The Crew of the Fenian Ram

 When I was but a lad of 12, I saw an ad for a new set of rules in Wargames Illustrated, by the name of "In Her Majesty's Name". A bit of research revealed that it was the type of game which really appealed to me. A narrative Victorian Sci-fi skirmish game? Yes please!

IHMN allows players to build "adventuring companies" of between 5 and 20 figures. The rules encourage narrative play, with many colourful characters. The factions in the core rules are varied and really interesting, ranging from London anarchists to the Prussian military's secret occult weapons department. The best part of the rules in my opinion is the ability to make entirely new factions. The rules provide points costs for every statistic, weapon and talent, so it's easy to modify existing companies or create entirely new ones!

This year saw the release of the second edition of IHMN. And it is good. Very good. The new rules provide even more customisation with the introduction of yet more talents, companies and weird science. My favourite of these additions must be the new vehicles. Ships and aircraft allow games to be played in the sky or on the sea.

I decided I wanted to make myself a new company. The late 19th century is a fantastic era for inspiration. I remembered a bit of fairly obscure Irish history that I thought would be perfect for an adventuring company.

The "Fenian Ram" was built in 1881 under the design of John Philip Holland, an Irish engineer. It was commissioned by the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB, Fenians). Disputes over funding meant Holland refused to teach the Fenians how to pilot the Ram, and it never saw action against British ships.

What if the Ram had been built in a Victorian Science Fiction universe, though?? 

I thought it would be perfect for IHMN. 

In my alternate history, the Ram was built to sink British merchant vessels which were constantly exporting food from Ireland. This was a problem for Ireland, as in 1879 there were fears that famine could strike as it had in 1845. Armed with anger and funds from the Irish National Land League, the Fenians set to work on the Ram's construction... 

I've wanted to get some Lead Adventure steampunk miniatures for ages now. I love their style, every model looks like an individual with an interesting background. They're a little more expensive than some other 28mm figures, but they are really good value. The details are excellent, as is the casting.

This is the first crew member I finished. Like all the others, she doesn't have a name yet, but I have ideas for who she'll be. I've painted her with the "Irish" tartan pattern, indicative of the Celtic Revival romanticism of the era (Ireland doesn't actually have any tartan). This model took ages to finish (about 20 hours), mostly because of the tartan and the white shirt.

This character will probably be the engineer of the crew. She has some kind of steam powered hammer that could be for riveting metal onto the submarine. I painted it as copper with a heavy patina, as if it's been used underwater a lot. I do quite like painting copper, if you haven't noticed yet. 

I really like the weird bits of tech she's wearing. It's very hard to pick a favourite out of these models, but if I had to, this one would probably be it.

I think this guy will turn out to be some kind of explosives specialist. Maybe that rocket over his arm is a torpedo from the Ram. Again I really like the tech he's carrying, the cables are an opportunity to add some more colour. I like the gas mask and bowler hat, it's a bit quirky that someone would care so much about their appearance while wearing overalls and a breath preserver!

He has a little Gal Gréine ("sun banner") embroidered on his shoulder. This is a very old Irish flag. 

I painted this chap to look a little more gentlemanly. Maybe he's an aristocrat by day, undersea rebel by night. I think his face is full of character, and it was my favourite part to paint. I like the can of "CO2" on his belt which powers the hook-gun! 

I tried out a purple-yellow colour contrast (coincidentally the colours of my county). The purple took many tries. It's a very challenging colour to highlight without bleaching it or creating harsh transitions. I'm happy enough with the result, but still learning. 

His base was particularly fun to make. It features a gutter filled with some kind of greenish liquid. Yuck. 

The Ship's Boy. Very hard to photograph, because he's facing the ground. I think it adds a lot to his character though, it's as if he doesn't want to make eye contact with the viewer.

In IHMN he will probably accompany the captain, as two people are required to load and fire a flamethrower. 

The captain. A diver armed with a flamethrower. Not many things more VSF than that.

I think I'll make these into quite an elite company, with a lower than average number of figures. Every model in the Lead Adventure range is a character in itself. In addition, the crew of a submarine shouldn't be that large anyway, although I'm considering adding some local sympathisers to the company.

The company needs a Fenian Ram, of course. I'm definitely going to scratch build one!