"Interested in getting into Martian Front....opinions?" Topic

As the title says, I missed out on the kickstarter due to economic reasons at the time, but have wanted to get into it.

Here's my main issue though…

1: The figure sizes are more 18mm/HO scale than 15mm. 15mm figs seem "small" compared to the figures. So are there any other figures of this genre/scale being made, or is this a "one off" type of thing?

2: What are your overall feelings on game play, and continued game play? Weak points in the game? Silliness factor?..etc….

3: If someone wanted to get into it, would you say "yes!", or "No!"…and if so, why?

I was in the Kickstarter. I game historicals, but have read SF for more years that I have been gaming (over 50 at last count). So for me it was a nice blend. The tripods can be used for any era….so if you wanted to do the original War of the Worlds (on my list using my colonials) you could. Figures fit right in with the normal size (for these days ) 15mm. So slightly bigger than true 15mm. You could use any figures from the era. For instance Blue Moons WWI figures. Tripods and steam tanks are well done and paint up well.
The game itself is not as one sided for the Martians as one would think. Have played four games thus far….Martians Won 2 Americans, with 1 draw. Rules work well.
The back story is well done for an alternate reality.

Weak points….the tripods being pretty big, are hard to transport. I can only imagine the new land ironclads. (which I will not be buying.)

So….as the only gaming focus you have….then no….but as a kinda interesting add on to the early 20th century….then yes.

I too missed the KS due to illness. I have been gameing for many years, all periods and genres. In fact I have with other club members put on 28mm War of the World Games at various shows and won awards. So in a way I guess I am bias as I love this subject.

Anyway back to your questions I totally agree with dbander123. The scale is ideal as I said I've done 28mm and you can only use a about 6 Tripods on a big table, I've also tried 6mm and 10mm although you get bigger games you can't see the detail.

I just love these figures and cannot recommend them enough – together with Blue Moon figures I shall be going conpletely over board and look forward to many months of collecting the models

Go for it I doubt you will regret it :)

I played in the big game at Historicon and had a blast! The models are cool. The rules are simple but with enough flavor to be fun.

Thus…I recently gave in and bought the Starter Box. I wanted to get into the game without spending tons of money in case my gaming group didn't like it enough to play more than once (you know how that goes).

I asked my friend at the store who had played many games already whether the forces inside were equal in points. He said no. Buy another box of tanks. I did. Turns out I didn't have to because if you make 3x MkII tanks and 3x MkIII tanks like shown on the box, the Humans have 700 pts to the Martian 600. Making all tanks MkII would make it 640 vs 600, so more equal but…

The Mini Rulebook is almost worthless. Yes, it has the basic rules necessary to run a basic game. But nowhere does it say that units -- "elements" -- come in groups of 3 (so you can determine points). The point values for the tanks are wrong. Info about special abilities is missing. Special rules about Green Gas & Black Dust are missing. So the rulebook isn't complete enough to let you run a game with the forces contained therein. It's too trimmed down, IMO.

Yes, AoW has released Errata & FAQ, but it's for the main rulebook, not the mini-rulebook and Starter Box. Yes, they've released documents with the missing info. But overall it means you really have to buy the $40 USD main rulebook to have a game, even if it means just to get corrections!

Yes, I am very disappointed.

That's my 2 cents.

I am not sorry in the least that I went All Out War in the Kickstarter. The stuff I got in my first box is worth (retail) double what I paid for the whole shebang. At it's heart All Quiet t is a beer and pretzels game at but the games we have had have been really fun and all my buddies are asking for more. And we don't even have the oddball and bigger tanks nor any of the special Martian tripods, either. That should be coming very soon.

I would heartily recommend the game and the models. Good stuff!

Don't get me wrong, Murphy. The game is lots of fun. But buy the main rulebook and go from there. Or buy the Starter Box for the models and templates -- a very good deal.

one of our local gamers in Minneapolis went crazy and picked up an enormous number of the Martians. There our some pictures of our first playtest against my BF WWI British on this link.

link

I find it to be a lot of fun, but not for those who prefer extremely tightly written rules.

The models, especially the Martians, are great. The hardcover rulebook if well done, lots of flavor.

It is an easy game to drop a lot of money on, but you can play smaller games if you prefer.

I have it and it rocks. It's a nice pick-up game that is a hoot to play. You also don't have to have a lot to play either. Just the basic set makes for a rip-snorting fun game. I got to see the mini rule book this summer and was glad I went for the Battle of Memphis offer. The hardback book is THE way to go. The mini is a nice at-the-table reference, but you do get what you pay for there.

Size wise the infantry are closer to 20mm than 15mm to me. However it's an armor friendly game… So you tend to be more of a panzer or pod pusher than a grunt leader. But you do want a few rifle squads to keep the zombies off your tanks! MG squads are really good at this!

Silly factor… Yeah, you can get pretty silly with it. Like my Tennessee Reb battalion for example! Yee-haw boys, let's git us some Marshies!

Sat in on a game at Millennium Con yesterday. Buy the hardcover rules for sure. The basic set runs about $90 USD but the minis are very nice, especially the Martian Tripods.

I think this really says something that we are all (so far) in complete accord. A first on TMP? 8)=

You can use the miniatures and try a different rule set, also.

First Command Wargames just published a Colonial/VSF rule set that works with these miniatures.

It is a available at Wargames Vault:

link

The game is a lot of fun and the miniatures are a joy. Check out the various posts I've made in this topic showing some of the modling possibilities. The infantry is not oversized for 15mm in my opinion. I bought some Blue Moon WWI figures and they are noticeably larger than the All Quiet infantry (although not so big as to be incompatible). The rules are easy and quick to pick up. We ran a big game at Fall-In with seven players and they were all pretty much in the swing of things by Turn 2 and by later in the game didn't need any help at all.

Highly recommended.

Jumped on this as soon as I knew about it. This was my first kickstarting experience. (much to my son's chagrin) Game looks great on the table. Rules are easy and frankly, not important. If you don't like them then change them. The rule book is a joy to read with newspaper clippings of what is going on. The game is balanced and fun. I am now supporting a blog on the Martian Front and have a couple of battle reports , "Tripod Down" link and link I have two more battle reports in the works.

I ran two demo games at HMGS's Fall-In convention and the players all had fun. Several swore they were going to buy the starter box.

We've played several games and watched several of the big demos at Historicon. We bought the KickStarter and have added a few items since here's our take:

Miniatures: Very nicely done but not 15mm. They are scaled to 1/87 (true 15mm is about 1:120 current version is 1:100). They are close to "old" 20mmm Arifix stuff. I wish they had just gone with current "true" 20mm or at least 1:76 but that would have made them compataible and therefore replaceable but with other companies. Still much better than "true" 15mm overall a big plus.

Background: very ingeneous. A bit of steam punk (which is easy to overdue thank god they didn't) a bit of victorian SF a lot of WWI historical.

Rules: very simple to the point of irrelevance. You can move, shoot, move again with no penalty so no real decisions. MGs are better at knocking out tripods then cannons. No flanks or any real Rock, Paper, Sissors match ups. No way for enemy to respond event in Close Combat (you can move in, close combat and move away without enemy able to respond or even attack back in Close Combat). In box rule book useless. They have redone the points 3 times and still not right (most cost effective tank is tow vehicle with two MGs – excellent cheap Tripod killer better often than the towed gun). Good for big con games though were mass dice rolling often means more than tactics (and can be more fun). As is often the case today rulebook padded with fluff and light on rules and organization. One plus is the use of d10s which provide a better range of results than the convential d6.

Overall: good minis (wish they were just a tad bigger), great background, mediorce developement, barely adequate rules. Recommendation: try to get minis on the cheap do your own rules or co-op another commercial set.

TomT

I think its a great game I went big on the kickstarter. Love the minis and I have been mixing Bluemoon tanks, ammo haulers, artillery tractors, artillery ect to mix up the unit types more.

I really like the rules it not to silly. I like they are adding more stuff. Im not a big fan of the labotons (zombies) but lots are. I like the fact they are coming out with more drones which I do like.

I have played about a dozen games so far and really enjoy the rules. One aspect that I really like about the rules is they are simple, but have some nice nuances. makes for a very enjoyable game. The Starter Set is the way to go, it gives you what is needed for a very basic game, and allows you to play without making a big investment.

I enjoyed reading the rules, the back stories are interesting and provide many options for building forces not covered by the rules (at least yet).

I have built up a sizable collection with about 20 Tripods and associated support for the Martians & a US Tank Battalion with support

I hate to be the voice of dissent but the rules are very sloppy considering the names on the front of the book. Bits are missing. Everything is simplified to the point of blandness.

My thoughts may be coloured because I don't have enough variation of forces, however this is mainly because I did back the kickstarter and have been shafted by Alien Dungeon selling their stock retail instead of sending it out to the people who'd already paid for it.

My advice is to avoid unless you can find some other players locally because it seems like you need to fill a table with miniatures before anything interesting happens.

Leigh

First Command Wargames, publisher of 'For Queen and Planet – The Imperial Wars of Earth and Mars – 1845 – 1930', releases its first supplement for the rule set.

The Martian Punitive Expedition – 1901 is a pure Victorian Science Fiction supplement for the Core Rules.

Set in 1901 on Barsoomian Mars, this supplement presents eight scenarios to allow you to play the initial encounters between Terrans and Martians through to the final destruction of the Expedition.

Battle with and against fierce Green Barbarians, Black Martian Pirates and Red Imperials wielding forerunner weaponry!

You can purchase this supplement and the required core rules on Wargames Vault at:

link

or check out our Facebook page:

link

or the First Command Wargames website:

firstcommandwargames.com

Upon playing a Memphis scenario integrating the Industrial Might capability of the US forces, the points distribution becomes irrelevant as the US tanks regenerated by platoon on die rolls and re-entered the game. Believe me the US forces of infantry, MG's, and Mk IV Baldwin tanks needed every one of the "reinforcements" afforded by Industrial Might. Each unit regenerated two or three times and still could not stop the Tripods.

What did get the tripod attention was the MG teams and the tank i put multiple MG's on in lieu of 4 inch guns. MG's roll 3D10's instead of one die…and need to roll HIGH.

The MG's caused the Tripods to stop their march and regroup and reconsider what they were doing.

My KS first wave delivery contained no artillery or anti tripod weps…so, the US forces had to go with what they had on hand…and needed lots of it.

ye who overbought tanks should think twice about rueing that day…because you will need them.

My take on the Alien Dungeon 2nd wave mailing delays is that they need a boost in retail to find the dollars to ship the stuff they built for a thousand donors on KS. I find that I need to supplement what I ordered on KS as I see how valuable they are.

Who knew Fliver trucks could be such multipliers?