“War of the Worlds”, for the original LNLP War of the Worlds

[Whiterook]

This thread concerns development of variant rules for playing the H.G. Wells, “War of the Worlds” environment within the Lock ‘N Load Publishing, original World at War game system. These were originally developed by a BoardGameGeeker, named Christopher O (Kozure) and provide a very well thought out foundation for further development. A quick read of what he put together points to the timeframe technologies shown in the 1898 book (e.g., Black Smoke); my initial plan is to use these variant rules as a base palette, expound on it as necessary, alter it as deemed beneficial, and perhaps even meld in the modern lore introduced by the Steven Spielbergerg directed, 2005 film.

Let’s start with Kozure’s variant special rules set:

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.

These were meant to be used with the original system rules, in this case, I’ll be using anything developed or enhanced upon in this thread, with the de facto Untold Stories rules, which you can access here.

You can also follow along with the development of the actual game variant here, including counters and map making.

[Whiterook]

So I the above outlines where the variant has been and currently sits as of this writing. What follows is where I’m taking it 

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The current special scenario variant provided a great foundation for a ruleset, nicely developed and offering a good jumping off point. Whereas it could be used as is, I want to upgrade the Martians’ a bit more in theory, and likely with weaponology. I am assuming the counters that were provided with this variant take into context, combat factors that are in balance with, and geared towards mid-1980’s military weaponry, so playtesting will definitely prove that out. However, more can be added in terms of the existing counters, and maybe upgrading with more powerful counters/weapons.

To that very point, let us explore some of the low hanging fruit at hand…


TRIPODS

So really doing a deep dive on the existing special scenario variant rules, I notice that they (as well as the counters) are tailored towards the original storyline; keeping in mind that there are elements from both the H.G. Wells book was written in the late 1890s, and the 1938 radio broadcast adaptation by Orson Welles. That, in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing, but I can’t help but feel that the focus on these original storyline elements were taking place and based in: the late 1890s, and the Martians thereby contested against with 19th Century military tech, and late 1930s, with early 20th Century military tech. So that also supports what was posited in the above paragraph on balance. The World of War game, while still just 50 years later (from Orion Welles’ adaptation) and also within the 20th Century, is nonetheless mid-1980s military tech weaponry. Therefore, my first consideration is towards the existing attack factors of the Tripods:

• The Martian Tripod (also known as a "Martian Fighting Machine") used in H. G. Wells' 1898 classic science fiction novel is a fast-moving three-legged walker reported to be 100 feet (30 meters) tall which is the height of a 10 story building. It has  multiple, whip-like tentacles used for grasping, and two lethal weapons: the dual-beam Heat-Ray and a gun-like tube used for discharging canisters of a poisonous chemical called Black Smoke that kills every living Earth organism. It is the primary machine the Martians use when they invade Earth, along with the Handling Machine, the Flying Machine, and the Embankment Machine. The 1930s Orion Welles adaptation used basically the same premises, from what I can tell.

• The Martian Tripod War Machine used in the Steven Spielberg 2005 film adaptation is 150 feet (45 meters) which is the height of a 15 story building. It has Energy Weapons to disintegrate most of the witnesses into ash. The combat factors on the existing counters likely accommodate the same theory in use, but again, playtesting will verify balance. I don’t remember is Black Smoke was used in the movie, but I love the mechanic, so it stays!!!
  

…what I will go with is a main Attack Tripod, at 15 stories tall (150 feet). I’ll figure out whether to go with another counter for a Handling Tripod with cages, or assume the main Attack Tripod serves this duty as well.

Attack Factors will flesh out on their own, in play. As for what to call the main weapon, I’ll go with Energy Weapons, as it’s just so much more of an up-to-date concept.


ARRIVAL

Here, we have a tale of two stories!

• In H. G. Wells' 1898 classic science fiction novel, the Martians arrive in artificial cylinders that was launched towards Earth and land in a crater of their impact zone, from which three martians can emerge from a cylinder. Later, the hero of the story see’s the 3-legged Tripods, so I am left to assume the Martian Cylinder transforms into a Tripod?

• In the Steven Spielberg 2005 film adaptation, the Martian Tripod pilots travel to, and arrive on Earth via a “lightning storm”, as related to the movie’s hero by a TV reporter that had been following the events live; she relates that this is the way the Martian pilots enter their Tripods, presumed to have been buried underground long ago. We also see in the movie, these strange thunderstorm that occur, during which lightning strikes multiple times in a given area, causing an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) that instantly disables almost all electronic devices. We also learn that in addition to all that, the Tripods have Force Shields that protect them from humanity's defenses.

…what the 2005 movie brings to the table is far more exciting and appealing, and are not reflected in the current special scenario rules, so I’ll have to develop that into the rules.


MARTIAN TOTAL WAR

The Martian invasion's principal tactical doctrine involves a strategy which includes the destruction of infrastructure (such as armament stores, railways, and telegraph lines) and to cause maximum casualties, leaving humans without any will to resist. These tactics were quite evident in all three mentioned references (1895-97 H.G. Wells book, 1938 Orson Welles radio adaptation, and 2005 Steven Spielberg movie adaptation) and we are all well informed that these tactics became more common as the twentieth century progressed, particularly during the 1930s with the development of mobile weapons and technology capable of surgical strikes on key military and civilian targets.

An interesting observation on Wiki denotes:

Wells's vision of a war bringing total destruction without moral limitations was a new concept of the day, and this kind of total war did not become fully realized until the Second World War. It was interesting to me that critic Howard Black wrote that "In concrete details the Martian Fighting Machines as depicted by Wells have nothing in common with tanks or dive bombers, but the tactical and strategic use made of them is strikingly reminiscent of Blitzkrieg as it would be developed by the German armed forces four decades later. The description of the Martians advancing inexorably, at lightning speed, towards London; the British Army completely unable to put up an effective resistance; the British government disintegrating and evacuating the capital; the mass of terrified refugees clogging the roads, all were to be precisely enacted in real life at 1940 France." Black regarded this 1898 depiction as far closer to the actual land fighting of World War II than Wells's much later works. In like regards in weapons and armor, Wells's description of chemical weapons – the Black Smoke used by the Martian fighting machines to kill human beings in great numbers – became a reality in World War I. The comparison between lasers and the Heat-Ray was made as early as the later half of the 1950s when lasers were still in development. Prototypes of mobile laser weapons have been developed and are being researched and tested as a possible future weapon in space.

Military theorists of the era, including those of the Royal Navy prior to the First World War, had speculated about building a "fighting-machine" or a "land dreadnought". Wells later further explored the ideas of an armoured fighting vehicle in his short story "The Land Ironclads". There is a high level of science fiction abstraction in Wells's description of Martian automotive technology; he stresses how Martian machinery is devoid of wheels. They use "a complicated system of sliding parts" to produce movement, possess multiple whip-like tentacles for grasping, and paralleling animal motion, "quasi-muscles abounded in the crablike handling machine".

…all fascinating points and very much in the overall mix in fleshing out this variant! This gives me a lot to chew on, and to keep on the back burner as I weave my way through developing heartier rules for this variant project.


HUMAN RESISTANCE and MIGRATION

The human race is clearly f*ed at the beginning of this story, and that’s where the game scenarios will be centered; the invasion already established by the Martians and the Earthlings either fighting back or running like hell!

• Sand and Fight! This is the role Military, as portrayed by our intrepid World at War game counters. The book and radio broadcast adaptation both give the military a weak chance to fight back, and they could in fact do some damage, even taking out some Martian Tripods. The movie is much different, where even advanced fighter jets were obliterated. 

• Run like Hell! This is the role Civilians were pure survival-mode in all the resources. They are portrayed currently, by vehicles and personnel/civilians already available as counters. 

…a huge consideration was just mentioned previously, in the fact that Martian Tripods in the 2005 movie have Force Shields. That’s a prime explanation as to why air power and armor are not much better than slingshots with acorns! If these are to exist in this variant, they cannot be as powerful a deterrent as in the movie, or else, these will be extremely short battles and individual game plays!!! I’m really not sure they are doable in this variant… the determining factor will come down to what the Tripoad counters have for Defensive Factors (Armor and Save Numbers). It might be better to leave Force shields out of the game.

As for the civies, they are currently represented in the game as Refugees, and the transportation means available (Deuce and a Half Army trucks and a train(s). The current rules say they can never move closer to the Martians, and that they have no offensive firepower (weapons). That means, their role is simply that off escape the battle zones, and maybe escape off board. The role of the non-Martian player will be two-fold: fight with military and herd civilians. I never found any actual scenarios so, this is all supposition. It does give the modus operandi for the Martians very well, though, as they are on a mission of planetary extermination, and, harvesting humans…


HUMAN CATTLE and CAGES

In the Steven Spielberg 2005 film adaptation, the Martian Tripods have cages built on some (or all?) of them. These are to corral humans, presumably alive, as zapping them with heat-rays or energy weapons reduced them to ash. Humans are caught alive and thrown in cages, under the top of the Tripods. This needs to be built into the rules. The Martians need humans for their organic blood and tissue, to produce…

RED WEED

After the initial invasion begins and the Martians have been successfully capturing herds of humans en masse, the humans soon discover that the aliens have started cultivating a red-colored vegetation across the landscape that is quickly spreading. It is further discovered that this “Red Weed“ is produced by harvesting human blood and tissue, in order to fertilize the alien vegetation, a floral or fungal growth having ties to their home-world, left behind in the Tripods’ wake. It’s part of their xenoforming project, which can be seen throughout the film, with their tripods spilling blood that is presumably connected to the invaders' needs. The movie development postulated that the Martian “Red Weed” (or creeper) is left behind as residue of their Tripod experiments. In the climactic scene of the film, a downed tripod opens a hatch that belches the liquid before one of the sickly creatures crawls forth.

So having said all that, what is “Red Weed”? Your guess is as good as mine! In my variant, I may make counters that represent the Red Weed, and rules that only Tripods with a certain number of Civilan markers under the Tripod can start to leave it in their wake as they move; perhaps only a few hexes, at which the Tripod either continues to move and leave behind no Red Weed (it needs to collect more humans to that certain number of counters and can then lay more Red Weed for several hexes. The reason for the Red Weed being, it will slow movement of human troops, ground transportation, and civilians/transports by certain movement factors… this all being under the premise that they are terraforming Earth through the gradual transformation of the planet through xenoforming, to a world suited for Martian, rather than human life (biology and ecology).

A MARTIAN WIN! (…probably, most times?)

Well, the only way the Martians will ever win a scenario is through complete human extermination and farming. The Martians will never win earth, because, well, they all die! …but they can beat the snot out of us before they do! In other words, they can win some battles, but they won’t win the war. Meanwhile, the humans can also win some battles, even though we will never see them win the war. ain’t wargaming great!!!

[Whiterook]

MARTIAN TROOP SIZE

…not sure how else to describe this, but I’ve been trying to figure out a fair representation of Martian vs Human troop size:

• A Human Main Battle Tank Platoon consists of generally 5 tanks/platoon.
• A Martian Main Attack Tripod is 15 stories tall and theoretically has two pilots, but it’s size would make it equivalent to a human MBT platoon, given firepower factors.

I would say that a Tripod is worth one MBT platoon counter. I’ll have to run this through an examination of an average of typical troop strength in a typical World at War scenario and see how it compares for balance. With the advantages the Tripods have in ignoring a first hit, as well as factoring in that only certain artillery weapons can penetrate Martian energy force field shields as written in the variant thusfar, only playtesting will determine balance.

It’s going to be a delicate balance of Martian indestructibility vs game playability so that it’s not just automatic Martian victories. We do have on our theoretical side that the book and other early works do show the Martian Tripods as susceptible to certain human weaponry.

[Whiterook]

One concepts on scenario ideas…

Scenario Ideas
(some of these could even be 3 players, NATO/Warsaw Pact/Martians)

#1 Initial Landing - Day 1
Group of NATO and WP battling it out. On turn 3 the Martians crash in the middle of the firefight. Three tripods rise from the crater and start blasting everything in sight.
Martian Goal: Utter Destruction, NATO/Sov: exit the map off your respective edges. VP awarded based on how many units exit the map.

#2 Delaying Tactics - Day 3
The Martian Landing has created a huge flood of refugees. NATO or Soviet forces (or if you're feeling really crazy, NATO and Soviet) are working to evacuate as many as possible. Team Yankee was escorting a group of refugees when they were spotted by a single tripod on reconnaissance. Team Yankee is trying to buy time for the refugees, but it may be a close fought battle. VP awarded based on how many refugees exit the map.

#3 Running the Gauntlet - Day 4
A NATO or Soviet platoon is cut off by Martians attempting to re-establish contact with their lines. Two Tripods are sitting astride the main route back to the lines. Do you split your company and try to eek your way through or do you plow through as one big force trusting firepower to get you through? VP awarded based on how many units exit the map.


#4 Counterattack - Day 6
Given the success of Team Yankee's engagement with the tripod, NATO has decided to attempt an attack on a Landing Crater. 4 Companies are taking on 3 Tripods and attacking the landing site defended by a new type of unit, Martian Infantry.