First post of 2026 - odd happenings in the old graveyard

I've had these Gothic Horror figures from Bad Squiddo on the painting table for a while. First, three young women;

 Clearly, they have decided to take an evening stroll, but why on earth have they chosen the old ruined graveyard? Haven't they heard the rumours about this place?

Next, the kind of people who usually hang around the old graveyard at night;

Who are these women? There is something clearly abnormal happening here. Why do we only ever see them at night? Why is it that few of those who see them are ever heard of again, and those who do escape end up babbling insanely about "Vampire Acolytes" preying on the innocent and foolish.

The scatter items are things I've had for ages and the backdrop is by Jon Hodgson at Handiwork games.

I've two more Vampires and a couple of other figures to photograph and I'll post them soon.

Two Steampunk/Victorian Science Fiction vehicles

Both of these are from Ironclad Miniatures excellent VSF range.

The vehicle above is a steam-powered armoured car with a Gatling gun in its turret. This can also be made up with a Nordenfelt gun, which is also supplied. I decided to paint this in a neutral grey and rely on washes (Citadel Nuln Oil), dry-brushing and AK Terrains Dark Earth basing gunk to give the thing the appearance of being a hard-used workhorse. I also used a wash of diluted Vallejo Orange Brown to add a few patches of rust, particularly on the prominent bolt heads.  The figure (also from Ironclad) is there to provide a sense of scale.

The second vehicle is a steam-powered tankette, painted in a slightly more military shade, courtesy of Army Painter Army Green primer. Once again, wear and tear have been added with Nuln Oil, Vallejo Orange Brown rust and AK Terrains Dark Earth basing gunk. The tracks were given an initial coat of Vallejo Gunmetal Grey, which I've also used on both vehicles for the barrels of the weapons and the vision slits.

Both vehicles are cast in resin with additional metal parts, i.e wheels, guns, funnels, and are pretty easy to assemble. Now they are finished, I am looking at the rest of the Ironclad range to see what other vehicles I fancy buying. Hopefully, Ironclad will be at the club's Reveille show at the end of November, which will allow me to buy a couple more of these delightful vehicles.

These should be huge fun to use in a Steampunk/Pulp/VSF setting, probably using The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare's In Her Majesty's Name rules.

Two Determined Young Ladies for Victorian Sci Fi games

 Here are two more additions to my VSF collection, once again from Ironclad Miniatures.

These two Determined Young Ladies are Miss Dorothea Huntley-Palmer (on the left) and her cousin Miss Emily Ward.

Dorothea is the daughter of Sir Arthur and Lady Caroline Huntley-Palmer, and therefor the niece of Sir Henry. Since her travels in Syldavia a few years ago, she has become a formidable swordswoman, an excellent horsewoman and a passable shot with the pistol. She has also earned herself a reputation as a scholar of certain arcane areas of what we might call the Dark Arts.

Emily is the younger daughter of Jacquetta, the sister of Lady Caroline, who is married to a prominent American archaeologist and scholar, Professor Charles Phillips Ward of Miskatonic University, Arkham, Massachusetts. Emily is an excellent shot with all manner of firearms and is a noted investigator of the Occult. She has accompanied her father of an number of archaeological expeditions to the Middle East, Central America and the Caucasus.

The Shooting Party

Four more nice figures from the excellent Ironclad Miniatures Victorian Science Fiction range, described on the website as "Victorians armed with sporting guns".

I have decided that these are four associates of Sir Henry Huntley-Palmer, old friends, drinking and shooting partners and also stout chaps who can always be relied upon to accompany him on his occasionally dangerous missions and exploits, which are sometimes sanctioned by a Mysterious Government Agency but might also be unsanctioned freelance operations.

From left to right they are George Davenport, a retired Metropolitan Police Officer, "Gentleman" Jim Mason, a bon viveur and alleged cracksman, Sir Arthur "Binkie" Beaumont QC, a former criminal barrister and Percy "Nobby" Nobbs, Sir Arthur's gamekeeper.

When Sir Henry requires their services they are always available and collectively they are known as "The Shooting Party".

In Her Majesty's Name is clearly where they are going to see most use, but they should also be useful where tentacled unpleasantness and eldritch goings-on are likely to happen.

The Household Staff

 Finally, I've finished something in April.

These are the household staff of Sir Henry Huntley-Palmer, who I have written about here. 

From left to right we have Mrs Miggins, the cook, Molly, the maid, Mr Hodges, the butler and James, the footman.

As you can see, Sir Henry expects his staff to be prepared for all possible situations.

Mr Hodges (known as Mr 'Odges to the other staff) was formerly a Troop Sergeant Major in Sir Henry's old regiment, the 10th (The Prince of Wales's Own) Royal Hussars and the two men have a shared history going back many years. 

James Smith, the footman is another former member of the 10th Royal Hussars, where he attained the rank of Corporal of Horse. James's face carries a terrible scar, acquired from a Pathan scimitar on active service on the Northwest Frontier.

These figures are from Ironclad Miniatures Victorian Science Fiction range, and they are very nice figures indeed. They are destined to find a place in many games of In Her Majesty's Name and probably other things too.

A couple more Victorian Science Fiction figures

I actually painted these two last year, but somehow forgot all about them until now. As some regular readers might remember, I had a lot of turmoil and anguish last year with one of my dogs, so I am pretty sure that is why they never got onto the blog. I have given the photo the title of "A Steampunk Hero and Heroine". They are from the North Star Steampunk range.

These two feature heavily in the illustrations in the original In Her Majesty's Name rulebook, so I felt like I really ought to have them in my collection.

As an aside, a new edition of the revised and updated rules will soon be available. Personally, I am really looking forward to getting my hands on a copy.

Anyway, such characters need names and a background, so here are;

Captain George Ruff-Diamond, late of the Rifle Brigade, is now employed by an undisclosed Mysterious Government Agency in an unspecified capacity. Capt. Ruff-Diamond travels widely across Europe and beyond and is a noted bon viveur, sportsman and explorer. He lives on private means although the source of his wealth is shrouded in secrecy. Capt. Ruff-Diamond is a close friend of Professor Henry Hardy and was once romantically-linked to his sister Miss Amelia Hardy, with whom he remains on friendly terms.

Miss Felicity Ward. Miss Ward is a noted writer of fantastical romances and books on such matters as Spiritualism and the Occult. A former student of Archaeology and History at Brichester University and the École Nationale des Sciences Arcanes in Bordeaux, Miss Ward has travelled widely in the Near East and Eastern Europe and is the daughter of the noted American Anthropologist Professor Charles Phillips Ward of Arkham, Massachusetts and his second wife, Lady Jacquetta Melchett, the noted painter and poet. Miss Ward is a noted fencer and horsewoman and is considered to be an excellent markswoman with both pistol and rifle.

Six More Steampunk figures.

I painted these six a while ago, but didn't varnish them, due to the humidity. I put them in a box for safe keeping and only remembered them yesterday. So, here they are varnished and photographed.

First, Professor Prospero, Criminal Mastermind and his Arch-Nemesis, Sir Henry Huntley-Palmer.

Professor Prospero is a man of great intellect and few moral scruples. His interests include making huge amounts of money, outsmarting the minions of Laura Norder and making even more money. His fingers are in many pies; drug smuggling, white slavery, art theft, forgery, blackmail and espionage are only the most common of his criminal activities. He is often found working for Foreign Government Agencies and Secret Shadowy Powers. The Professor's preferred weapon is his sword stick, but he is also a Master of Mesmerism and other Arcane Talents.

Sir Henry Huntley-Palmer, late of the 10th (The Prince of Wales's Own) Royal Hussars, is a man of huge physical strength, which exceeds his intellectual prowess, and much personal charm. His friends tend to think of him as a clubbable stout chap, always worth having on one's side in a scrap but hardly the book-reading aesthete. His favourite weapon is the fearsome seven-barrelled Nock Gun. A founder member of The Adventurer's Society of Pall Mall, Sir Henry is descended from the famous 18th century government agent and soldier Sir William Huntley-Palmer, and is the younger brother of the diplomat and Foreign Office mandarin Sir Arthur Huntley-Palmer. Sir Henry's father, Lt. Col Henry Huntley-Palmer (b.1801 d.1889) was formerly British Military attaché to Syldavia in the 1850s.

Next, here are four more Agents of a Secret Shadowy Power. The first two are equipped with some long-range firepower. The one on the right has a Nock Gun and his companion is equipped with some kind of experimental gun for firing explosive or gas grenades.

And finally, here are two more Agents with the same kind of pistols and bombs as their comrades I painted a while back.

I think that these Shadowy Agents will end up carrying out the Nefarious Schemes and Damnable Stratagems of Professor Prospero most of the time.

These figures are all from the excellent Ironclad Miniatures Victorian Sci Fi and Steampunk range and will be used for games of In Her Majesty's Name.

Some Boys in Blue to combat those Steampunk villains

Both sets of four are from Ironclad Miniatures. First, constables with capes and pistols;

They are clearly the front line, the Bobbies on the beat.

Secondly, some backup with rifles, a Victorian Armed Response Unit;

These look like a pretty simple paint job, but British police uniforms have always been a lot darker shade of blue than you see on many miniatures. I undercoated them in Halford's matt black spray and started off with a base coat of Dark Prussian Blue, which on its own is too light. I then did the folds in a mix of the same blue with black, then a bit of highlighting with the Dark Prussian Blue mixed with Luftwaffe Uniform. This seemed closer to what I wanted and once given a wash of Peat Brown ink I was satisfied with the results.

And now...........the Mad Inventor.

I have alluded to the Mad Inventor previously. His biography is below.

Here he is with his fiendish Mechanical Progeny, each powered by a portable steam-powered Arc Generator. These Automata are his ultimate warriors, controlled via electro-mechanical waves transmitted by his ingenious control device. Clever though this device is, he must stay within transmitting range of  his creations, otherwise they will simply halt until he is close enough to regain control of them. Although these mechanical warriors are slow-moving and without the power of independent thoughts or actions, they are heavily-armoured and resistant to damage from many conventional weapons. Their only independent action is their ability to fire at anything that comes within range of their "eyes", which are actually complex lenses that serve as a targeting mechanism for their weapons. Of course, the Mad Inventor has the ability to direct their fire when they are under his control.

These figures are all, once again from Ironclad Miniatures.

The Mad Inventor's name is Professor Erasmus Van Hulst, and he was born in Amsterdam. Always physically small and weak, he was inquisitive and interested in mechanical devices as a child. He was often bullied by his schoolmates, which led him to find ingenious ways of inflicting his revenge upon them. As he grew up, Erasmus nursed many grievances against the men who, as boys had made his life a misery. He studied at a number of universities and institutes across Europe, eventually ending up as a professor at the University of Strelsau in the Kingdom of Ruritania. There, he was able to test certain hypotheses about the creation of Automata and soon began to construct models in his laboratories in his home in a secluded manor outside the city.

He supplied a number of Automata to a local impresario and they quickly became a huge attraction in the main theatre of Strelsau. After the mysterious death of the impresario, Van Hulst quit the university and founded a touring show featuring his ingenious creations. Styling himself as Count Cagliostro, Master of Mysteries, Professor Van Hulst began to develop his control system and embarked on the construction of more and more complex Automata. As his experiments progressed, he began to plot and then wreak his revenge on his childhood tormentors. 

Finally, he perfected his most powerful Automaton, the Steam Jäger. With this step forward, Van Hulst turned his attentions to thoughts of crime, chaos and domination. His psychopathic tendencies, always there under the surface began to take him over, causing him to withdraw from society, using the vast fortune he had accumulated as Count Cagliostro to turn his Ruritanian Manor into a fortified headquarters where he could build an army of Steam Jäger Automata. 

Professor Van Hulst frequently visits the capital cities of Europe, keeping homes in Paris, London, Berlin and Vienna. He uses his mechanical skills in many ways, not least in experiments in the area of electro-mechanical prosthetics and the creation of bio-mechanical human beings. 

An Inventive Genius and his equally Inventive Sister

Obviously, in a steampunk world, the science is always going to be weird, and even the good guys embrace the weird. See below for details;

Here we have the Inventive Genius and his equally Inventive Sister, staunch opponents of those who seek to pervert science for their own ends and regular allies of the Mysterious Government Agency (MGA).

On the left is Professor Henry Hardy, physicist, chemist and engineer and his sister Amelia, a mathematical prodigy and student of the Occult.

As you can see, they are both equipped with Hardy Portable Arc Generators and Hardy Arc guns, considered by those in the know to be the finest weapons of their type available.

Professor Hardy works closely with the MGA and Scotland Yard, and has designed weapons for both organisations. Miss Amelia Hardy is less well-known but has links to certain secretive bodies who investigate inexplicable phenomena, arcane lore and other unusual areas of interest to the authorities. As a team, they are invaluable to the British government, and are close associates of a certain Consulting Detective, who finds their services crucial to some of his more puzzling investigations.

These figures are both from Ironclad Miniatures, although the female one isn't on their website, as far as I can see. I bought her at the 2020 Crusade show in Penarth back in January, when the world was normal.

And the Punk Steams on!

Here are my latest characters for In Her Majesty's Name and other such games. They even have some backstory (see below).

They were finished off yesterday but I was worried about varnishing them because it had been raining all week so far and I was worried about the humidity. However, it was dry in the evening and I decided to varnish them and see the damage in the morning. Luckily, there was no fogging, which was a relief!

These are also from Ironclad Miniatures and are probably the most obviously steampunk of all the figures I've done so far.

The chap on the left in the picture is former bare-knuckle pugilist Gentleman Jack Spratt. A dissolute and brutal man, he had both arms broken in a bizarre Hansom Cab accident which was probably caused by one of his Underworld enemies. A shadowy figure was seen leaving the scene of the accident and the cab driver was nowhere to be found. Jack's mangled body was found in the wreckage, his career in the ring finished.

A Mad Inventor (whom we shall meet in a future post) offered Jack to "mend" his useless arms if Jack agreed to work for him.

The results can be seen here. Jack's arms have been augmented by electrically-powered mechanical prostheses and he wears a small generator on his back, which also doubles as an Arc Generator.

As a result, Jack is now a feared member of the London Criminal Underworld where his powerful augmentations provide all manner of assistance to a wide range of illegal activities.

Jack's companion is the beneficiary of another of the ingenious creations of the Mad Inventor. His name is Grigori Blok, a merchant seaman who was the only survivor of a boiler explosion on a Russian steamship docked in London. His body suffered terrible burns and internal injuries and it looked to the staff of the hospital in Limehouse as though he might not survive. However, the Mad Inventor used him for another one of his experiments and had him encased in a specially constructed armoured metal suit, powered by an Arc Generator. Taken together with a number of obscure drugs, the electricity generated keeps Grigori's heart beating and allows his damaged nervous system to function normally. The human cost of this is that Grigori can never take off the armour. To do so would cause his death within hours of it being removed. Like Jack, Grigori has found useful employment in numerous nefarious enterprises where his strength and near invulnerability to many weapons makes him a useful weapon. Never a great intellect, Grigori's powers of thought were badly-weakened in the explosion. The life-preserving drugs are therefore also useful in keeping Grigori under the control of the Mad Inventor.

Two more Steampunk characters

After all those villains, it is time to turn again to the Forces of Laura Norder.

These are once again from the excellent Ironclad Miniatures range. On the website they are called MIB Agents "L" and "H". I am simply describing them as Mysterious Government Agents, which can clearly be an umbrella which might cover a multiplicity of roles.

They could be plainclothes officers from Scotland Yard, members of the Secret Service or even agents from some even more secret government agency, perhaps one concerned with occult or otherwise inexplicable phenomena. Seeing as we are operating within a steampunk world here, I would think that combating the threat from Weird Science and Evil Inventors would also be part of their brief. Clearly they might wish to engage a Consulting Detective from time to time.

Identifying and neutralising political subversion or exposing foreign agents might also be part of their duties, whether that might involve internal threats or external agencies from unfriendly nations.

These are clearly two very experienced operators.

More Steampunk villains

These were pretty quick to paint, because of the limited colour palette. Once again, they are from the  excellent Ironclad Miniatures Victorian Sci Fi and Steampunk range.

I have labelled these as being "Six Agents Of A Secret Shadowy Power". You will note that there are a couple of duplicated figures, but that doesn't really matter. What I like about them is that they could turn up as all kinds of different things; anarchists, agents of a foreign government, assassins for hire, members of a secret society etc. The possibilities are almost endless.

There are a couple of extra figures in the range, that I am really going to have to place an order for, not least because I am a completist in such matters and I cannot see why I shouldn't have all of them. Also, there are a few more figures that I think I'd like to paint, some of whom could work well as leaders of this faction.

These are definitely destined to be used in games of In Her Majesty's Name.

More Victorian Steampunk

I painted these yesterday and spray varnished them earlier this morning when the doggies got me up to let them out into the garden.

These two are a Dastardly Villain and his Cold-Hearted Villainess companion. I have decided that their weapons are Arc Pistols, a type of weapon used in the In Her Majesty's Name rules, but they could quite easily be something else. Anyway, whatever they are, they aren't standard handguns. As with my earlier figures, these also have minimal bases. The Dastardly Villain, like the Consulting Detective is also armed with a swordstick. I am sure that the Cold-Hearted Villainess has some other weapons secreted about her person too.

I have decided that the Dastardly Villain's name is Colonel Sir Jasper Benbow and his companion is Mme Mathilde du Méchantcoeur.

Sir Jasper is a former officer in the British Army who has sold his services to numerous rulers and governments across Europe and beyond, but the rank of Colonel is purely invented. In reality, he was cashiered from the army, when a mere Lieutenant, after being caught embezzling his regimental funds to pay his gambling debts. It is often claimed that his knighthood is similarly fictitious, but it seems that he acquired the honour from a small central European principality for dubious services rendered. It is said that Sir Jasper will do anything for money, so long as the sum meets his approval.

Mme du Méchantcoeur's origins are unknown, although it is believed that she emerged from the slums of Belleville to become a major player in the Parisian demi-monde, making many enemies, but also with many Friends in High Places. It is rumoured that she once worked for the French government, but other rumours also claim that the French secret police would happily see her dead. Perhaps all these rumours are true? Who can tell in the looking-glass world of shadowy agents, criminal masterminds and secret organisations?

Once again, these are from Ironclad Miniatures Victorian Sci Fi and Steampunk range.

More Isolation Painting - the start of my Steampunk Victorians

Last year I started buying some figures to use for the In Her Majesty's Name rules from the Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare. I have so far concentrated on the excellent range of figures produced by Ironclad Miniatures. I've bought quite a few to date, and I am now in the process of painting them.

Here are my first results. They may look quite familiar.

They are, on the left, The Consulting Detective and, on the right his Medical Amanuensis. These will obviously be valiant defenders of the Queen and her Empire against all manner of dastardly and evil opponents. Both are equipped with pistols and the Detective also carries a swordstick. The Amanuensis carries his medical bag, which is no doubt packed with all manner of interesting potions and lotions.

I have decided that I want the basing on these figures to be pretty minimal, so that they fit into urban settings predominantly, so all I have done is mould a layer of Miliput to cover the whole base and disguise the puddle bases on the actual figures.

I hope that people like them.

Next up, a couple of villainous types.

A French column for Congo

I was lucky enough to get the Northstar boxed "French Foreign Legion Expedition" set for Christmas. The figures are by Artizan Designs and are really nice castings. The set consists of;

Your Characters

The Explorer
The Scientist

Your Auxiliaries

Two Bearers

Your Groups

Soldiers
Trained Askaris
Askaris
Ruga-ruga

So, after spending so time on other things, I finally got round to doing these, apart from the two bearers. I made a mistake over the leather belts and pouches on the legionnaires, because they really should be black, but I am happy with the finished articles.

First, the four Soldiers (legionnaires in tropical khaki uniforms), the Explorer (with the pistol) and the Scientist (in the white kepi).

Next, the five Askaris, who are Moroccan fighters with muskets;

Five Ruga Ruga with muskets, although one has a shotgun and another what look vaguely like a smoothbore cavalry carbine. It all makes for a nicely varied bunch of mercenaries, though;

And finally four Trained Askaris with rifles, who I have painted up as Tirailleurs Algeriens;

Overall, I think these look pretty good. I tried to keep to a fairly limited palette for the two sets of Askaris, based upon the pictures on the website, which I think helps make the column have a unifying scheme, and tried to make red a reasonably predominant colour on the Ruga Ruga, again like on the website. The brown leather on the legionnaires still annoys me a bit, though, but I am not going to go back and repaint them with black. In any case, some pictures do show brown leather equipment, so maybe both options are OK.

Some 28mm figures for Congo

I've had some figures for Congo for a while now, but painting them has been a slow activity. I made a start a while ago, but then bought a load more figures at Colours in Newbury the other week.

Still, the first elevn figures are now complete. They are all Wargames Foundry 28mm figures from their Darkest Africa range, some of which I bought as a Congo "White Man's Expedition" box set, and the rest in a blister pack at Colours, described as "Deadlier Than The Male".

These are three Stout Chaps, ready to brave the perils of the Dark Continent.

And not to be outdone by the men, here are three Liberated Ladies, to accompany the chaps and make sure they stick to the task in hand. I am not sure about the fourth figure. She clearly went to the Wrong Sort Of School and appears to have gone native.

Finally, here are four more Ladies, who will no doubt feature in all sorts of games. I can see the young woman with the book perhaps being some kind of investigator of suspicious supernatural goings-on. The one with the pistol clearly isn't going to put up with any funny business and the fashionable lady-about-town with her prim elderly companion may well end up in the jungle in some capacity.

Unhappily, after I'd photographed them, I noticed that there were a few bits of extraneous fibre stuck randomly to a couple of the figures. This has now been removed, but I couldn't be bothered with photographing them again.

These could also be used in some Sharp Practice scenarios set in a slightly later period than the current rules.

I have a whole load more Foundry minis to paint now; Askaris, Ruga-Ruga, tribal warriors with assegais and shields, Zanzibaris, Baluchis, a few British infantry and a few French freebooters who look like deserters from La Légion Étrangère, who will be perfect as soldiers in an expedition of some kind. This is beginning to look like an excellent project.