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.

This unit is meant to represent a veteran unit of space-experienced infantry, equipped with gas masks, metal body armour and electro-weaponry. The figures come from the Northstar "Redcoats in Space" range, and Artizan's Victorian Sci-Fi range. Again, I am 1 model short of a full sized unit.

Unit 3 of Regular Infantry.

A last unit (for now) of British regulars. Like the first unit, these are Warlord and Perry plastics, and a Perry metal unit leader. This brings me to a total of 4 models short of 3 full sized units, it shall be added to the "to-do" list.

Incomplete unit of cavalry.

Although the harsh Martian environment proved difficult for horses to live and work, I am envisioning that the European powers would have tried to bring their Earthen cavalry forces with them (at least to begin with). Quite quickly the advantages of the native steed - the gashant - would have become apparent. Nevertheless, in my current TMWWBK rules, there is no difference between gashants or horses, so I will complete at least my first cavalry unit using horse models. These 3 are the Perry metal 19th Hussars command, although I've painted them as some generic dragoons in red. Another 5 will need to be put together to complete the unit. 

9-pounder gun and crew.

A complete unit of Royal Artillery, armed with a 9-pounder gun. All metal model from Perry Miniatures. I will admit I am not much of an anorak when it comes to military history, so cannot say if it is accurate to equip Royal Artillery with this weaponry, but the 9 pounder is the model I bought, and I was happy to paint some blue uniforms for a change. In terms of TMWWBK rules, all guns have the same effect anyway. 

Team weapon, Maxim machine gun.

The Maxim machine gun was a cutting edge piece of technology at the time, invented in 1884 , but if humans could make the journey through the ether to reach the inner solar system, I see no reason why a British Army unit couldn't get their hands on a Maxim gun. Still, my unit is 1 model short of a full unit. The additional loader figure is an improvised model, using a Warlord infantryman.

A group of plucky individuals representing the British forces on Mars.

Last up for the British is a group of models I usually class as Irregular Infantry with Modern Rifles - the models are Northstar Hunters and Explorers, Artizan Martian Explorer, Foundry Old West (mounted figure) and lastly a RAFM Martian colonial artilleryman. They can be used to represent the adventurers and pioneers who may lead an expedition into the Martian hinterland (or be required to be rescued from such locales).

So that wraps up the current progress on British forces campaigning in my Martian scenarios, however I plan to add many more models and units, to have bigger battles and have some more flexibility in my forces.

Projects Planned:

• 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.

Long term/Non-priority goals:

• A Royal Navy Gatling gun crew.
• Naval Brigade infantry.
• Gashant Mounted Infantry.

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.

All the forces on the table.

Three units of British Regular Infantry holed up in the abandoned Martian farmhouse.

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.

The attack of the right flank by the Sanwar/Hill units is is marred by inaccurate firing from the Sanwar unit as well as poor unit leadership that is unable to maneuver the Sanwar irregulars quickly into firing positions from the Martian shrubbery. The Hill Martians take a few casualties from the British, who take none at all.

On the left, the preparation is much better, the canal Martians are able to take a few British casualties, as the high Martian unit goes to ground out of range of the British rifles.

High Martians suddenly appear from the scrub, screaming, running and sailing through the air towards the British position! They all make diving attacks at the humans behind their barricades and launch a fierce flurry of blows and axe swings - the attack is a bloodbath for the British, who are forced to fall back from their positions.

2nd Legion decide now to follow the high Martian attack and enter the battlefield taking aim at the left flank. The shooters form the from of the legion, the cutters at the rear.

The center British unit lay down accurate rifle fire on the legion first ranks, whilst the Oenotrian shooters have little success of their own. But the legion commander remarkably keeps his men's order and continues the march, shrugging off pins and casualties (leadership rating 5).

The kraag warriors finish off the last of the western British platoon, and prepare to leap and fly over the ruined farmhouse building, and storm the British centre platoon's position.

The legion company finally reaches the British barricades and launches their fierce attack of pike and spear thrusts. But the human defense is vicious, and wipes out the legion down to their last man.

The high Martian warriors immediately start their attack on the British centre unit, and fly over the ruins into the courtyard. Meanwhile the 3rd British unit, receiving so far no pressure from the ineffective Martian right flank, decide to move into the courtyard in support of their countrymen.

Hill martian tribesman capitalize on the open position and surge forward into the now undefended eastern cattle corral. Their Sanwar allies continue to flounder in the rough ground behind. 

The kraag attack is brutal, and even with sustaining heavy losses, forces the British centre unit into retreat out of the compound. The eastern British unit (still at full strength with 12 riflemen) take their skirmishing shots through the green oasis overgrowth, and the kraags are down to their last 2 warriors.

The retreating British riflemen from the centre unit fall under long-range fire from the canal-martian levies, still perched in hard cover out in the steppes. The conscripts have refused repeatedly to move from the relative safety of their hard cover.

Hill Martians swarm into the compound, and assault the British rifle unit. Fighting through a small opening, I decided to fight the attack with 2 dice per side, as the opening was only about 2 models wide. I would make this attack a multi-turn affair, after 5 turns of combat between the two sides, the side that had lost the most casualties, would finally retreat from the lost combat.

The result of the melee went towards the Martians, who forced their way inside the compound, and the British into retreating against the southern barricade. The remains of the British defense were now split between sides of that southern barricade, as the Martians pressed from all sides.

Another brutal attack from the steppe Martian warriors against the already pinned British finishes the unit to its last man, Sergeant Barkley, who retreats through a compound door.

At last the Sanwar have escaped the viny undergrowth and make an advance on the remains of the British. They open fire on the unit...

Along with their canal-martian allies from the west, and the effect is brutally effective, wiping out the British unit.

With the defense a complete disaster, the lone British survivor Sergeant Barkley runs for the hills, hopefully he can live to fight another day!

Overall a very enjoyable game, the preparation to the attacks felt quite tense, and the tribal attacks required good cooperation and planning to have a chance to beat the European regulars. Some of my home added rules will need some clarifying and tweaking, but it was a great game! Clearly a major victory for the Martian side.