{"id":10741,"date":"2025-10-18T10:00:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T09:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/?p=10741"},"modified":"2025-10-15T23:10:31","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T22:10:31","slug":"a-mars-a-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/2025\/10\/18\/a-mars-a-day\/","title":{"rendered":"A Mars A Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fcbkbttn_buttons_block\" id=\"fcbkbttn_left\"><div class=\"fcbkbttn_like \"><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/2025\/10\/18\/a-mars-a-day\/\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\" layout=\"standard\"  width=\"450px\" size=\"small\"><\/fb:like><\/div><\/div><p>The last meeting of July saw another outing of my \u2018Space:1889 \u2013 Cloudships of Mars\u2019 game.<\/p>\n<p>For those who don\u2019t know it, it\u2019s a game based on a 1988 Frank Chadwick design for GDW, set in an alternative \u2018Steampunk\u2019 late Victorian timeline on which Earther scientists have discovered a war to get to the planets using the \u2018ether waves\u2019 of space (this was actually a theory for a long time!). When the explorers arrive, they discover that the inner planets already have their own civilisations, at different stages of development.<\/p>\n<p>In the case of Mars, the ancient society has stagnated (or deteriorated) back to the level of our own late Renaissance of Italy or India, with rival City-States using gunpowder weapons \u2013 along with the odd \u2018ancient device\u2019 like a La-serr\u2026. By the 1889 of the title, several Earther nations have established both colonies, trading and mining facilities on Mars, sometimes with a City State as an ally, sometimes as enemies, exactly mirroring the colonial experience on Earth of 1850-1900.<\/p>\n<p>And whilst ground-based forces certainly play their part, as on Earth it is the naval dimension with projects power across the vast, hostile wastes \u2013 using flying \u2018Cloudships\u2019 which rely on a rare anti-gravity liftwood to allow them to float. The Martians tend to rely on larger, wooden galleys, propelled by sail or giant flywheels; but the Earthers have been quick to develop their own strange craft, powered \u2013 of course \u2013 by steam engines, producing some very different designs rather akin to the ACW. In 3D\u2026 Anyways, there is a large body of RPG, tabletop and boardgame reference material (see links at the end), plus some \u2018reimaginings\u2019 of the various planetary sourcebooks.<\/p>\n<h5>The Set-Up<\/h5>\n<p>For this outing, I decided to have all the actual players as a combined \u2018Earth Fleet\u2019, with the Martians run by yours truly as umpire using the \u2018fast play\u2019 system developed for when we ran this at several Open Days a couple of years ago. This is always a fun way to arrange things, as I can vary the enemy \u2018teeth\u2019 according to how players are doing (as well as how many turn up on the day), and they can have a lot of fun simply trying to co-ordinate the actions of these sub-units via another human, not a dice or card system.<\/p>\n<p>With one player per ship and a, ah, wide choice available, the fleet consisted of:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jon \u2013 Royal Navy, HMS Tempest (1890 Improved Typhoon Class destroyer, with quick-firing main guns [2x shots instead of one per turn])<\/li>\n<li>Tony \u2013 Imperial Russian Navy, HIRMS Volga (River Class strike bomber)<\/li>\n<li>Eric \u2013 Imperial Austrian Navy, SMS Prinz Eugen (Hero Class light cruiser; only one built\u2026)<\/li>\n<li>Stephen \u2013 Imperial Japanese Navy, IJN Akagi (unclassified multi-role cruiser, refuses to discuss how many being built, where, when\u2026)<\/li>\n<li>Alan \u2013 French Navy, FS Massena (new Mar\u00e9chal\u2019s Class destroyer; like the RN Tempest &#8211; but more panache\u2026)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5>Game 1 \u2013 The Bridge At Rik-I-To<\/h5>\n<p>The scenario here was that war was brewing with two of the Martian City States who had put aside their normal differences and were about to combine forces to sweep the accursed Earthers from the face of Holy Mars. Or something. Anyways, as their plan hinged on having one force cross the giant canal network, the combined Earther response was to pool their Cloudship forces to strike at the key bridge at Rik-I-To. If that could be destroyed, it would take weeks or months to effect a temporary repair. Of course, as it was an important spot, the Martians would be guarding it, not just with part of their fleet on standing patrol, but also with large deadly ground-based rockets\u2026<\/p>\n<p>[And yes, the plot was another semi-historical \u2018steal\u2019 of the main action in the Korean War film \u2018The Bridges At Toko-Ri\u2019. Great film of F9 Panthers, if you\u2019re into that sort of thing\u2026]<\/p>\n<p>Now, being a simple soul, I rather expected the smaller ships to zoom in and take-out the rocket batteries before helping to distract the slower Martian ships? Yeah\u2026. Anyways, plan B seemed to be that Jon, Eric and Alan engage in a general melee with all the Martians they could possibly reach, while Stephen and Tony ploughed in low and slow to maximize their bombing accuracy, with occasional pot-shots at any Martian who happened to get in the way!<\/p>\n<p>So, with rockets and gunfire going in all directions and at different heights, the fight split into two sectors:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The \u2018top cover\u2019 proceeded to knock large chunks out of the three Martian ships, Jon using his bigger guns to deliver deadly jabs from a series of fast, slashing runs whilst Alan deftly manoeuvered to rake one guard ship which effectively dis-masted it! Eric meanwhile was in the thick of it trading broadsides between two enemy ships but seemingly unable to hit with any big guns! He was revenged however when finally ramming one of the larger galleys which Jon\u2019s close rake with a rocket broadside had brought to a halt!<\/li>\n<li>The \u2018bomber\u2019 boys meanwhile braved both rocket flak and the attentions of a, ah, \u2018spare\u2019(?) Martian ship to bore-in, line ahead along the canal. Stephen on Akagi led the charge, shrugging off a number of critical hits to boiler, crew and gun position hits to deliver his two sticks bang on target, with no deductions for speed:height differences. His score with eight d6 was a very respectable 24 points \u2013 but the bridge still stood teetering! However, close behind was the majestic Volga with even more majestic (=sloshed) Kapitan Tony, who proceeded, slowly, to ignore all the incoming hits and demolish the remaining structure, closely followed by the tailing even more irate Martian which the others now noticed! So that\u2019s what those signals from Akagi meant\u2026\u2026.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In all the dust, explosions and rocket trails, there was some confusion on the Allied side about who should get the most credit in the Official History for destroying the bridge (you know, the objective thingy\u2026). So, I thought the easiest \u2013 not to say funniest \u2013 method of adjudication would be to ask the so-called \u2018neutral\u2019 captains. To a man, they had no hesitation in awarding the lion\u2019s share of the credit to Tony and the Russians, with no national bias at all (except that Alan did waver in thinking the French should vote the other way to whatever the British did!). I thought Stephen as the Japanese took it very well, considering. All the talk of sabotage and revenge was just banter\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n<h5>Game 2 \u2013 Get Marshal Mo-To-Ya<\/h5>\n<p>The second thinly-disguised scenario was based on the amazing operation in 1943, when the Americans sent very long range P38s (a fab a\/c) to intercept Japanese strategic genius Admiral Yamamoto, who had planned and executed the Pearl Harbour attack (which only really failed because they delegated command to an old school \u2018battleship\u2019 admiral; but I digress\u2026).<\/p>\n<p>So, our 1889 version had the Japanese player (Stephen) brief the others that they had broken the Martian codes, and that the brilliant leader Grand Marshal Mo-To-Ya would be reviewing the various fleet detachments before hurling their combined strength blah, blah, blah. The key thing is, they knew where and when he would be at a certain city. Normally, this would be beyond effective range of Earther Cloudships, but the Royal Navy (Jon) then revealed that, apart from building the enormous HMS Thunderbird, they had also been quietly developing long-range re-coaling systems, a series of liftwood barges which could be towed then \u2018parked\u2019 at high altitude for later collection \u2013 like WW2 drop-tanks! I also took the opportunity to allow each ship 1x \u2018elite\u2019 gun crew \u2013 only a +1 to hit, but it soon became apparent how even a small adjustment to probabilities affected tactics!<\/p>\n<p>The Allied flotilla thus set-off and arrived just as the Martian fleet hove into view through the clouds. The rather larger than expected fleet\u2026. Ah. Yes, what confronted our intrepid floating heroes was not one Martian \u2018Skylord\u2019, one of the biggest Cloudship classes ever built, but two. As even one Skylord was estimated to carry the firepower of more half the Allied Flotilla, this was seen by the more tactically astute players as \u201c\u2026bloody serious\u2026\u201d!<\/p>\n<p>Not only that, but the Grand Marshal also had three of the newer Martian \u2018hybrid\u2019 cruisers as escort, Martian built but incorporating Earther technology supplied by less scrupulous nations: big breech-loading guns and steam-power rams (although the latter were in fact clapped-out US train engines, refurbished and resold). Nevertheless, such an opportunity to cripple the enemy war effort before it got fully started was too good to miss, so as the Martians headed for the exit (off the far end of the table), the Allies resolved to sell their lives dearly (or lease them dearly, in the case of the French. Well, you get more return that way, and\u2026.).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>As the giant Skylords were primarily sail-powered, Jon and Tony were among the first to point out that \u2013 at some point \u2013 these lumbering giants would have to tack (zig-zag), which meant there was more time to get them.<\/li>\n<li>Learning from the first scenario, the players all kept saying to each other that the Grand Marshal was the objective, nothing else \u2013 so slip past the escorts if possible and pound the two Skylords with everything to hand!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Overall, the plan went quite well \u2013 Alan \u2018stalked\u2019 one of the escorts using cloud cover to get close before taking any return fire, while Tony and Stephen seemed to be competing for how much explosives they could throw at one ship! Meanwhile, as Eric took on the other Skylord with his now elite Skoda howitzer, Jon was perfecting his \u2018left jab\u2019, using his speed and longer, harder reach to knock seven bells out of an escort which was blocking his view (and in the process eliminating much of the bridge crew, thus making control much harder \u2013 not that they knew this immediately).<\/p>\n<p>Stephen at one point sailed straight through the middle of the Martian Fleet, partly as his ship had good firepower in the armoured forward arc, but little else \u2013 except\u2026.. Yes, although he exchanged some withering fire with one Skylord and an escort, his master plan was revealed when he launched the rear-facing torpedo straight into the escort which was turning onto his tail! At that range \u2013 just outside the safety zone \u2013 the hit was inevitable, and the Martian visibly shuddered and began to lose height (that\u2019s not all it lost, but again full damage was secret).<\/p>\n<p>One great aspect for me with such games is how players learn to \u2018read\u2019 a battle, deducing both strengths and weaknesses from observable data. Such was now the case as the battle entered its critical phase, when first Alan then Eric mentioned that one of the Skylords, although damaged for sure, was not firing anywhere near as much as the other \u2013 which might mean that it was a transport, not the \u2018battleship\u2019 version?<\/p>\n<p>Quickly deciding that the Grand Marshal would use the most powerful ship, the Allies now concentrated their fire. Jon now took quite serious personnel casualties from cannister rakes when closing to deliver a point-blank rocket barrage into the side of the enormous ship, while Eric also pounded it from the other side, starting numerous fires \u2013 bad news for a wooden ship! As Tony narrowly avoided a deadly ramming attack from the only functioning escort (sadly, the one with almost no directional control!), Alan and and badly-damaged Stephen sent the transport and the other escort into uncontrolled descents (the escort could probably crash-land ok, but the transport was not so lucky). As the Allies regrouped, they could see that only the smaller escort still had enough height (and control) to escape, but their initial fears about the other Skylord joining it were finally settled as the giant vessel, wracked with multiple fires and with key commanders dead on the bridge, made a long, lumbering dive just outside the city, in the manner of the Hindenburg\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n<p>So that was that. Another excellent outing for a genre which deserves a helluva lot more exposure, whether it be the RPG system, pseudo-colonial ground games, or this fabulous \u2018Cloudships\u2019 offshoot. It\u2019s not the \u2018flying WW1\u2019 of Iron Skies, nor the Aeronef and Dystopian Wars \u2013 although the latter two did provide a lot of scratch-building materials! But if you like the idea of \u20183D ACW\u2019, with the ability to construct your own range of peculiar vessels, then this is for you.<\/p>\n<p>My thanks as ever to my long-suffering friends at Maidstone Wargame Society for playing, and The Werelords for resurrecting a brilliant game.<\/p>\n<p>Click on the thumbnails below to see a few shots of the action.<\/p>\n<div data-carousel-extra='{&quot;blog_id&quot;:1,&quot;permalink&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/2025\/10\/18\/a-mars-a-day\/&quot;}' id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-10741 gallery-columns-5 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/2025\/10\/18\/a-mars-a-day\/mars-2\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"141\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-2.jpg?resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-2.jpg?resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1 250w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-2.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-2.jpg?zoom=3&amp;resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 85vw, 250px\" data-attachment-id=\"10751\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/2025\/10\/18\/a-mars-a-day\/mars-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-2.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"768,1024\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Mars-2\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-2.jpg?fit=768%2C675&amp;ssl=1\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/2025\/10\/18\/a-mars-a-day\/mars-3\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"141\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-3.jpg?resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-3.jpg?resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1 250w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-3.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-3.jpg?zoom=3&amp;resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 85vw, 250px\" data-attachment-id=\"10752\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/2025\/10\/18\/a-mars-a-day\/mars-3\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-3.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"768,1024\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Mars-3\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-3.jpg?fit=768%2C675&amp;ssl=1\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/2025\/10\/18\/a-mars-a-day\/mars-4\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"141\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-4.jpg?resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-4.jpg?resize=850%2C478&amp;ssl=1 850w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-4.jpg?resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1 250w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-4.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-4.jpg?zoom=3&amp;resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 85vw, 250px\" data-attachment-id=\"10753\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/2025\/10\/18\/a-mars-a-day\/mars-4\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-4.jpg?fit=1024%2C771&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1024,771\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Mars-4\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-4.jpg?fit=840%2C554&amp;ssl=1\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/2025\/10\/18\/a-mars-a-day\/mars-5\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"141\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-5.jpg?resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-5.jpg?resize=850%2C478&amp;ssl=1 850w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-5.jpg?resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1 250w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-5.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-5.jpg?zoom=3&amp;resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 85vw, 250px\" data-attachment-id=\"10754\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/2025\/10\/18\/a-mars-a-day\/mars-5\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-5.jpg?fit=1024%2C771&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1024,771\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Mars-5\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-5.jpg?fit=840%2C554&amp;ssl=1\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/2025\/10\/18\/a-mars-a-day\/mars-6\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"141\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-6.jpg?resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-6.jpg?resize=850%2C478&amp;ssl=1 850w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-6.jpg?resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1 250w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-6.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-6.jpg?zoom=3&amp;resize=250%2C141&amp;ssl=1 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 85vw, 250px\" data-attachment-id=\"10755\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/2025\/10\/18\/a-mars-a-day\/mars-6\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-6.jpg?fit=1024%2C771&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1024,771\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Mars-6\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-6.jpg?fit=840%2C554&amp;ssl=1\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<h5>Tactical aside \u2013 the Wrong Side of Technology?<\/h5>\n<p>There was a lot of discussion afterwards about the merits of the different ship designs \u2013 were the fast, sleek British and French (with only a handful of big guns, smaller hulls and crews), better than the rugged, somewhat slower Russian and Austro-Hungarians, with a lot more but smaller weapons? And what of Akagi, with an armoured nose housing all of its big ship-smashers in fixed forward firing casemates, akin to an Me110, but little else?<\/p>\n<p>This all reminded me very much of similar historical arguments along similar lines both in the Victorian period (when turrets first came along), and then later about battlecruisers. In the latter case, they were great when used in their original role, chasing-down and destroying enemy cruisers, but were a disaster when used to bulk-out the main battleship lines \u201c\u2026because they look like them\u2026\u201d?!<\/p>\n<p>In the end, both historically and with Cloudships, there was no \u2018correct\u2019 answer. The beauty of the system is that you can let your imaginations rip and, within the spirit of the game (the main rules have a sub-section devoted to ship design, with weight and armour affecting speed \u2013 and cost), create your own range of ships and models.<\/p>\n<h5>References &amp; Links:<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li>Background to \u2018Space:1889\u2019 on <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Space:_1889\">Wikipedia<\/a><\/li>\n<li>More about the various games and RPG systems via <a href=\"https:\/\/boardgamegeek.com\/boardgame\/5559\/sky-galleons-of-mars\">Boardgamegeek<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Several of the Cloudships books are on eBay, and some are now old enough to appear on some cheap download sites as PDFs!<\/li>\n<li>The first outing of this \u2013 in 25mm no less \u2013 is still viewable here on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.werelords.com\/cloudships\/main.htm\">Werelords site<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Superb 1\/1000th scale scenery (and lobbying to print some 3D Cloudships?) via Tony at <a href=\"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/product-category\/small-scale-scenery\/\">Brigade Models<\/a>. Go on, you know you want to\u2026.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5>Scratch-building 6mm Cloudships<\/h5>\n<p><em><strong>A lunatics\u2019 guide to building your own fleets\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<h6>HULLS &amp; MAIN BODIES<\/h6>\n<p>1. <strong>Brigade Models<\/strong> \u2013 their rightly-famous \u2018Imperial Skies\u2019 range has some useful hulls and other pieces. And even though they are technically 1\/1200th, you just have to look beyond that to possible uses\u2026 Recently, I have also used several of their vast range of very nice spaceships to provide the basis for things like \u2018assault ships\u2019, carriers, even resupply barges and landing-craft!<br \/>\n2. <strong>Peter Pig 1\/600th ACW Naval range<\/strong> \u2013 A great source of whole or partial hull elements. By using \u2018N\u2019 gauge wooden planking as a main deck, you can use various waterline models as the upper and lower hulls. Also, some of the Union monitors come with metal decks, and these make for great \u2018advanced\u2019 Earther ships like the medium\/heavy British \u2018Macefield\u2019.<br \/>\n3. <strong>DeAgostini \u2018Star Wars\u2019 die-cast models<\/strong> \u2013 given the wacky nature of several Martian ships, with a small degree of effort several of these models can be used to great effect. And as die-cast, they\u2019re (a) good to take glue, and (b) damn-near indestructible!<br \/>\na. I started with the various \u2018bikes\u2019, just used upside-down to help disguise their origin! The \u2018prongs\u2019 on the front of many of them look great as rams!<br \/>\nb. I also cannot recommend highly enough the \u2018Jabba Barge\u2019 (makes a great heavy Martian \u2018Hullcutter\u2019 type) and the equally fab \u2018Desert Skiff\u2019 (again, makes for a wonderful range of medium vessels)<br \/>\nc. But do check out the MTT transport and some of the other AT* tanks. The \u2018Turbo Tank\u2019 makes for a great ironclad (minus the wheels, naturally!). And the \u2018chicken walker\u2019 main body is a perfect Martian \u2018leading chin\u2019 design.<br \/>\n4. <strong>Eaglemoss \u2018Star Trek\u2019 die-cast models<\/strong> \u2013 not quite so many useful hulls here but still worth checking. For example, the early USS Antares, used inverted, makes for a fabulous small Earther French ironclad, in the same class as the RN workhorse \u2018Aphid\u2019. And some of the alien shuttles or freighters can make a good basis for more Martians.<br \/>\n5. <strong>Mechwarrior <\/strong>\u2013 the various tanks from the miniatures game (minus their tracks) have provided several very handy hull extensions.<br \/>\n6. <strong>Star Wars Starship Miniatures<\/strong> \u2013 no, not \u2018X-Wing\u2019 (unless you have a private income); I mean from the original game. These have provided a lot of the \u2018tail controls\u2019 for various ships, the Boda Slave 1 and Sith Infiltrator being particular favourites.<br \/>\n7. <strong>Galoob Micro-Machines<\/strong> have a very good Star Wars Jabba Sail Barge, which has provided, umm, \u2018quite a few\u2019 Martian landing craft, torpedo boats and even \u2013 cut in half \u2013 useful prows or flying bridges for larger ships.<br \/>\n8. <strong>Heroics &amp; Ros 1\/300th<\/strong> \u2013 Their WW2 armoured trains are a great source of cabins, armoured hull-extensions and side sponsons. Likewise, their Crusades range of siege equipment and superb armoured Hussite wagons provide great ready-made wing\/sponsons for the Martians.<br \/>\n9. <strong>Irregular Miniatures<\/strong> \u2013 do a great couple of ACW ships actually in this scale, especially \u2018Monitor\u2019, which formed the primary hull for the RN ships.<br \/>\n10. <strong>\u2018Dystopian Wars\u2019<\/strong> \u2013 again, nominally a different scale they have several ships which I have used for hulls or engine pods.<\/p>\n<h6>WEAPONS<\/h6>\n<p>Mainly dear old Heroics &amp; Ros. Not only are they immensely friendly and helpful, but they have a vast range of kit which is spot-on for what you need:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>WW1 guns (German 77mm etc)<\/li>\n<li>WW2 guns (British 25lbr, German 88mm, 17ldr \u2013 all suitably \u2018trimmed\u2019)<\/li>\n<li>\u2018Oddities\u2019 like the WW2 German Nebelwerfer; makes a great \u2018Martian mortar\u2019<\/li>\n<li>WW2 Armoured trains (AA guns etc)<\/li>\n<li>ECW, SYW and Napoleonic (French) guns, with the double-trail<\/li>\n<li>ACW and FPW Gatlings, Mitrailleuse MGs<\/li>\n<li>Colonial Landing Party Nordenfelts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6>FIGURES<\/h6>\n<p>As for crews, I have used the following H&amp;R packs:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Colonial types and Franco-Prussian for Earther regulars, Boers &amp; Confederates for armed civvies and \u2018security personnel\u2019<\/li>\n<li>Gun crew figures (from the ECW &amp; medieval)<\/li>\n<li>SYW \u2018Iroquis\u2019 Indians (the light clothing and \u2018Mohican\u2019 hair-do is just right for Martians)<\/li>\n<li>Ancient Greeks (again, the helmet + crest is spot-on for Martians)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are some wonderful little vignettes in these packs \u2013 I love the guy with a wheelbarrow loaded with cannon-balls! And even the colonial gun-teams have a pair of riders who remind me of a couple of gunners on their break\u2026<br \/>\nI did see some other interesting ranges in the USA \u2013 some \u2018post-apocalypse\u2019 types make for great Martians. Likewise, if anyone knows of any LOTR \u2018elves\u2019, they too would be good.<\/p>\n<h6>DETAILING<\/h6>\n<p>If even a klutz like me can do this, please give it a try \u2013 just adding a few crew figures and the odd pile of coal sacks really brings even these small ships to life.<br \/>\n<strong>Model railways<\/strong> have (especially in \u2018N\u2019 gauge):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>packs of coal sacks, bales (cargo) etc.<\/li>\n<li>some great \u2018signal gantries\u2019 which provided not only some great wing\/sponsons, but also (cut down to half height) the \u2018brass railings\u2019 for the posher Earther ships.<\/li>\n<li>Packs of wooden fences, which make for cheap railings on Earther or Martian ships<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Mechwarrior<\/strong><br \/>\nNot only hulls but most of the rocket pods came from these (the tanks are VERY well-equiped!). I also used some of the smaller weapon turrets as rail-launchers for Martian fire bombs or anti-personnel spikes.<br \/>\n<strong>DeAgostini die-cast models<\/strong><br \/>\nThings like the Ewok \u2018hang-glider\u2019 and various solar-sailors provide a variety of strong, ready-made plastic sails for Martian kites, some with rigging!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The last meeting of July saw another outing of my \u2018Space:1889 \u2013 Cloudships of Mars\u2019 game. For those who don\u2019t know it, it\u2019s a game based on a 1988 Frank Chadwick design for GDW, set in an alternative \u2018Steampunk\u2019 late Victorian timeline on which Earther scientists have discovered a war to get to the planets &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/2025\/10\/18\/a-mars-a-day\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;A Mars A Day&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Peter reports on an epic skirmish in the skies of Mars.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[24,38,32,141],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-6mm-wargaming","category-aerial-wargaming","category-game-reports","category-victorian-sci-fi"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mars-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9A5LG-2Nf","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10741"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10762,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10741\/revisions\/10762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}