New Issue of The Aethergraph!

   At long last, I have published the new issue of The Aethergraph. You can find a link to it on the left hand column, right at the top there, or simply click here. I would like to thank my contributors, and the gentlemen that offered me submissions that I didn't have room for this time around. I'm hopeful that, especially with more submissions, I can produce another issue this spring - perhaps in April or May.

   I hope you enjoy it. Please let me know what you think, and if you are interested in helping to produce The Aethergraph, email me at aethergraph@gmail.com.

Clock-a-dile?

   Just a quick post tonight. I've been eaten up with grad school work the last week or so, and no time for much fun stuff. But I took a look around the internet tonight before i run off to bed and saw this. It is for Spartan Games's Dystopian Legions game. I still think the decision to make them in 32mm scale was a bad one - it puts them off my purchase list, for the most part. But the mechanical alligator here might be fun for any VSF game, and well, how big is a mechanical alligator, anyway? Scale neutral. You could even use it for 15mm or 6mm (!) games.

   Picture is from Spartan Games's website. You can order the fellow there. And he's on sale right now (1/3 off - not bad).

No Love for the Black Dragon

   At least, that is what the results of the poll I ran at the end of last month say. Of the 'official' Adventuring Companies, Lord Curr's is the most popular, followed by Scotland Yard. No one voted for the Black Dragon Tong. Personally, I don't care for them. The minis are nice, but the idea just leaves me cold. I am sure that some folks love them.

  I like the Servants of Ra, though, and the Society of Thule, and they didn't do too well in the voting, either. What's wrong with you people? *grin*

French: Steam Tank Development at Halt

French Engineers Stymied as Compagnie du Char Drops Ball

   Reliable sources in the French demesne report that the project to supply their armed forces with a small scouting landship (or steam tank) has come to a sudden halt. Apparently, the manufacturer supplied the government with two portside drive trains and no starboard!

From this angle, it seems okay...

An idea taken from another: smokestack supports.

Just some L-iron Plastruct, cut and painted to match.

Now we see the problem...

The logo for the French National Rugby team.

I am considering putting this on the tank, along with a tricolor.

[Editor's Note: I bought this tank back at Historicon, and just got around to putting it together. Lo and behold: two left tracks and no right one. I've contacted Ironclad Miniatures (the manufacturer) to correct it. I am sure they will - they have a good reputation and I've had one similar issue with them previously which they corrected immediately and with good spirit. On the other hand, I think it is going to look quite good when it is finished!]

The Verne Cannon

The Verne Cannon

   A massive cannon, able to launch a shell beyond the planetary atmosphere. The infernal device actually extends well below the ground, with only the final third of the great barrel protruding above the surface. Its range is literally planetary, able to reach any point on the surface of the Earth. The Verne Cannon, named for the visionary writer who first postulated it, acts as a deterrent to aggression against the French nation. One shell could devastate a vast area of an enemy nation - no one dares to risk it.

   In other news of France's military, work has begun on a small French landship, equivalent to a destroyer escort in naval terms, one supposes. More information and photostats will be provided as the work proceeds.

[Editor's Note: This is a Games Workshop Epic 40K "Goliath" Megacannon. I am never going to stat it up, because I only plan on using it as an objective or bit of terrain rather than an actual unit. Why? Because it doesn't work. The French constructed an elaborate ruse to convince the other nations that this cannon devastated a remote island in the Pacific when test fired. They are hoping the bluff will hold out for a decade or so until it can be made operational. Regarding the landship, I have started painting an Ironclad Steam 1 steamtank to act as a French scouting tank. More on that later.]