Post by madmorgan on Jun 1, 2016 21:12:07 GMT
I recently got my copy of Steampunk Soldiers from Osprey, which had been out-of-print since March. Although its based on a different fiction than our AQ, there are numerous great ideas for things useful to the AQ world. It is divided by nations and presents full color plates of different regiments, units, and militia style units. The weapons are interesting (tribarrel shotguns and Colts with 18 shots for example) and I found a number of good ideas both 'high tech' and 'low' (Chinese handheld bamboo rocket launchers for example). I was immediately grabbed by the Black Watch Highlander Battlesuit. Fully enclosed knights helmet to toe in armor with steamcog enchanced strength, wielding a claymore and having an arm-mounted, rapid-fire mini-Maxim gun, this monster could easily have a gasmask on under that helmet. A final fun addition is the controversial built-in set of automatic bagpipes, capable of playing Scotland the Brave at incredible volumes. One could suppose the blade on the claymore is specially coated with martian metal for penetration. Awesome figure.
The Gurkha Rifles 'Frontier Scout' is also a nice figure, with its gasmask and rifle and a large selection of various grenades, ranging from smoke to poison cloud per the article. Remember that these armies are based on fighting human opponents only - for our AQ game those would be acid or alkaline grenades and high explosives.
I was thrilled to see their Royal Marine, Naval Assault Detachment - just like my Nemo Nightmares assault infantry in full diving suit with pneumatic rifle firing steel darts. One could say said darts had acid in them as well, making for a very effective covert naval landing force. Picture Rebel Miniatures figures.
There are numerous figures from the Royal Marine Airship Security Detachment (zeps!) to the Royal Naval commander with his steampunked arm & drum-fed shotgun for boarding actions. One of my favorites is the French Foreign Legion tropper with his steampunk enhanced legs, to allow him to march More. The French enteries had things like the Grenadier of the 'Les Perdus' penal unit. The Germans had a Zepplin Trooper of the 2nd Battalion, armed with a Dreyse air rifle that uses compressed air to fire lead bullets; this to reduce that chance of sparks on board a zep. I suppose the Germans are stuck with hydrogen for their zeps as appears the Brits as well, their security man was armed only with a sword and commo device.
Another favorite was the Stormtrooper of the Saxon Infantry. Again, head to toe, enclosed suit with a riot shield and modified Mauser pistol with box magazine for civil unrest situation. One can imagine a field unit with a better weapon and no shield (although it might give a lifesaving few seconds of protection vs a heatray. From the excellent sniper through the flamethrower figures, the German have effective thought-out weapons. The Paratrooper is a nice example with his googles, gasmask/breather, and 9mm automatic Mauser carbine. The Alpine battalion with its grappling hooks, the assault engineer with his B81 weapon - all go to make the Germans good AQ standins.
I could go on & on, but have to finish with the USA "Iron Brigade" - fully armored head to toe with an autofeed 1 pounder hand cannon! There is such a wealth of ideas and colorful plates in this volume, that I immediately went to Amazon to order the newest companion of Frontier forces. If only someone was making the figures from these - at present I believe Khurasan is the closest to making similiar figures as well as a few of the Rebel Miniatures and 28mm Reaper lines. I could see a unit of USA "Iron Brigade" assaulting the tunnels under a cyclinder - why do they have a human style door on the side of the model anyway?? For the Lobos to use?? I should note that this book is based on the late 19th century. Get this book if you have the least bit interest in steampunk done well... Cheers!
The Gurkha Rifles 'Frontier Scout' is also a nice figure, with its gasmask and rifle and a large selection of various grenades, ranging from smoke to poison cloud per the article. Remember that these armies are based on fighting human opponents only - for our AQ game those would be acid or alkaline grenades and high explosives.
I was thrilled to see their Royal Marine, Naval Assault Detachment - just like my Nemo Nightmares assault infantry in full diving suit with pneumatic rifle firing steel darts. One could say said darts had acid in them as well, making for a very effective covert naval landing force. Picture Rebel Miniatures figures.
There are numerous figures from the Royal Marine Airship Security Detachment (zeps!) to the Royal Naval commander with his steampunked arm & drum-fed shotgun for boarding actions. One of my favorites is the French Foreign Legion tropper with his steampunk enhanced legs, to allow him to march More. The French enteries had things like the Grenadier of the 'Les Perdus' penal unit. The Germans had a Zepplin Trooper of the 2nd Battalion, armed with a Dreyse air rifle that uses compressed air to fire lead bullets; this to reduce that chance of sparks on board a zep. I suppose the Germans are stuck with hydrogen for their zeps as appears the Brits as well, their security man was armed only with a sword and commo device.
Another favorite was the Stormtrooper of the Saxon Infantry. Again, head to toe, enclosed suit with a riot shield and modified Mauser pistol with box magazine for civil unrest situation. One can imagine a field unit with a better weapon and no shield (although it might give a lifesaving few seconds of protection vs a heatray. From the excellent sniper through the flamethrower figures, the German have effective thought-out weapons. The Paratrooper is a nice example with his googles, gasmask/breather, and 9mm automatic Mauser carbine. The Alpine battalion with its grappling hooks, the assault engineer with his B81 weapon - all go to make the Germans good AQ standins.
I could go on & on, but have to finish with the USA "Iron Brigade" - fully armored head to toe with an autofeed 1 pounder hand cannon! There is such a wealth of ideas and colorful plates in this volume, that I immediately went to Amazon to order the newest companion of Frontier forces. If only someone was making the figures from these - at present I believe Khurasan is the closest to making similiar figures as well as a few of the Rebel Miniatures and 28mm Reaper lines. I could see a unit of USA "Iron Brigade" assaulting the tunnels under a cyclinder - why do they have a human style door on the side of the model anyway?? For the Lobos to use?? I should note that this book is based on the late 19th century. Get this book if you have the least bit interest in steampunk done well... Cheers!
