'O' GROUP....... Mars 1889

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When Space 1889 first hit the shelves at the tail end of the 80's, I was living in New Jersey where I shared an apartment with a theatre director and sometime actress. We met in London over Vodka shots at Break For The Border. She was a typically theatrical type, so you can imagine the dramas and emotional rollercoaster ride. Made more 'interesting' that she was somewhat pissed at having been in the same drama class as Rebecca DeMornay, but not done quite so well on the big screen, and not been quite so blonde!

I remember buying Sky Galleons of Mars from The Compleat Strategist in New York, on East 33rd. I had a strong affinity with the shop through The Courier, which was THE BEST wargames' magazine for many, many years in my humble opinion.....

Sky Galleons was a blast to play! Lot's of fun! There's just that something about Peter Pig's 15mm Sudan range naval crew figures (packs 60 & 61) that make me want to scratchbuild my own 15mm aerial Gunboats.


As if I don't have enough projects on the go......tempting though, definitely one for the back-burner. Where this rambling trip down memory lane going, is to say that I picked up a couple of 'Specials' from the Too Fat Lardies this week. You can't fail to love these 'Specials', with their self-effacing humour and eclectic mix of down to earth wargaming articles.

Of particular note to Sci Fi gamers is the 2008 Summer Special which contains Bag the Jedi - a fun variant for the Lardies superb WW2 aerial combat game Bag the Hun!

Best read for me, was the 2008 Christmas Special. What piqued my interest here was twofold - They Don’t Like it Up ‘Em! Sudan rules in the Gilder manner. Expect more regarding VSF games on the blog as a result. Also, A Damnably Close Run Thing - Scott Dallimore's Indian Mutiny variant for the Lardies' acclaimed Sharp Practice Napoleonic/Black Powder skirmish game. There's something about the Mutiny that makes me think of Victorian Mars more so than the late Victorian 'Gunboats down the Nile' period. It occured to me that this could be a good, racuously fun 'skirmish' game option with only a few tweaks.

Before I hare off at a tangent with other rule systems, I'm going to make sure my VSF armies are ready to take the field first and foremost with ALIEN SQUAD LEADER (ASQL)2.0. Which, when all is said and done, is a fun set of rules that's tactically challenging without being demanding to learn, memorise or play. The 'Victorian Imperial' army template in edition 2.0 opens up ASQL to VSF.

Definitely more VSF and traditional Space Opera games with ASQL in the coming months.

Cheers
Mark
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