Post by mikedski on Aug 15, 2016 2:49:29 GMT
The Martian Crossing at Ashport Landing.
May 23, 1914. In the predawn hours the Martians launch their largest attack along the Mississippi front. Taking advantage of the night and fog the main attack falls on Memphis. Supporting attacks are launched north and south of Memphis. On such place is Ashport , Tennessee. Ashport was a small riverside collection of buildings on the Mississippi flood plain situated between two large forests to the north and south. The Corp of Engineers recognized the area as a natural crossing point and begin to fortify the area in late 1913 with trenches, gun emplacements, followed by Bixby Barricades, and more recently electrified barriers and search lights. The defensive belt is set back from the river to avoid Martian black dust attacks and to take advantage of the concealment of the wooded river bank.
Special Rules.
The Mighty Mississippi. The Mississippi River and its tree lined back is just off the west edge of the board. While the Martian machines are quite nimble it was very evident during their crossing the Martians underestimated the challenge of the spring time river current, the bottom muck and the natural and man-made snags that littered the river. To US Army observers it appeared to be a very haphazard attack that reached the east bank compared to other Martian offenses.
1) No Martian forces start on board. Starting on turn 1 Martian vanguard forces begin to roll to arrive as reinforcements. Starting on turn 2 the exploitation force can begin to roll as reinforcements. It is very likely that follow forces may land on the east bank before the initial assault wave is complete.
2) When a drone controller machine arrives on the east bank (table edge ) roll a single D10 for each of its associated drones. On a roll of “1” that drone is considered lost to the river and removed from play.
3) When a Martian machine rolls a successful reinforcement die roll its arrival location is determined by its die roll. One a reinforcement roll of 6, 7, 8 the machine and any associated drones will land appear in sector 6 , 7, 8 along the west board edge. If the reinforcement die roll is 9 or 10 then the Martian machine can come on the table anywhere along the west edge of the board (east bank of the river).
Night and Fog. The game begins with a visibility baseline of 20 inches. At the start of each turn, including turn 1, a green and red die are thrown.
1) If the red is greater than the green die, the difference is subtracted from the baseline visibility (less visibility) and this becomes the maximum line of sight for all units.. If the green die is greater than the red die, the difference is added to the baseline visibility (greater visibility).
2) If the green and red die are a tie, then the visibility range is increased by ten inches for that turn and this becomes the new baseline for following turns.
3) Grenadiers / shock drones can fire on targets beyond visibility range if target is illuminated.
4) Human artillery can fire indirect barrages beyond visibility range if the target is observed by an observation tower or HQ unit. However subtract 1 from the defense to hit die roll.
Special rules: Westinghouse Wire
Westinghouse Wire attack any Martian that attempts to walk through the wire. Roll on the Westinghouse Wire Damage table.
Westinghouse Wire Damage
Die Roll Effect Description
1-3 Break through The tripod is undamaged and may continue its move if it has movement left. It may fight normally in the next combat phase. The Westinghouse wire in this section is destroyed.
4,5 Breakers tripped The tripod halts at the wire. It may not move or fight for the remainder of this turn. It may move and fight normally on the next turn. The Westinghouse wire in this section is destroyed.
6,7 Minor damage The tripod halts at the wire. It may not move or fight for the remainder of this turn. It may move and fight normally on the next turn. The Westinghouse wire in this section is undamaged.
8,9 Significant damage The tripod halts at the wire. It may not move or fight for the remainder of this turn or for the next turn. The Westinghouse wire in this section is undamaged.
10 Major damage The tripod halts at the wire. It may not move or fight for the remainder of the game. The tripod counts as destroyed for army break point. The Westinghouse wire in this section is undamaged.
Bixby Barricade ; Early in the invasion the US Government's defense plan took shape. Delay the Martians across the great expanse of the plains and mountain west and then hold along the mighty Mississippi River. The building of the greatest line of fortifications in military history would fall to William H. Bixby, Chief of Engineers, US Army Corps of Engineers. General Bixby was no stranger to the Chicago area or the Mississippi River as former Chicago District Chief Engineer and President of the Mississippi River Commission. With executive orders from President Roosevelt the Corps of Engineers was able to prioritize construction materials for the massive defensive projects from Chicago to Shreveport.
By 1910-1911 the US Army understood the movement limitations of the tripods during fighting in woods, cities, swamps, and canyons. His engineers had a good idea of the height and thickness of obstacles that impeded the basic assault tripod mobility. General Bixby supervised the construction of iron pickets across the country side that would later be nicknamed "Bixby's Barricades" . The obstacles just consisted of iron I-beams that were destined for planned skyscrapers and train track rails. While not as stout as a concrete wall the obstacles would require some effort by the Martians to blast, burn, or smash their way through.
Each barricade is defense 2, armor 7, damage 5. An intact barricade is impassable to both human vehicles and Martian machines. Infantry type units can cross if adjacent at the start of a movement phase and conducts rolls a 6 or greater due to barbed wire entanglements. A barricade can be attacked or assaulted by any weapon except black dust. Roll to hit and roll for damage as normal. Each successful damage roll results in one damage point. 5 or more accumulated damage points results in the barricade being reduced to rubble. A reduced barricade is no obstacle to Martian machines but still impassable to human vehicles. It will count as partly ruinous area for defense purposes for infatntry.
Search Lights. The defenses include two powerful search lights on towers that can cut through the fog. Each turn a search light can illuminate one target up to 15 inches beyond the visibility limit. An illuminated target can be targeted by any unit within its normal weapons range limitation. Search lights can in turn be targeted by any Martian unit in the following turn within its own weapon range. Searchlights have a defense of 3 and armor of 4.
Special Morale Rules.
1) Relentless. If the Martian force fall below 50% strength , the Martian player can expend an order token to maintain morale and continue the fight. If the Martian loses another machine then the Martian force is broken. At the end of turn 10 (last turn), there is a roll off to see if the game is extended an additional turn. The Martian player can expend an order token to force a re-roll of this roll-off to either extend the game or end the game. Drone unit losses do not count against Martian morale but do count for purposes of initiative.
2) Breakthrough! For each Martian machine that exits the east edge of the board decrease US Army breakpoint by 10%. For example, if one Martian tripod exits the east board edge than the US Army force will break at 40% value.