“War of the Worlds” variant for LNLPs original World at War
Dec 30, 2023 22:27:04 GMT -5
mikeh likes this
Post by Whiterook on Dec 30, 2023 22:27:04 GMT -5
GAME THESIS
Came across cool fan-made (Kozure, at BGG) counters for playing WaW in the H.G. Wells, “War of the Worlds” environment! Here’s an example of the front side of the counter sheet he made.
These are super cool counters!
He posted a rough draft of the rules back in 2010:
There’s enough outlined to work on this variant to put some scenarios together, and maybe flesh out more mechanics! Scenarios that were under development were:
I did reach out to him so, we’ll see if I get a response… but again, ideas to work from!
Came across cool fan-made (Kozure, at BGG) counters for playing WaW in the H.G. Wells, “War of the Worlds” environment! Here’s an example of the front side of the counter sheet he made.
These are super cool counters!
He posted a rough draft of the rules back in 2010:
WAR of the WORLDS WaW SPECIAL RULES
Tripod Height
The Martian Tripod units are considered to be at one height level above the height level of the hex it currently occupies for all purposes of line of sight except for the defensive bonus gained against units at a lower elevation firing at units at a higher elevation. The tripod does not gain this height-based defensive bonus, even if it is standing on a ridge-line. (It’s hard to go "hull down" in a multi-story war machine).
Example: A Tripod on a non-hill hex is assumed to be at elevation level 1. A tripod on a hill or crestline hex is assumed to be at elevation level 2.
Tripods never gain any defensive bonus from terrain for the same reason. Do not add extra dice for being in terrain. Tripods may never be concealed. They're just too darn big.
Tripod Defense
The advanced technology of the Martian Tripods gives them one automatic save against any attack (including direct fire, assault (see below) indirect fire, artillery, etc.). However, as stated above, Tripods never gain additional defence dice from terrain or concealment.
When hit by artillery or airstrikes, tripods roll three dice regardless of the terrain they occupy, saving on fives. In addition to any saves they may make from this roll, they gain one free save as mentioned above.
Tripods may be disrupted by artillery fire, but may only be reduced by DPICM strikes.
Tripod Movement
Tripods pay all normal movement costs as if they were infantry except that they may also enter water hexes at a cost of 2 MP. Martian tripods cannot conduct fire and movement.
Tripods in Assaults
As the Martian Tripods are several stories high, assaulting them is very difficult. AFVs cannot assault tripods. Infantry may assault tripods, but attacking a tripod in assault combat reduces their Assault Factor by one and increases their to-hit number by one. In addition, the Martian tripod automatically blocks one hit inflicted by assault combat before the winner of the assault is determined.
Martian Command and Control
The Martians are assumed to use a vastly superior, un-jammable (by Earth technologies), long range command and control network. All Martian units are considered to be in command at all times, regardless of their distance from one another. Their morale is considered to be "8" for rally and disruption purposes, except as specified by scenario special rule.
Heat Rays
All Martian combat units use the heat ray weapon for both AP and HE attacks. The range of the heat ray is unlimited but is restricted to line of sight (i.e. it cannot shoot through/over blocking terrain).
There are no bonuses for reduced range or penalties for extended range attacks.
The Heat Ray is marginally less effective against units with Chobham/composite armor - units of these types may roll one additional defense die when attacked by heat-rays. Leopard IIs, M1s (all variants) and Challengers (all variants) have this bonus.
The heat-ray may be used for anti-aircraft fire; when used in this fashion it is considered to have a anti-aircraft firepower one die less than the HE firepower.
Black Smoke
The "Black Smoke" chemical weapon used by the Martians was typically released in a "wave-front" of smoke. In game this is represented by two Black Smoke markers placed at the top and bottom (or left and right sides) of a hex column (or row) on the game board. Everything east or west of the column (or north or south, in the case of a hex row) depending on the scenario special rules, is affected by the black smoke. All Civilian units which end their turn in a hex affected by black smoke automatically take a step reduction.
Earth Military units (any non-Civilian, non-Martian units) are assumed to have Nuclear Biological Chemical protection (NBC), but may not be aware of the threat of the Black Smoke - this is specified in scenarios where Black Smoke is used.
If Black Smoke is unknown to the defending units, any units which end their movement in a hex affected by the Black Smoke must take a morale check. AFVs that fail the morale check are disrupted. If they are already disrupted, they suffer no further penalties.
Infantry riding in an AFV (M-113, for example) do not check morale; they suffer the same result as the AFV in which they are riding. Infantry not riding in an AFV (in other words, on foot) that fail the morale check are disrupted AND reduced. After a unit has been affected once in this way, they are "aware" of the danger of black smoke and do not need to make additional morale checks during the game. If this becomes difficult to keep track of, mark with chemical weapon markers or record which units are "aware" on a piece of paper.
All units except Martian Tripods must pay an additional one Movement Point to enter a hex affected by Black Smoke. Black Smoke blocks line of sight as per smoke (6.2) in the Blood and Bridges rules, except that it is considered to be only at the same elevation level as the terrain it occupies, not all levels above.
Move Black Smoke markers as directed by scenario special rules during the Marker Removal Phase. Three Black Smoke markers are provided in the event that players designing their own scenarios have their own ideas in mind for using Black Smoke. The third Black Smoke marker may also be used to mark the "middle point" of the line of effect of Black Smoke if the playable area is very large.
Civilian Units
For simplicity (and realism), there are no civilian HQ units. Civilian units have an effective morale of 5. Civilian units are never out of command for Command Check purposes and thus may always move when activated, but must always behave as if disrupted (regardless of whether they are marked with a disrupted marker or not) - they may never move towards an enemy unit (Martians) in line of sight.
Civilian units have no firepower values and automatically lose assault combats. All civilian vehicle units are considered to be unarmored. Some scenario special rules may have special rules for Martians capturing civilian units.
The Train
The train is made of up two parts, the Engine and the Coaches. The Engine unit leads and the Coaches unit follows, moving whenever the Civilian "formation" is activated. The Engine and Coaches must follow a path specified by the scenario special rules. If the Engine unit is destroyed, the Coaches unit may no longer move and remains in place.
Bridge Down Markers
As the capture of civilians by Martians is an objective in some scenarios, the destruction of bridges to prevent their escape becomes an tactical option. If any heat-ray equipped Martian combat unit attacks a bridge and gets a minimum of two hits, place a "Bridge Down" marker on that hex. That bridge may no longer be used.
Cylinder Pit Markers
The cylinder pit markers represent an area where one of the original Martian transport cylinders has landed and created a crater. The cylinder pit markers are provided to allow a reference point for certain scenarios - they are not combat units. Scenario special rules will describe the role of these markers in each scenario.
Tripod Height
The Martian Tripod units are considered to be at one height level above the height level of the hex it currently occupies for all purposes of line of sight except for the defensive bonus gained against units at a lower elevation firing at units at a higher elevation. The tripod does not gain this height-based defensive bonus, even if it is standing on a ridge-line. (It’s hard to go "hull down" in a multi-story war machine).
Example: A Tripod on a non-hill hex is assumed to be at elevation level 1. A tripod on a hill or crestline hex is assumed to be at elevation level 2.
Tripods never gain any defensive bonus from terrain for the same reason. Do not add extra dice for being in terrain. Tripods may never be concealed. They're just too darn big.
Tripod Defense
The advanced technology of the Martian Tripods gives them one automatic save against any attack (including direct fire, assault (see below) indirect fire, artillery, etc.). However, as stated above, Tripods never gain additional defence dice from terrain or concealment.
When hit by artillery or airstrikes, tripods roll three dice regardless of the terrain they occupy, saving on fives. In addition to any saves they may make from this roll, they gain one free save as mentioned above.
Tripods may be disrupted by artillery fire, but may only be reduced by DPICM strikes.
Tripod Movement
Tripods pay all normal movement costs as if they were infantry except that they may also enter water hexes at a cost of 2 MP. Martian tripods cannot conduct fire and movement.
Tripods in Assaults
As the Martian Tripods are several stories high, assaulting them is very difficult. AFVs cannot assault tripods. Infantry may assault tripods, but attacking a tripod in assault combat reduces their Assault Factor by one and increases their to-hit number by one. In addition, the Martian tripod automatically blocks one hit inflicted by assault combat before the winner of the assault is determined.
Martian Command and Control
The Martians are assumed to use a vastly superior, un-jammable (by Earth technologies), long range command and control network. All Martian units are considered to be in command at all times, regardless of their distance from one another. Their morale is considered to be "8" for rally and disruption purposes, except as specified by scenario special rule.
Heat Rays
All Martian combat units use the heat ray weapon for both AP and HE attacks. The range of the heat ray is unlimited but is restricted to line of sight (i.e. it cannot shoot through/over blocking terrain).
There are no bonuses for reduced range or penalties for extended range attacks.
The Heat Ray is marginally less effective against units with Chobham/composite armor - units of these types may roll one additional defense die when attacked by heat-rays. Leopard IIs, M1s (all variants) and Challengers (all variants) have this bonus.
The heat-ray may be used for anti-aircraft fire; when used in this fashion it is considered to have a anti-aircraft firepower one die less than the HE firepower.
Black Smoke
The "Black Smoke" chemical weapon used by the Martians was typically released in a "wave-front" of smoke. In game this is represented by two Black Smoke markers placed at the top and bottom (or left and right sides) of a hex column (or row) on the game board. Everything east or west of the column (or north or south, in the case of a hex row) depending on the scenario special rules, is affected by the black smoke. All Civilian units which end their turn in a hex affected by black smoke automatically take a step reduction.
Earth Military units (any non-Civilian, non-Martian units) are assumed to have Nuclear Biological Chemical protection (NBC), but may not be aware of the threat of the Black Smoke - this is specified in scenarios where Black Smoke is used.
If Black Smoke is unknown to the defending units, any units which end their movement in a hex affected by the Black Smoke must take a morale check. AFVs that fail the morale check are disrupted. If they are already disrupted, they suffer no further penalties.
Infantry riding in an AFV (M-113, for example) do not check morale; they suffer the same result as the AFV in which they are riding. Infantry not riding in an AFV (in other words, on foot) that fail the morale check are disrupted AND reduced. After a unit has been affected once in this way, they are "aware" of the danger of black smoke and do not need to make additional morale checks during the game. If this becomes difficult to keep track of, mark with chemical weapon markers or record which units are "aware" on a piece of paper.
All units except Martian Tripods must pay an additional one Movement Point to enter a hex affected by Black Smoke. Black Smoke blocks line of sight as per smoke (6.2) in the Blood and Bridges rules, except that it is considered to be only at the same elevation level as the terrain it occupies, not all levels above.
Move Black Smoke markers as directed by scenario special rules during the Marker Removal Phase. Three Black Smoke markers are provided in the event that players designing their own scenarios have their own ideas in mind for using Black Smoke. The third Black Smoke marker may also be used to mark the "middle point" of the line of effect of Black Smoke if the playable area is very large.
Civilian Units
For simplicity (and realism), there are no civilian HQ units. Civilian units have an effective morale of 5. Civilian units are never out of command for Command Check purposes and thus may always move when activated, but must always behave as if disrupted (regardless of whether they are marked with a disrupted marker or not) - they may never move towards an enemy unit (Martians) in line of sight.
Civilian units have no firepower values and automatically lose assault combats. All civilian vehicle units are considered to be unarmored. Some scenario special rules may have special rules for Martians capturing civilian units.
The Train
The train is made of up two parts, the Engine and the Coaches. The Engine unit leads and the Coaches unit follows, moving whenever the Civilian "formation" is activated. The Engine and Coaches must follow a path specified by the scenario special rules. If the Engine unit is destroyed, the Coaches unit may no longer move and remains in place.
Bridge Down Markers
As the capture of civilians by Martians is an objective in some scenarios, the destruction of bridges to prevent their escape becomes an tactical option. If any heat-ray equipped Martian combat unit attacks a bridge and gets a minimum of two hits, place a "Bridge Down" marker on that hex. That bridge may no longer be used.
Cylinder Pit Markers
The cylinder pit markers represent an area where one of the original Martian transport cylinders has landed and created a crater. The cylinder pit markers are provided to allow a reference point for certain scenarios - they are not combat units. Scenario special rules will describe the role of these markers in each scenario.
There’s enough outlined to work on this variant to put some scenarios together, and maybe flesh out more mechanics! Scenarios that were under development were:
"The Cylinder Opens" - Horsell Common, Surrey, UK
"The Fighting Begins" - Horsell Common, Surrey, UK
"Captain Lansing's Folly" - Wilmuth Farm, Grover's Mill, New Jersey, USA
"If It Isn't One Thing, It's Another" - Eisenbach, West Germany.
"Red Devils" - Chengde, People's Republic of China
"Dead London" - London, England
WaW7 "Wreckage" - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
"The Fighting Begins" - Horsell Common, Surrey, UK
"Captain Lansing's Folly" - Wilmuth Farm, Grover's Mill, New Jersey, USA
"If It Isn't One Thing, It's Another" - Eisenbach, West Germany.
"Red Devils" - Chengde, People's Republic of China
"Dead London" - London, England
WaW7 "Wreckage" - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
I did reach out to him so, we’ll see if I get a response… but again, ideas to work from!
