LOVE – A Stargrave Romance

Stephen takes us on a starry-eyed journey to the, er, stars…

It turned out that a club meeting fell on February 14th this year. Valentine’s Day. There was only one thing for it – a suitably themed game of Stargrave.

Beneath the twin stars of Romeo and Juliet is the planet Romance. The major space port on Romance is the city of Verona. But the city is riven by two competing families: the Montagues and Capulets. One member of the Montague family, Tony, is due to marry his beloved – an Angel from the planet Seraphim, by the name of Maria. Tony believes the Capulets have kidnapped her and that she is being kept somewhere in the West Side of the city, where the Capulets are in control. He offers a substantial reward to whichever crew can return his dearest.

West Side of Verona

The table represented a section of the city. Heart-shaped chocolates were laid out on the table. These would either be clues to help them locate Maria or loot tokens (physical loot only in this game, to reflect the passion of Tony’s love). They wouldn’t know if it was a clue or loot until they reached it.

As well as the main mission of rescuing Maria, we also used the Side Hustle cards. In addition, there was a third objective – each player would gain an extra 25 experience points if they could compose a four line poem about Love. This would be doubled if the beauty and nature of the poem reduced any participant to an overflowing of emotions.

We’ll let the captains tell you how it went…

A busy town square

Captain Hertz van Rental’s Report

As Andy was off to my flank I decided to try the peaceful approach first and ignore him in order to acquire more information before entering the mayhem phase. This lasted about one turn before one of the nearest events turned into a ruddy big predator/doggie thing which proceeded to savage one of my crew; one down, several to go…

Trouble outside the cantina

We made some progress towards the rogue robot, as I had quickly decided that only mega-mayhem awaited any ‘rescue parties’, whether from locals or each other – a semi-wise decision as it turned out. As we made our way around the back alleys of the starport, we soon spied a particularly dodgy and well-armed lot approaching in the distance, led (well, egged-on from somewhat further back), by Captain Jeremy, a veteran Pirate leader whose very name brought fear to many systems (and a good laugh to many more). This group had sped-up in their approach as it turned out that their entry point was near the rogue robot, and that it – displaying excellent taste – soon decided to start shooting them!

A deadly encounter around the back of the cantina

In the meantime I had led the bulk of my (remaining) crew further on and was attempting to engage a local (unarmed) robot in conversation, with a view to any knowledge about excess Juliets in the area. I tried the robot as I thought that, unlike any locals (whose loyalties and thus veracity I could not be sure about), it might give truthful answers. Alas, it soon turned out ZX81 was not programmed for either conversation, information, confirmation or even altercation – but the latter was then supplied by ‘Jeremy’s Jumpers’ who proceeded to open fire!

I won’t dwell on the subsequent exchange – some from each crew went down (rather more than Jeremy was expecting?), but Big-J was off elsewhere, by then interviewing, and then fighting with the personnel and customers in a large local cantina…. More importantly for my lot I had made a quick mental calculation about the remaining distance to the rogue robot vs the approximate time of self-destruct before we could deactivate it. Quickly deducing that the odds were by now near-impossible, I began to remove the crew from the area with a couple of minor bonus bits we had found en-route. This decision was hastened by the sounds of major fire-fights having broken out across town where Alan and Eric had discovered the lair of the other gang and thus the location of the reluctant Juliet.

It all happens down the back alleys

Our withdrawal went without incident except for a small misunderstanding with Andy. It soon became apparent that, having found some other bonus bits early on, he had decided to leave a pile of them with only one guard while he took the bulk of his crew further into town. Now, I like to think I have drilled my disparate crew in their civil duties when visiting alien towns, and so – spotting this pile of (admittedly valuable) ‘fly-tipping’ near our exit, I offered to remove the stuff. The guard had no sense of humour, and objected most violently – if briefly… However, Alan had also left a specialist snip nearby, and so not all my crew reported back for supper that evening. And it was Spoo, as well – their favourite….

The stars for shame shall hide their light,
as my beloved ascends aright,
and all shall marvel at the sight,
of a new Angel born tonight.

-Cpt VanRental-

Tybalt Capulet and Greyfax see things differently
Captain Greyfax’s Report

The crew of the Lost Hope landed on planet Romance and began making their way across the city of Verona, looking for clues to the location of Mariah the “Angel”, the kidnapped love of Tony Montague. Having secured a side hustle card that would prove invaluable later in the game, the team split up, with the captain making for the local watering hole, whilst first mate Kadal took the of the crew with him scouring the streets for anything that might lead them to their prize.

A splitscreen van goes for a lot now

Knowing that information could be traded for coin Captain Greyfax entered the bar where she spied a likely candidate who might be willing to part with some intel. The alien monkey sex worker said it would cost a fair bit for her to tell anything that might be useful. She was looking to get off-planet. Despite having a pistol held to her head and being plied with credits the alien monkey sex worker remained resolute and refused any information. Realising that either the simian prostitute was ignorant of what Greyfax wanted to know, or was too afraid to spill the beans, and a few credits lighter, she left the bar.

Meanwhile, on the street outside, Kadal instructed the ship’s Chisler, Cl4pTrP to check out a container that seemed a prime candidate for storing loot.  Cl4pTrP opened the container, and once the contents were established as being of some value, began to make his way back to the ship. As Cl4pTrP scuttled off, the ship’s hacker, Devo Ranks ambled up to a nearby communication tower and casually began side loading infiltration code from his advanced deck in order to hijack the tower and force it to yield its secrets.

Kadal and his retinue then ran afoul of what appeared to be some local yahoos. A fight erupted which escalated to gunplay.  Shots were exchanged and judicious use of fragmentation grenades ensued. The team drove the ne’er do wells into a nearby warehouse where the thugs desperately attempted to make a last stand. Captain Greyfax caught up with Kadal and his men and the team took some casualties due to the liberal use of grenades and a psionic fire attack in an enclosed space.

Murch the bounty hunter finally catches up with captain Greyfax

The leader of the thugs finally went down (whether it was to a grenade, bullets, a swathe of fire or a simple punch, no one could recount for sure in the confusion, but all claimed they were responsible) and with that, resistance collapsed. Once the enemy had been “pacified”, the crew discovered Mariah the “Angel” was being held captive, right there in the warehouse. What luck!

Wasting no time, the crew limped or crawled from the warehouse, where they were greeted by Devo Ranks, the hacker. He cheerfully informed them that his successful hacking of the comms tower revealed a hidden matter transport network (the result of the previously mentioned side hustle card). Wasting no time, Greyfax instructed the crew to use the network to return to the ship. Once there, they rendezvoused with Tony Montague and reunited him with his betrothed.

Maria is rescued

Now two hundred and fifty credits richer, none of the crew suffered lasting injuries although, some may have interesting scars to talk about and know to stand well clear of crewmember Espinosa when he starts loading his grenade launcher.

Roses are red,
violets are blue.
I’m rubbish at poems,
Nice ****.

-Cpt Greyfax-

Let it be stated here that Murch the bounty hunter has put a bounty of 150 credits on Captain Greyfax’s head to whoever can take Greyfax down to 0 Health. This will be doubled to 300 credits if this results in a kill. Murch wants it known that Greyfax is a cheat and swindler who took his spaceship from him after Greyfax cheated at a game of Sabacc, and should never be trusted.

Captain Blake’s Report

This was going to be an unusual mission. I wasn’t sure if it was a rescue or a kidnap, so the crew decided on a bit of caution.

The idea being to see what loot we could salvage and if there was a chance to set Mariah free to take it. We landed in a busy urban area and it was clear there were several other crews in town, the crew split up and started to gather loot and clues to finding Mariah. Good progress was made and the other crews seemed intent on the mission.

Softly, softly catchy monkey

Things took a turn for the worse when what appeared to be a pile of junk suddenly turned into a fully armed and rather aggressive robot. Several shots saw a number of the crew taking damage. While taking cover several members of the crew found themselves in close proximity to a rival crew (Pete’s), meanwhile other members of the crew made their way to the local bar to start asking questions.
Things got a bit heated in the bar and Captain Blake was forced to adjust the behaviour of one of the locals. At the same time Pete’s crew were too close for comfort and with the junk robot still shooting at anything that moves we decided to fight our way through them and make good our escape.

With the clues in the bar leading to nothing, we stepped out into the town square right in the middle of a fire fight, Eric’s gang appeared to have taken out several gang members and a rogue bounty hunter. They were also about to storm a building, so we thought it was a good time to leave. The junk robot had finally finished shooting and so the rest of the crew could escape with their loot.

Captain Blake’s crew approach a broken robot

A good horde was collected that day and we saw on the news feeds later that Mariah had been rescued, so good all round.

My heart belongs to no other,
as I stare at you from cover.
Our future could have been bright,
But you’re currently in line of sight.

– Cpt Blake

Captain Reynolds’ Report

Mal had briefed the crew before leaving the Serenity in orbit around the planet Romance: “Badger told us that the Montagues have placed an open contract to find one of the family member’s fiancée, an Angel from Seraphim. The Montagues believe she has been kidnapped by their rivals, the Capulets. They believe the Angel is being held near the spaceport that the Capulets control in Verona. Whoever returns this Angel to the Montagues in good health will be amply rewarded.”

“There’s history between these two families,” he added, “a long and bloody history. We go looking for this Angel, but I don’t want to lose anyone to this family feud. So, we’re not going to dig too deep into the Capulet’s business. And just between ourselves, we have rumours that somewhere under Verona are the remains of an Independent planetary defence bunker. We have a lead on the way in, so we’re looking for an access panel on a Pylon that should let us gain entry to the bunker.”

There’s plenty of monkey love in the local cantina

Inara & Wash set down the shuttle on the landing pads of Verona West Side space port. Mal led his team of Wash, Kaylee and Derrial towards the town square where he believed the Pylon they needed could be found. Zoe’s team of Jayne, Inara and River took a different route, headed for a bar, thinking they may hear news of the Angel there. Tracey and Simon held back, Tracey climbing a tower to get into a position where he could support either team.

Mal and Zoe both activated their Energy Shields, which would give them a little added protection, and Zoe activated a drone and sent it scouting towards a loot marker. Mal encountered some locals on the way and discretely asked if anyone had heard anything about the Angel. Both looked nervously around, but confided that if anyone knew anything it would be Tybalt Capulet, the family’s consigliere and head of security. Not a nice man, apparently, but he could often be found at the town centre bar.

Mal passed this intel on to Zoe, then led his team to the Pylon. After a couple of attempts he was able to unlock it, giving them the access codes needed to get into the bunker. While he was doing this Wash managed to unlock a loot token. Zoe’s drone was heading for the loot token when it was blown out of the air by a member of another crew, one we had not encountered before. Jayne got into position and opened fire taking out the opposing crew member with a headshot. KayLee came across another loot token and unlocked it. In the distance the crew could hear an exchange of gun fire.

What’s this big red thing ?

Having unlocked the Pylon, and seeing Capt Greyfax’s crew gathering outside a storage bunker with what looked like a group of Capulets heading in their direction, Mal sent the recall and told the crew to withdraw to the Pit, which was the way into the bunker. Zoe’s team had entered the bar when they got the recall, on exiting she deployed another drone to give cover. As the crew gathered in an alleyway Derrial was assaulted, with no good reason, by a local thug. Fortunately, KayLee and Simon came to Derrial’s aid, with KayLee administering the coup de grace to the local ruffian. Leaving the ruffian sprawled in the dust the crew made their way to the Pit and used the access codes to get into the bunker.

Come on, lets all rough up that innocent bystander

The crew found the bunker eerie but deserted, and managed to find Trade Goods to the value of 180CR. The crew made their way through the tunnels back to the starport and lifted off in the shuttle to return to the Serenity.The other loot turned out to be another Pick Caster and a pair of Lift Gloves.

Mal commended the crew, no one was injured (apart from the loss of a Drone), and there was 540CR worth of loot added to the hold. Mal decided to sell the Trade Goods and the Pick Caster, bringing in 420CR, and hold on to the Lift Gloves for now.

Roses are red,
violets are blue.
If you need minions,
please speak to Gru.

-Cpt Reynolds-

Work in Progress Wednesday

Work in Progress Wednesday is back after a short break to showcase other things we get up to at the society.

We start this week with a scratch building theme, and a pen holder piece of plastic that I’ve turned into some sort of refinery, I didn’t have to do anything other than paint it and use a bit of stuffing material as smoke.

Next up and Peter M has been converting more Star Wars toys as various vessels for his Ships of Mars game.

And sticking with Mars, Marcus W has used the lid from a Lego kit as a Mars type Skif for the current show game Labyrinths of Mars.

Marcus W has also been working on some towers for the game, that will include a sky bridge!

Back to some miniatures now, and Stephen has modified both this Necron and 3D printed character, no doubt for Stargrave.

And not to feel left out for this weeks theme, he has also painted up another piece of packaging as a Sci-Fi building.

And with that we will see you next week.

Society Meeting 11/04/2026

With all of the Society’s blog editors at Salute, Stephen steps up to the plate with a short report on the games played at the Society meeting last weekend.

At the club today we had four games. Since it was also the day of Salute, club meetings tend to have fewer attending due to the fact that some members will be at Salute. (Ed: See a report on the Salute trip and the Award received here).
First up, we have a game of FoG. This is a stalwart game of the club and at most meetings there will be a game on the go. The FoGgers got in two games. In the first one it was the Romans having a bust up with the Carthaginians and in the second it was those same Romans (they’re a chippy bunch, eh?) taking a pop at some Seleucids.
The Hand Of God
Fragmented. But aren’t we all?
Dave and Pete had a game of General d’Armee – a Napoleonic game. I’m sure I was told it was Prussians and Bavarians, but I might have got it wrong. Dave is a keen Napoleonicist (is that a word? It is now) and there were loads of figures on the table.
Prussians or Bavarians? (Ed: Prussians I think)
Or Is Bavarians or Prussians (Ed: Bavarians this time)
Next up we have two Saga games.
John and Bob had a couple of games with Norse Gaels and Anglo-Saxons. I believe this was Bob’s first go with Saga and from what I heard he experienced the Norse Gaels’ shocking ability to dish out some damage.
Anglo Saxons Dreading The Inevitable Charge
Norse Gaels On The Razz
Tony G and myself also had a game of Saga. Having recently read a book on William II I thought the rebellion of Bishop Odo in 1088 would make a good one-day campaign. So we played three linked games. The winner of each would decide who would be attacker and defender in the next scenario. The campaign winner would be the one who scored the most total Victory Points.
(Ed: The picture at the top of the post “Burn Tonbridge, Burn” is from this series of games).
Making Way Across Aylesford Bridge
Bit Of A Long Distance Lob Shot
Modesty prevents me from saying who won…
(Ed: I think we can guess Stephen! We should be back to the WIP Wednesday posts from next week.)

The Labyrinths of Mars at Salute 53

Last Saturday a contingent from the Society attended Salute 53 to run Marcus’s The Labyrinths of Mars Game, a mash up of John Carter of Mars and the board game Labyrinth.

Above we see Marcus giving a last minute briefing to Chairman Mark and Alan.

Here are a couple of shots of the  Labyrinth before the games started.

The Labyrinth
The game set up, ready for the Salute horde
A view from the other side
Andy and Marcus before the first game

Next up some of the Heroes, Villains and Creatures of Barsoom.

A pair of Red Martian adventurers
A Synthetic Man
Red Martian Adventurers engage
An Amt and it’s victim
A Thark, or Green Martian

More information of the making of the game can be found at a previous blog post

The game proved very popular with visitors to Salute 53. We ran several games with enthusiastic participants.

Mark H and Marcus running a game.
Competitors studying the Labyrinth as Andy and Mark H look on.
The game in progress
Another game in progress

And, we are very pleased to say that the game impressed the South London Warlords, as they gave it the Most Innovative Game award.

 

The Most Innovative Game of Salute 53!

Well done to Marcus and the members running the game!

One proud game organiser!

An interview with Marcus appears on the On Table Top You Tube channel, at around one hour in.

The Labyrinths of Mars coming to Salute 53

There are only 4 days to go before the big wargaming show Salute 53 this Saturday 11th April.
The society will be there with this years show game ‘The Labyrinths of Mars‘, we are at stand GD10 so if you are at the show come and have a game.

To set the scene the games creator Marcus will tell you a tale …

The airboat glided low over the shimmering fringes of the Toonolian Marshes, the whirring propellers thrusting the craft forward, slicing through mist that shimmered with a faint bioluminescence. The turgid waters—a foetid and heady brew of rot and decomposition breathed below. A vast, swampy expanse where the air itself seemed heavy with memories much older than Barsoomian civilization older than Helium.
Ahead rose the blackened silhouette of the stronghold of the mastermind of Mars, Ras Thavas. Or what remained of it.

Sections of the high perimeter walls had collapsed outward, as though struck not by outside force but by violent upheaval from within. Stone lay in jagged heaps among half melted metal structures. While a handful of towers remained standing, even these were badly damaged The ugly scent of the marshes diminished as the air filled with the smells of scorched alloy and bitter chemicals.

Kael Torm stood behind Paxia on the flier’s narrow deck, one gauntleted hand gripping the rail. A mechanical left eye, secured from Ras Thavas himself many years previously by Paxia’s father, clicked faintly. It adjusted focus, scanning the silent ruin. “Lady Paxia,” he murmured, “the walls were not breached. They were shattered by an outward blast.”

Paxia nodded once, guiding the craft forward. “There were many scientific marvels in that place. Things unimagined by most. Just like your own eye Kael. We should be cautious.” Kael said nothing. He trusted her insight more than his own instincts.

They were just around the height of the walls, passing between their jagged remnants, when it happened. A sensation, a subtle shudder, passed through the hull. The airboat did not lurch or buck. Instead, the resonance of the engine slid out of harmony. Paxia felt it in her fingers before she heard it—a shift in weight, a quiet correction not her own.

Kael stiffened. “Something from the past just woke up.”
A thread of pale blue light drifted upward from the ruins below. Or did it actually appear to flow back from the craft, drawn down like an insect to some stimuli. It did not strike like a weapon. It caressed the hull, spreading in delicate geometric patterns—flickering filaments that appeared only for a moment before dissolving, as if ashamed to linger.
The airboat slowed.
The controls deadened beneath Paxia’s hands. Not dead.
Directed.
“Not something built today,” she paused. “Not even by the Mastermind himself.”
Kael nodded grimly. “If Ras Thavas had discovered it, he would have studied it, controlled it and used it, not left it slumbering.”
The descent, understood or not, was deliberate—almost courteous. The craft spiralled downward in a slow arc. Paxia glanced another flier for an instant. “We are not the first to investigate the beacon.” She pointed an abandoned vessel out to Kael as their craft landed in the inner courtyard with such precision that it could have been guided by a careful pilot.
The pale light vanished as if nothing had occurred.
Kael scanned quickly. “No structural damage. No heat deformation, but it drained the power.”

Paxia dismounted, staring at a faint etching now marking the flier’s underside. “Someone told the system to bring us here. And not just us.”
“And that someone?” Kael asked.
“Let us find out.”
She did not say what both now suspected—a relic system of Thern origin and unknown antiquity.

They approached the broken entrance leading beneath the stronghold. The carved archway had bowed inward, its supports cracked but still standing, as though the building refused to surrender its secret integrity.
The interior passages sloped downward almost immediately. Their was little left above ground except rubble. The air cooled. Shadows deepened into long, uneasy shapes cast by flickering power crystals. Paxia and Kael moved carefully, past glass vats burst like monstrous eggshells and restraints torn from their housings.
Paxia crouched beside a burn mark spiralling toward a cracked drain. “Deliberate venting,” she murmured. “Someone freed these things. Whatever they were.”

Kael scanned the dark. “It seems unnaturally quiet.”
They continued downward into a labyrinth crafted from Ras Thavas’ unique combination of science and eccentricity. Corridors twisted in mathematically unsettling patterns, forcing constant reorientation. Paxia touched the wall lightly—an instinct for pattern whispering to her.
“We are being directed,” she said softly.
Kael frowned. “Driven?”
“No. Welcomed.”

They emerged into a vast subterranean gallery.

Here, the ceiling soared high, supported by angled pylons cracked with strain. Broken control tables lay overturned, cables sprawled like lifeless tendrils. A single shimmer of light flickered across the far wall.

And there stood a figure. Four grotesque hulking creatures accompanied it. The brutes stood around her in ritual formation, their faces and bodies a pastiche of regular beings. Each held heavy swords and daggers, silent, and alert. She, the figure, and one of striking power and grace, was examining her reflection in a fractured mirror panel while her hands worked some unknown controls.

“You are punctual,” she said as they approached. Paxia observed the woman and her white skin. “To what end have you wrought this havoc, Thern?”

The woman turned. Recognition flared—followed by something more unsettling.

Curiosity. “You may address me as High Priestess of Issus. I inherited that title from my Father.” Paxia’s brow furrowed. “Phaiador died falling when she jumped from a flier. I heard that story from John Carter himself”.

“A shame he is not here to see this. I had hoped the beacon might bring him. But the daughter of Paxton will suffice.”  Kael’s sword was held only at the ready, honour-bound until threatened. Pistol resting at his hip. “My followers found me broken and brought me, barely alive, to Ras Thavas. He healed me. But I am Phaidor, I could not be less. He used synthetic flesh to rescue my body. But it was not…enough. After he met your father, Ras Thavas became interested in travel between worlds, particularly between Barsoom and Jasoom. He was intrigued by those who had travelled like Paxton, Carter and the others.

“Others?” Now Paxia was as intrigued as she was shocked by the revelation of Phaidors existence. It explained so much of the Thern resurgence. But other Jasoomians on Barsoom?

“Few, to be sure, but Thavas tracked them down. I assisted him. I had my own designs. Eventually, he found what I wanted.” Phaiador paused, almost as if she expected Paxia to grasp the meaning immediately. And indeed the enormity of the truth struck Paxia even before the words were pronounced. “This body.” At that, Phaiador leapt. An outstanding leap. An un-martian leap to a platform above. She laughed and jumped again. Half-way across the cavern! To a platform, onto machinery, and on.

“Ras Thavas’ stronghold is in ruin,” Paxia shouted to her. “What happened here?”

Phaiador tilted her head and paused, knowingly. “I am now truly the High Priestess of Issus! She paused again. “The Mastermind of Mars overreached himself. He believed knowledge could be held in chains. His chains. His power. I removed those chains. And I took the power.”

Paxia had almost forgotten about the creatures. It was clear now what they were, although she had only heard the stories. Synthetic men. Kael had not forgotten. One shifted subtly—its smallest motion enough to draw Kael’s attention.

Phaiador smiled.

“And now, Paxia of Helium, I’ll pose you a test…”

The blade was in her hand before Paxia saw her draw it, and she was in the air before Paxia knew what was happening.

The leading creature lunged toward Paxia but she had moved a moment earlier.

Kael however acted the instantly.

His rapier blurred and the creatures, acolytes of the Priestesss, who had been encroaching stealthily backed off as that first fell. “No, she is mine!” cried Phaiador as she landed, graceful and powerful as a banth before Paxia, slashing at her. Paxia drew both swords in a single fluid motion as the chamber erupted into chaos. Instinct honed by training with the Warlord of Mars himself drove her to respond without thought. But, the impact of the blade on hers, when it came, was terrible. Stunned, Paxia staggered back. Phaiador’s strength was immense. “This body was a warrior on Jassoom too. Something known as a Viking. I like the sound of that name. High Priestess Phiador, Viking Queen of Mars!” She bounded forward again, madness in her eyes. Paxia sprang aside, gasping at the speed of Phaiador’s attack. She felt the blade scythe past her cheek.

Kael charged into the midst of the followers wielding his sword in a flashing arc, slicing the nearest creature deeply as he stepped to guard Phaiadors flank.

The remaining bodyguards advanced recklessly, also shifting to shield Phaiador. Now, as fast as she had been the aggressor, she withdrew with a bound toward a descending corridor which appeared even older than the rest of the stronghold.

And now Paxia noticed the creatures stirring in the side passages—shadows with too many limbs, the half‑made and the newly awakened drawn by sound and movement. They did not attack; they followed Phaiadors direction like congregants following a priest. More synthetic monsters. Like gruesome dolls thrown haphazardly together with no account for form, function or proportion.

Phaiador, leaping back among them paused at the threshold of the deeper passages of the labyrinth.

“You were brought here for a purpose, Paxia,” she cried. “Helium and her allies believe in destiny. Let us see how much of that belief survives what is coming.”

Her eyes glinted—not with madness this time but with terrible clarity.

“You will follow. You must. The Labyrinth beckons.”

Then she vanished into the ancient dark as Paxia and Kael ran toward her and the followers. “What of Ras Thavas?” Paxia shouted after her. Phaiadors voice could just be made out, “He awaits you…”

And the corridor sealed itself with a double rumble of some carefully planted explosives, narrowly missing Paxia and Kael, cutting off immediate pursuit.

Kael exhaled slowly. “Something has driven her from sanity. Could it be the synthetic flesh? Is that why those creatures did her bidding?”

Paxia sheathed one sword, keeping the other ready. “The synthetic flesh, the trauma of her injury. Her hatred of the red race… But she wants us alive. She wants us down here. Or down there. Otherwise she would have continued her assault.” She paused, “I could barely hold her off for all my training.”

Kael nodded. “You did well, whatever you think Paxia. That was no ordinary test of your skills and you know it.” “What did she mean, the Labyrinths beckon?”

Paxia stared at the boulders covering the passage Phaiador had taken.

“Because of whatever lies down there,” she whispered, “…she has some foul scheme in mind. That has not been changed by her new body. She is drunk with hatred…and ambition. We must thwart her scheme”

Above them, the marsh mists thickened.

Below them, the old machinery still hummed faintly, as though remembering its original purpose.

The descent had only begun.

Work in Progress Wednesday (1st April repost)

We had an Aprils fools clich so let’s post this one again!

It’s Work in Progress Wednesday time and we start with mark J who has returned to painting more WW2 German infanty.

Next up and Marcus W has been busy painting some additions for the current society show game The Labyrinths of Mars for the upcoming Salute wargames show.

Jumping back to WW2 and Chris St has painted up more german armour and other vehicles.

As for me, it’s slow progress by still progress on my robot army, they’ve now have a silver dry brush and contrast colour.

I have some bigger robots from an unreleased range, where I’ve taken the arms off and added an assortment of guns.

And with that we will see you next week.

Society Meeting 28/03/2026

Andy presents a photo round up of this weekend’s games.

Peter M put on a multiplayer 25mm skirmish game set in the Indian Mutiny, 1857 ‘Don’t Lucknow’

No scenery in this game, the grey areas are roads and alleys, white are buildings.

Stephen & Andy started a Barons War mini campaign, “A Most Ignoble Feud.”

Colin & Paul ran a 2mm Strength & Honour game, Late Republican Roman vs Pontic

David P ran a 28mm GdA2 Napoleonics game, Saxons vs Prussians

Eric put on a Classic Battletech game.

That’s all for now.

Work in Progress Wednesday

It’s Wednesday and we start this week with Mark J and some progress on his WW2 British infantry. I think there’s still quite a few to go to match the number of German infantry already completed.

Moving on and I’ve finished the sci-fi base in a crater terrain piece I was making.

As I was in a terrain mood I decided to put my loose rubble pieces made from unwanted plasterboard, together on a base and add flock and plants to make it look like a post apocalyptic or long abandoned ruin. I have another 5 of these to finish up.

Next up and although not strickly for wargaming Stephen had a space on the shelf so decided to build and paint the Revell Millennium Falcon ship.

And last but not least, but buried at the bottom of this post (sorry) we have Tony F who has painted some grave stones from Debris of War.

And with that we will see you next week with some more wargaming visual delights.

Society Meeting 28/02/2026

A very delayed pictorial roundup of the last Society meeting of February 2026, due to some IT issues at one of the editors home.

David P ran a General d’Armee 2nd edition  game of French vs Russians in 1813

Tony P ran a mixed scale  FoG Ancients game (both scales use the same base sizes)

Eric ran another episode in his ongoing Shadow of the Dragon Queen D&D campaign, but sadly we have no photos.

Work in Progress Wednesday

Welcome to another Work in Progress Wednesday post, we start this week with Chris St and some 20mm German armoured cars, not sure if this was on a whim or part of a larger force. Wil definitely be in good company with the amount of 20mm WW2 miniatures owned by the members.

Sticking with the WW2 theme and Mark J has done some more work on his German Flak38.

And some progress on his WW2 British infantry.

Progressing to a more modern era and Stephen has some vehicles to add to his Vietnam collection, this time a PBR, M48 and M577. The only vehicles I’ve seen in games are planes or choppers so will be interested if he is planning a game with more armour.

And lastly this week, a quick trip into Sci-Fi, where I’ve finished painting my scratch built Technoliths (copyright Mr Wheeler).

And with that we will see you next week.