View Full Version : AAR: Of Men and Martians
http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles/50528/projects/40636/505281188493617.jpg
The Martian War
A different kind of AAR, this time from the game Jeff Waynes The War of the Worlds, made in 1998 a hundred years after the iconic novel by H.G Wells was first published in its full form by William Heinemann.
This game takes a slightly different approach in that the Martians are repulsed in their landing at Horsell Common and decide to change their landing zone to a more secure area in Scotland.
And so, with battle lines drawn, it begins:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KuM_HWs1lA
[Editors note: This game is notoriously buggy and thus I reserve the right to have to halt the AAR at some point due to a fatal crash. Hopefully though this will not be the case, and I have already once completed the game both as Humans and Martians so it can be done!]
kiwi_2005
01-27-10, 10:00 AM
:o...
The First Day
1st September 1898
Following the repulse of the Martian leading elements during the battle of Woking, our astronomers have brought to our attention further cylinders heading for the north of the country. It is estimated that these will land one approximately every twenty-four hours for the next eight to ten days. One has already landed in Central Scotland and the Martian forces are in control of that region.
The government has called for reinforcements but the colonial guard forces are too far away to be able to respond in time to what will be rapid Martian movements. Our southern england forces have been called north to set up a defensive line.
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/8914/martianwar1.jpg
It is estimated, by those who participated in the Battle of Woking, that the Martians will have to wait before pushing forward in order to build command and co-ordination facilities for their forces. This gives us a brief moment to set up our defensive line in the counties indicated in the above map. Sapper lorries are being brought up to build artillery emplacements in the sectors that contain command posts and a construction lorry is moving for the one sector that doesn't contain a command post to build one.
One concern is the Armoured cars of Captain Scotts Hussars which were operating from Edinburgh. It is likely that Edinburgh will experience a Martian attack within the next few days so it is imperative that Captain Scott retreat at full speed to the defense line.
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/8637/martianwar2.jpg
Construction wise, our facilities are putting out two Construction vehicles, two Formidable class Ironclads (One in Liverpool, one in Portsmouth) and an Armoured Car unit.
Our researchers have been instructed to look into 6 inch medium gun emplacements to bolster our mediocre artillery ability.
Our first objective is to fortify and hold the defensive line, once we have proven we can do this, we can look to go on the attack. However it is a race against time, the Martians will not stay in Scotland forever, they will soon look to move south, and our technology is greatly inferior to theirs, but we outnumber them and we have more resources to hand than them, using this combination of numbers and artillery defenses, we should be able to repel the initial attacks.
LMAO! Certainly a different AAR. :rotfl2:
:03:
The Martian advance continues:
2nd September 1898
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/6886/martianwar3.jpg
A report from Captain Scott indicated a green meteor was seen landing in the vicinity of Newcastle at approximately midnight. All communications in the area were lost later in the day following reports of tripod machines moving across the city. We can assume that Newcastle has been lost.
Martian forces have also been spotted advancing through southern Scotland by our scouts, presumably using the communications network set up at their initial landing site to co-ordinate their offensives.
Digging In
5th September 1898
Three more cylinders have since fallen, two in the Southern Uplands and one in Edinburgh. Captain Scott, now moving into position on the defense line, has had a lucky escape.
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/7898/martianwar4.jpg
(The sappers lorry in the Lake District parked up by the Command Post, also nearby are a unit of Armoured Cars, ready for battle. The Grey circles mark where Artillery emplacements will be built.)
Our first sappers lorry arrived in the Lake District this morning and begun work on artillery emplacements and 'wire walls', these tall walls of wire serve as to both slow the Martians down, thus enabling us to pour more firepower on them and to warn us of the direction of their advance. However, it takes one day per section of wire wall to construct and four days per artillery piece.
Will we have enough ready by the time the Martians arrive?
The Coming Storm
8th September 1898
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/4885/martianwar5.jpg
More cylinders have fallen in Northumberland, Edinburgh and the Isle of Skye region. Our construction lorry has arrived in Whitby and a Command Outpost is being put together, our engineers are estimating that it'll be another twenty days before it's ready to begin operations. Two Armoured Car units are heading into Whitby to reinforce the sector until artillery emplacements can be built (after the Command Outpost is constructed). Other Armoured Car units may be transferred as defenses in the Pennines and the Lake District are made.
Raptor1
01-27-10, 12:11 PM
Hmm, this game in fact looks highly interesting. Wonder why I haven't heard of it before
Really have to finish the book though, stuck about 3/4th of the way through for about a year now...
Is there some kind of time limit after which the humans achieve automatic victory due to the Martians dying out?
Hmm, this game in fact looks highly interesting. Wonder why I haven't heard of it before
Really have to finish the book though, stuck about 3/4th of the way through for about a year now...
Is there some kind of time limit after which the humans achieve automatic victory due to the Martians dying out?
Regrettably, the Martians brought Tamiflu with them this time. They don't die out. I guess this is more to do with balancing the game. After all, wouldn't be much fun playing as the Martians if you automatically lost after a month or so of play :03:
HOLY EPIC THREAD NECROMANCY BATMAN!
Ahem...I mean...let's try to continue this AAR, shall we?
More Martians
9th September 1898
Another cylinder lands in the Argyll region, whilst our troops in the Pennines and the Lake District continue to dig in.
We've got a period of grace whilst the Martians fortify their positions and build their command centers, but it won't stay quiet forever.
Already the roads from the north are choked with refugees streaming southward. Many have called upon the government to save them from the Martians and are filled with rage at the decision of the military to abandon the north of the UK.
At 15:15, the two units of armoured cars arrive at Whitby to protect the construction of the command center there.
Now we need to look at resources. The 1st Viscount Chilston has ordered the creation of additional Coal mines, oil refineries and steel mills to feed the mobilisation of our forces.
Resources in The War of the Worlds is a tricky thing, and I'm still not one hundred percent clued in on it, but it goes something a little like this.
For Humans there are three resources, Steel, Coal and Oil, without them your industries and construction vehicles will build at a slower rate and your military will fight at a reduced effectiveness. The more units there are in a sector the more resources they will consume by being present...it's a tricky thing to balance supply and demand, particularly since you can max out your industries.
So, let's just get down to building the base set first and then go from there...here are the resource locations:
http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/76/martianwar8oil.jpg
Oil
http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/676/martianwar6steel.jpg
Steel
http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/6382/martianwar7coal.jpgCoal
As you can see...we have enough for the moment...but we're going to (hopefully) be building more munitions factories and dockyards in the future, so we'll need more resources!
Time to get our spare construction vehicle sitting in Nottingham to work!
http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/6465/martianwar9.jpg
Annoyingly Cardiff lacks a communications center, which means the first thing the construction vehicle will have to do when it gets there is to build one before it can set to on building an oil refinery.
....and decide to change their landing zone to a more secure area in Scotland .
Their first mistake. Just wait until the Buckied up Tongs get steamed intae them...:arrgh!:
The Uneasy Calm
10th September 1898 - 15th November 1898
The Construction vehicle arrives at Bristol on the 21st (not Cardiff...my bad) and sets to work on building a Command Center. The astronomers have reported clear skies over Scotland for the past few nights...no more cylinders. So this is it...now the Martians will spread out and consolidate Scotland...and when they're ready...they will come south.
A new Armoured Car unit is built on the 21st in the Pennines, it is dispatched to Whitby to make up for the current lack of fortified gun positions in the area while the Command Center is being constructed.
Our research into the 6 inch naval gun is completed on the 22nd, and orders given to our boffins to look into the 9.5 inch gun. This will take 45 days, but will be worth it in the firepower we can bring to bear on any Martian assaults.
http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/8974/martianwar10.jpg
And range...these guns will hopefully be able to out range the Martians heat rays, damaging them before they can hit us. Unfortunately their accuracy isn't great, but their splash damage is quite good.
Orders to build 6 inch guns are given to the sappers lorry at the Pennines and Lake District. The guns will take 13 days each at 100% efficiency but first the small 4.6 inch guns have to be built, and they take about 4 days each.
The command center at Whitby is finished on the 28th September and the Construction Vehicle is sent south to the Wash to build a Command Center there and eventually a Steel mill. Unfortunately there isn't a sappers lorry spare to begin construction of defences at Whitby...that could be a problem, however the vehicle factory at Northampton will finish a Construction Vehicle in 3 days, so when that is complete I will start construction of a sappers lorry, that will take eighteen days...let's hope the Martians are having similar problems...
On the 8th October 1898, the construction vehicle from Whitby arrives at The Wash and begins work on the Command Center, that will take about twenty days or so. Furthermore the Command Center will be sited at the south side of the map and near the coast to take the benefit of the Royal Navy. Still...if the battlefield gets that far south then I've done something very wrong somewhere.
The newly built Construction Vehicle from Northampton trundles off to Liverpool to build a coal mine.
On the 12th October a new Armoured Car unit is built in the Pennines, it is also sent over to Whitby...come on...where is that Sappers Lorry....
The 19th October sees the Sappers Lorry completed! It's immediately sent out to Whitby.
21st October - The Construction vehicle in Liverpool finishes its coal mine and heads to the Cotswolds to build one there.
24th October - The Sappers Lorry arrives at Whitby and starts work on the defences.
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/974/martianwar11.jpg
The state of play 24th October 1898
So far I've been building up defences, waiting for the inevitable Martian attack...and it's not come. In fact they've not even expanded into the surrounding territories...which is different. It's tempting to launch a raid up into the East Coast of Scotland, but that's a temptation I must resist, I simply don't have the military might at the moment to make any real impact. Let them come...we'll be ready when they get here.
Meanwhile in London:
http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/9137/martianwar12.jpg
"They're building an oil refinery opposite the Houses of Parliament?! I'm going to write to my MP!!"
On the 4th November the Martians start moving, Galloway is lost and the trickle of refugees heading into the Lake District suddenly stops as alien cries echo on the horizon. The sappers knuckle down and double their pace as the frontline gets closer.
Research into the 9.2 inch naval gun emplacement is completed on the 7th November and research ordered into a project called 'mines' which consist of explosives buried underground and activated by either pressure or by wire. Combined with the wire walls, they should help slow the Martians down and give our artillery time to peck away at their armour.
On the 10th of November HMS Formidable rolls down the slipway at Liverpool docks and into the water.
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/2889/martianwar13.jpg
She is sent up to the Lake District where she will provide fire support in assistance to the artillery defences when the Martians attack.
HMS Irresistible is launched from Portsmouth on the 11th November and sent up to Whitby.
The research on 'Mines' is completed on the 15th November, and research is ordered on a new Offensive weapon, the Armoured Track Layer. Some sort of armoured vehicle on treads...it'll probably never catch on. Some of the men are calling it a 'tank' for some reason. Such rot!
Ace. I might have to track this game down, buggy or not. It remains one of my favourite novels to this day.
Which reminds me, I haven't read it in a year or two. I must rectify that when I get back to my library in a few days.
I might have to get the cd of the Jeff Wayne show. I had it on vinyl when I was a nipper.
Ace. I might have to track this game down, buggy or not. It remains one of my favourite novels to this day.
Which reminds me, I haven't read it in a year or two. I must rectify that when I get back to my library in a few days.
I might have to get the cd of the Jeff Wayne show. I had it on vinyl when I was a nipper.
It's all good stuff, and the book is one of my favourites too, has been since the first time I read it when I was eleven. Still have that copy in fact, somewhere in the atomic testing grounds that is my bedroom.
The Jeff Wayne musical is a classic, which makes me concerned when they announced that they're remaking it and replacing Richard Burton with Liam Neeson. I wish they'd stop faffing around and just make the bloody film we've been promised for the past seven years instead of trying to fix something that just isn't broken in any shape or form.
Anyway, rant off...time to see what November 1898 will throw at me. I'm wondering if the reason why the Martians are taking so long to come south is because they're still trying to subdue the Jockanese... :hmmm:
Raptor1
12-31-11, 03:02 PM
They're remaking the Jeff Wayne album? Seems rather pointless to me. Has there actually been any news on the movie in the last several years?
Oh, and I've finished dozens of novels since making my last comment on this thread two years ago, and The War of the Worlds has not been one of them. So, I really really have to get around to finishing it...
Sitzkrieg
15th November 1898 - 11th April 1898
Another year rolls around and still no activity from the north. The Martians have full territorial control of Scotland and the borders now, however we have a number of Armoured Cars and heavy defences along the frontline.
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/9580/martianwar14.jpg
Whitby is still the weak link in the chain, but with HMS Irresistable sitting offshore it should hopefully hold...I might transfer another Armoured Car across.
I'm building more sappers lorries to start construction on a second line of defence in the sector behind the frontline, if I have to fall back in a hurry I don't want to have to rely on the good grace of the Martians not to attack whilst the way to London is protected solely by this:
http://www.marqueart.com/marqueart/pictures/background/background_sp11_armoured_car/sv4996_rightfront.jpg
Meanwhile the sappers on the frontline have some more artillery to site, our new 9.2 inch guns. It'll take just over thirteen days to build them, once they've got through the backlog of other artillery pieces that they're already building.
Research on the Armoured Track Layer is completed on the 16th January, and when the factory in the Pennines has finished its latest Armoured Car (in about eighteen days) it will start work on its first Armoured Track Layer.
New research is begun into Munitions Factories which will enable us to build one of the most useful and awesome units in the game (other than the Ironclad) and that's the Self-Propelled Gun. That thing is a beast and will be an essential part of our eventual offensive to retake Scotland.
The rest of January is spent building more mines and refineries, and the second line of defence. Still not a peep from across the border.
I've heard that the Martians sometimes refrain from attacking if the human forces outnumber them in firepower by a certain ratio...perhaps the Martians are weaker than I thought?
http://www.iwmprints.org.uk/lowres/162/main/2/743615.jpg
HMS Implacable heads out from Portsmouth on the 20th Feburary 1899, the wooden decking still smelling of varnish, her crew untested, she sets sail up the Channel and out to the North Sea to join HMS Irresistible off the coast of Whitby.
HMS London leaves Liverpool docks for the coast of the Lake District a few hours later.
Research into the Munitions Factory was completed on the 5th March and research into the Self-Propelled Gun begun. A Construction vehicle is dispatched to Northampton to construct a Munitions Factory.
http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/4796/martianwar15.jpg
The Mark One Armoured Track Layer waiting for action at Whitby, another unit is heading for the Pennines and another is under construction.
The Self-Propelled Gun finishes its research in March, and I forget to assign a new research project until early April http://qpawn.beardedfool.com/forum/images/smilies/facepalm.gif Shipyard level two it is! This will enable me to research and then build the next level of Ironclad, which is if I remember correctly, is the Warrior class.
Still nothing from the north...they're planning something...those little octopi...
I'm wondering what tech tree path they're going to go down. They usually go down either one of two, either they focus on getting to level two equipment or they branch out into specialist equipment (such as the Flying Machine). The Gen II Fighting Machine is annoying little sod because it has a Black Smoke launcher and I have no real defences against that until I first encounter it, but then again if they go down the specialist equipment route then I run into Tempests which have two heavy Heat Rays and a Black Smoke Canister launcher and are quite well armoured.
Time will tell... :hmmm:
They're remaking the Jeff Wayne album? Seems rather pointless to me. Has there actually been any news on the movie in the last several years?
Oh, and I've finished dozens of novels since making my last comment on this thread two years ago, and The War of the Worlds has not been one of them. So, I really really have to get around to finishing it...
There's been various rumours about the film but nothing solid sadly, and I agree on the pointlessness of the remake, and thoroughly agree on finishing the novel. How far in have you got?
Raptor1
12-31-11, 05:34 PM
There's been various rumours about the film but nothing solid sadly, and I agree on the pointlessness of the remake, and thoroughly agree on finishing the novel. How far in have you got?
I think I was about 30-50 pages from finishing it. I should probably just read it through from the beginning anyway.
These Martians are sure taking their time with the whole attacking business...
Tarrasque
01-02-12, 05:13 PM
There's been various rumours about the film but nothing solid sadly, and I agree on the pointlessness of the remake, and thoroughly agree on finishing the novel. How far in have you got?
Hopefully the remake isn't too bad, as I'm due to see the Arena version at the O2 at the end of the year.
Build up
11th April 1899 - 15th July 1899
The month starts quiet and continues in that vein. Punch is currently running a cartoon that indicates that the Martians grand strategy is to wait until our frontline units die of old age. At this moment in time I am inclined to agree with them.
More industries are built and a Construction Vehicle is diagnosed with Fighting Machine Syndrome. Now, a little word on this disease...it was first diagnosed in a Martian Fighting Machine in this game several years ago, the symptoms are a random desire to walk or drive around in circles on the spot. The cause of the disease is said by physicians to be due to the terrible path-finding coded into the game.
http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/6460/fms1.jpg
http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/857/fms2.jpg
http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/1575/fms3b.jpg
The disease can be transmitted and has been found in other games:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOJEAhozB3k
Once diagnosed the disease can be resolved by kicking the offending unit until it goes somewhere else or resetting the map.
http://www.curme.co.uk/HMS%20Bulwark%20%28401%20x%20600%29.jpg
Meanwhile on the 30th April, HMS Bulwark is launched from Portsmouth and heads out to Whitby to support the defences there, hopefully without exploding. More Armoured Track Layers have been built and sent to the frontline.
Here is the view of the front at the end of April:
http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/4261/martianwar16.jpg
HMS Venerable is launched two days later and heads up the other coast to the Lake District.
As May draws to a close plans are drawn up to take the war to the Martians, since they seem so unwilling to bring it to us. The targets are Newcastle and Northumberland:
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/7647/martianwar17.jpg
Newcastle will be taken first for its oil resources, and then Northumberland will be taken next because it has been researched by our scientists that there is a significant amount of resources available to the Martians in Northumberland, Copper, Blood and Heavy Metals are what they need and Northumberland is apparently the best place for them.
Of course, once we have attacked the Martians will begin their counterattacks, which means we'll need to keep a small force in Whitby to repel any attack from Northumberland. One of our Ironclads and some Armoured Cars should do the trick. As for our attacking force, our armoured track layers, ironclads, armoured cars and the soon to be put into service Self-Propelled Gun unit should provide enough firepower to overwhelm any defences.
The date for the attack is tentatively set for July. HMS London is dispatched to join Irresistable, Implacable and Bulwark, London will be the rearguard, keeping station off Whitby whilst her other three sister ships support the offensive in Newcastle. As I pull forces out from the Lake District and the Pennines to prepare for the offensive in Whitby, I must confess I experience a few moments of concern...are there enough units left in those two sectors to defend against a determined Martian offensive? Are they waiting for me to launch an offensive so that they can counterattack on the other side of the coast where I'm weaker. Should I wait until I have more Self-Propelled Guns? All questions that run through my mind as the days tick down towards July.
In early June I give orders for a new Sappers Lorry to be built, it and a Construction Vehicle will ride with the offensive but stay near the retreat point. If the offensive is successful then the construction vehicle will immediately begin work on a Command Center.
On the 25th June research into Shipyard level 2 is completed, and orders to research the Warrior class Ironclad are given. Meanwhile HMS London is taking her own time, just rounding East Anglia...the offensive may have to be delayed slightly whilst she gets into position. Don't want the Martians attacking from Northumberland before she gets there to help defend Whitby.
Finally on the 14th July HMS London arrives on station off Whitby, quite the force is gathered there waiting for the off. Two new Ironclads, HMS Queen and HMS Prince of Wales are built in Liverpool and Portsmouth and head out to the Lake District and Whitby respectively.
On the 15th July, the orders are given. Operation Byker is go. The units will arrive in Newcastle at 9am on the 17th July 1899. The day we take the fight to the Martians...
http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/5351/martianwar18.jpg
Operation Byker
19th July 1899
Here goes...
http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/7877/martianwar19.jpg
http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/5542/martianwar20.jpg
HMS Irresistable, Implacable and Bulwark begin the offensive by moving into position on the coast. Note the red colour of the ground, the red weed is gaining a foothold here...but hopefully not for long! The strange building on the left is a Martian facility, IIRC it is either a Copper processing plant or a Heavy Mineral processing plant. Either way once the Command Center for this sector goes down, all Martian buildings go with it.
"MARTIANS SPOTTED, SIR!!"
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/848/martianwar21.jpg
Our first view of the enemy, three Scouting machines appear over the rooftops of Newcastle and stride towards our Ironclads. All three open up at once on them and our ground forces vector in to make their own offensive.
"We are under fire, sir!"
http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/9971/martianwar22.jpg
The three Ironclads pour heavy fire on the Scouting machines but one gets close enough to open fire. HMS Implacable is her target.
Meanwhile, our ground forces have found the command center, and the fighting machines guarding it...
http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/6167/martianwar23.jpg
Our Self-propelled guns show their mettle as they pour fire onto the Fighting Machines, meanwhile a Handling Machine sits next to the Command Center.
Surely there are more Martians defending this sector than this?
"Martian Unit Destroyed!"
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/1618/martianwar24.jpg
The Ironclads make short work of the Scout Machines, and minutes later the Fighting Machines go the same way. HMS Implacable is on fire but repairable. She'll live. Casualties appear to be quite light...but then again so is the resistance...the main bulk of their forces must be elsewhere...Northumberland I'd wager...the counterattack could be big.
"We cannot move across this terrain, sir!"
http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/7218/martianwar25.jpg
After a few minutes of painful pointing and clicking, the Ironclads give up trying to beach themselves (which is entirely possible, I did witness one do so whilst playing as the Martians, and it destroyed itself), I finally manage to persuade the ground units to advance and attack the Handling machine. The Martian handling machine is akin to our Construction Vehicle, losing one will damage their efforts and anything that damages the Martians is a bonus for me.
"Martian base destroyed, sir!"
http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/8429/martianwar26.jpg
After the Handling machine is destroyed it's a simple matter to turn all that firepower onto the Command Center. It falls quickly. Now it's a case of making all the units head for the coast where our Command Center will be built, under the protection of the guns of the Ironclads.
http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/4079/martianwar27.jpg
So, that's seven Martian machines (Three scout machines, three Fighting Machines and one Handling machine) destroyed for the loss of three human machines (One Armoured Lorry and two Armoured Track Layers). Damn good odds I'd say. I think this calls for a drink, eh? Nothing but champagne now I'm the boss!
So, Operation Byker is an astounding success...a little too astounding...why was Newcastle so lightly defended? Am I overestimating the Martians power, or are they, even now, sending a counterattack to retake Newcastle...my forces there are damaged, will they survive such a counterattack?
First blood to us...we have won the first battle...but the war is not over yet...
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