old west Archives - Page 10 of 13 - Felix's Gaming Pages

Undercoating the Steam Tank

The Ironclad Miniatures Steam Tank was given a white undercoat.

Undercoating the Victorian SF Tunnelling Machine

The resin pieces of the Ironclad Miniatures Tunnelling Machine were very clean and needed minimal work to get them sorted. The pieces went together very easily. I then gave the model a white undercoat.

I do like this model and think it will be very useful as the core of different kinds of Victorian SF scenarios, even if it actually doesn’t get used itself. It could even just be scenery in the background.

The next stage will be applying the basecoat to the various parts of the model.

Steampunk Tanks

I have been looking at the forthcoming releases for the Dystopian Legions and quite like the look of the Britannic and Prussian steam powered tankettes.

These I think would work well in my Steampunk Old West setting. They seem to fit in well with the Ironclad Miniatures Tunneller and Steam Tank.

I do like the concept of Dystopian Legions, and probably will get the rules, but I think I might actually use the Old West rules instead using aspects of the Dystopian Legions background and miniatures.

Old West Steam Tank

I recently wrote a blog article on adding Science Fiction elements to Old West gaming, SteamPunk Old West.

I wanted a couple of vehicles to go with the Old West miniatures that were on my workbench. I bought a couple of resin models from Ironclad miniatures, including one of the steam tanks. It comes in a variety of pieces.

In order to paint it I am going to keep the tracks and turret separate from the main hull. The model went together very easily and needed minimal work or preparation.

Here is the tank assemblies together to see what the finished tank will look like.

I will be giving the model a white undercoat and then a basecoat of sand.

Tunnelling Machine

The pieces of the Ironclad Miniatures Tunnelling Machine were very clean and needed minimal work to get them sorted.

The pieces went together very easily.

Next stage will be an undercoat, I am undecided to go with a black or white undercoat. I am going for a wooden hull though.

Steam Tank

The military might in the Victorian era was enhanced with powerful steam tanks.

I recently wrote an article on adding Science Fiction elements to Old West gaming, SteamPunk Old West. I wanted some vehicles to go with the Old West miniatures I was painting. Looking at the resin models from Ironclad miniatures, one that did catch my eye was one of the steam tanks. It comes in a variety of pieces.

This is a very clean casting. There are not many parts and this dry run shows it was very easy to put together. I am thinking about adding more details to the model.

The first task was to wash the resin, to remove any remaining mould lubricant.

Tunnelling Machine

Thinking about possible scenarios, the idea of gold mines came to me. So decided to purchase the model. Very much a Jules Verne style model it was still looked very much like it would fit into the old west environment.

It was a very clean casting and there weren’t too many pieces either.

The first task was to wash the resin, to remove any remaining mould lubricant.

Tanking in the Last Crusade

Though we know it wasn’t real, and though we know that there was no actual historical version of it; I am sure most of us who have thought about recreating the Indiana Jones films on the table have wanted to use that tank.

Yes the tank from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

It appears at first glance to be a Mark VIII with a turret, the reality was that it was built specially for the film and was built up from an excavator.

Mechanical effects supervisor George Gibbs said this movie was the most difficult one of his career. He visited a museum to negotiate renting a small French World War I tank, but decided he wanted to make one. The tank was based on the tank Mark VIII, which was thirty-six feet (eleven meters) long, and weighed twenty-five tons. Gibbs built the tank over the framework of a twenty-five ton excavator, and added 6.4 ton tracks, that were driven by two automatic hydraulic pumps, each connected to a Range Rover V8 engine. Gibbs built the tank from steel, rather than aluminum or fiberglass, because it would allow the realistically suspensionless vehicle to endure the rocky surfaces. Unlike its historical counterpart, which had only the two side guns, the tank had a turret gun added as well. It took four months to build, and was transported to Almería on a Short Belfast plane, and then a low loader truck.

Now regular readers of my blog may remember this photo.

The Talisman Archaeologist from Talisman Timescape is very much an Indy lookalike and many years ago I started to formulate a series of rules and background for creating games in an Indiana Jones style universe that was called Tally Ho!

I always wanted to get a World War One era tank to fit into the game and recreate that battle with the tank from the Last Crusade film.

Well now I can get a 28mm tank just like that one from the film. Copplestone Castings have released the K64 Mark IX Beast Super-Heavy Tank and Accessory Pack.

This is an almost perfect replica of that tank from that film.

Really impressed with the look and quality, might get one. As for rules, well I will probably mash up the rules from The Great War with the Old West. Or even just the Great War rules.

Gunfighters and Outlaws

I was lucky enough to get for one Christmas a few years back two packs of Foundry Old West Outlaws.

I am in the process of painting the models using a variety of colours.

Really nice miniatures, really need to get them finished.

Have a look at my Old West miniatures Gallery and Old West Workbench.

No More Warhammer Historical

It would appear that Games Workshop have closed down Warhammer Historical.

I have bought many of their publications in the past, really liked the production values, though I know many hard-core gamers looked down on the rules, I always thought that they were simple yet fun.

I should have guessed something was in the air when they did their relatively recent half-price sale. Then I got the new Great War supplement, the hardbacked Waterloo rules and the Old West expansion.