Just a little something

Anyone who has seen or read my A Tale of Two Worlds or Gaslight projects will know that I have a special place in my heart for Victorian Science Fiction.  The more astute amongst you will also know that the Alternative History the games are set in jumps around all over the place and campaign games do not necessarily follow in order.  For example, we may on occasion visit events that have happened in the history of this alternative history.   Confused yet?

Anyway, my thoughts are that If I am going to build something it may as well be something that I can and will use.

I could simply do a dungeon layout for classic Dungeons and Dragons-themed games, but I would rather make something that I can use over multiple settings.

My Port Blacksand project already has a sewer network, which will be expanded on and that could also fit in with VSF.  So now it’s time to do something for my VSF setting, that will also fit in with my fantasy stuff.

I was thinking possibly with a slight Egyptian theme as in our VSF background it is hinted at that the Ancient Egyptians may be more connected with the ancient Mars civilizations than anyone would have thought, plus one of the Keys of Power is rumoured to be within Egypt.  This would also fit in nicely with Pulp games and also my Tomb Kings project.

Or do I just go to hell with it and do a full-on fantasy dungeon…

I guess time will tell as I have no idea in which direction this will end up.

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Setting the Scene

Ten years have now passed since the Martian Invasion was beaten off by a combination of guts and ..well..a mild cold. Mankind has returned to Mars to pursue the invader but in the absence of any sign of them has started to carve great chunks of territory for themselves. The ‘great game’ of Empire that plays itself out on Earth is mirrored here also. Alliances have been made and broken. A great German aerial mining fleet has been attacked and utterly destroyed in the Floating Archiapeligos. Queen Victoria herself was nearly snatched away at the hands of Prussian forces while visiting her estates in Norfolk (see ‘the Battle of Sandringham’). But now our gaze averts to Mars again, as a small, armoured steam column trundles across the vast expanses of Mars. Little knowing that the first blow of the war is about to fall on them.

This little battle is set in the history of our alternative history.  A battle that was fought quite some time ago now and that alas there are no pictures for.  However, that does not mean that I can’t use this historic conflict to add some flavour to my build.

The British forces had thrown up some simple barricades and tried to make best use of what cover they had, which was important against so many machine guns!!

The Prussian commander chose to split his attack into 3 sections, with the Derailler tank taking the middle along with the bulk of the infantry. The Sea-battalion and other Prussian infantry took the left flank and the machine gun group plus a smaller unit the right. The clanks were mainly in the centre and on the right also.

There wasn’t much cover for them, so they had to move quickly and try to overwhelm the artillery.

Things went disastrously for the British at the start. Dust had obviously clogged the engines for not one vehicle out of 4 made its sustain roll! As I cursed my luck, his machine guns opened fire and both the British Guards units on the flanks took casualties.  Fortunately, they didn’t flee before this onslaught (of stern stuff were they!).

The miners in the centre looked nervously on as they saw the soldiers falling and sheltering before a barrage of fire.

The clanks were going fairly well and making good progress across the table, as were the troops on the left flank.  Most of the artillery was short-range so had to bide their time.

The second turn went equally well for the Prussians with another four Guards leaving the table and only 1 Prussian eating schnitzel in the sky. Even worse, on the right flank the mobile steam artillery piece had taken a direct hit from the Derailler which forced the occupants to flee, though the Prussian commander graciously allowed them to flee by retreating in their vehicle.

The Prussians, sensing an easy victory over a crumbling foe, rushed onwards. But now for the first time, the British started rolling well!  British vehicles managed to start the last turn and sustain (all but one). The command vehicle finally let loose with its ray…3 direct hits on the clank unit nearest to the men. 3 melting piles of clank…

The artillery piece and Gatling gun opened up on the Prussian infantry to their left and most of them were obliterated, with only the officer and 2 men able to turn tail and run. The men were later to be killed but the officer rallied and charged the command vehicle single-handedly! (he actually got to the end of the game unscratched, to be later handed the ‘most lucky blighter left alive award’).

On the left flank, the Sea-battalion began taking casualties from the remaining Guards (who were now down to 4 men here and had still not run) plus one of the artillery pieces, which drove a nice area effect shell into their centre. Meanwhile, some of the remaining Clanks were breaking down and slowing the Prussian advance. On the right, the machine gun crews were advancing up close to the 7 or so remaining Guards, but mostly missed.  However, the Clank managed to fire off its mortar and score a direct hit, which reduced them to only 5 men.

The next turn and the Derailler tried to finish off the disabled steam tank.  It hit, but in a bizarre occurrence managed to touch off the weapon which fired directly into the oncoming Prussian unit, destroying the front of it. The tank crew died heroes as they were obliterated by the machine guns. The Guards here, having still not fled returned fire on the machine guns.  They killed only 1 crewman, but this was enough to make them run!!   However, as the turn was simultaneous the machine guns returned fire, killing their NCO and all but 2 men, who hastily fled!

The Prussians had had the wind knocked out of them but there were still a lot of infantry on the table and they were now within a march of the artillery. The Guards on the left finally broke and fled with only 2 remaining men alive.  Then another stroke of luck as the Deraillers main weapon was destroyed by a freak hit from one of the small cannons “Good shot Sir!!” was heard to ring out across the carnage.  The clanks were again hit, this time by the electric cannon which welded the nearest one into a solid lump of metal and watched as it slowly toppled to the ground.  In a last-ditch attempt at defiance, the British in the lead Steam tank charged at the ranks of encircling Prussians and trampled them, crushing three.

At this point, we noticed that no one else was left at the club and the janitor was tapping his watch. OOPS.

(So that’s the pre-amble over and done with, now onto the idea…)

So …what would have happened next?  With so many Clanks (and all the repair crew) left on the table plus probably 20 Prussian infantry it was only a matter of time before the British were engulfed.  As the first wave of a larger force, there was no way that the British could win here but put up a jolly good show they did.

And so here is what did happen…

The Artillery abandoned their vehicles, dragging the unconscious form of Brigadier Valentine. As a final thought, Sergeant Tibbet had put the Martian Heat ray on overdrive, knowing that it would create a huge explosion in about a minute.  Retreating with what men he could find, the Sergeant headed for the nearest mine entrance.  He had not liked what he’d seen those Clanks do to the wounded men just now…. He’d found a dozen or so townsfolk already in the entrance, sheltering from the bullets and explosions.  It was an absolute shamble.  A few of the Guards took shelter at the entrance and let fly with what little ammunition they had left before he ordered them inside.

A few miners had taken torches and they followed them down into the tunnel, holding on to each other’s belts.  They had just entered a larger chamber when a tremendous explosion and vibration shook them from their feet and doused the lights. The command vehicle had gone up.  But now the entrance was completely blocked!

Will they survive? What are the Spiders from Mars? Will Mad Eye Davis lead them out? Will he find his hip flask? Did the Prussians manage to follow them in before the entrance was sealed? Will the Welsh start singing? Who built the ‘strange city underground’ and did they have a good bus service and problems with graffiti? Who’s that pinching me?