Dropping Terrain on the enemy

Okay, Here it is! Perhaps more trouble than people want to go to (and I realize that the final released rule set had some rules for this, too). Take it for what it's worth.

Destroying Buildings in AQOTMF

Destruction! The image of the Martian invasion is one of ruined cities and devastated landscapes. While many of the battlefields of the war have already been laid waste by earlier fighting, the Martian invaders are always trying to push further into human-held territory and previously untouched towns and cities might find themselves in the invader’s path. And sadly it is not only the Martian heat rays that might cause destruction; human weapons, too, can destroy homes and businesses in the frenzy of battle.

The following rules allow player to reduce buildings to rubble in the course of their games!

Building Types

Buildings come in three basic types: Wood Frame, which are typical houses of this period, constructed primarily of wood; they are relatively flimsy and burn very well. Brick/Stone, these are older homes or significant public buildings or businesses; constructed of sturdier and less flammable materials. Concrete/Steel/Iron, these are relatively new construction materials for this time period, but you would find some in larger towns or cities; they are quite sturdy and relatively fireproof.

Each type of building comes with an Armor Rating and a Fire Rating. The Armor Rating determines how likely the building is to collapse into rubble and the Fire Rating determines how likely the building is to catch on fire.


Building Type Armor Fire Rating

Wood Frame 6 6
Brick/Stone 8 8
Concrete/Steel 9 9

A typical house is considered a single target. Larger buildings are handled differently and this is described later.


Shooting at Buildings

Martian Heat Rays and tripod-mounted Blasters can affect buildings. Human cannons and explosives can also affect buildings. Human grenades and zombie-carried blasters cannot destroy buildings, but they can set them on fire.

Buildings are large and they don’t move so they are easy to hit (broad side of a barn, etc.). If you shoot at a building you hit it automatically (assuming it is in range and there is a clear line of sight). Martian Heat Rays on sweep mode will hit any building that is more than halfway under the template. Any building less than halfway under the template cannot be destroyed by the shot, but might be set on fire.

Roll to Destroy

When a building is hit, roll a D10 and add the Power rating of the weapon to it. Compare this to the Armor Rating of the building. If the Die Roll + Power exceeds the Armor Rating of the building then it is destroyed and collapses into rubble. Any troops that are inside the building are removed as casualties. If the Die Roll + Power exactly matches the armor rating, the building is damaged and its armor rating is reduced by one. Put a marker on the building to signify this.

Fire

If a building is hit but not destroyed it may still catch fire. Roll a D10 and add the Power rating of the weapon. If the Die Roll + Power exceed the Fire Rating of the building then it is on fire. Place a fire marker on the building. Martian Heat Rays get an additional +2 bonus on their fire rolls.

Troops inside a building that catches fire must leave the building in their next move. Troops may not enter burning buildings.

At the start of each turn all burning buildings must take a destruction test. Roll a D10 and if the roll exceeds the building’s armor rating, it collapses into rubble. If the building survives, its armor rating is reduced by 1. Check each turn until the building collapses.

Buildings that are destroyed by Martian Heat Rays or that collapse due to fires will continue to burn for the rest of the game and may not be occupied.

Destroyed buildings that are burning block line of sight.

Assaults

Martian tripods or human tanks can ‘assault’ buildings and attempt to knock them down.

Rubble

Destroyed buildings create rubble which hinder movement like rough terrain and provide cover for infantry (as long as the rubble isn’t burning).

Large Buildings

Large buildings are more complicated and the players must decide exactly how to handle them before the game starts. The simplest way to handle large buildings is to just divide them into a number of sections and treat each section as a normal small building. Each section can collapse on its own while the rest of the building is still standing. If one section catches fire then each turn all adjacent sections of the same building should make an unmodified D10 roll against its fire rating to see if the fire spreads to that section. Or you could give a large building a number of ‘hits’ and each time you get a destroyed result (by exceeding the armor rating) it loses a hit. When all hits are lost the whole building collapses.

Tall buildings (which we’ll define as anything of 4 or more stories) are tricky. You could treat each floor as a separate small building. In that case, if a lower floor collapses, the entire building collapses. Or you could give the building multiple hits as described above and it only collapses when all hits are lost.

When a tall building collapses, nearby units may be buried underneath! There is a 1” danger zone for each floor of the building. So a 6 story building will have a 6” danger zone all around it. (If there are other buildings nearby, the danger zone does NOT extend into these buildings.) Any unit, vehicle, gun, tripod or whatever that is caught in the danger zone of a collapsing tall building is considered buried and put out of action for the remainder of the game. (US troops have been known to deliberately collapse tall buildings to bury Martian machines!)