Of Oil and Iron – A Salute Discovery
Recommendations: 51
About the Project
Of Oil and Iron had a stand at Salute 53. It's a Dystopian Dieselpunk setting where a terrible smogfall environmental event causes a collapse of society. No nations remain, only a handful of corporations and rebels and mercenaries. Only areas with adequate filtration are safe to breath, like the company housing and in the factories of the corporations. A forever war situation ensues as corporations fight for the world's last resources. Of Oil and Iron feels like a fun game. And the minis are nice. It's a 3d print digital campaign in essence, but Lazerforge are a UK company that print them. I also reached out to the creator of the game and made a printed model purchase as a bit of a one off after Salute.
Related Game: Of Oil & Iron
Related Company: Scoutsifer Studio
Related Genre: Steampunk
This Project is Active
28mm Infantry
Been painting up some 28mm minis from the Of Oil and Iron universe. Started with the Triton Marines, leaning on the nautical Bioshock vibes and the yellow of the Triton faction.
Triton Infantry - 28mm minis from the Of Oil and Iron universe. Going to use them in Death Fields Arena as The Damned alternatives, to play against my Wargames Atlantic The Damned minis.
My other purchase
I contacted Scott Hadley the creator after Salute. He said that as the response had been good at Salute he would do a print run, though the project's main thrust is 3D STLs and rules rather than printing minis. I gave him a list of two large frame rigs, this Nomad / Mercenary rig and a collection of 28mm models that I really liked the look of. 
But he also sent me two Krim models. This Krim Corporation Ravager Medium Frame model and...
... This Krim Corporation Light frame Stalker. I love these. 
I managed to use transfers from the corner of a GW decals sheet to write "KRIM" on the side. The wording "Games Workshop Limited" also gets the transer sheet backing and was able to be cut out and applied.
Terrain
Terrain idea came from my blood score sensor applicator. It's got a spung loaded part with some interesting shapes.
I just looked at the interesting shape at the top of the sensor applicator after it had been used. It looked Sci-fi enough for further investigation and once I took it apart I found was a lovely shape, but wouldn't fit neatly into anything on its own. So I glued a diabetes needle cover up underneath it and glued that to the bottom of the sensor applicator. The segmented ring around the lip of the applicator is also a nice feature and adds to the sci-fi oddness of it. Leadbelcher, bit of weathering. Done.
I wasn't sure what to do for terrain as I have nothing in 15mm scale. I may ask a friend to print some of the official terrain on offer for the game but compliment with some scratch built bits.
This piece was fun. Based on a Blu-ray disc case, using lids from diabetic blood score sensor packaging. Some brush covers as lengths of pipe and lots of weathering.
Because the shapes are odd and in world function vague...
They work across different scales.
I think so anyway.The Scraphound
This is the medium class Freegear rig called a Scraphound. It's only marginally bigger height wise than a Hijack, but the guns are chunkier and has a bold presence.
I have already made a purchase through a company called Laserforge (UK based) that print for Scoutsifer as a licensed partner. I don't feel inclined to go to the Colossus end of the models, so am getting the smaller Mercs and Triton faction minis so I can start playing some games.
Gaming in the gaps
I always wanted to paint and play with WW1 tanks but never saw a real opportunity to do so. But this Dieselpunk Steampunk world seemed like an opportunity. As the world is at 15mm scale I felt like adding 15mm WW1 tanks to my games. I think I can find a way to point up a tank so it stays with the dashboard style and doesn’t break the game. I want them to perform badly against Mechs. They will be part my Freegear and Mercenary options as they are more likely to be desperate for vehicles as they fight for resources with the well established and funded corporations. I imagine that the national militaries had got as far as a WW1 technology level, before corporations started to privatise military forces, jumped to mech technology and politically neuter the generals that historically could have threatened their authority.
I chose to improvise one of the spare weapons from the Hijack model to be bolted on somewhere so they’re not entirely pointless in game, but don’t want them to have too high of an impact. It’s all just for my amusement but will share my home rules or dashboard I use to add this in, just in case anyone is interested.
I added a flamer to one machine gun port. Unfortunately two of the four machine gun s on the kit were missing anyway.
I used the same transfers as the Freegear Hijack, but have since come to imagine that this could just be an AI managed model on the table protecting an independent enclave. They just attack the nearest models trying to protect the locals and drive away the corporations. 
I think it will be fun to settle on the basic dashboard for a tank and see whether some play testing can make them a worthy addition to the game experience or not.Freegear... And free gear.
I liked the look of the Freegear rebel faction and the corporate aquatic aesthetic Titan faction. The free 3D STL file that came with the event leaflet is actually my favourite model. Hoping my mate can print me a copy or two.
They also sent me a free digital copy of the rules. I love this barrel-chested dieselpunk tin can. I went ahead and slapped on the same weapons he had in the art work rather than read up and pick a prime loadout. If I was cleaver and talented I could have magnetised the arms and weapons and switched it up. But I'm not so I didn't.
I added leftover transfers from a Norse Blood Bowl team. This mini is one of the lightweight frames and is already taller than a Space Marine. 
The game is played at 15mm scale, so they're not meant to represent anything as massive as some mech games that play in 6 mm or even 2 mm.
This inspired me to think out of the box and consider a more WW1 type slant on the world.Salute 53
The sales table at Salute and the demo table enticed me to pic up the Skirmish box with two minis in.
I didn't get a demo personally, but heard good instructions given to someone who was. It sounded fairly easy to grasp. I have never played a mech game before.
Not sure entirely why, but the whole aesthetic really appealed to me. Seemed like there was some "gaming in the gaps" potential as well as some beautiful minis.
