More here for a recap...
http://scottswargaming.blogspot.co.nz/2011/08/foray-into-vsf.html
However, being the eclectic group that we are, much distraction appears to have ensued, as I disappeared off into the 15mm world of WWII gaming with Flames of War, and Roly has been on his Maori Wars odyssey using Sharps Practice. I'm not sure what Notorious Greg has been up to!
Of our quartet, only Joe stayed on target, and over the past 6 months or so has put together an amazing array of VSF scratch built goodness! More can be seen on his blog here:
http://colonelotruth.blogspot.co.nz/
So, I believe with a view to giving the rest of us a virtual 'thick ear', an impromptu meeting was called at Bowman Towers, where Joe brought all his recent creations for us to drool over, and become suitably inspired once again to get back on target...
Here's a pic of Joe's amazing collection, as Roly looks in amazement, and my son decided to buzz them with his planes. The enigmatic mysterious Notorious Greg can also be seen lurking nearby, minus a head, who is this 'masked man' I hear you ask...?
Roly had actually shown up to grab some dense foam from me to use as a base for his Maori Pa (that means 'fortified village' and not 'father'), the same stuff that Joe has recently used for his river board sections, though Joe had sourced his own.
So we all ogled Joe's handiwork, and probably all inwardly thought; "Christ, how the hell am I going to top that lot!"...
Above, Thomas the Tank engine meets Star Wars in a bizarre and suitable VSF twist, whilst below we can see a possible early prototype of the Dreadnaughts of a futuristic period set 40,000 years from now ;-)
And Gargantua herself, aptly named, this thing is massive! So suitably 'enthused' (read - brow beaten, chastised and sent to the naughty corner!), I promised to make some progress on the VSF world...
All those months ago I did place an order for the Paroom Station Prussians from BrigadeGames, but they arrived and languished in the 'to do' pile, as mountains of 15mm WWII goodies bypassed them to front of the painting queue...
My current batch of Late War WWII projects are nearing completion, and unless I suddenly feel the need to make an early start on MidWar Desert or Eastern Front stuff, I can take a WWII break, and have a crack on with these guys below (Don't worry Paul, I will get your Typhoon finished!)
So above is the first start on prep'ing those Paroom station Prussians. I must admit, when they first arrived their rifles were badly bent in the packs, and I was a little concerned they may just snap off as I tried to bend them back into position, but thankfully the quality of this pewter is rather good and they bent back no problem.
The first 12 figures trimmed, filed and glued to 20mm washers.
Now I have another slight dilemma...
I have used the word 'Prussian' a lot and also loosely thrown around the word 'Bavarian' too in connection with my proposed VSF 'dastardly huns'. I had not thought more about it, until several weeks ago, Roly pinged me an email with a specific uniform depiction for the Bavarian army. I had not realised they had a separate army! Of course, 'Germany' of the period was broken into many separate States...
The Prussian uniform would be a mid blue jacket with dark grey pants, whilst the Bavarian uniform, would be a light blue jacket and pants.
I'm undecided which way to go. I still like the idea of the Prussians, but the Bavarians would be a novel twist, and a lot easier to paint up with the airbrush!
I thought I might run a little poll, whilst I trim the remaining figures, to see what opinions are out there on the subject in the blog-o-verse...
Poll in side bar shortly. Thanks for voting!
Another discussion arose between us all about whats the difference between VSF and Steampunk, and some intersting thoughts and opinions were aired. I asked as I was thinking about making an Aeronef for for my VSF 'huns', but wondered if it would be appropriate for our setting...
I'd welcome your opinions on VSF vs Steampunk, and indeed is there actually any difference or is it just nomenclature???
Very promising and voted!
ReplyDeleteThanks Angry!
DeleteI've only gamed the genre a few times, with other folks stuff; but it was pretty cool. I have some RJW Japanese that I'd like to try out with VSF. Love the Gargantua model, as well as the other neat stuff. Best, Dean
ReplyDeleteI believe Notorious Greg is planning a Japanese force...
DeleteIt simply has to be Prussians, Scott! I can't believe you'd even consider going with those 'soft southerners!' ;)
ReplyDeleteLOL ! Thanks Nate
DeleteWhile it is a "Victorian" setting, you need to keep in mind that is NOT historical; but is rather a "Fantasy" setting.
ReplyDeleteSo, while I prefer the Bavarian uniforms (and would paint them up in the traditional Bavarian cornflower blue rather than the dark Prussian blue that ends up looking almost black) . . . I would most definitely call them "Prussians" (that name just has such evocative connotations that it MUST be used).
So, while I'm voting for the Bavarian colors, I'd still call them Prussians.
-- Jeff
An interesting point Jeff, thanks for your input!
DeleteA wonderful post Scott, I’m a great fan of all three of your blogs so the idea of a joint collaboration is just too good to miss.
ReplyDeleteThanks Michael. I hope we manage to keep things interesting for you. I also hope at some point Notorious Greg starts a blog too as he's a fine painter and modeller too..., Greg you got your ears on buddy? ;-)
DeleteNotorious Greg? A blogger? I'm not holding my breath...
ReplyDeleteI'm with Jeff on this one, Scott - "Prussians" sounds so, well, Prussian. Doesn't it? To Hell with historical accuracy! This is WAR, dammit!
Surely Bavarians would require strange green leather shorts with bum flaps and braces? Not very intimidating...
LOL! Very aptly put on all points Colonel!
DeleteWhat I may do, to keep 'both camps' happy... could be to use the 'traditional' Prussian uniforms for 'Infanterie' troops, and the lighter blue uniform for the 'Aeronef-waffe'..., whilst perhaps another colour for the 'Dampf-panzer' crews, green perhaps... the unifying theme being the Pickelhaube...
I must ponder this further as I see the results of the Poll come in...
Bavarians! Mad King Ludwig - who could be more VSF than that? All to the music of Wagner thumping out. Lots of blue and white diamond designs everywhere, along with that wonderful Bavarian coat-of-arms.
ReplyDeleteYou do make a good arguement and I think you have cemmented in my mind the idea of the 'Bavarians' for the Aeronef-waffe, especially to Wagner - I feel a very 'Apocalypse Now' moment coming - "I love the smell of napalm in the morning"... Napalm? Hmmm - possibly some devilish and dastradly hun invention, requiring a perusal throgh the GASLIGHT weapon stats for a suitable rule...
DeleteVery interesting subject and well...cool! Thought about playing around with it but no time.
ReplyDeletePrussians sounds like a great idea. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
Wonderful pics btw!
Christopher
Very groovy post! Love those custom vehicles - awesome work. I like your idea of having varying uniform colours based on arm of service. Otherwise there is no better nemesis to the armies of Victoria (and France, and Italy, and Russia...) than the Prussians.
ReplyDeleteCool. Yeah I know, as others have said, 'Prussians' has a certain ring to it... :-)
DeleteI think Steampunk is more 'grounded in reality' and mechanical, whereas VSF is a bit more out there fantasy
ReplyDeleteThat's kinda my take on it anyway
Many thanks for your opinion
DeleteI tend to think that Steampunk is on earth in an urban setting and VSF is on another planet... I'm very attracted to the former less to the latter...
ReplyDeleteA very interesting point, and one that I hadnt considered but perhaps you could be on the right track... I dont think our proposed forces have any plans for Alien adventures, we're trying to keep out 'setting' grounded in a colonial setting - so we're more likely to get Zulus along for the ride than martians!
Delete