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Loosely inspired by some gorgeous SW Sail Barge MOCs on Brickshelf, NELUG’s
latest [1] Brikwars game featured a steampunk skiff battle set above the
desolate Kar’Zuba desert. Every skiff represented a Trading Guild, and upon
arrival at the outskirts of a potential market town each captain decided to try
and “thin the competition” a bit.
My contribution to the fight was the Egregious, a Dragonfly-Class Torpedo
Gunboat. Its steam powerplant (located in a protective cast-iron bathtub within
the hull) powers three heavy-lift main rotors, as well as a pair of outboard
steam-turbine-driven manuevering props.
(Apologies for any photographic color issues. I’m still experimenting with some
lighting techniques, and I’m not pleased several of these images.)
The design of the Egregious was heavily influenced by American PT boats of
WWII. I tried to emulate the deck shape closely, and then modified the hull to
accommodate the large rotor fans. I used a studs-out technique I’ve been
developing for a couple of other projects. The deck and hull are built in two
halves, with the studs facing out to either side. The two halves are then
connected to each other using technic beams (buried under the deck). There are
a number of advantages to this methods: for one thing, the deck comes out smooth
without a single tile being employed, and bricks on their side make for great
planking. Secondly, it is easy to build this style with a hollo interior -
though I didn’t worry about this so much in this case (except for the
cargo/steamplant bay under the pilothouse). Lastly, this method provides
1-plate fidelity for detouring the complicated contours of a hull. The result
is also incredibly sturdy and robust; I’ve swooshed this skiff around the house
for weeks, and it’s easily survived short falls (being knocked off its clear
legstands multiple times, for example). The communications mast used to fall
off incessantly, but that problem disappeared once I attached the guy wires.
The black flag-panels on the railings were intended to simply act as armor
plates to provide the crew with cover; in retrospect, I like how they lend a
Victorian wrought-iron feel to the railings.
Also like the PT boats, I tried to pack this ship full of weapons. The standard
armament includes: - 2 heavy cannons (40-pounders)
- 4 swivel guns (8 pounders)
- 2 grappling guns
- 2 MkIII steam torpedos
- Assorted small arms and boarding weapons, including musket, flintlock pistols,
sabers, boarding axes, etc.
The skiff is also shown carrying a pair of “Bouncing Beatrix” Frog Mines, and a
pair of standard constant-altitude aerial mines. These would typically only be
carried on border patrol missions.
The standard crew complement is 16: The captain, first mate, a pair of
mechanics/technicians to effect the inevitable in-flight repairs, 4 gunners
specifically trained with the heavy guns, and 8 troopers to man the swivel guns
and engage in boarding attempts.
The game, by the way, was great. We played for about 10 hours (!) and had a
pretty clear victor (Wayne) by the end. 6 skiffs entered the fray, and there
was every form of battle imaginable: gunfire, ramming, boarding actions,
hand-to-hand. Even the dreaded Sandworms of Kar’Zuba got into the action,
gorging on troopers abaonding their skiffs as they went down. Photos of the
game itself can be seen here.
-Shaun
[1] For the record books, this was NELUG’s
34th Brikwars game - and that
doesn’t include some games we’ve put on for public events such as Ourcon 17
(Amherst, MA) and Brick Blast (Middlebury, VT).
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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Shaun Sullivan wrote:
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Loosely inspired by some gorgeous SW Sail Barge MOCs on Brickshelf, NELUG’s
latest [1] Brikwars game featured a steampunk skiff battle set above the
desolate Kar’Zuba desert. Every skiff represented a Trading Guild, and upon
arrival at the outskirts of a potential market town each captain decided to
try and “thin the competition” a bit.
My contribution to the fight was the Egregious, a Dragonfly-Class Torpedo
Gunboat. Its steam powerplant (located in a protective cast-iron bathtub
within the hull) powers three heavy-lift main rotors, as well as a pair of
outboard steam-turbine-driven manuevering props.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=261935
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/sullis3/BRIKWARSGAMES/SkiffFight/Egregious/egregious04.jpg
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--snip--
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-Shaun
[1] For the record books, this was NELUG’s
34th Brikwars game - and that
doesn’t include some games we’ve put on for public events such as Ourcon 17
(Amherst, MA) and Brick Blast (Middlebury, VT).
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That’s rather incredibly cool. I particularly like how it’s quite ‘realistic’
within its own logic: the grilles over the fans, the cannnon balls, the
equipment. Most excellent steampunk.
The split hull construction is particularly effective. It’s probably a good way
of doing boat hulls too.
Tim
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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Shaun Sullivan wrote:
Wow! Very inpressive. Excellent details, weaponry and such.
This is also a great example in my book of how to use the two different browns
together. The two different tones add so much to this.
Simply fabulous.
Best,
Jonathan
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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Timothy Gould wrote:
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That’s rather incredibly cool. I particularly like how it’s quite ‘realistic’
within its own logic:
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Thanks! That was one of the aspects that I enjoyed the most - trying to
rationalize “how it worked” as it was being built.
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the grilles over the fans,
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The trick is not to crew your Dragonfly-class Torpedo Gunboats with women
wearing Victorian hoop skirts.
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The split hull construction is particularly effective. It’s probably a good
way of doing boat hulls too.
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That’s actually where I started with this technqiue. I’ve been plugging away on
a WWII ship for a couple years now, and have half the hull of Blackbeard’s Queen
Anne’s Revenge done in this same style. Who knows if they’ll ever get finished,
but I’m pleased with how the method works.
Thanks again.
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That is great. As soon as I saw the pic I thought the bow looked familiar. You
have really captured the PT boat look with that bow construction.
Some cool details as well such as the Little Armoury (I think) halberds as
boarding pikes. I also liked the arched windows with grilles in in the hull.
Your hull construction method really allowed for neat details.
A very minor quibble: Lots of dials are great but where are all the control
levers and wheels and such? Two seems like too few. (Nice use of the door for
decking/engine hatch though.)
What a huge crew! Yet they all fit really nicely.
Fantastic pics BTW. Really nice detail shots
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Thanks for the comments and feedback Ted.
In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Ted Godwin wrote:
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[snip]
A very minor quibble: Lots of dials are great but where are all the control
levers and wheels and such? Two seems like too few. (Nice use of the door for
decking/engine hatch though.)
[snip]
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I think that’s a fair criticism. If I lived in a steampunk economy I’d
definitely invest in dials, gauges and levers. Unfortunately I had a tough time
figuring out how to cram in more controls abovedeck. Maybe I should try
mounting a few levers on the hatch itself? I’ll have to think on that one.
My concession was to cram a few more controls around the steam boiler. It’s
hard to see but there’s another manual wheel just forward of the boiler door,
and the lever/handle on the door itself.
Even so, I’d love to jam some more controls around the pilothouse.
Thanks again,
Shaun
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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Jonathan Lopes wrote:
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This is also a great example in my book of how to use the two different
browns together. The two different tones add so much to this.
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I agree. It became apparent very early on that I would send myself to the
madhouse if I insisted on using a single color only - and that assumes that I
even had the pieces I needed in the right color. When building the deck and
hull I instead employed a philosophy of “grab the nearest piece needed as long
as it’s brown, reddish-brown, or black”. I like the result - it looks a
little ragtag or patchwork, but not enough to detract from the military
bearing of the skiff (IMHO). Maybe I should dub the effect “lovingly worn”?
Thanks for the comments!
Shaun
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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Jonathan Lopes wrote:
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This is also a great example in my book of how to use the two different
browns together. The two different tones add so much to this.
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I like the effect also. It became apparent very early on that I would send
myself to the madhouse if I insisted on using a single color only - and that
assumes that I even had the pieces I needed in the right color. When building
the deck and hull I instead employed a philosophy of “grab the nearest piece
needed as long as it’s brown, reddish-brown, or black”. IMHO the result looks a
little ragtag or patchwork, but not enough to detract from the military
bearing of the skiff. Maybe I should dub the effect “lovingly worn”?
Thanks for the comments!
Shaun
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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Shaun Sullivan wrote:
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Loosely inspired by some gorgeous SW Sail Barge MOCs on Brickshelf, NELUG’s
latest [1] Brikwars game featured a steampunk skiff battle set above the
desolate Kar’Zuba desert. Every skiff represented a Trading Guild, and upon
arrival at the outskirts of a potential market town each captain decided to
try and “thin the competition” a bit.
My contribution to the fight was the Egregious, a Dragonfly-Class Torpedo
Gunboat. Its steam powerplant (located in a protective cast-iron bathtub
within the hull) powers three heavy-lift main rotors, as well as a pair of
outboard steam-turbine-driven manuevering props.
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Shaun,
I really like this, you put a lot of detail into making this, and it’s very
believable in a steampunk sort of way!
Thanks,
George
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Very nice, I like how the bottom of the hull is not flat, gives is a believable
purpose. Very spelljammers feel to it.
Now you need a steam punk foating dock to more it to.
Aaron
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I really, really like this! It is so complete looking and has a beautiful
presence and balance all of its own. Absolutely amazing work! A beautiful MOC!
Thanks for sharing and God Bless,
Nathan
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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Shaun Sullivan wrote:
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Loosely inspired by some gorgeous SW Sail Barge MOCs on Brickshelf, NELUG’s
latest [1] Brikwars game featured a steampunk skiff battle set above the
desolate Kar’Zuba desert. Every skiff represented a Trading Guild, and upon
arrival at the outskirts of a potential market town each captain decided to
try and “thin the competition” a bit.
My contribution to the fight was the Egregious, a Dragonfly-Class Torpedo
Gunboat. Its steam powerplant (located in a protective cast-iron bathtub
within the hull) powers three heavy-lift main rotors, as well as a pair of
outboard steam-turbine-driven manuevering props.
The game, by the way, was great. We played for about 10 hours (!) and had a
pretty clear victor (Wayne) by the end. 6 skiffs entered the fray, and there
was every form of battle imaginable: gunfire, ramming, boarding actions,
hand-to-hand. Even the dreaded Sandworms of Kar’Zuba got into the action,
gorging on troopers abaonding their skiffs as they went down. Photos of the
game itself can be seen
here.
-Shaun
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Is there a article available describing the battle in detail? I am also
interested in this type of gaming, being a fan of Space:1889. I even did some
British troops and a mini-Aphid:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=43369
Now I want to expan my Aphid, any suggestions?
-- Don GtwLUG Lugnet#1239 St. Louis
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I am also
interested in this type of gaming, being a fan of Space:1889. I even did
some British troops and a mini-Aphid:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=43369
Now I want to expan my Aphid, any suggestions?
-- Don GtwLUG Lugnet#1239 St. Louis
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Wow! that’s an impressive army. I’ve never seen so many pith helmets in one
place. ...and thanks for bringing Space: 1889 to my attention. I love anything
like that - Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Flash Gordon, etc.
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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Don Cox wrote:
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Is there a article available describing the battle in detail? I am also
interested in this type of gaming, being a fan of Space:1889.
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I don’t think anyone has done a detailed write-up yet, but I might be able to
answer questions if you have any. I had the dubious honor of taking on the
Egregious in battle with the Champlain.
For the game, we used the 2000(?) BrikWars rules, with a Cost Point limit of
about 300. This means that the Egregious was stripped down with no torpedos,
and fewer guns. We also used TekLevel 3 weapons, at a TekLevel 4 cost to
account for the Steampunk aspects. In other words, we made up a lot of the
stats.
We used Duplo blocks to keep track of our altitude. Every three blocks was an
altitude level. Most of the game was spent at full altitude (4 levels) for all
ships, but there was some swooping and diving going on, especially when things
started exploding and falling from the sky.
The black bits you see scattered about in the photos are hopping mines.
Whenever a ship came within a 16x16 baseplate of one of these mines, it would
hop 1d6 levels into the air, then float down one level each turn. They also
drifted with the wind, which occasionally made for some interesting situations,
such as when the Egregious went down. Her crew was running from the flames of
the ship’s burning deck, while they were being fired on by the enemy. As the
ship hit the sand, it triggered a mine, just in time for the wind to die down.
So, in addition to gunfire and flame, the crew had a mine dropping onto their
heads. Somehow, they managed to evacuate the Egregious, only to have one of
their member’s promptly eaten by a sandworm.
All in all, though, they fared better than the crew of the Champlain, which
burst into flame when its powder-kegs were hit, killing all but two of the crew.
Of those two, only one survived the resulting crash, and he was also eaten by a
sandworm after running around the desert for a few turns.
-Elroy
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