"What if the Martians had landed a few years earlier..." Topic

…and in the U.S. instead of Britain?

What if the Martians had shown up at Gettysburg? The U.S.A. and C.S.A. had the most powerful armies in the world at the time, and a war industry that was fast developing new weapons. We know that the tripods were not invulnerable. In the book, a British ironclad manages to take one out, IIRC, and another was damaged by an artillery piece.

Anyway, I wonder if the Martian tripods could have handled Forrest's cavalry in the backwoods of Mississippi? "Git thar fustest, and git the mostest Martians." For that matter, how would they have handled Grant's army, supported by Foote's ironclads?

What figs would you use? What rules?

Also, wasn't there a pastiche of short stories along the lines of "What if other writers of the period had written about the Martian invasion?" Anyone got a title for this?

Thx

I think the Martians would have turned the Union flank at Gettyburg. Chamberlain would not have managed to hold them.

During the retreat North Grant would have been called up but it wouldn't have been enough. After isolating the Union army near White Plains, New York, while they held a combined Lee/Sherman army at the Virginia/Md border.

That much is clear. The literature leaves little to debate about that portion of the war.

I'm not sure how they would have handled the Lee/Sherman army. Possibly an amphibious landing further south to catch them in the rear. Or maybe the death rays would have made a frontal assault effective.

We would have got our clocks cleaned like the British in the novel. We might have been able to take down an additional tripod, but overall, the Martians were smart and easily adepted their tactics with every setback (save the bacteria.)

Keep in mind that in the novel, the RA destroyed one tripod in an ambush and the Martians responded with the Black gas at likely ambush sites for artillery pieces. The Thunderchild took two tripods out only because the Martians didn't react fast enough (maybe that they were confused about naval warships)before it destroyed the first tripod with cannon fire, but they quickly brought the Thunderchild down, but not fast enough to prevent it ramming and destroying the 2nd tripod. Even by the end of the novel, the Martians had a flying machine and buzzed the coast line of France.

Captain, the pastiche you're thinking of is called "War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches":

link

Some really good stories, and some clunkers. I liked Lovecraft's take on the invasion the best.

The Martian Invasion WAS worldwide, the novel was written subjectively, so you never hear about other landings and attacks (in the novel.)

Huh!?

Sapper Joe is correct. It doesn't matter where or when the Martians landed, the results would be the same. And the ironclads of the Civil War were nothing compaired to what came afterwards.

Sargonarhes:

I would not quite say "when" would not make a difference. If the Martians of Well's novel would have landed in the past 30 years, they would have easily have their clocks cleaned, as they had no "force shields" to ward off guided missiles or laser guided bombs. But if we assume that they adepted their technology on Mars as they studied us, they would always be kicking our butts until the bacteria got them.

In the novel the Martians also did not appear to have any advantage for night vision or IR vision. Repeating in the novel, the army was able to get signal troops with heliographs up to the key hidden locations and spy on the Martians, but they could never get artillery close enough to engage the Martians or set up another ambush after the first successful one.

Joe "War of the Worlds' Fanboy Extraordinaire"

I like the fact that the martians of the book can be killed but still wipe us out because of the weapons and combat style they adopt. Every adaptation since has tried to do the story once we become more advance hence they end up having to give the martians shields. Such a boring cop out!

Thunder child taking out a couple of martians then getting toasted is one of the most emotionally charged scenes in any book. Shame no one has created that for the big screen.

Jeremey
germy.co.uk

If any of you read Kenneth Hite's "Surpressed Transmission" in Pyramid (SJ Games' Online zine) you might remember one where he wrote about alternate WotW's. He referred in passing to how the Germans used indirect fire with their arty masked by hills. It was an interesting addition to the story.

Cap'n Jack asked "What rules?"

…What other rules but Frank Chadwick's
'Soldier's Companion' for Space 1889…?

link

Sorry, I missed that about the rules and minis.

The best set of rules I have seen are the following two – "World of the Worlds" an old, out-of-print board game and "Tripods and Hussars" which is available on the internet.

As for minis either 6mm, 10mm, or 15mm would be the best. Keep in mind that several companies make Martian tripods. I will have to look and get back with you on it, but Pendraken has both the tripod and the six-legged crawler in 10mm.

>Cap'n Jack asked "What rules?"

Or Martian Empires for large games:

blackhat.co.uk

Mike

Oh come on guys! Are you all nuts? Brits, sure. Anybody can whip them. But exactly what chance do you think those poor blood-drinking Martians would have against a bunch of Mississippi hillbillies?

"Them Martians is GOOD EATIN', 'specially with some grits and gravy…"

and

"You got some purty tentacles boy. Start squealin' like a…"

No. It's just too awful.

Seriously though, I think this would be fun.

Or GASLIGHT.

Come on, people! There is only one way to answer this question! Game it!

OFM, I bow before your superior reasoning powers sir. Incidentally, I fell sorry for your poor Martians if they try to take on my Missouri Border Ruffians. Ain't no alien a'takin' out Josey Wales.

"Now. Spit."

My favorite story from "War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches" is "Night of the Cooters" by Howard Waldrop, in which a Texas sheriff (think Slim Pickens) and his deputies take on the Martians.

Another good one is "Foreign Devils" by Walter John Williams, about how the invasion affects Imperial China during the Boxer Rebellion.

Hmmm…nwohiogamer, not to get this switched over to "Total Containment", but the Missouri Border Ruffians would have been b#*ch slapped by the Martians. The Ruffians upon finding that the Martians having no gold/valuables/mules/horses to steal, alcohol to drink, and they are pro-slavery too, would have rode away after one of the Martians tripods would appear in the distance.

But seriously, if you go by the novel, it only took a couple of the tripods to pretty much wipe out a supported BN of infantry, Cardigan's Rgt plus some RA guns and at least one company of sappers. This is ever before they used the black gas!

The only real way to game this is basic one to three tripods equalling a strong RGT of infantry.

Plus while the novel never gives a year for the actually landings, it does state that they land in the early years of the 20th century. So, it is safe to assume that the British Army that faced them included season vets of the Boar War and possibly even pre-WW1's Kitchener's Old Contemptibles.

Simple. If I was the Martians I would get rid of all humans, Union, Confederate or British. They would all be scum and worthless.

I think the future of humanity would rest on third world nations with the highest rate of untreatable or untreated diseases, to create a biological response to the Martian threat.

CC

Aargh! VSF sucking me back in!

I'm still painting up my British Infantry and Greek Infantry for "Stargate 1889."

It would work so well to get a bunch of civil war miniatures and make some tripods— perhaps some fixed/semi-mobile heat ray emplacements as well.

sapper joe "But seriously, if you go by the novel, it only took a couple of the tripods to pretty much wipe out a supported BN of infantry, Cardigan's Rgt plus some RA guns and at least one company of sappers. This is ever before they used the black gas!"

Uh. Sapper. Those were BRITISH troops, after all…

Just joshin' fellas.