A return to Space 1889 Mars

It's been years since I ran a 25mm Martian game. (yes I have spent a lot of time on 15mm mars) But yesterday a few friends and I got together for a very rare Monday game. So to commemorate the day I prepared some 100 figs over the last two weeks, mainly Earth troops, for a Return to 25mm Mars. It would be a surprise since only one of the players had ever seen any of the 25mm Martian figs.

The scenario was fairly typical. Religious fanatics, unsupported by the local Jed, wink wink, capture Earth Ambassadors. Flying column of British, French, Russian and Japanese are sent to save the day. Germans were out with a cold and the Belgians were elsewhere plotting. The Colonial powers would start with all their troops near the canal docks. The Martian forces were only revealed when an earth force got within 24in. The Martian players also did not know the composition of their troops till they were revealed, except for some guns. But new blank Martian forces would keep streaming through the gates, This created  a very hectic Martian defence strategy.

The Colonial forces had separate smaller objectives and various diplomatic means to bribe away some of the Martian opposition.

The basic flow of the game

View from canal dock

The Colonial Powers advance fairly quickly in the first few turns, brushing aside light resistance, with Earth firepower.  But as more Martian units arrived, the advance began to slow down. It quickly became apparent that close combat was not so sure a thing for the Earth-men, especially vs elite Martian swordmasters, Green tribesmen and the accursed flying Martians. The casualties began to rack up especially for the French in melee and the British who soon encountered radium rifles, but the advance continued. In the end all four Colonials had reached the Ambassadors, and brushed off the last of the defenders as the Steam Carriage loaded up their precious political cargo.

The game  was quite fun and in the  perfect spirit for our first Monday night event! Rules were the playsheet from Colonel and Co. The blog page I found these on has since disappeared with the loss of the creator. If anyone has further playsheets I would love to see them!

View from walls of Mikkoom

View of docks from French airship

British, Japanese and Russians advance

Elite Martian Cavalry

Fighting near Harbor Masters palace

Behemoth and flying High Martians attack

Green Tribesmen try to hold off converging Colonial Powers