Well, I've been a bit busy with 'real life' lately but of course I'm still thinking of a Ruritanian Company (or several) for IHMN.

Ruritanians, as we all know, are like Prussians but a bit more chocolate-boxy. Not quite so much revivifying corpses, a bit more fancy uniforms and heroic swordplay.

Ruritanian Line Infantry - I think can adequately covered by tweaks to a British Rifle Company (I'm using a mix of Westwind Zendarians and Ironclad Prussians). It's the officers that will stand out (in Ruritania, officers are dashing and aristocratic and almost everyone else is invisible) and that can be handled well enough with the current talent system - by stipulating that every Ruritanian Captain must take 2 additional talents. A basic company (what I think of as 'a GASLIGHT Comapany'  ) will include an officer, a Feldwebel (= Sergeant, with possibly one modification, see below) and 8 troopers. But, there should probably be some specialists/ 'heavies' so I'm thinking that an equivalent to the Sapper with the Congreave Rocket Launcher is probably in order.

I have some of the Ironclad Steam Automata and I'm thinking that using one as an 'Armoured Engineer' (,,Panzer-Techniker''?) with a choice of guns might be a viable way to go. The stats for the Sapper will have to get a slight buff to relect their increased  armour, perhaps equivalent to an SRC Breastplate or Full Plate (Full plate probably fits the slightly old-fashioned theme better). Oh, and a Breath Preserver. To fit the idea that this technical stuff is quite rare and not entirely approved of (unlike the Prussians) though, I think limiting them to only one per company is reasonable. This should probably be it for heavies - no option for machine-gun crews.

But, because it's Ruritania and being dashing is such a big part of being heroic, I'm thinking that perhaps I should add the option for a second officer, a Leutenant-type like Fritz or Bernestein. Perhaps an officer similar to a captain (high FV and SV) but with a slightly worse Pluck value and leadership (equivalent to a Sergeant) and only one talent. He could then work as a close-combat specialist without necessarily jeopardising your leader all the time. But, because no more than two members of a comapny can have 'leadership' talents, that means that it will have to be lost from Sergeants.

That would give a company with up to 4 'specials' - a Captain, a Lieutenant, a Sergeant (without Leaership) and an Armoured Engineer - supported by some solid troops.

Ruritänisher Äthertruppen - these are the troops that Ruritania supplies to the Astro-Hungarian Imperial Army (using the 'Prussian Stormtroopers' from Ironclad) - again using the British Rifle Company as a base with the following changes seems reasonable:

Äther Kommandant – as a Captain with the following adjustments: not really sure what he's armed with, I haven't decided if it's a complicated Arc pistol or some kind of fancy repeating pistol (possibly with the equivalent of a Monocular Targetting Array); equivalent of chainmail suit; Breath Preserver

Ätherwebel (which is presumably what a ,,Feldwebel'' is called in space - maybe it should be ,,Raumswebel'') - equivalent to a Sergeant. He definitely has some kind of automatic rifle; equivalent of chainmail suit; Breath Preserver

Äthertruppen – automatic rifle; equivalent of chainmail suit; Breath Preserver

I think the Armoured Engineer should be an option here as well. Armoured Engineers in Äthertruppen units are known as ,,Uhrwerktruppen''.

I also think that there should be the option for something a bit more catastrophic. I have some old Chaos Space Marines that look Germanic (I think they were Plague Marines, but anyway they're wearing Pickelhaube) and using them seems like a jolly plan, and also some Warzone plastic Bauhaus troopers might turn up too. At the moment, I'm working on using the Plague Marines as ,,Äther Ritter ''. The Bauhaus minis will have to wait a bit until I've decided how to fit them in.

Äther Ritter – automatic pistol; fighting knife; plate mail equivalent; Breath Preserver. These chaps should be the real shock-troops, but only in limited numbers - I'll go with a maximum of 3 per company.

I need to work out exactly how I think these automatic weapons need to work. The multiple-hits of machine guns are great but putting them in a one-handed weapon seems hopelessly overpowered, and even two-handed woul require all Äthertruppen to have the 'strongman' talent.


Other companies, such as Ruritanian cavalry, should be fairly closely matched by existing companies (the Blues and Royals, plus captain with a horse). Ulhan types may be in order eventually. I'm unsure of the idea of offering (or even requiring) all Ruritanian units to have a Junior Officer - it fits the fluff but may be a bit much. If so, they would again be somewhere between the existing Captain and the existing Sergeant, which would then lose its Leadership talent.

Anyway... that's what I'm up to at the moment as far as Ruritanian military companies go.

As for the Anarchists of the People's Truth group in Strelsau, well... the Brick Lane Commune provides a convenient model. I think I need the option to take pistols though, as the People's Truth group are maybe more actively involved in assassination and expropriation than manning the barricades as such. Bomb-throwing (I have the Ironclad Evil Henchmen pack, which consists of three pistol-wielding figures and one bomb-thrower) can be thought to be the same as bottle-grenade throwing.

I like what you've written. Like a lot of other people I've had a desire to do a Ruritanian project of some sort for quite a few years and IHMN seems like a good way to ease into it.

You might consider something like this for the Aethertruppen:

http://eurekaminusa.com/collections/pax-limpopo-28mm-enemies-of-the-empire/products/paxee06

http://eurekaminusa.com/collections/pax-limpopo-28mm-enemies-of-the-empire/products/paxee07

I wish there was an Osprey of 'Ruritanian Forces 1806-1922'!

Now THAT is a great idea!  Craig, do you have influence? 

I've already suggested this to my colleague who runs Osprey Adventures (the part of the company that brings you Myths & Legends, Zombies and the like). He'll be looking into it.

While it's not quite the same thing, and it's not out until November, AND there's little in the way of information or images (for now), there is this...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Steampunk-Soldiers-Osprey-Philip-Smith/dp/1472807022/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391084967&sr=8-1&keywords=steampunk+soldiers