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Post by hardlec on Apr 24, 2016 19:41:23 GMT
The keys to defending cities are:
Defence in Depth Use the Existing Topography Keep the Enemy Guessing
As it has been necessary to fortify towns and cities to defeat the Martians, lessons have been hard learned. Successful methods and unsuccessful methods are examined and modified to provide a continuous series of obstacles to the Martian Invader.
Mines of various types. Rings of minefields offer a passive defence, but they have several weaknesses. It is necessary to provide lanes clear of mines to allow access to and from the city. One way to deal with the clear lanes in to make lanes straight and well marked, then hastily sow them shut when the enemy approaches. Different mines are needed for different threats. The methods of sowing mines are well published. The Martians have one always effective means of breaching minefields: They send equipment through and clear lanes by brute force. Mines do not stop the Martians, but it costs the martians dearly to breach the Minefields.
Traps A series of holes of various sizes and depths has proven to be a difficult barrier to the Martians. Ditches are not very difficult for the Martians to cross, but an irregular pattern of pits works. Dragon's Teeth slow down the Tripods, but they have scant effect on drones. Hedgehogs have to be arrayed in random patterns of random size to be effective. A good material for traps and barricades is concrete reinforced with steel wire or rods. This is a good combination of the strength needed andthe heat resistance needed to be a barrier to the machines and resist the heat rays.
Edison Wires
The more layers of Edison Wires, the better. The Martians will sacrifice machines to defeat them. Make these sacrifices costly.
Walls
Tall walls made of reinforced concrete. Engineers and scientists and master masons have worked together to design ways to build walls fast and tall and thick. Watching the PhDs work with the barely-literate workmen learning from each other shows us the real hope for humanity. We are many, we have one purpose, and we work together. The walls will stop the Martians, at least for a while
Guns
Heavy guns with interlocking fields of fire guided by people calling in the fire. Guns destroy Tripods. Add guns to any defence and the Martians have to sacrifice even more material to breach the defences.
HOPE
Any Physical obstacle man can make the Martians can destroy. Any system of defences that man can be destroyed by the Martians. It requires the hope and determination and courage of the human defenders to defeat the Martians.
We are tougher than those accursed things. We must teach them that lesson.
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Post by madmorgan on Apr 26, 2016 12:19:32 GMT
Excellent writeup. As always. I use Dragonteeth packed with explosives, buried wires connect to a unit that detonates when Martians are next to. Very effective. Several 'belts' of these provide an effective 'minefield' effect. As for the traps, we've already discussed covered quicksand filled pits in front of walls or channeled approaches. These work well in conjunction with dragonteeth, either before or after the pit. I prefer after, in case the victem gets out of the pit somehow. The new Bixby's Barricades will also be a big help. Again dragonteeth before or after these cut down Martians quite well.
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Post by scottwashburn on Apr 26, 2016 13:05:19 GMT
Much will depend on how much time and resources are available to the defenders. Clearly, large belts of mines and concrete walls will require a lot of time and a lot of resources to create. Pit traps, trenches, and bunkers could be created quickly with limited resources. I would imagine that towns near the front lines will get the quick and cheap type while larger cities to the rear will get the elaborate defenses (and hope they never need them).
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Post by madmorgan on Apr 26, 2016 13:37:26 GMT
Yes, I agree. The explosive dragonteeth are easier to 'pour' but laying the wire would take time as well.
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Post by scottwashburn on Apr 27, 2016 11:13:54 GMT
I'm a great believer in concrete It is extremely resistant to heat and since the Martians don't use many weapons that have any real impact, a relatively thin wall (which would be quickly reduced to rubble by cannon fire) could still be effective. I could even see prefabricated walls (like giant Lego blocks perhaps) being introduced to allow fortifications to be constructed quickly.
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Post by madmorgan on Apr 27, 2016 11:53:16 GMT
Yes, the Lego blocks would be easy to 'model'. You can get quite a few from various companies in a package of just the blocks with no fancy themes as they a onto these days. Might invest in some caps they make for the top lego (to cover the six pegs). Grey paint and there you are.
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Post by hardlec on Apr 27, 2016 16:32:20 GMT
There are many variables to consider. Amount of time, materials and labor available, the value of the town and the threat to it, and, very important, is the geography.
A small town in central Illinois might have a ring of pits with a few mines and some barbed wire, and behind it a network of trenches. A small city in central Illinois might merit a wall, and more elaborate defences.
Concrete blocks would have been well known by 1906, and they can be quickly made in huge quantities on site. Hollow core blocks can be filled with reinforcing rod and concrete to make a very stout wall very quickly.
In game terms, I would like to see a human "constructor" machine. One that could dig trenches or trap pits, and also help lay concrete.
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Post by boxholder on Apr 27, 2016 17:34:18 GMT
I think they are called steam shovels. <grin>. Check out the photos of the Panama Canal under construction. Definitely a technology available at the AQMF time frame. Those and some explosives can create big holes pretty quickly.
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Post by hardlec on Apr 28, 2016 1:13:09 GMT
That Shovel on a MkIII tank chassis.
And Long Island Ice Tea for the crew.
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Post by boxholder on Apr 28, 2016 2:27:11 GMT
Dig, baby, Dig!!
This does bring to mind a possible defensive tactic: A large number of craters spaced on a somewhat irregular grid could provide a barrier to slow the advance. The tripods would need to step carefully to avoid losing the footing for one leg and toppling. Even gyro stabilization can't help when a leg sinks into a hole. Irregular spacing would force the tripod pilot to look carefully at the placement of each leg step. Holes would not need to be very deep to topple one.
The nice part about this is that it can be done quickly with explosives as an expedient measure. If more time is available, concrete-lined pits could be deployed.
To add to the Martian enjoyment, mines could be spaced randomly between some fraction of the pits/holes.
Step carefully, Marvin.
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Post by madmorgan on Apr 28, 2016 11:16:01 GMT
Really good thought that. A 'crater patch' would definately cause some problems, especially if time allows a powerful mine to be placed in the bottom, with or without concrete. The concrete would also help focus the mine blase upwards towards the tripod. Heck, the crater patch would worked in a limited capacity against drones and lobos, falling into one with a mine at the bottom is very disruptive to said target. Peppering mines or dragonteeth with explosives amongst the crater patch only increases the disruptive nature of this obsticle, as the tripods would be focused on those dragonteeths which they (by now) would recognize as a threat due to the explosive nature of the 'teeth'. All of this nicely distracts the Martian crewman, whose trying to avoid being blown up whilst firing at the prey-that-stings. A side rule for the crater patch might be to give a -1 to hit roll for tripods in the crater patch, due to this distraction. Hey, every thing to make Marvins stay uncomfortable.
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Post by madmorgan on Apr 28, 2016 11:18:58 GMT
I think they are called steam shovels. <grin>. Check out the photos of the Panama Canal under construction. Definitely a technology available at the AQMF time frame. Those and some explosives can create big holes pretty quickly. Yeap, Walters has a nice few of those, and I think MI Toy Soldier has one or two in plastic 1/72 or larger. Good stuff.
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Post by mikedski on Apr 28, 2016 11:46:27 GMT
I'm a great believer in concrete It is extremely resistant to heat and since the Martians don't use many weapons that have any real impact, a relatively thin wall (which would be quickly reduced to rubble by cannon fire) could still be effective. I could even see prefabricated walls (like giant Lego blocks perhaps) being introduced to allow fortifications to be constructed quickly. How about the 1910 version of T-walls and Hesco baskets that I seen all over Iraq? Fabricated off site and emplaced quite easily depending on equipment available.
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Post by scottwashburn on Apr 28, 2016 11:48:22 GMT
Another very effective (and relatively cheap) defense measure for cities near rivers (many are) would be to flood low-lying ground to create swamps which would seriously restrict movement of the tripods. This would be particularly effective along the Mississippi where the topsoil is dozens of feet deep. The tripods could sink out of sight By denying the Martians certain approaches, they could be funneled into prepared kill zones. In fact, this is also a major role for mines. Creating large minefields is extremely costly in time and materials. During WWII minefields were rarely concealed, instead they were often clearly marked to convince the enemy to attack somewhere else. This often led to fake minefields. In the Martian War it might become common to make real minefields distinctive enough in appearance to convince the Martians to attack elsewhere. This would allow the humans to quickly make fake minefields to (hopefully) protect lightly defended portions of the line.
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Post by scottwashburn on Apr 28, 2016 11:49:56 GMT
I'm a great believer in concrete It is extremely resistant to heat and since the Martians don't use many weapons that have any real impact, a relatively thin wall (which would be quickly reduced to rubble by cannon fire) could still be effective. I could even see prefabricated walls (like giant Lego blocks perhaps) being introduced to allow fortifications to be constructed quickly. How about the 1910 version of T-walls and Hesco baskets that I seen all over Iraq? Fabricated off site and emplaced quite easily depending on equipment available. A definite possibility. Then we have to start thinking about different types of walls. Low walls strictly used to shield the defenders from heat rays, and taller walls which can physically block the movement of the tripods.
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