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There has always been something that captivated me about GDW's now-defunct tactical game Sky Galleons of Mars. Originally designed as a boxed add-on to the Space 1889 roleplaying game, it achieved a life of its own through tight rule design and smooth integration into the already-colorful background. Perhaps the only thing wrong with the set were the plastic miniatures ... at least I think that's what they were. Spillage from the casting-room floor was my other guess.
Fortunately the game was popular enough to inspire Game Tech, a small, hobbyist-run business, to design and cast most of the ships from the official Sky Galleons background in highly detailed pewter molds. Masts, sails, spars, drag decks, and even guns were cast as separate pieces, making these miniatures almost more work to build than to paint. The finished models are still fragile and often require a little "drydock time" after games, but considering the results it's time I'm glad to spend.
Models all by Game Tech, painted by Vynnie. Background sheets are reprints of Battletech maps.
"You can always tell a Yank, but you can't tell him much." These fledgling progenitors of Teddy Roosevelt's White Fleet ply the skies in search of threats to American commerce. From left, the Eagle Rocket Sloop, its cousin the Tripoli Boarding Sloop, a converted Swiftwood dubbed the Ranger, and the steel-hulled Kearsarge gunboat. |
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Scourge of the skies and thorn in the side of the Royal Navy, the Irish-separatist Fenian Ram is the stuff of legend. |
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Ruling the air as well as the sea, the British Navy turns out in force. From left, a steam launch (front), Vengeance (middle), Aphid (rear), Macefield (foreground), Dauntless, Locust (rear), and leading the expedition, the Reliant. |
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Heavy armor and ventral turrets characterize the French experiments in air-naval architecture. From left, the Gloire gunboat and the Ney boarding sloop. |
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And don't forget the Other French. The Belgians do many things differently, and the boarding vessel Liege is no exception. Don't get too close, or those catapults will drop two steam launches full of marines right on your deck! |
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The Russian gunboat Czarina is more a scout than a warship, but it lends much needed flexibility to the Motherland's navy. |
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Poor in liftwood, Germany relies on cutting-edge hydrogen technology for its hold on the skies. From left, LZ-5 and LZ-41 zeppelins, liftwood gunboat Hamburg, and liftwood tripod transport Moltke. |
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Much like China and India, the red planet's natives make up for their technological disadvantage with massive numbers. Steel hulls and rifled barrels become useless if the yellow wogs reach cutlass range ... . From left, Hullcutter, Sky Runner, Clockwork Ram, Warm Winds transport (rear), Endtime (front), Whisperdeath (rear), 2x Clearsight (front), Skylord, Heavenly Archer, Swiftwood, Glory Sled, 4x Small Bird. |
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