War of the Worlds: AAR

[Skanky Burns]

The year is 1898 and, gentlemen, we are at war.

[Skanky Burns]

As you can see, the first elements of a Martian invasion force have landed in Scotland. Most of the surrounding segments are expected to be lost within a month.

Our minister of defence has drawn up a potential battle plan, with the majority of our defence going into Lake District, Pennines and Whitby, sectors 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Lake District receives the sapper unit from Pennines who starts building 4.6" medium gun posts while 6" medium gun posts are being researched. Meanwhile the sapper from Nottingham moves up to Pennines and then starts building 4.6" medium gun posts while the factory begins construction of a lorry squadron. Whitby receives the construction vehicle from Lake District and every lorry group currently in existance. Finally, the factory in Northampton begins construction of a sapper for Whitby and will then mass-produce construction vehicles.

Troop movements thusly:

[Skanky Burns]

However, we will not be doing so.

* In the interests of "preserving resources", all current military units and sappers will be disbanded.
* All command buildings will be destroyed.
* Our sole construction vehicle will be sent to London, which will be the only province we will have control of until a factory and training facility is built there.
* A general ban on tanks is made. No research of tanks will occur.
* Finally, the humble lorry will be the mainstay of our forces for as long as possible.

Gentlemen, the gravity of the situation is clear. The future of the world is in our hands, for if England falls, surely the rest of the world must follow.

The remaining Human forces:

[Skanky Burns]

5 days have passed since the Martains first captured a sector. 70 days until Level 2 factories are researched. The Martians now have 5 sectors under their control, with more pod landings expected. Now the long wait while we attempt to regain building capabilities.

The foundations of our new factory are laid.

[Skanky Burns]

It is now March, 1899. Four construction vehicles are built and out rebuilding command centers and the odd resource enhancing facility. There was a bit of tension early on as not enough steel was being produced to run both my new factory and the construction vehicle (CV) in London, so the factory lay silent for an additional 20 days while the CV built a training facility.

The CV was moved to a sector west of London and the factory started production of an additional CV. Steel was a problem still, reducing efficiency of the factory to ~80%. Currently, the dark green sector to the far west contains most of our steel and coal improvements, greatly easing the shortages in other sectors with the unprecedented construction activity. London is producing more oil, with no less than 5 oil refineries ordered. Both steel and oil are in excess with coal just above current usage levels, however the resource situation continues to improve as more sectors are added.

One note of concern though, no military units currently exist. A sapper will have to be built soon so as to start a defensive line near the Martian territory before they start expanding.

[Skanky Burns]

22nd May, 1899. The defensive line has its first humble beginnings, but alas the Martians have advanced. One sapper is in place, 7 days until the second sapper comes off the production line. 22 days after that and the third one is available.

The news isn't all bad though. Level 3 factories have been researched, and the first is being built in London, with 2 more planned after it. Research has now been directed to 6" defensive gun emplacements and will be ready very soon. Afterwards research will go into making more heavily armoured lorries or perhaps heavier heavy-gun emplacements.

[Skanky Burns]

7th July, 1899. The cabinet can breathe a sigh of relief as the 3rd sapper starts working. The line will hold. The unoccupied sector (with the red arrow over it, above) was grabbed by me before Martians occupied it and the sapper has started working there. Should that sector be attacked before defences are up, I have a fall-back position with 3 gun emplacements already prepared below.

London gets its first level 3 factory and begins building another construction team. Steel and coal usage are reaching critical levels once again, but the very very vast resources under the defensive line are starting to be tapped now that I am sure to hold the sectors.

6" heavy gun emplacements were researched, now 9.2" guns have been ordered. After that, improved lorries so that my new factories have something to produce.

19th October 1899. London has 3 level 3 factories produced. Our research into mark III lorries will be completed in 15 days and our first army of lorries has assembled near the martian border for their first suicidal attack. We have 2 mark I lorries and 4 mark II lorries, with 2 more to be produced before the attack occurs.

[Skanky Burns]

We are only 3 sectors behind where we would have been had we held our ground and have yet to catch sight of live martians. A second factory site has been started to the north of London, with more proposed across the width of England. The proposed factory zones are marked with a pink X.

[Skanky Burns]

10th November, our forces head into martian territory for the first time.

[Skanky Burns]

And in a surprising turn of events, we won.

We lost only 15 units, no squads. All 4 enemy squads were destroyed, comprising of 3 fighting machines, 6 scouts and one handling machine (their version of a construction vehicle). Victory!

[Skanky Burns]

Our second attack, this time with an entire force of mark III lorries were sent to Whitby. Enemy defence was light, with only two scout groups (6 units) and a sapper defending the sector. Plus one light laser turret which was placed behind its power-source. My forces didn't have much trouble with it after its power was removed. We fared much better this battle, with only 1 loss compared to their 7 units.

[Skanky Burns]

The aliens have yet to put up a decent fight. My main problem is over-production of lorries and the oil they consume just sitting there and a lack of command centers. I have been defeated twice in my attacks, both times because I sent a group of already damaged units to attack a fresh enemy sector. The followup always succeded with minimal losses.
The three forward sectors I control need a command center before I can initiate attacks from there, so that will delay me somewhat.

In other news, I have researched munitions factories so will be able to start researching artillery soon. These are the most powerful units in the game, massive range, nice spread of damage. In large groups they decimate anything the aliens can throw at me.

[Skanky Burns]

I have captured the next three sectors held by the aliens and am now attempting to encircle the Martian Headquarters territory before making the final assault. Alas, they had decided to use a new defence system.

Here you can see my group of lorries being decimated by fixed artillery emplacements (not shown) as some flying machines pretend like they are doing damage as well. This battle did not end successfully, although they managed to take out 2 of the 3 arty posts before all being crushed. Strangely, the next attack on this territory would see no deaths on my side - from total destruction to total domination.

[Skanky Burns]

Now it was time to raid the headquarters.

I destroyed their construction facility and their only sapper, but could not destroy all three construction units before being destroyed. 2 of their construction units survived, so given enough time they would be able to rebuild.

I also took the opportunity to strengthen my holdings. I now own all territory bar the Martain Headquarters. Sappers are in all sectors sharing a border with the aliens, maximum medium gun posts have been built and the maximum number of heavy gun posts are soon to be reached in all sectors. I finished researching self-propelled artillery on a just-in-case basis but still have not built any. Research is now being made on level 3 shipyards, not that the enemy has any territory bordering the water anymore.

[Skanky Burns]

With all defences built and the enemy at bay, it was time to finish them off once and for all.

Wave 1 was ordered to attack.
Little occurred as they manouvered around the map and up the hill towards the headquarters. Then all the enemy seemed to decend on the hapless invasion force all at once. Three squads of scouting machines were destroyed as no less than 4 electric machines decended on the group. Two remote-control bomb-cars decided then would be a good time to do their thing, and half the lorries in the attack ceased to exist. Then a Tempest decided to join the fight, spitting some black powder into the middle of the remaining lorries and using its powerful laser beam to remove even more humans from alien-held soil. The last of wave 1 was seen denting the armour of the tempest. However, during the course of battle they had managed to destroy the only unit-producing facility the aliens possessed - there would be no more alien reinforcements before the next human wave attacked.

Wave 2 was ordered to attack.
The Martians were more aggressive this time around, or perhaps more desperate. Less than 24 hours had passed since the last attack and the alien numbers were fewer while the humans were in full force. Attacks by fighting machines, electric machines and the semi-damaged tempest were conducted, almost as though the AI had a clue about what it was doing. Heavy losses were sustained amongst the humans, although the Martian war machine fared worse with no live aliens remaining.

What was left of wave 2 then moved to pick off all remaining fixed defences and miscellaneous alien structures. That done, it was an all-our assault on the Martian Headquarters. A headquarters that was defended by four heavy lasers...