|
Post by slave2gaming on Jul 19, 2017 7:38:40 GMT
LOL! This has been great to read! Hoop snakes, drop bears, just great! Australia only became a country in 1901, before that it was 6 separate self-governing colonies and although there was a form of national service from around 1903, the land of "everything that kills you" was still a very small country in both population (just over 4 million) and army. The AIF wasn't formed until WW1 based off an all-volunteer force (existing military forces were not allowed to fight O/S). The biggest problem with defending Aussie land is distance and the fact that in 1908 - 1914 (our setting time), there wasn't really a lot in the centre of Australia, most of the population lived along the east coast. The real problem I keep coming to with an Alien Invasion of this sort (well from where I live and see things) is that if the Aliens landed outback, where practically no one would see them, then the distances to major cities would become a problem. The other problem is that there is a huge mountain range that may make an attack on the major cities a logistical nightmare. Known now as the Great dividing range, It stretches more than 3,500 kilometres (2,175 mi) from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through New South Wales, then into Victoria and turning west, before finally fading into the central plain at the Grampians in western Victoria. The width of the range varies from about 160 km (100 mi) to over 300 km (190 mi). This is shown in the pic below, it the tan coloured section along the east coast. Please don’t get me wrong, I do think that something happening here would be a good thing, I just think that it might be very different from what has happened in other countries. Perhaps they have gone down the path of more drones? Or miner tripods that drill underground? The logistics of such a huge country is just a different problem in Oz to other countries. Just my two cents.
|
|
|
Post by morbius on Jul 19, 2017 11:43:47 GMT
I can name several that I'd like to see walled off.
Canberra was located where it is to keep it out of range of Russian naval guns, but didn't become the capital until the 1920's.
Back in the 1900's Sydney was still too big to do that easily, Melbourne may have been even harder.
The Brisbane Line was a real concept during WWII, which might be able to be reworked for a WWI(ish) era setting such as this.
Craig
|
|
|
Post by boxholder on Jul 19, 2017 16:40:55 GMT
The Martians don't have a logistical tail in the human sense. They have long endurance energy storage cells and the primary weapons are heat rays (energy weapons). They do have to recharge the cells periodically, but that is not like having to supply ammo, to feed and to fuel human forces. One would expect the Martians to tend to move their strongholds closer to the human zone to give them more time to attack the defenses.
But, they face a dire shortage of food as an unintended result of their strategy of landing far from humans to delay a response. There are not a lot of prey creatures in those desolate areas, making support of the Martian population problematical. Snakes and rodents don't supply much nutrition and there are not a lot of large mammals in the Outback. (This assumes that any mammalian species can provide food, not just humans.) Note that in Mr Washburn's second book, the Martians tell of writing off their landing force in Antarctica. Evidently, they could ascertain large human settlements, but could not tell what sustenance was available in and around their chosen landing zones. Antarctica was bust for prey creatures; the Outback is too. Likewise the desert/arid areas of the US, as well as the Sahara and Gobi.
The Aussies are fortunate to have the defensible mountain range between the major population centers and the Martian landings. This can immensely help the defense by channeling approaches to the prey creature living areas. It is similar to the situation in North America where the Rockies and the Mississippi/Missouri river complex provide a defensive terrain for the West Coast and the Eastern US, but forced abandonment of the central Great Plains. However, the richer mammalian life on NAm can help the Martain cause.
Starvation, or the threat of it, will tend to make the Martians attack the mountains vigorously seeking passages, but with somewhat limited forces. It will make sustaining the Martian population difficult, probably impeding their "budding" rate due to malnutrition because reproduction is an energy intensive activity. This would probably tend toward viscious, small scale fights with the Martians willing to lose tripods, IF the pilots are not killed and can be recovered. Lots of probing actions looking for ways to cross the mountains. For the humans fortifying weak points is critical. Frequent active patrolling could help unbalance the Martians, creating small viscious meeting engagements and ambushes as the Humans try to maintain situation awareness to stop Martian moves early.
Having secure lines of communication by water is a big plus. It can permit transporting and landing troops behind Martians with no chance of interference. Naval gunfire support is also valuable, especially for short-stopping attempts to flank the mountains at the extreme ends. Humans from the west of the the mountains can be transported by water to the Human stronghold or to other islands if the western cities cannot be held.
|
|
|
Post by hardlec on Jul 19, 2017 17:57:03 GMT
As I understand things, a major part of the Australian economy is raising sheep and cows on the vast plains. The Martians should be able to herd sheep even if they prefer long pig. The Stations in the interior would be a good source of resistance. The people evacuate and then return when the time is right. A detail I don't know: In the US most farms had a root cellar, an underground structure that was separate from the house that was used to store food and for emergency shelter. If the stations of Australia had root cellars or the equivalent there would certainly be people using them as shelters. With a little Aussie ingenuity, every station becomes a fort.
Tazmania will be a major naval base with ships and airships. The airships will range into the interior and supply the pockets of resistance. The Martians may have destroyed the government of Australia and destroyed most of the cities, but the people of Australia will never surrender. Martian is very angry.
|
|
|
Post by slave2gaming on Jul 20, 2017 8:30:54 GMT
The Martians may have destroyed the government of Australia and destroyed most of the cities, but the people of Australia will never surrender. Martian is very angry. I think that we gave our politicians to the martians as a peace offering and that's why they now want to wipe us out! I agree with the resistance idea, maybe a guerilla warfare type idea that the Aussie forces learned from the few years of the Boer Wars. It would probably mean some different rules for the troops and maybe even a different set of rules for coherency (maybe over a larger area, say 6 -8" cohesion rather than 2"), maybe more trap use and dynamite rather than large calibre Artillery and Tanks. Boxholder, I like your thinking about the defensive barrier of the mountains and the Martins using probing actions. I think they would have evolved to a slightly different forms of vehicles and ways of attacking. Maybe the Martians have created new technologies as well, maybe even hover devices or a way to shoot their forces over distances. The use of animal Lobotons, the extremely annoying "moving rock" or better known as a Wombat, the flying fruitbat are just some ideas that come to mind. All really cool ideas, would love to be apart of the team doing this! It would be a real laugh.
|
|
|
Post by madmorgan on Jul 20, 2017 20:15:28 GMT
Not too funny as if supplied with some of my "S2G" arms, they'd be hell to dig out. gads lobo fruitbats and Tazmania devils are certainly possible - where to find the later figures more the problem. What does a wombat look like?? This could happen, news of the Aussie demise was premature as short wave contact has just been established in 1917. Let us make it so...
|
|
|
Post by boxholder on Jul 20, 2017 22:47:17 GMT
Here ya go! One wombat:: They are about 1 meter long Let us not forget the platypus either
|
|
|
Post by slave2gaming on Jul 21, 2017 1:38:22 GMT
This animal is so stupid that if you are driving towards it and stop, it will still turn and charge into the front of your car. With a thump it will shake its head and then waddle off!
I know, one did it to me! No damage done, but we all had a good laugh at it.
|
|
|
Post by madmorgan on Jul 21, 2017 9:13:16 GMT
No the lobo platypus is just too water borne for Martians. On another note, I've worked out some organization for the Aussie Airforce - known as the Shearers, they fly lots of different planes - basically any they can get their hands on. One question - what is the prevailing wind direction for that SW corner of Victoria. I as for use of lighter-than-air craft.
I really like the little harbor there on the SW coast at the 'bottom' - perfect look for Freedom Bay (renamed by defending Aussies). I'll list the Shearers soon in both my XYZ and Scotts systems.
|
|
|
Post by madmorgan on Jul 21, 2017 9:27:20 GMT
As an added noted - got any pictures of that bay area in the Southwest corner?? It looks like a great place to take a stand with the mountains to the north and the large bay for naval support.
|
|
|
Post by hardlec on Jul 21, 2017 17:17:46 GMT
Tie me loboroo down, sport tie me loboroo down
|
|
|
Post by boxholder on Jul 21, 2017 17:31:48 GMT
Geez,man!! I thought Texas was the only place with self-propelled speed bumps (aka armadillos). Sounds like Australia has them beaten with the wombats.
No overabundance of IQ points evident there. It must think(?) offense is the best defense. That works OK if the opponent is not a critter that is all teeth and appetite.
|
|
|
Post by hardlec on Jul 22, 2017 1:40:20 GMT
The Brisbane line seems strategically sound if it was quite politically controversial at the time. It might be interesting to wall off North Point south of Cairns.
Armadillos are very clever about getting into my trashcan. They also seem to know just when to dig up my garlic plants.
|
|
|
Post by slave2gaming on Jul 22, 2017 15:35:57 GMT
I'm in a coastal area, so prevailing wind directions are normally southeasterly. But get over mountains or even south that all changes, you've got to remember that there's about 1000km (about 622 miles) between Brisbane and Sydney, the another 1000km to Mlebourne. Canberra is only about 250km from Sydney, so they are probably the two closest capital cities.
The harbour just above Tazzie is Port Phillip bay, this is where Melbourne is located. Could be a good strategic strong point for shipping.
My main thought with defending Australia is would the government of the time pull back to one city and defend only that? With such a small army this might have been an option, but then which one? And with the manufacturing so far apart, do you risk the loss of the industry that you need to sustain the protection of the country?
More thought (and less night shift) is needed...
|
|
|
Post by hardlec on Jul 22, 2017 20:31:13 GMT
There is another possibility: Defending each big city with a ring of fortifications and keeping the area "behind" the brisbane line for agriculture.
The Australians were able to make tanks in WWII. I'm sure they would be able to cobble together something that could kill tripods.
My guess is that "landships" might be easier to construct than tanks.
|
|