VSF - a genre of many flavours

Yeah, before we go any further, I realise I'm a total butterfly. I've already confessed this, but thought I should re-itterate the fact that I realise this. I didn't mean to get diverted, I really didn't. It all started when I was looking for figures to use for Mortal Engines games - I was going through the various figure manufacturers taking notes, and trawling the LAF for insperation, when I stumbled across some pictures of the Empire of the Dead (EotD) vampire thralls...

And thought that they'd make great scavengers, especailly as when mixed in with some converted Copplestone figures, to give them a bit more of a visual tie with the rest of the victorian styled figures I'm planning to use for some of the other characters. Then I dug deeper, looking at the various other figures in the range, and then onto the background of the game. Which wouldn't have been too bad if I hadn't been half watching the Dr Who 'Tooth & Claw' episode (Werewolves and Queen Victoria), had watched Van Helsing the night before and Brotherhood of the Wolf the following day. Suffice to say, the VSFy, horror setting had a certain appeal. Its not the first time I've dabbled with VSF - I used to play GASLIGHT, had a few armies and some great games



Some old battle-reports from GASLIGHT games lurk on the Post-Apoc wargames forum: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Post_Apoc_Wargames/topic/3025404/1/ http://s1.zetaboards.com/Post_Apoc_Wargames/topic/2872329/1/ http://s1.zetaboards.com/Post_Apoc_Wargames/topic/1201901/1/ http://s1.zetaboards.com/Post_Apoc_Wargames/topic/1104582/1/ As a generalisation, the games were all about big battles, with lots of steam-tech, and usually set on Mars (as it enabled various factions to clash without much need for a plausible explanation, as well as give access to red martians, etc). They were also on the slightly silly side - including recurring jokes about blowing up orphanages (don't ask), dodgy accents, invincible postmen and Torchwwod using an elephantgun firing a type of teleportation technology to take out targets by shifitng them to far off planets. I tried a couple of games set in England, but none of them really felt 'right'. Also, whilst a few dealt with 'paranormal' or 'supernatural' themes it was something I didn't explore in any sort of depth. So, whilst EotD is in some ways more of the same, it is also very different. As a plus, using small factions means I can hopefully get them finished rather than trying to finish armies and inevitably having a not-so-small pile of lead left over, and will hopefully feed my fancy for picking up odds and ends... So, yeah, I'm drifitng on to something else. Again. Ironically, most of the useful figures I had, I've already sold (idiot!), so I'll be starting from near scratch. No doubt I'll drift onto something else at some stage, so I'm going to pick up the rule book and a few packs of stuff that could be usable for Mortal Engines if it's not to my taste afterall. Maybe tomorrow I'll get chance to post pictures of the stuff I've painted recently...