Monday, December 29, 2014

Cavalry, Command (xx)


A bit strange looking admittedly, but most of the lads agreed that they were just marvelous horseman.















 

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Cavalry, Orbit (xviii)


Another leg in the relay.

And the planet below
peers up through the atmosphere

like a dull, unfocused eye.
















Friday, December 26, 2014

Cavalry, Relay (xvii)


We exit the celestian interval

to change course and take on supplies.

















Thursday, December 25, 2014

Cavalry, Message (xvi)


Meanwhile, a message from Devos IV:

"Keep the solar winds at your back, and the future before you.
Courage, the journey." 

Transcript ends.















 

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Monday, December 1, 2014

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Booker's Station pt2


The Veteran Sergeant clattered acrimoniously, the spare
tools on the tank.
















Friday, November 21, 2014

Thursday, November 20, 2014

On Tremaine, Final


770; The Expiration.
 
 
Voyage of the Wilhelm Troepf. Year Thirty-Eight.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Tremaine, Year Thirty


By Year Twenty-Eight, few of the personnel remember that they came from Kalkovac at all. 
By Year Thirty the washout begins.















Monday, November 17, 2014

Maybe Maiden Month, Maybe Furl


By Year Twenty-Five, the Expedition is entering its second generation. The goals change. The men rebuild.

Mostly they are complex instruments of the mission, after all.



Sometime in 758, following the Harborstay. Maybe Maiden Month, maybe Furl. Fourth Disorder, near Azimuth West. 
Voyage of the Wilhelm Troepf. Year Twenty-Six.

















Sunday, November 16, 2014

Twelve Days, Twelve Years


Please forgive my absence, I was gone for twelve days. 
Now where were we?

On Tremaine, a Scout-Rifleman with the 234th Provisional walks detail near the Dysphem Iron Works near Pozsos. Fighting around the central highway juncture here was terrible after the thaw.

While hard to discern at this resolution, it is worth noting that the soldier pictured wears the Late Model Y Breather System (LMYBS), a vast improvement over the much maligned Model X.
 
Late season 754, Voyage of the Wilhelm Troepf. Year Twenty-Two.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Monday, November 3, 2014

On Tremaine 5






The Regiment was scattered during the evacuation, and ultimately sent to several hundred system in fragments. 
 It was a catastrophe of logistics.

Class III Archeologue Orderly with the 16th Royal Sapper(Spec) near The Mounds, North of Raisbergit, Central Steppe. 

About 751, Voyage of the Wilhelm Troepf. Year Nineteen.















  

Friday, October 31, 2014

On Tremaine 2


Through a turgid jungle, short sideways steps. Compost,
skeletons, carnivore plants.



Scout-Rifleman in an unidentified Hussar's unit; Bandooli Province, Tremaine.
Near the so-called Second Equator, around 748, voyage of the Wilhelm Troepf. Year Sixteen.















 

Thursday, October 30, 2014

On Tremaine


On Tremaine, felted hills swept upward roll
bunched to the nearest sky.

Meltagunner with No7 Company of Engineers, near The Flop.
Prior to Siege, 744. Voyage of the Wilhelm Troepf, Year Twelve.















 

Sunday, October 26, 2014

It Wasn't Clear


It wasn't clear who to surrender to:
   a.) At Burbur Ridge (725, Himmell Sector).
   b.) At Grestleman Crossing (564, Jotl Sector).
   c.) At The Transfer (868, Station Amiga).
   d.) After Coordinate 0104.3 (980, Bortes Moon).















  

Friday, October 24, 2014

By The Time We Deserted


By the time the army deserted into the Lemonstall Range:
   a.) The seventh river burned.
   b.) We couldn't remember where to file the report.
   c.) Fuel?
   d.) It was over.

















Thursday, October 23, 2014

Just Before The Mutiny


And just prior to the general mutiny at Meridian: 
   a.) The rations expired.
   b.) Unidentified sulfur smell.
   c.) 316 Company volunteered for afterlight duty.
   d.) Sense of calm.














 

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Consider: the Autocannon (continued)


Another obsolete example, this the CAS Close Support System.

Completed manufacturing trials in 543 and issued to the initial landing parties on the 544 sailing of the Yubari, this gun was touted as a "hybrid" by UMIG Industries.

The exact sentiment of that statement is lost to history.















 

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Consider: the Autocannon (continued)


A Conductor Model 71 SubPortable; 3/8 Bore, 12-caliber-12. Capable of a high cyclic rate, the Model 71 is capable of maintaining extreme GsF ratios in myriad conditions.

An impressive piece.














Friday, October 17, 2014

Consider: the Autocannon (The Friday Rifle pt2)


Friday Rifle on a G178 Carriage. Note the augmented recoil platform and heavy cast wheels, indicating that this gun was probably assigned to a mountain brigade. 

















Thursday, October 16, 2014

Consider: the Autocannon (The Friday Rifle)


The Friday Rifle, an autocannon produced in large numbers for several voyages between 541 and 710. Capable of extremely accurate fire in the hands of a well-trained crew, this model was rugged in design and served with distinction. 

Exisiting records do not indicate the circumstances under which the contract for the Friday Rifle ceased production. Alas, no known examples of this gun survived the general uprisings of the late seven hundreds.




















Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Consider: the Autocannon (yet continued)


Bekar Model 91-4, alternate view. Note the unique loading arrangement, nicknamed the Cinema Magazine, which operated on a central sprocket and recoil-driven spring.

One of the few successful highlights of the innovative but deeply flawed design that defined the 91-4.
















Monday, October 13, 2014

Consider: the Autocannon (continued)


The Model 91-4, produced under ministorial contract from Bekar Industries. Production of the 91-4 ran from 810 (voyage of the Castlemate) to 885 (voyage of the Myopy) with total units produced numbering 16,000.

Early models were beset with overheating problems, and the gun was heavy and awkward to reposition. Nevertheless, some surviving 91-4s remain in service mainly in garrison roles.
















Sunday, October 12, 2014

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Consider: the Autocannon (continued)


A Hawley Gun. Not much is known about this piece in the official record. 

1200 units were ordered as vehicle secondary armament in the late-700s, some of which were later apparently converted to the infantry support role.

Photo-pict from "The Observation Of The No.22 Company of Foot, Voyage Of The St. Weed" published in 806, Kalkovac.















 

Friday, October 10, 2014

Consider: the Autocannon (continued)


Schraft Model K, reverse view.

Notice the distinct profile of the manual cocking bar, a signature of the early models (A through M).















 

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Consider: The Autocannon


Let's start with this revered classic,
the Schraft Model K.

The legendary statline of this gun is wholly unremarkable: 25-6 calibre, 2900 tPs, cyclic rate of 74 hd/s. 
The service record of the series speaks for itself, however. Still in deployment after three centuries, the Schraft remains unchallenged for constancy. 

The Model K featured shows a dorsal loading socket and iron sights, simply mounted on a spoked infantry carriage.

Date and location unknown.
















Wednesday, October 8, 2014