Of flora and fauna

Mars isn't dead, it's dying and there is still plenty of life on the red planet whether it be plants or animals.

As Mars slowly withers away, direct water sources are becoming scarce; underground water tables being the main source for the numerous plant types that grow here. The various flora of Mars have adapted quickly to the changing environment and are steadily becoming similar to some desert species on Earth. The most common being the Ba'baak tree.

These trees store huge amounts of water in their bloated trunks and have one massive root covered in small tendrils that can extend down more than 50 feet in a bid to reach water. The bark is hard but a determined seeker of water can penetrate it without too much difficulty. Because of the rapid changes in the amount of water available the bark of the Ba'baak can split enabling easy access to the somewhat juicy flesh of the interior.

This flesh has a slight bitter taste to it but has nutritional benefits that can outweigh the flavour. The pulp can also be fermented and is brewed by the Sky Martians into an intoxicating liqueur. The bark itself can be stripped into long husks and made into a crude rope which Sky and City Martians use for the more heavy duty tasks.

The model itself was made from Supersculpy over a former of blue foam. Indents were made to represent the bark and a wire tree frame work was added to the top. One thing to note about blue foam is that it shrank quite considerably when the Sculpy was cooked in the oven (to harden it) and unfortunately the shell of Sculpy cracked, but you don't really notice. I'll use a different former that's heat resistant next time.

It was painted with Foundry American Tan, given a wash of some sort of GW brown ink and then drybrushed with a pale grey. Some winter tufts were added round the bottom to give a bit more detail. Finished and wip photos are below.

Thank you

Armour colours of the different clans

There are numerous clans of Sky Martians on Mars and each tends to have its own distinct armour colour therefore making it relatively a simple affair to distinguish between them in the event of multiple clan feuds.

The differing colours are achieved viv two main methods; either from ground minerals or from distilled insect shells. The armour itself is made from hardened leather but it is much stronger than the hardest leather on earth. Each piece of armour, be it torso or vambraces etc, can take up to a year to make thus making the armour a prized possession.

The colour is applied in one of the many layers of laquer that are painted on towards the end of the whole process. The insect shell method is the more time consuming and therefore the most sought after but this is unfortunately becoming a disappearing art; the secret being lost over time.

The mineral version is the more common but the colours are not as vibrant. Some clan leaders and their elite warriors are starting to mix colours in the armour to make themselves stand out more but most are staying with tradition with only one colour for the entire clan.

Various families within the clan tend to distinguish themselves by the colour of the loincloth or any other cloth that they might wear. Some families have simple patterns woven into the cloth, mainly straight bands of a complementary colour.

Below we have four examples of Sky Martian armour colour. The first is most common as it is the most simple to achieve but there are several different hues of the white so no two clans look the same.

A new seris of posts coming up

Apologies for the lack of updates but this going to change in the next week and then there will be regular updates on all things Red Planet :-)

Thank you

Mars. The story so far...

Mars, the story so far.

Humans arrived on Mars three years ago to the accolades of those in power. The first to arrive were the Japanese followed closely by the British and then the other powers of note. The opportunities were thought to be endless and an almost gold-rush mentality by governments ensued; each sending as much as they could to the red planet without endangering their holdings on Earth. Aether travel was expensive but it was thought that the riches found on Mars would more than compensate the expenditure.

The first contact between human and Martian was not without it's problems; language being one of them but a professor from Cambridge specialising in anthropology was quick to pick up on the Martian language, noting various similarities between some of the ancient tongues used on earth thousands of years ago. This in itself brought up more questions than answers and there is now a strong scientific population on Mars studying the indigenous population as much as they can (or will be allowed).

One of the other problems was the human trait of greed, which can effect the best man given the right circumstances. Various raw minerals; rare on Earth were to be found with abundance but mining them was to prove difficult. A type of Martian unbeknownst to the humans was incredibly protective of their territory, destructively so. Several mining camps and expeditions have recently fallen to the 'Sky Martians' without the humans finding out much more about them than the scattered eyewitness accounts that tend to be dismissed as the ravings of lunatics.

The Humans have made several beachheads on Mars itself with the largest; New Victoria being almost the size of a small city. The British and Japanese enlisted the help of the 'City Martians' in building the walls of New Victoria and these have now become a wonder of the Victorian age: not only for their size but also the speed in which they were built and their scope. A railway network has also been developed and expanded since the first year of colonisation and it now connects several of the larger human settlements and is continually growing, bringing civilisation to the remotest parts of the human colonies.

The Sky Martian problem is becoming more apparent as more camps and facilities are falling quiet. Even the journalists are taking a heavy toll, some expeditions into the interior not coming back at all.

What will happen when the Earth powers band together and stop their petty squabbles. What will happen when the Sky Martians show their true strength: as it is believed that what has been witnessed so far is but a small taster of what is to come...

Second battle report

With Sky Martian increasing their attacks of human settlements it's about time we see another report on their activities.

The initial set up. The red 'glow' is the after effects of the dawn sandstorm, one of the Sky Martians tactics is to attack just as dawn is breaking...

The rail encampment. Unfortunately the crew for the heavy gun have been delayed, their whereabouts unknown...

The first Martian moves 'The head spikes of the Naakatan'.

The view towards the barricades, civilians finally realise the danger and rush for the train.

The sandstorm continues and the situation does not look good for the humans.

A slight break in the sandstorms shows a concentrated rush with the Martians in amongst the humans killing left, right and centre.

The blue humans try to defend the camp but are slowly taken out one by one.

A few Martian casualties causes them to back of and regroup but another sandstorm is on the way. Enough damage has been done though...

The train and it's inhabitants makes a very slow getaway to report on the damage done.

This of course is only a taster of what is to come...

WAR ON MARS!!!

A brief explanation of Sky Martian Clans

As mentioned in the treatise on the history of Mars, the Sky Martians parted from their trading cousins and formed a warriors clan culture, each clan comprising of several families. From an early age the Sky Martians teach their offspring in the ways of combat; pitting them against each other and opposing clans in ferocious competitions that often lead to death. For the young that survive they are inducted into the warrior elite and develop their skills, honing and perfecting the art of war.

Invariably with such a fierce culture there will be conflict between the clans and this happens on a regular basis but not to the extent that there is total civil war. Some of the reasons for inter-clan warfare are usually small and petty, seemingly created as an excuse rather an an actual reason but other times it can develop into a blood feud that can last for several generations.

There are several levels of warrior status within the clan structure. The top level is reserved for the warrior elite; warriors who have served the clan the longest and have the most experience. These warriors form the backbone of the clan's structure and are at the forefront of any engagement. These warriors get the best armour and weapons and are versed in several different ways of combat. The bulk of the clan is made up of the more adolescent members of the warrior caste those that have passed the induction but do not yet have the experience to qualify for the warrior elite: some of these can be armed with bolas but not many. The armour and weapons supplied to these troops is of a slightly lower quality and is quite often passed down through the clan from elder to younger. The bottom rung is made from the levies of the clan, the wastrels and criminals. These tend to be the missile troops; armed with a spiked bolas and not dreamed worthy enough to carry a short polearm (the Sky Martians weapon of choice). Limited leather armour is supplied and not maintained and therefore the levie units can have a haphazard appearance.

The Sky Martians transport of choice is a fast flying skiff and they utilise the winds, expertly trimming the sails, to get the maximum manoeuvrability and positioning for attack. Their main tactic is to swoop in to above the target; either with the sun behind them or in the dawn or dusk, harpoon the target to attach themselves and then traverse down fine rope to the deck of the opposing flyer. Causing as much damage and death as possible in as quick as time as possible they are not interested in capturing or even looting unless they are attacking the City Martians, just leaving destructn in their wake.

When attacking the City Martians, similar tactics are used but with larger vessels in support to enable supplies to be carried away to the clan holds in the mountains. The fighting can be quite desperate between the two factions with the City Martians sometimes even taking the offensive.

There are generally no female warriors but occasionally small groups in the clan will band together and form a warband. They are treated with a wary respect and allowed to go with the male warbands on raids and such but never to lead the clan in battle. What they lack in physical strength they make up for in viciousness and one or two female warbands have a terrible reputation throughout the Sky Martian community.

Clan hierarchy is important to the running of the clan with the eldest members having overall say over clan policy. Each clan has a council which is made from three representatives from each family contained within the clan and these elders have the last say, although some of the younger warband leaders are starting to question their reasoning.The general day to day running of the clan is in the hands of the elders with the females taking most of the physical roles and the males being primeraly attached to the warbands. Trade between the clans is common but as stated before, this can lead to open conflict.There is a subspecies of Sky Martian, small in number, that are used for general labour, the limited amount of farming that happens and occasionally pressed into warband service if the need is dire. Every second Martian cycle a clan gathering is called and as many clan councils attend as is possible. The gathering is used to discuss any important issues that effect the clans as a whole and can also be used to resolve feuds and conflicts that are having a more than normal detrimental effect on the Sky Martian culture. The gathering can last for many days as it is also an opportunity for elders to see compatriots that they haven't been able to for the whole year and catch up on news and clan doings without the business of the clans getting in the way. The gathering is also an opportunity to pit the youngsters against each other is a series of games, tests and combat to enable themselves admittance to the warrior elite.

Things now though are leading to change as the humans have come to Mars and are staring to encroach on Martian culture and territory. The humans originally came for exploration but now it is turning into exploitation which is becoming unbearable to the clan councils. Action has already been taken with raids on human mining colonies but more must be taken in ord for the humans to depart Mars. The gathering is being called again, not so long after the last one to decide on the best course of action to take against the humans and their City Martian allies...

The first battle report

As we have a new range of figures available it would be remiss of us not play some games. This is the first game we played with the Martians and as such didn't really have the rules complete for them. The set we were using was Triumph and Tradegy with some alterations for the Martians themselves that still need a bit of tweaking. We left out the vehicle rules but will be looking at them in detail to allow for the various VSF contraptions that we can field.

One idea behind the games is to have a narrative campaign that will continue till the climax at next years Salute at the London Excel Centre on the 20th April

The basic set up was a four by four table, using some of the boards from the Salute 2012 game with a small mining encampment and a docked neff. Two units of Martians were dropped off by skiff and raided the camp which was defended by the miners and a small detachment of the Naval Brigade. A first contact situation you might say.

On to the photos...

The Martian force

 

The thin blue line

The Martians land on the docked Japanese neff 'Kaze' and start to decimate the crew

After killing the crew, the Martians decend to the ground and advance towards the enemy

 

Fierce fighting ensues but the British line holds

 

The Martian Warleader tackles Lt A A Milne of the Naval Brigade and takes him down

 

The raid was to of no avail as the Martians were soundly beaten but an overhead skiff noted the Earther ways of battle and another warclan is being prepared. They will return...

Not the best selection of photos but it conveys what happened. I'm actually pleased with some of the really red looking ones as it looks like a Martian sunrise, I didn't do anything, that's just how they came out. We'll be playing again on Wednesday and will have more troops this time. The rules used were T+T (Triumph and Tragedy) and although no real VSF contraptions were used they seemed to work very well. A few alterations for the Martians will be implemented for the next game along with some basic flying rules for neffs and skiffs. I can't wait !!!

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