VSF Part 1 or An Extraordinary Undertaking, First Act

I am thinking of running a VSF (Victorian Science Fiction) game at the HMGS Midwest convention Little Wars in April. I need to decide soon if I want to make it into the program. This dovetails with my goal of organizing my VSF collection and I find that an impending game deadline is a great motivator.

Here are a few photos of my collection.

There are about 350 figures there that I bought five or six years ago that hadn't even been out of the boxes since I bought them. The figures are mainly Zulus, Egyptians and a fair number of British.

These boxes contain another 150 or so figures. The box in the center is filled with Ex-Confederates, the wooden tray contains African tribesmen, the box on the right has about a third of my painted Martians and the other more British.

These shelves contain the parts of my collection most recently used. There must be about 150-200 figures per shelf. From top to bottom: more Ex-Confederates including Dr. Xavier McGillicuddy and several of his infernal machines; Egyptians, Zulus and other Africans; Mostly British; and finally, mainly Schutztruppen and a few more Zulus (there is no such thing as too many Zulus in a game).

This pile of boxes and bits are the unpainted parts of the collection. There are at least a thousand miniatures in the boxes. In the back are the fun parts that will be the inspiration and motivation for getting this project moving. VSF, at least for me, is all about the contraptions, improbable science and steam power. There is a British Gunboat (from Merrimack Miniatures), a Parroom Aeroscaph, a toy dirigible, a Wright Flyer model and other odds and bobs.

As you can see I gladly mix "eras" and manufacturers. Red coated Brits can easliy serve next to Spanish-American War Americans (if that doesn't mean anythin to you that's okay). Of course there is less historical wrangling over which uniform is appropriate for soldier on a Martian campaign (whichever is most servicable of course, supply lines are very extended). I am less concerned about historical accuracy than visual and visceral appeal.

Most of my games have focused around the machinations of one Dr. Xavier McGillicuddy (from Eureka Miniatures). An Ex-Confederate who is using his considerable fortune and scientific talent to orchestrate a rebirth of the CSA. He escaped to a hidden lair in the Sudan where he set about building his steam motivated fighting automatons (robots). In our first battle British agents in Egypt had heard about his arms trading with Sudanese slavers and sent a force out to locate him. In that encounter Dr. X drove away the attackers with his automatons but the Egyptian/British force were able to capture a few of the machines for later study. A number of months later the British government (with the advise and support of the USA) sent a raiding force to capture Dr. X. The attackers found Dr. X attempting to evacuate his "plantation" and move his workshops to a new location. Ultimately, Dr. X narrowly escaped on a Nile steamboat. Most recently, Dr. X was found out trying to rendevous with his brothers at a Red Sea port. British forces spoiled the reunion and drove Dr. X back into the desert and scattered his mercenary forces.

More to come...