Ok, unpainted miniatures ahead. And bases. Deal with it!
Here
in the UK when the temperature tops 21*c and the humidity tops 80%
our brains go to much and everything grinds to a halt.
I
know you've enjoyed the Rogue Stars Moon series from me blog hits. I
shall return. Like any goodish TV series things will change without
any adequate explanation.
Lets
clear the pallet. So rinse, enjoy and spit oh my gossips!
Mars
– now there's a surprise! Flying Lead – more gasps from the
audience.
I'm
taking the vehicles rules, adjusting them for flying vehicles and
swarms of small craft or flying infantry and trying to simplify
things by making them more complicated.
Have
I succeeded? Can you suggest improvements? If so, please leave a
message or e mail me!
Design
Costs:
Basic
vehicle 10
Armoured
(thick wood capable of impeding small arms & shrapnel) 5
Better
armoured, +1 (twin hulled, laminate) 10
Heavy
armoured +3 15
Long
move 10
Slow
move -5
Infantry
capacity 1, 3
Infantry
capacity each 4, 12
My
add:
Difficult
target -2 when shot at 10
Command
and control vehicle (signal flags etc.) 15
Combat
comes in 2 distinct sections: direct combat such as boarding or
ramming.
Shooting
with long range weapons, usually gatling type guns, other guns
shooting exploding shells or grape shot, more pedestrian weapons
aimed at the crew or infantry.
Direct
Combat
1
solo pilot/fighter (or with non com spotter, etc) 5
2
pilot & fighter 10
3
pilot + up to 4 fighters
4
pilot + up to 6 fighters
5
pilot + up to 8 fighters
6
pilot + 8+ fighters
Artillery
are listed and costed separately.
Actions
and Reactions. Are used for shooting and combat actions plus
changing movement status, height and speed.
Movement.
Height
defines speed: Low = slow, Medium = normal High = fast.
Ships
climb and crash through this sequence.
Ships
are moving at 1,2 or 3. At turnover, ALL ships not yet moved, move
this base move forward. This can involve a turn or slow down action.
An
unpowered turn lowers speed by 1 per speed used. If reduces to 0
ship drops to next height at speed 1.
A
ship moving at 3 moves 3x it's move allowance. All movement is in a
straight line, so a turn is a series of moves.
This
may seen fiddly, but no other rules cope with height difference.
Ships
of same size & type with a command vehicle can move, act &
react as one. All movement is considered from middle of unit. Some
ships may move faster or slower to stay on station. They roll 1 set
activation dice. I'm not wedded to this, but it'll work with flying
infantry.
Ship
to ship combat results:
ANY
ship involved in hand to hand rolling a 1 will
explode, representing a magazine or boiler critical failure. Treat
as separate attack. Will always result in loss of height and pushed
away 1 move.
When
ships are in close proximity, the reacting or initiative player can
decide type of engagement:
Morale:
a Q test on 1 dice is required. A natural 1 and the attacker
veers off I movement. Natural 6 gains +1 in combat.
Ramming.
Add relative speed and height difference of both vehicles to
attackers score. Unless enclosed, ignore armour if attacked from
above.
Hand
to hand:
Draw:
both sides lose half fighting complement and Cbt score.
Not
rammed, ships drop one speed and move movement rate apart. If pilot
lost, crash lands.
Rammed,
both drop 1 height locked together.
Win
Odd. Loser fighting complement and Cbt score to half, winner by
quarter.
Not
rammed, ships locked unless a pilot is lost, then that ship(s) crash.
Rammed,
both drop 1 height together.
Win
Even. Winner destroys losers fighting complement and Cbt score
to half, winner by quarter, and controls ship.
Rammed,
winner drops 1 height, loser crashes.
Double
Losing ship loses fighting complement and weapons, drops 1 height.
Winner loses quarter.
Rammed,
winner drops 1 height, loser crashes.
Triple
Losing ship is destroyed and crashes, Winner loses quarter
fighting complement.
Rammed,
winner drops 1 height.
Shooting
is as normal. But uses weapon stats, not vehicle.
All
shooting at lower level targets count as one range less.
All
shooting at higher targets count as one range higher.
Infantry
weapons can only be used
against open targets or ground targets. Such shooting is ineffective
against a vehicle hull. Rather than dice for each combatant count as
one weapon:
8
infantry shooters Points:20 Combat +4, Priming Needed,
Range: Short
If
using a slow weapon like a crossbow or arquebus relying on rank
shooting:
8
infantry shooters Points:10 Combat +2, Priming Needed,
Range: Short
Non
infantry shooting down on open target +2, no armour.
Difference
in speed and height is always a minus.
Shooting
at rear or front of vehicle -1 to hit, +1 damage.
Denial.
If target wins initiative, can use to jink, turn and/or present
armour resulting in shooter -1.
Results:
ANY
target ship rolling a 1 will
explode, representing a magazine or boiler critical failure.
Attacker receives a Cbt attack equal to height and speed as separate
attack. Will always result in loss of height and pushed away 1 move.
Draw:
Target staggered, drops one height and one speed. Q test, if fails
moves 1 move away from shooter.
Win
Odd. Losing ship must pass Q
for weapons or fighting complement. Control regained on 1 action or
reaction per speed.
Win
Even Losing ship must pass Q
for bridge. Control regained on 1 action or reaction per speed.
Double
Losing ship must pass Q for fighting complement, bridge
and weapons or lose, drops 1 height.
Triple
Losing ship is destroyed and crashes.
Ground
Targets.
Use
ship or weapon stats, depending on circumstance.
They
can be combined in one point blank assault at point blank range if 2
actions used.
Forward
speed is a plus. (Nose down, guns blazing, infantry jumping)
Attacker
will be at low and speed1 at end. If started at 1, will land.
Any
counter attack will be at +1 to hit.
Since
WW1 we've known that air power is devastating against ground targets.
Imagine even a small Martian skip dragging chains through an
infantry unit while dropping grenades, or darts.
Could
be the reason Martian heavy infantry use pavises. Duck and cover!
My
ships
Martian
skips
Small.
Control
Vehicle 10, Long move 10, 1
fighter 3, difficult target 10, C&C 15, Q3 35 C 2 85
2
Martian Warriors 76 Total 161
Pilot
& grenadier.
Vehicle
10, Long move 10, 1 fighter 3, difficult target 10, C&C 15, Q3
35 C 2 70
Grenade/light
bombs Points:3
Grenade Combat 3,
Max Range 2 Medium, Priming Needed |
2 Martian
Warriors 76 Total 149
Pilot
& fighter. (x2) Vehicle 10, Long move 10, 1 fighter 3,
difficult target 10, Q3 35 C 2 70
2
Martian Warriors 76 Total 146
Small
sled. Vehicle 10, Long move 10, 1 fighter 3, Q3 35 C 3 15 73
3
Martian Warriors 114 Total 187
Gun
Sled Vehicle 10, Thin armour+1 10, up to 8 fighters 24, Q2 40,
Cbt 5 25, 109
Light Martian
Cannon Points:15
Armor Piercing, Combat +3,
Max Range 3 Medium, Very Slow Reload |
8 Elite Martian
Warriors 464 Total 588
Martian
Warrior
|
Points 38
|
Quality 4+
|
Combat 2
|
Special
Rules
|
-Pistol,
CQB Specialist, Dashing, Poor Shot, Steady Under Fire
|
Elite Martian
Warrior Points 58 Quality 3+Combat 2, Pistol, CQB Specialist,
Dashing, Elite, Poor Shot, Steady Under Fire
Total
force 1,403
The forces of Colonial Imperialism
Colonial
Gunboat Vehicle 10, Medium armour+3 15, 8 Sailors 24, Q3, 35,
Cbt5, 25. 109
Heavy
Gatling gun Points:49 x 2 = 98
Armor Piercing,
Auto Fire, Combat +4, Lethal vs. Soft Targets,
Range: Long, Spread
8 Sailors 496
Total 703
Colonial
Skip Command. Vehicle 10 Armoured 5, C&C 15, Q2 40, Q3 15,
4
Sailors 248 Total 263
Colonial
Gunskip Vehicle (x2) 10 Armoured 5, Q3 35, Q3 15,
Light
Gatling gun Points:13
Auto Fire,
Combat +1, Max Range 3 Medium, Spread
3
Sailors 186
Total 214
Colonial
Sailor
|
Points 62
|
Quality 4+
|
Combat 2
|
Special
Rules
|
-Shotgun,
CQB Specialist, Dashing, Specialist, Steady Under Fire
|
Game 1, all
Martians vs 2 gunboats 1,403 vs 1,406.
Note! The rules above are revised version of set used for these games. No, I'm not going to tell.
Tony took the Colonials and decided on a low speed/Medium height entry.
My starting position, high and fast. The difference allowed me to swoop in and around him.
With small numbers a turn ends quick.
My cannon goes orf, but a miss.
I swarm around one, going for a tail shot.
The small skips swarm the other gunship. The grenadier goes in and fails.
That leaves the other 2 to go in. They grapple and attack. Although they win, killing 1/2 the defenders, they lose too much and the ships are dumped.
The other gunship takes out another skip, the small crash and explode.
The skips circle-
The business end, don't get too close!
This was our attempt at ramming, but the pilot failed his Q test so had to blew him away instead.
My big skip tries again, but fails. Really, really bad shots! If I could have got intoo a boarding position then I could have taken it as the fighting complement had been depleted.
The manoeuvrability and methodology of both sides were different enough on both sides to give an interesting game. Movement takes a bit of getting used to and sometimes you have to consider that in real terms that one is going there, so I'm going to shoot it as it goes by.
Hand to hand was different, but quick. We could envision what was going on rather than trying to move 12 figures on top of a vehicle.
Doh! Cocked dice!
Game 2 all
Martians vs 3 sleds & gunboat. 1,403 vs 1,394
We kept the same sides. This one didn't come to a conclusion as we ran out of time. It was a cat and mouse game with no outcome.
You'll notice that I got a couple more of these excellent Peter Pig vehicles and did an upgrade with The Scene weapon mounts and bamboo skewer masts.
Tony got the initiative and came on strong.
The chase is on! Taking a risk, I swoop in front of him and then turned to follow.
The gunsleds dip under their larger companion to hunt the small sleds.
Come back!
The Fokkers are isolated-
Green Martian
shooter Points 104 Quality 3+Combat 3
Green
Martian Cavalry Leader Points
206 Quality 3+ Combat 5
