New Allies on Venus

Royal Hawaiians Arrive on Jungle Planet

Reporting for duty to Venus, the 25th Royal Oahu Rangers are a specialist corps of tropical scouts and pathfinders known affectionately as the "Birds of Paradise" for their use of tropical bird calls for secret communication in while on missions. Having served in various island actions both against homeland threats and in various island skirmishes, they are adept at navigating the threats of tropical environments. They are skilled in ambush, raiding and counter-raiding tactics and fight in what has been described by many Europeans as a very "un-gentlemanly" manner. Already perfectly acclimatized to hot and humid environments and undaunted by the drizzle and miasma of a rain forest, they were the perfect asset for the Kingdom of Hawaii to lend as aid and a sign of solidarity with the Republic of Texas.

Their commander, Major Thomas Kipitupu, is proud to serve his king alongside his kingdom's Texican allies. He and his men will lend all of their talents to the efforts to forge a new colony in the hostile, shadowy jungles of Venus. Forging paths, scouting new territories and lending warclub and rifle to battle any hostile forces they might encounter, I am sure the Texican Marines on Venus will quickly come to appreciate their merits.

Sadly, our staff photostat artist was confined to his bunk with a nasty fungal infection, so no photostats are available at this time. We hope he will recover soon, so he can get back to work and earn the ridiculously large sum he receives as a per diem from this journal... I tell you, it's the last time I hire one of my wife's useless relatives...

[Editor's Notes: Eli sent me the basic text of the above copy in an email. I made a few minor changes to make it fit in a bit better stylistically, but it's a great addition to the VSF storyline as far as I am concerned. I wonder what's going to happen on Venus? There should be some kind of adventure their in the nearish future if I can pull a few things together. Stay tuned!]

The Emerald Legion Lives!

Well, at least a small part of it does. Here is a photostatic display of some 13 members of the Legion. The fellow in back, next to the guidon is definitely an officer of some sort, overlooking the battlefield.

Most of these Johnnies are armed with Martian copies of Earth-made breechloading rifles. Most of their fellows are not so lucky, and are armed with the "Martian Musket," a long-barreled smoothbore breechloader. But, these are Imperial Legion troops, after all! Some legionnaires are armed with halberds instead, to protect from cavalry charges, one supposes.

I believe the fellow with the sword and the yellow stripe through his helmet crest is some sort of sub-officer. A cornet, or a sergeant, perhaps?

Also, note the pavises, marked with a Martian sigil which stands for 'Emerald'. Quite important for battle on the wide open deserts of Mars, where there is virtually no indigenous cover.

The sigils on the banner read "Emerald Legion of Imperial Galfor." Well, its a loose translation, you know. My Martian isn't quite up to snuff, you know. Didn't teach it at Rugby, what?

More photostats will be placed in the scrapbooks as I get the chance. These gentlemen bring my total count up by another 11, even though technically they have a bit of work left to be done. A bit of ballast and static grass on the bases and a nice shot of matte clear coat to dull them down a bit. If you inclue the pavises, I have almost an additional 11 finished. More stuff is on the way,a s well, including Pathans and a couple of scenic items.

I feel an urge to convert something coming on. Perhaps if I lay down for a bit, the urge will pass.