Brigade Models

More extracts from the report by Lt Algernon Carmichael-Jefferies (22nd West Kent Lancers) on his Mars expedition.

Mars is sparsely populated compared to Earth, so we were able to infiltrate ourselves by patrol cutter relatively easily and set up a surveillance post overlooking one of the larger known cities in the region. The southern hemisphere appears to be heavily marked with craters, canyons and other rifts and in the main the larger population areas are based in these lower zones. We set up a post on the walls of the high cliffs around the city, many fathoms above the roofs of the buildings on the crater below. The dwellings of the Syrtians resemble those of the grand old cities of Earth; many would not look out of place in Venice or Vienna. The buildings are made from the local stone but with roofs of a jade coloured material that we did not recognise – it may be of a local equivalent to slate, or coloured tiles, we have yet to find out. The city had a high defensive wall with armed turrets and fortified gates. Small defensive towers were dotted around the city with guns pointed toward the sky, indicating a state of defensive readiness and expectations of attack at any time.

This week we have two packs of tiny resin buildings from which the Syrtians can build their great cities. The first pack has ten larger buildings – civic buildings, temples, homes for the arts and so on. The second pack has 20 smaller dwellings of various types and sizes.

We’ve already released our Syrtian fortresses and castles, so you have all you need to build the city walls. And, in keeping with the prevailing scientific view of Mars at the time, we also have canals.

SSS-1000 – Syrtian City Buildings (x10) – £3.00
SSS-1001 – Syrtian Dwellings (x20) – £3.00

Phil is rather proud of his Welsh heritage, which is why we have a small Welsh fleet in our spaceships range. Recently he’s turned his hand to modelling some famous Welsh castles, the first of which are up for release today.

We’re starting with one of the most famous, Harlech Castle in Gwynedd. Built between 1282 and 1289 by Edward I during his invasion of Wales, it withstood a siege during the uprising of Madog ap Llywelyn in 1294-5 but fell to Owain Glyndwr in 1404 before being recaptured in 1409. It was besieged by the Yorkists during the War of the Roses, and then during the English Civil War it was the final castle to fall to the parliamentarians.

The castle has concentric walls with a large gatehouse and four great towers on each corner of the inner wall. It doesn’t have a conventional central keep, instead the great hall and various service buildings were built against the inside of the inner wall.

Our second castle today is Criccieth, also in Gwynedd. In fact we have two versions, early and late, as the castle was substantially extended after the initial build. The inner ward and gatehouse was built in the 1230s by Llywelyn ap Iorwert. The outer ward was constructed by his grandson, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd beginning in around 1255. The castle was captured by Edward I in 1283, after which further improvements were made. It was besieged during Madog ap Llywelyn’s revolt of 1294-5, and captured in 1404 during Owain Glyndwr’s uprising (and possibly burnt). Our models represent firstly the initial build of just the inner ward, while the later model incorporates the extensions and the outer ward.

SSS-8230 – Harlech Castle – £5.00
SSS-8231a – Criccieth Castle (early) – £2.00
SSS-8231b – Criccieth Castle (late) – £4.00

This week’s release arose from a conversation at Joy of Six last year; someone suggested that what the Small Scale Scenery range needed was some canal pieces (take a bow, Des). His interest was in Cold War games and he pointed out that Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany are criss-crossed by canals of various sizes which would be vital linear obstacles during any Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe. They were also significant during WW2, with the British defence of the Ypres-Comines canal in 1940 significantly delaying the Germans in their drive to Dunkirk.

And canals are also apposite in relation to some of our other recent releases, because of course Mars is famous for its non-existent canals, and our Syrtian fortifications would be ideal for guarding these waterways on the Red Planets.

So, we have created a small range of resin pieces that allow you to create a simple, straight watercourse on your table. The width of the water is 25mm, which equates to 25m (~80 feet) – a reasonably sized canal for commercial traffic. We have two plain straights – one 80mm long, the other 160mm. We also have a 40mm long bridge section designed to fit one of our Girder bridges (a random one is supplied) and an 80mm long lock section with a lock-keeper’s house and pumphouse.

The pieces are sold individually, and there’s a pack of four long straights, four short straights, one lock and two bridges.

SSS-8229 – Canal Set – £30.00
SSS-8229a – Long Canal Straight – £4.00
SSS-8229b – Short Canal Straight – £2.00
SSS-8229c – Bridge – £3.00
SSS-8229d – Canal Locks – £2.50

Background image by Handiwork Games; mats by Geek Villain.