Close Order, therefore the Shooters unit may Volley Fire (Firing +1 at units in short range), both units increase fighting value by +1, may only fire into the front 180 degree arc, and only the front unit may fight in Attacks.
• Half-companies may form Close Order when deployed separately (if at least 6 models remain).
• Enemy units targeting the Phalanx receive +1 to their Firing value.
• The Phalanx may ignore the first pin received from firing casualties in a turn. A company in Phalanx does not lose Phalanx status if it does become pinned, but must rally as usual to lose the pins.
• Hits are allocated with the first 2 inflicted on the front unit, and 1 to the rear unit. If the Phalanx is attacked from the flank, the hits are evenly split (defending player chooses the last odd numbered hit). If attacked from the rear, all hits are inflicted on the rear unit.
• A Phalanx attacked from the flank or rear does not receive the +1 benefit to fighting.
• Phalanx requires both units involved to have at least 6 models.
![]() |
A formed phalanx of Martian legionaries from a recent game. Note the front unit has taken 6 casualties already. |
Weapons: Shooters =Antiquated muskets (12/24cm), Cutters =hand missiles (12/12cm)
Fighting: 5+; Discipline: +1; Points: 5
To summarise these attributes, here is a TMWWBK style stat block for each unit:
![]() |
A typical pike and shotte formation, "p's" represent the pikemen at the centre, "o's" represent the musketmen at the wings. |
Friday, August 4, 2023
Battle report: Martian assault on the British outpost
After a furious few months of painting, ordering miniatures, and more painting, I was ready to pit my first full scale battle on the Martian steppes. I play the Men Who Would Be Kings (MWWBK) ruleset, and have put together a British force and a mixed Martian force.
My miniatures are a huge mix of brands and manufacturers, the core of my units are based on the original RAFM metal miniatures for Space 1889, but those figures are expensive and not easy to get in France where I am based. So to fill out the ranks on the martian side I have used a mix of Perry and Wargame Atlantic plastics to kitbash and headswap dozens of hill martians, canal martians and Oenotrian regulars. In another post I will go into lots more detail of the models I'm using.
My British are mostly Warlord Games british regulars for the Zulu-wars. In addition I have few Perry Sudan war plastics, and some Perry metal NCO's.
I set up the game as described in scenario C of MWWBK (To the Last Bullet), in which the regular forces are holed up in a small amount of fortified cover (a ruined farm compound), and pursuing Martian forces must attack the settlement and take out the British units. The leader of each unit has their leadership rating rolled at random before starting the game; this rating is the target to roll on unit orders tests, pinning tests and rallies.
The army lists were as follows:
British (Defenders 18pts)
x3 Regular Infantry (6pts each), all Leadership 6.
Martian (Attackers 24pts)
x2 Regular Infantry Oenotria 2nd Legion (5pts each)* Leadership 6 for "Shooters" and 5 for "Cutters".
x1 Irregular Infantry Six Cities League, rating 7, 4pts.
x1 Irregular Infantry Sanwar, Poor Shots, rating 7, 3pts.
x1 Tribal Infantry hill Martian, rating 7, 3pts.
x1 Tribal Infantry high Martians, Fierce, Flying**, rating 5, 4pts.
*A Martian classic legion company is formed in two "half-companies", one armed with martian muskets (obsolete to humans), the other armed with only melee weapons. The homebrewed rules I'm using for this unit will be explained in detail in another post.
**High Martians are a tribal, sub-species of the martian race, capable of flight. I determine they are limited to short bursts of flight (like a chicken) and can hop over obstacles usually considered impassable or difficult. In game terms, I allow them to pass through difficult terrain or low lying impassable terrain at full speed, and when attacking a unit defended by low obstacles or terrain the defender does not receive any of the usual defensive bonuses, as the high Martians use a hop, flight and diving attack method of attack.
The coalition of martian forces gathered under Oenotrian 2nd Legion command were to pursue the isolated company of British Infantry spotted in the region, and destroy them or force them out of the area completely. Oenotrian 2nd Legion 1st Company approached the farmhouse and decided to split their auxiliary forces to each side, while the legion would hold back ready to exploit a weakness once broken through.
To the left flank they sent canal martian irregulars with high-martian tribal infantry, and to the right they sent Sanwar irregulars and hill martian tribals. Orders were to set up the irregular infantry into firing positions in the small vegetation cover, lay down some pinning fire, then attack each side with a tribal unit, attempting to storm the British unit firing from the farmhouse corral barricades.
Current Work bench Mar ‘25
Current work bench as of march 2025.
-
The British settled their first trading colony in Parhoon, and after establishing good relations with the canal royal family, claimed a rege...
-
Martian history stretches back millions of years, and what was once a thriving, water covered planet, suffered enormous climactic changes, t...
-
Hill Martian Gashant Riders Hill Martians are the race of Martians that live nomadic and pastoral lifestyles, living from the saddle as th...