All Quiet on the Martian Front

All Quiet on the Martian Front Rulebook

Table of Contents

Scenario 1: The Boys of Company C

The "mission" seemed pretty anti-climatic after all the training and the very long series of train rides - but here they were. The Boys of Company C, fresh out of boot camp, were ready to pour bullets into those Martian monsters. Instead of the long trenches under the big guns of the Front, they now found themselves occupying a deserted farm several miles back from the action. It was a beautiful, sunny day and nearly anything was better than sitting in those damn boxcars. A few lads had found some apples while horsing around when the Captain wasn't looking. All in all, it felt good to be in the field at last. Tommy, one of the doughboys, claimed he had seen a tripod once but no one believed him.

The Captain, with hideous burn scars on the left half of his face and his fearsome eye patch, was the only veteran in the mix. Now there was a real man for you. He was making the lads dig and dig and dig. The less fortunate of the company were being made to dig into the small woods on either side of the farmstead. Cutting through tree roots was not a popular past time. The Captain had come on board with the company during the last few weeks of training. He never raised his voice like the Sergeants did, but there was something about him that made you jump to it even if he was just staring at you with his one good, very blue eye.

The truth of the matter was that the lads were scared. Most of them, farm boys from back East, could not begin to comprehend the magnitude of the Martian menace. But they feared the Captain's displeasure even more. The Captain was one of those rare men that people instinctively follow. Over the last few weeks, the boys of Company C had come to trust in the Captain so much that they would follow him to the very gates of Hell. They didn't know that yet, but they soon would…for the Gates of Hell were about to open, and coming out of them was the Devil on three rapidly moving mechanical legs.

Needed to play:

A tape measure or two, a handful of ten sided dice, a flat and stable surface about 4 ft x 4 ft, and the following:
Markers – either print the attached ones at EXACT size and cut out, or use:
- Chits or coins with four of them numbered 1-4 and four marked "D" for dummy. These are for deployment and hidden movement of the humans.
- Some chits or wound markers to track tripod damage.
- Some chits or coins – just a few – to represent "cables".
- 4 markers or small pieces of paper that say "Dug In".
- A Heat Ray template – cut a piece of paper into a banana shape about 6 inches long and an inch wide.

NOTE: THE TWO FORCES BELOW ARE NOT EQUAL IN POINTS VALUE. THIS IS A SCENARIO SPECIFIC FORCE LIST. THE HUMANS ARE AT A DISAVANTAGE ON PURPOSE.

Now, you can use models you have on hand to try out the forces below. Cavalry for Rough Riders, etc. You can also make small squares of paper and just write the unit names on them. Base sizes aren't going to make or break this scenario.

These are the base sizes we use:

Infantry – Renedra 20 x 100mm
HMG Teams – Renedra 40mm Rounds
Rough Riders – Renedra 40mm x 40mm

Models to represent the following troops:

Boys of Company C	Points Value
Infantry Company (5 Stands of Doughboys and 1 Stand with Captain)	60 Points
1 Unit of Machine Guns (3 Stands of HMG Teams)	40 Points
Reinforcements: 1 Unit of Rough Riders (3 Stands of two figures each)	45 Points

Martians	Points Value
1 Assault Tripod (odd as it sounds, a 6" tall glass works in a pinch). Equipped with Heat Ray, Gripper Claw and Tentacles	200 Points

Terrain: Farm and three (3) sections of woods as shown on the table map.

THIS GAME LASTS FOR SIX (6) TURNS!

Deployment

The Humans deploy FIRST in the area indicated on the table map. Use BLIPS per Hidden Movement Rules rather than troop stands! ONE UNIT of Humans may be placed IN AMBUSH. See rules under Hidden Units below.

The Rough Riders are Reinforcements. The Human player may put them on the table at either of the redline locations when they arrive using the Reinforcement Rules.

The Martian Tripod may deploy anywhere within 24 inches of the farm buildings on the "Martian" side of the table. See Table Map.

Rules: Core plus the following Advanced Rules: Ambush, Reinforcements and Hidden Movement Rules.

Victory Conditions

Human: Survive with at least 6 stands of troops left on the table (even routing) or destroy the Tripod and score a Humiliating Defeat on the Martian Player.

Martian: Kill all the humans until only 5 stands or less are left on the table or kill every single stand to score a Humiliating Defeat on the Human Player.

Scenario 2: Morale Wagon (Escort Mission)

An escort mission. Three days of humping 45lbs of equipment strapped to your back and your ass through every briar patch and bramble in the countryside. PFC Shoulder's face was bored, tired and sun burnt to a crisp. The Captain had droned on for 30 minutes about important strategic assets in that tank while they stood in parade formation. Strategic Assets…Well, one thing the Dough boys knew - it was filled with a month's supply of coffee and tobacco and only the Master Sergeant back at camp had the keys. The squad was irritable and getting worse by the day. Escorting the "morale wagon" but not being able to take anything from inside, for just a little boost, got a bit harder every day. Just when he thought it was bad enough, the coal chute got so jammed that the furnace had to be fed manually. Taking turns doing that task to help out the Steamer boys was nasty duty. And then the tripods showed up…

The "Morale Wagon" is a Mark II tank, pressed into carrier service. The Tank may only move if it has an element of infantry alongside as it will not outrun its "escort". It moves 4 inches in each movement phase and must stay on the road. It may travel through the legs of a tripod which is blocking its path.

The HMG team starts the scenario as a unit in Ambush and may be Dug-in.

Needed to play:

A tape measure or two, a handful of ten sided dice, a flat and stable surface about 4 ft x 4 ft, and the following:
Markers – either print the attached ones at EXACT size and cut out, or use:
- Chits or coins with four of them numbered 1-4 and four marked "D" for dummy. These are for deployment and hidden movement of the humans.
- Some chits or wound markers to track tripod damage.
- Some chits or coins – just a few – to represent "cables".
- 4 markers or small pieces of paper that say "Dug In".
- A Heat Ray template – cut a piece of paper into a banana shape about 6 inches long and an inch wide.

These are the base sizes we use:

Infantry – Renedra 20 x 100mm
HMG Teams – Renedra 40mm Rounds
Rough Riders – Renedra 40mm x 40mm

Models to represent the following troops:

Boys of Company C	Points Value
Infantry Company (5 Stands of Doughboys)	60 Points
1 Unit of Machine Guns (3 Stands of HMG Teams)	40 Points
6 Mk II Baldwin Tanks (designate which carries the supplies, the "Morale Wagon", before the game by writing it down. Reveal it to the Martian Player only at the end of the game)	480 Points
1 Unit of Rough Riders (3 Stands of two figures each)	45 Points

Martians	Points Value
3 Assault Tripods. Equipped with Heat Ray, Gripper Claw and Tentacles	600 Points

Terrain: Farmhouse and four (4) sections of woods as shown on the table map. Designate the "road".

Deployment

The Humans deploy FIRST in the area indicated on the table map. Use BLIPS per Hidden Movement Rules rather than troop stands! See rules under Hidden Units below.

The Martian Tripods may deploy anywhere within their 8in deployment zone.

Victory Conditions

Human: Escort the Morale Wagon across the board and into the safe range of artillery fire from the nearby encampment. This occurs when the Morale Wagon gets within 4 inches of the far table edge, but it must be on the ROAD. This is a victory. If you can do that AND Destroy 2 Tripods and you score a Humiliating Defeat on the Martians.

Martian: Kill all the humans and destroy the Morale Wagon until only 5 stands or less are left on the table or kill every single stand to score a Humiliating Defeat on the Human Player OR destroy the Morale Wagon itself and chuckle about it.

Turn Sequence

The turn proceeds in phases as noted below.

Phase	Name	Description
Phase 1	Initiative Phase	The initiative phase establishes which of the opponents is side 'A' and which is side 'B'.
Phase 2	Side 'A's Turn	First Move Phase, Combat Phase and Second Move Phase
Phase 3	Side 'B's Turn	First Move Phase, Combat Phase and Second Move Phase
Phase 4	End Phase	The turn is complete – start another turn beginning again with Initiative and so on

Initiative

(These Modifiers are the full game and not applicable to these scenarios.) We thought you would like to see them!

Each side rolls a D10 and the highest roll may decide to go first or second for this Turn. The following modifiers are applied to the HUMAN PLAYER'S roll from the previous Turn:

Circumstance	Initiative Modifier
Each Martian Tripod unit destroyed in the previous turn	+3
Each Martian Machine unit destroyed in the previous turn	+2
Each Martian Zombie unit destroyed in the previous turn	+1
Each Human Ironclad machine unit destroyed in the previous turn	-3
Each Human vehicle/tank or artillery unit destroyed in the previous turn	-2
Each Human infantry unit destroyed in the previous turn	-1

Movement (First Move Phase)

Each unit may move up to its maximum Speed value during the First Move Phase. Assaults may only be launched during the First Move Phase.

Units moving through Terrain features have their movement halved for this scenario.

Shooting

For these scenarios and learning to play, we have taken the rules and reduced them greatly for ease of play and speed. Line of Sight is simply making sure there is an unobstructed view from the firing unit to the target for purposes of this scenario.

The procedure for working out shooting is as follows:

Step 1 – Pick a unit to shoot with and nominate an enemy unit as its target.
Step 2 – Check the line of sight and range for each element in the shooting unit.
Step 3 – Roll a die for each element that is in range and which has line of sight to the target. If the element has more than one weapon system roll a die for each. Each die that rolls equal to or greater than the target's Defense has been hit.
Step 4 – Roll a die for each hit scored on the target and any rolls that are equal to or greater than the target's Armor value have been damaged. Remove the element (or place a wreck marker for tanks, etc. if you prefer). For Machines, Tripods, and anything that is not immediately removed, roll on the appropriate Damage Table and apply the result.
Step 5 – Check the morale of the target unit.

The Martian Heat Ray

Tripods form the core of the Martian fighting forces and the vast majority of tripods carry the Heat Ray Projector – this is a versatile weapon with two fire modes: Focused and Sweep. When the Martian player shoots a Heat Ray, he can choose to either use the 'focused' beam, which has a longer range and greater Power bonus, or he can 'sweep' with the beam, in which case the special Sweep template is used.

Sweep – A Heat Ray can make a sweep attack using the Sweep template. This is positioned in the same way as a Barrage template and the whole template must lie within the 15" maximum range of the weapon. Roll to hit the element you have placed the end of the template on, then if you hit, roll to damage every element under the template in the same fashion as for a standard Barrage template.

A Heat Ray cannot sweep onto an element where the line of sight is blocked for whatever reason. For example, it will not sweep through a hill to reach an element on the other side – the hill blocks the line of sight and therefore also blocks the Heat Ray. If the line of sight to an element is blocked in this way, then the Heat Ray cannot harm it even where the template passes over it.

NOTE THAT A MARTIAN HEAT RAY HAS A MINIMUM RANGE OF 3 INCHES.

Assault

Any units that moved into base-to-base contact with an enemy unit may launch an assault. This represents the frantic attack in close quarters of infantry as they desperately try to overcome their foes or tanks thundering through an opponent.

Assaults are fought in the same way as shooting – roll to hit the target's Defense, then try and overcome the enemy's Armor value to cause damage. Morale checks are taken at the end of an Assault as well.

Second Move Phase

During the Second Move Phase, models may move again to return to cover, get away, etc. Infantry may move once again up to their full Speed value in the second move phase. Tanks may move their full Speed forward in the Second Movement Phase and at half speed in reverse.

Morale

Human units that suffer casualties can lose heart and rout, abandoning their weapons and fleeing for their lives. The Martians and their Zombie Slaves are unfeeling creatures that do not suffer from this human weakness.

If a human unit loses one or more elements from enemy shooting, then surviving elements must check their morale at the completion of the enemy's combat phase. It is not necessary to check the morale of units that have been wiped out – they are dead and beyond such considerations. To check a unit's morale, roll a die and deduct 1 from the result for each element the unit has lost to shooting that turn.

If the result is 5 or greater the unit has passed its morale check and continues to fight on as normal.
If the result is 4 or less the unit has failed its morale check and has routed!

A Routing Unit on its next activation can do nothing but move up to its full speed away from the enemy that caused it to rout. It does not have to move, but if it does, it must move away from the enemy. At the end of the First Move Phase, a unit may attempt to rally by passing a Morale test as defined above. If they regroup, they can still not act this turn, as their nerves are too shaken.

END OF TURN – Roll for Initiative and begin next Turn.

Ambush

In some scenarios, human units are allowed to set-up in ambush. If a unit sets up in ambush, it is not deployed onto the battlefield at the start of the game either openly or as a hidden unit. No 'blips' can be deployed on its account – either a 'blip' representing the unit itself or decoys.

Instead, when the army deploys, the human player chooses a terrain area where the unit will set-up in ambush. The scenario will usually specify where ambushing units can deploy – for example either within the player's own half of the table or anywhere on the table. When the player has decided where to place his ambushing unit, he must write this down, clearly listing the unit and the terrain feature where it is placed. The terrain area chosen for the ambush must lie at least partially within the area specified for ambush deployment, but it does not have to lie wholly within this area: a terrain feature that partly lies within the permitted deployment area can be used for ambush. Only one unit can set-up in ambush in any area of terrain.

Ambushers remain unseen, waiting, concealed in pits, tunnels or otherwise so well disguised that even the presence of enemy troops within the terrain area will not reveal them. The only thing that can reveal an ambushing unit is a Detector placed within 12" of the centre point of the terrain feature where they are hiding. Ambushers revealed by a Detector are placed on the table as soon as this condition is met.

Otherwise, ambushing units can be placed on the battlefield by the human player at the beginning of any of the human side's first move phases. The player must reveal his written instructions for the units he is placing as he puts them down. The player positions all the unit's elements within the indicated terrain area, making sure that each element is entirely within the area and the unit itself is in formation and more than 1" from any enemy. Once deployed, the unit can act normally. For example, in the player's own turn, ambushing infantry could immediately emerge, make a move and assault an enemy.

Reinforcements

In some of the scenarios, players are obliged to hold some of their forces back as reinforcements. Reinforcements are troops that are on their way to the battlefield but which may still be some way off. Whereas reserves will automatically deploy when and where they are needed, reinforcements must make a test to determine when and if they arrive.

Units held back as reinforcements must test from the second turn onwards to determine when they arrive at the battle. Test separately for each unit at the start of each turn until it arrives. Units enter the tabletop along the player's own edge in the first move phase of the turn they arrive, measuring their movement from the table edge. Units can enter at any point along the player's own table edge.

At the start of each of the player's turns (not including the first turn), roll a die for each unit held back as reinforcements.

Die roll	Result
1–5	No show – the unit does not arrive that turn. Test again next turn.
6–8	The unit can move onto the table as normal that turn but cannot make an attack.
9–10	The unit can move onto the table and make an attack that turn if it is otherwise able to do so. This means the unit can shoot or even mount an assault, if it can reach an enemy.

Reinforcements that fail to arrive before the battle is over do not count as casualties.

Hidden Units

In some scenarios, Human units are allowed to set-up as hidden units. The scenario will specify where troops can be set up in this way. Hidden units are not placed on the battlefield at the start of the game. Instead, all hidden units are deployed as 'blips'. A blip is a counter. The presence of a blip indicates to the Martians that something is there – but it is impossible for them to tell exactly what.

All blip counters are numbered on one side and, to deploy a unit as a blip, the Human player secretly writes down which unit is number 1, which number 2 and so on. Once this is done, the player places the blips where he wishes to position the corresponding units. Blips are placed 'face down' so the Martian player cannot see the numbers. Blips can be placed anywhere in the player's deployment area where the corresponding unit could normally move; they cannot be placed in terrain that is impassable, for example. Blips do not have to be placed in terrain or within cover; they can be placed in the open, if you want. Those placed in the open are assumed to be keeping low or have camouflaged or disguised themselves in some manner.

For every blip representing an infantry unit, the player can add up to a further two decoy blips. These are 'free' and don't cost any points. Decoy blips represent troopers advancing ahead of infantry squads to distract the enemy by making a noise, disturbing the undergrowth or otherwise leading the enemy astray. Write down which numbers represents decoy blips, for example 'decoys 5 to 12'. Decoy blips can be deployed anywhere within the player's deployment zone as if they were actual infantry units. The enemy will have no idea whether blips are real or decoys. As far as the enemy is concerned, all blips are targets and can be engaged as if they were actual units.

Once the game begins, blips can only move if they represent infantry units with the stealth special rule or if they are decoys. Blips can move in the second move phase as if they were ordinary infantry squads with a speed stat of 6". They cannot move in the first move phase without revealing themselves.

Blips are revealed for what they really are when one of the following happens:

An enemy unit moves to within 6" where it has line of sight over open ground or to within 3" if the blip is within terrain with either the LOS 3" or LOS blocked rule (see Terrain). Note that even Tripods, which normally treat LOS 3" as LOS 6", must get to within 3" to spot a blip in terrain rated LOS 3".
The unit represented by the blip shoots.
The unit represented by the blip moves, other than as noted above for 'stealth' infantry and decoys.
The enemy shoots at and inflicts at least 1 point of damage on the blip. For this purpose, decoy blips have a Defense of 5 and an Armor stat of 4, the same as ordinary human infantry squads and count the full benefit of any cover. Shooting at a blip in this way can reveal the unit it represents but cannot cause any actual damage.

When a blip is revealed, the player turns the blip over to show its number and declares what the unit is or if it is a decoy or dummy.

If the blip represents a real unit, it must be placed on the battlefield as soon as it is revealed. Place one element on top of the position marked by the blip, and place any other elements in the unit in formation.

If the blip is a decoy, it is simply removed when it is revealed. The men it represents have long gone, scampering back to their units, or perhaps they have paid the ultimate price for their heroism.

Dug In

Infantry types may start a game of All Quiet on the Martian Front Dug In. This means the troops have dug holes to hide in and protect themselves.

Place a Marker on units that are 'dug in' at the beginning of the game at the same time that models or blips are placed. Dummy Blips may be marked as Dug In too.

The following units may be "dug in":

Human Infantry, HMG Teams, Mortar Teams, and Command stands.
Only Zombie Troops can be Dug In on the Martian side.

If a unit that is Dug In moves, the Dug In marker can stay in place to mark the location of their "holes" but the unit no longer is considered dug in unless it moves back to that same spot.

Units that are Dug In add +2 to their Armor. Note that this bonus is not applicable if the dug in unit is being fired on by any class of tripod that is within 6 inches. The Tripods are so tall they simply shoot down into the holes.

Special Rules for These Scenarios

Cover

Units that are inside of terrain can benefit from two types of Cover, Hard and Soft. Hard Cover represents units behind stonewalls, inside of buildings, trenches, etc. Soft cover represents units inside of woods, behind bushes and scrub, or other similar terrain. When firing at a unit inside of cover, the following are added to the Defense stat of the Unit. A unit must be fully inside of the terrain feature to claim the benefits of Cover.

Cover	Defense bonus
Hard Cover	+3
Soft Cover	+1

Troops gain both advantages to being Dug In and in Soft Cover. Troops can't "dig in" in Hard Cover.

Rough Riders

A Rough Rider is a mounted infantry unit on a motorcycle or horse. They function the same as regular infantry, but with a greater Speed. Rough Riders may also move from an Assault at full speed move during the Second Move Phase and not just the usual 2".

Tow Cable

A unit armed with a Tow Cable (for example a Rough Rider unit) attempts to use these heavy duty cords to immobilize a Tripod. When a unit with Tow Cables makes an assault, each element in base-to-base contact makes a standard to hit roll. For each successful hit, a Tow Cable marker is placed next to the Tripod. The Tripod is then Immobilized until it breaks free of the cables. Each Element in a unit can place 1 Tow Cable marker on a successful hit during an Assault.

To break free from a Tow Cable, a Tripod must roll during any of its Movement Phases to escape a cable. It can break free of one cable per phase. Roll a D10 and if it rolls equal to or less than its Speed value, it has broken free of a cable. If it rolls over its Speed (or a 10 for something with a Speed of 10), then the Tripod has become tangled in the cabling and falls over. Immediately roll on the Tripod Damage Table, adding +3 to the roll. If the Tripod survives the fall, it takes one full turn to stand back up.

Immobilized

An immobilized unit has a -4 to their Defense as they cannot move to evade incoming shots.

Game Stats

We assign different elements unique game statistics to reflect their troop type, speed, armor, weapons and special abilities where these apply. Taken as a whole, these are referred to as the element's 'game stats' or just 'stats'.

Type – This simply states whether the element is infantry, artillery, a vehicle/tank, machine, tripod or exceptional.

Speed – This is the distance in inches that the element can move at a time. Some elements can move once in a turn whilst others can move twice. If an element moves twice, then its Speed is the distance it moves each time. For example, an element with a speed of 6" could potentially move 12" during the turn if it has two moves: 6" in the first move and 6" in the second move.

Armor – This is the minimum number an enemy must roll on a D10 to destroy or damage the element. For example, a typical infantry unit has an Armor stat of 4, which means that any dice roll of 4 or greater will destroy it. If an element has an Armor stat greater than 10, it can only be damaged by a weapon with a Power bonus or by a 'lucky hit' as described later.

Weaponry – This is a list of the weapons carried by that element. Each weapon has its own characteristics and fighting values as explained in the 'Weapons' section of the rules. If an element has two, three or more weapons of the same kind, this is indicated as 'X2, X3, X4 and so forth.

Special Abilities – This final column lists any special abilities that apply as defined in the 'Special Abilities' section of the rules.

Humans

Unit	Type	Speed	Defense	Armor	Weapons	Special
Infantry	Infantry	6"	5	4	Rifle	Stealth
Machine Gunners	Infantry	6"	5	4	Machine Gun	Stealth
Rough Riders	Infantry	10"	7	4	(none listed)	Rough Rider, Tow Cable
Mk II Baldwin	Tank

Martians

Unit	Type	Speed	Defense	Armor	Weapons	Special
Assault Tripod	Tripod	8"	9	10	Heat Ray	Massive

Note: the Rough Riders' row in the source table has no weapon entry printed; none is added here.

Weapons Stats

Weapon	Range	Power	Special
Rifles	15"	–	–
Machine Gun	20"	–	Rapid Fire – Roll 3 dice to shoot per stand
Tank Gun	30"	+1	–
Heat Ray – Focused	3"–30+	+3	–
Heat Ray – Sweep	3"–15"	+2	Sweep
Reaper Tentacles	Assault	+1	–

Tripod Damage Chart

If a Tripod suffers damage from an enemy unit's shooting or as the result of an assault then it is not automatically destroyed. Instead, roll a die and consult the following chart. If the Tripod has suffered more than one point of damage from the attack, add +1 to the die roll for each additional point of damage scored. For example, if a Tripod were to suffer 2 points of damage from an enemy unit's attack, roll a die and add +1, if it suffers 3 points of damage add +2, and so on. This often happens where an attacking unit has multiple shots. For example, a unit of 3 Steamer Tanks each with 3 shots could potentially score as many as 9 points of damage – though this is rather optimistic!

1–5 – The Tripod is damaged. The Tripod's Armor stat (printed as "Amour" in the source) is reduced by 1.
6 – The Tripod is damaged and crippled. The Tripod's Armor stat is reduced by 1. In addition, every time the Tripod wishes to move, both players roll a die, and the highest scoring player can move the Tripod up to the score rolled number of inches. If both players roll the same the Tripod does not move.
7 – The Tripod is damaged and its weapons disabled. The Tripod's Armor stat is reduced by 1. In addition, every time the Tripod attempts to shoot both players roll a die, and the highest scoring player selects the target up to a maximum range of double the score rolled number of inches. The target must lie within range and line of sight of the Tripod, but otherwise any unit from either side can be selected as the target. If both players roll the same the Tripod does not shoot.
8 – The Tripod is badly damaged. The Tripod's Armor stat is reduced by the score of a D10. If the Tripod's Armor stat is reduced to zero or less as a result it is destroyed as 9 below.
9 – The Tripod is destroyed and crumples to the ground in a heap of tangled metal!
10+ – The Tripod is destroyed and explodes in a spectacular fashion! If there are any other units within 6" of the destroyed Tripod, whether Human or Martian, then these are all caught in the explosion. Each unit suffers 3 attacks with a Power level of +2.

Work out the results of these attacks immediately.

Markers

The following note is printed in the source: the markers shown are made up to help you try out the game. The "real" things have already been upgraded to plastic and will be refined in design once the designers are 100% sure they have all the markers needed for the final game.