"A Rose in Tatters..."*
The British Colony of Arcadia on the eve of The Great War
The stars in the sky were our compass,
In the aethereal night without air.
There was never a call to skyward
But the Fearless Legion was there:
Yes, somehow and somewhere and always
We were first when the going got ard,
From the slopes of great Mount Olympus
To the sand seas of hoary old Mars.
On the sky skiffs of hoary old Mars.
- Rudyard Kipling, from the unabridged version of The Legion
An alternate history and two linked scenarios for actions leading up to The Great War on Mars.
History
By the Martian Spring of 1888, the British Colony of Arcadia had grown busy, prosperous and complacent. The Low Martian tribes had long been pacified, indeed, civilized (even to the extent of wearing boots!), so much so that they now filled the majority of the ranks in the colonial forces. And it had been ten years since the Battle of the Grand Canal had brought defeat to the combined forces of the High Martian Princes and an ignominous death to their prophesied leader. So it was with great surprise that the colony reacted when news reached Olympia that the aeroliner Empress of Mars had been boarded and looted by High Martian pirates whilst upon her maiden voyage (location 1). The situation was not helped by the fact that several important personages among them the British Governor General himself had been taken hostage. But full of typical (for that time) British hubris, the colonists merely looked forward to "soundly thrashing the horny-skinned wogs" yet again. Little did they realize that these would be, in fact, the first shots of the Great War on Mars.
Part I: The Colonial Response
Though having only a small standing force and that made up mostly of reservists the acting Governor and commander of the colony's Aero Forces immediately formed his meager forces into two small Flying Columns and made way for the most likely spot where the pirates would have crossed the frontier, there to give chase, following the Pirates into the disputed territory on the border between Arcadia and the Martian Principalities. The action that followed would be known as The Battle of the Dry Canals (location 2).
British Briefing
Despite years of calm, Pirates - probably encouraged by disgruntled High Martian Princes - have staged an audacious attack on crown property and persons: they boarded and looted the liner Empress of Mars on her maiden voyage, kidnapping several important personages, including the Governor General of the colony himself. The acting Governor and commander of the colony's aero forces has gathered together the regular and colonial forces in order to, in his words, "soundly thrash the horny-skinned wogs." In order to cover more ground and cut off any pirates who attempt to escape, the British forces have been divided into two mutually supporting columns. Whichever one engages the enemy first, the other will circle around behind the enemy and close the trap from the rear. As commander of one of the columns, your overall job is to defeat the pirates, root out their lair, and rescue the hostages. With luck, you should be home again for tea in a week's time.
Reports from the liner indicate the Pirate forces consisted of at least one modified merchant ship acting as a command barge and several medium-sized Digs. Martians are known, however, to use small, fast, lightly armed skiffs as well. The Martians are known to be fond of boarding crippled ships.
British Victory Conditions
The British Player must successfully land his troops and search the ruins (which takes 3 turns).
- Major British Victory:
- 1.5-1 in points or better, Cruiser less than 50% damaged, and ruins successfully searched.
- Minor British Victory:
- 1.5-1 in points or better, Cruiser damaged less than 33% and ruins successfully searched.
Caveats: Troop carriers must be protected at all costs while loaded. Losing one reduces the victory level by one. Losing two is an automatic Major Pirate Victory, as is destruction of the Cruiser.
Pirate Briefing
Forewarned by an efficient intelligence network and anticipating the British use of their traditional tactics, the Martian forces are quite ready for the British advance. Little do the British know that the "Pirates" are, in fact, High Martian forces in league with Germany, whose intent is to bloody the British colony's nose in order to draw reinforcements from Earth (and away from the trouble brewing there) into a climactic battle for control of Mars.
The Pirates can choose which column to engage first. The other will, hopefully, be drawn away from the battle by decoys which will turn out to be harmless High Martian "civilian" craft. Column B, made up entirely of Colonial forces, is the obvious (and historical) choice. Severely punishing the Colonial forces will strike fear into the hearts of the colony and Britain will be forced to send reinforcements. Of course, any forces that are lost will not be available for later actions.
Pirate Victory Conditions
Inflict more damage (in hull and/or gun points) than your opponent. Damage to the British Cruiser counts double.
- Major Pirate Victory:
- 1.5-1 in points or better or Cruiser damaged 66% or better.
- Minor Pirate Victory:
- More points than the British, plus Cruiser damaged at least 50%.
Initial Disposition of British Colonial Forces on Mars (Spring, 1888)
Olympia (the British colonial capital, situated at the base of Olympus Mons)
12 x Amazone Class Patrol Cutters (manned by Martian Native Contingent with British Officers)
Note: These are used for local policing purposes and would rarely appear in other than skirmishes, so there is no need to purchase more than a couple of miniatures.
The Empress of Mars: Majestic Class passenger liner
Various Aeronef Freighters
Olympia Station (the British colonial Aethernef Port, situated on the lip of the Olympus Mons caldera):
1 x Exeter Class Cruiser: Eridania (regular)
1 x Arethusa Class Destroyer: Aeolis
2 x Cossack Class Patrol Nef: Cimmerium, Cecropia
Various Aethernef (interplanetary) Freighters
Victoria (British territorial capital and second largest city in Arcadia)
1 x Rawalpindi Class Colonial Cruiser: Cydonia
1 x Steadfast Class Patrol Nef: Sabaeus
2 x Osprey Class Patrol Nefs: Oxoniis, Axeniis
6 x Amazone Class Patrol Cutters (poor - manned by Martian Native Contingent with British Officers)
Albertville (British territorial capital and third largest city in Arcadia)
6 x Amazone Class Patrol Cutters (poor - manned by Martian Native Contingent with British Officers)
* From Kipling's The Answer.
Pirate Command Barge: Use stats for Mogami Class Monitor, but speed 12.
Martian Torpedo Skiffs: Use stats for Cygnet Class Torpedo Boat.
Crew Quality:
- Elite
- Can reroll any one combat result once per game. -1 to damage control rolls.
- Average
- No benefit or hindrance.
- Poor
- Top speed reduced by 10% (round up). Opponent can call for a reroll of any one combat result once per game. +1 to damage control rolls. If operating independently (not in line of battle), must roll 5 or less to turn, else continue for 1/3 move before trying again.
- Fanatic
- Can reroll any one combat result once per game. Opponent can call for a reroll of any one combat result per game (unless already rerolled). +1 to damage control rolls. Cannot operate in line of battle.
Martian Spar Torpedos: Martian Spar Torpedo ships must ram their opponents (physically contacting the model). On a successful ram, roll 1d6: 1: misfire*, 1 point damage; 2-3: 1d6 points damage; 4-5: 2d6 points damage; 6: 3d6 points damage. Roll a die for the ramming ship: on a 5-6, it takes 1d6 points damage.
* On a misfire, Fanatic units may set off the charge manually. Roll again for damage to the target, ignoring rolls of 1. Make another roll for the ramming vessel and apply both results simultaneously.
Martian Boarding Skiffs: Martian Boarding Skiffs allow a Martian vessel to make a boarding attempt against any unit within 3 inches/cm.
All British and German Forces are available in the Brigade Models British vs. German Starter Pack (VAN-003) and the British Pursuit Pack (VANFP-111).
British Flying Column A: Regular Forces
1 x VAN 102 (Exeter Class Cruiser: Eridania)
1 x VAN-112 (Arethusa Class Destroyer: Aeolis)
2 x VAN-107 (Cossack Class Patrol Nef: Cimmerium, Cecropia)
2 x VAN-5003 (small Freighter Nef)
British Flying Column B: Colonial Forces
1 x VAN-104 (Rawalpindi Class Colonial Cruiser: Cydonia)
1 x VAN-108 (Steadfast Class Patrol Nef: Sabaeus)
2 x VAN-103 (Osprey Class Patrol Nef: Oxoniis, Axeniis)
2 x VAN-5003 (small Freighter Nef)
British ships referred to, but not used in this scenario:
Amazone Class Patrol Cutters (VAN-5004)
Empress of Mars Majestic Class passenger liner (VAN-5001)
Various Aeronef freighters (VAN-5002, 5003, 5005)
Various aethernef (interplanetary) freighters (modified VAN-5002, 5003, 5005)
Suggested models and conversions for the Martian forces are provided below.
1 x VAN-5005 (Pirate Command Barge): Modified Peerless class bulk merchant vessel (add heavy guns to side of superstructure; add boarding skiffs to top)
2 x VAN-309 (Martian Dig Destroyers): Use modified Brandenburg Class Dig Destroyers (add upper superstructure with boarding skiffs).
2 x VAN-302 (Martian Dig Gunboats): Use Seydlitz Class Winged Dig Gunboats.
2 x VAN-508 (Martian Torpedo Skiffs): Use Novik Class Torpedo Boats.