{"id":18040,"date":"2026-09-25T16:08:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T15:08:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/?p=18040"},"modified":"2026-09-25T16:08:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T15:08:33","slug":"merchants-of-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2026\/09\/merchants-of-mars\/","title":{"rendered":"Merchants of Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We return once again to the reports of Lt Algernon Carmichael-Jefferies of the 22nd West Kent Lancers, written during his long reconnaissance patrol across the Syrtian plains of Mars.<\/p>\n

\nOn the third week of the expedition we set up camp on the bluffs overlooking one of the smaller Syrtian cities. On the second day we observed a new (at least to us) class of large warship hovering in the skies above what appeared to be a port area – it must have arrived overnight. The vessel was longer and sleeker than the battleships that we had previously encountered, although it still looked fearsomely armed. When it finally departed, it was far less clumsy than the other squat, heavy ships seen over the capital city, moving gracefully and remarkably quickly. We surmise that it’s a lighter, faster class of capital ship used to patrol the outer reaches of the Syrtian Martian empire where its superior speed allows it to rapidly intercept any trespassing enemy vessels. It’s perhaps analogous to one of our own battlecruisers, although somewhat larger.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The city seemed to have a thriving merchant trade. Alongside a number of smaller craft, the Syrtians seem to use a number of large merchant vessels for carrying goods long distances between their urban centres. The steering vanes on these craft are positioned in the centre of the hull, unlike warships which have them at the rear of the main hull. We saw how this allowed them to make very tight and precise manoeuvres in the confines of the port area. Presumably on a warship this positioning would obstruct the view of the guns, so they accept lower agility in return for much wider arcs of fire.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We’ve created the vessels described in the good Lieutenant’s report so you can now field the Ul Rhymic battlecruiser in your Syrtian fleets, alongside the Ib Gahim large merchant vessel.<\/p>\n

VAN-6008<\/a> – Ul Rhymic class Battlecruiser – \u00a310.00
\nVAN-5023<\/a> – Ib Gahim Large Merchant – \u00a38.00<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We return once again to the reports of Lt Algernon Carmichael-Jefferies of the 22nd West Kent Lancers, written during his long reconnaissance patrol across the Syrtian plains of Mars. On the third week of the expedition we set up camp … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"The Syrtian Martian fleet for Imperial Skies gets a reinforcement today, the Ul Rhymic battlecruiser, alongside a large Syrtian merchant vessel.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,46,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aeronef","category-imperial-skies","category-new-releases"],"views":164,"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p26BWy-4GY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17762,"url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2026\/07\/the-cities-of-mars\/","url_meta":{"origin":18040,"position":0},"title":"The Cities of Mars","author":"Tony","date":"July 10, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"More extracts from the report by Lt Algernon Carmichael-Jefferies (22nd West Kent Lancers) on his Mars expedition. Mars is sparsely populated compared to Earth, so we were able to infiltrate ourselves by patrol cutter relatively easily and set up a surveillance post overlooking one of the larger known cities in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Releases"","block_context":{"text":"New Releases","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/category\/new-releases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SyrtianCity.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SyrtianCity.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SyrtianCity.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SyrtianCity.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17609,"url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2026\/05\/the-skies-of-mars\/","url_meta":{"origin":18040,"position":1},"title":"The Skies of Mars","author":"Tony","date":"May 15, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Further extracts from the reports by Lt Algernon Carmichael-Jefferies of the 22nd West Kent Lancers. The Syrtians maintain a powerful aerial fleet of flying warships. Unlike the small hovering silver craft of the Olympians, those of this Southern empire are closer in design to our own ships, although their arrow-head\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Aeronef"","block_context":{"text":"Aeronef","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/category\/aeronef\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SM-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SM-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SM-3.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SM-3.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17591,"url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2026\/05\/the-fortresses-of-the-syrtis-major-planum\/","url_meta":{"origin":18040,"position":2},"title":"The Fortresses of the Syrtis Major Planum","author":"Tony","date":"May 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Extracts from the report by Lt Algernon Carmichael-Jefferies of the 22nd West Kent Lancers on his three week reconnaissance mission to the Southern uplands of Mars.","rel":"","context":"In "New Releases"","block_context":{"text":"New Releases","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/category\/new-releases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SSS-1100.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SSS-1100.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SSS-1100.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SSS-1100.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17500,"url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2026\/04\/in-the-nick-of-time-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":18040,"position":3},"title":"In the Nick of Time","author":"Tony","date":"April 10, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"We've just picked up the hire van, so we'll shortly be trekking over to Brigade HQ to load up and head off to the ExCel so set up the stand. In the meantime, here are the last additions to our Salute lineup. Firstly, some smaller Syrtian vessels for Imperial Skies\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Aeronef"","block_context":{"text":"Aeronef","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/category\/aeronef\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SyrtianEscorts.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SyrtianEscorts.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SyrtianEscorts.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SyrtianEscorts.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17478,"url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2026\/04\/new-for-salute-4-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":18040,"position":4},"title":"New for Salute – 4\/4","author":"Tony","date":"April 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"And finally for today, we go from the skies to the surface of the Syrtis Major shield volcano with this assortment of forts. 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