Armies On Parade (Hyperian Wars) – The Ancien Regime

Cast your eye over these holiest of places. This, this, is where Humankind came to Hyperia so many centuries ago, fleeing the dying world and the ceaseless war. Here our prophet planted his flag and said “Today mankind stands reborn!”.

Many are those who have left to seek fortune elsewhere, to explore and conquer this world. Humanity - or those close enough to fit the genus – raises it’s flag on every island and continent on Hyperia. But here is where it all began. Here, on this, hallowed ground. Here the Ancien Regime was born, and in the unnumbered millienia of our history, here is where we have weathered every storm, beaten back every would-be destroyer, built our world anew. This is humanity’s rock on which all others will dash themselves.

Here we are with the fourth and (so far final) instalment of our Hyperian Wars escalation project, focusing on the Napoleonic-meets-Tolkien-meets-The Empire from Warhammer faction of humanity – the Ancien Regime! This massive, continent-spanning empire represents the numerically and geographically greatest of the various human societies, and its kings and nobles all claim (with varying degrees of legitimacy) to trace their lineage back to the First Leader who brought humanity from it’s dying home to escape a war they believed would consume humanity and end the world (wonder what he could be referring to…) – but they have also stagnated technologically and regressed into mysticism and Vril-worship to keep their creaking empire rolling.

These guys are actually seasoned veterans, having been featured in the blog when it was nought but a bairn, and came as a part of a massive 2012 Ebay haul… and it was while we wondering what the bloody hell to do with a bunch of Napoleonics and WW1 Brits that the concept of Apocalypse: Earth having a fantasy/steampunk/ VSF cousin, and featured in the very first test game back in 2016… and in that game, you may notice the Mk. 1 Dauntless – rather less refined than it’s successor – and a superheavy steam tank called the Ironclad.

Which having got 90% ready, then sat unfinished until September 2023. Of course. And it was during The Summer Of Tidying that we decided to get the Ancien Regime faction properly finished and tarted up. The Ironclad (which began life as a papercraft from Landships II, the Holt Steam Wheel Tank in 1/48 so suitably imposing for 1/72) got a new paint job (matching the repainted A7V Steam Tank) and because it looked pretty undergunned as was, I strapped a massive howitzer onto the back made from a defunct pen to ensure the lads had some sort of parity with the horrors that Hyperia has to offer.

So, pics:

The Ironclad Lives!

Went heavy with the sponge chipping as I figured this old girl would have seen some action..

Flags, as is de riguer in all Hyperian militaries

Overhead shot of the massive Bombard howitzer, giving a welcome indirect fire capability

The lads formed up on on parade..

Big Brother and Little Brother at the back

Will it be enough to hold back the Beasts?

And so right now, the Ancien Regime stands (reluctantly) shoulder to shoulder with the Skyborne 301st in facing down the beasts of the Virum Nascii and the Orca in the shed as our slow burning Hyperian Wars campaign comes to a climax! So that’s what you can look forward to in the next few weeks 😉

Meantime, stay safe, thrifty and Slavia Ukrainia – we’ll see you soon