Saucer War One - ANTIC's O.O.B. exposed!

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Sounds really interesting.

[Macrossmartin]

I read more of your blog and think it sounds great. I live in Vegas so I am sure that there are a few people in town that might be interested in it here.

This has a kind of X-com UFO defense feel to it, and I like that idea. I was wanting to play some pulp 1950s Jets vs Nazi UFOs in space. With ground missions in Antarctica, Moon bases, also on Mars and Venus. But I think this will scratch the Air Combat segment of the monstrosity I was planning for the future.
Also I like the ideas you are pushing out so far, looking forward to seeing the Monarians and Earth Defense Forces have going one.

Thank you, Commissar!

Las Vegas! Home of secret, unmarked airliners to Area 51, George Knapp and Bob Lazar. UFO central! 

I'd like to come visit your hometown and Nevada when travel restrictions are lifted. Maybe Saucer War One could have a launch party at the Little A'le Inn!

You might like to know that I've mapped out future expansions that take Saucer War One to all the settings you listed. I am also now pondering the idea of a 'pre-war' supplement set in 1945. We shall see...
 

[leadboy]

I think the backstory to your game has to answer a couple of questions that have always bothered me about extra-terrestrials and alien life forms. First, if you're in a super flying machine capable of landing anywhere on earth, why do you always, but always, choose the deserts around Las Vegas (or a variety of rural areas in nowheresville, USA?). And if you're an advanced life form, why do you principally molest cows when you get there? Enquiring minds want to know!

[Macrossmartin]

Believe it or not, Leadboy, I have addressed these and other peculiarities of saucer behaviour, but you'll have to wait for SW1 to be released before full disclosure! 

In truth though, there have been reports from capitals and big cities throughout the history of UFO's; the Washington Flap of 1952 (which opens the ball in the SW1 Invasion '52 Campaign) is an example. The rash of sightings over Mexico City - seen by literally hundreds of thousands of people - is another.

Infamously, there's also the 'Phoenix City lights' in 1997 which have yet to be genuinely explained.

But as for the lone saucers settling onto lonely desert roads before incredulous farmhands? Maybe Douglas Adams can guide our search for the truth...

"Teasers are usually rich kids with nothing to do. They cruise around looking for planets which haven't made interstellar contact yet and buzz them.

They find some isolated spot with very few people around, then land right by some poor soul whom no one's ever going to believe and then strut up and down in front of him wearing silly antennae on their heads and making 'beep beep' noises.

Rather childish really."

[leadboy]

Very good! I shall form part of the queue for SW1....

[Macrossmartin]

Greetings, Adventurers! I hope everyone is safe and well today, and doing plenty of hobby stuff.

I have a couple of new articles on the Miniature Martin Blog for you; one is about the Data Disc, and its components, and the other...

Well, that's something I'm a bit excited about and this picture might be a hint... 



Come over to the blog and see what's happening!
https://miniaturemartin.com/blog/

[Storm Wolf]

Believe it or not, Leadboy, I have addressed these and other peculiarities of saucer behaviour, but you'll have to wait for SW1 to be released before full disclosure! 

In truth though, there have been reports from capitals and big cities throughout the history of UFO's; the Washington Flap of 1952 (which opens the ball in the SW1 Invasion '52 Campaign) is an example. The rash of sightings over Mexico City - seen by literally hundreds of thousands of people - is another.

Infamously, there's also the 'Phoenix City lights' in 1997 which have yet to be genuinely explained.

But as for the lone saucers settling onto lonely desert roads before incredulous farmhands? Maybe Douglas Adams can guide our search for the truth...

"Teasers are usually rich kids with nothing to do. They cruise around looking for planets which haven't made interstellar contact yet and buzz them.

They find some isolated spot with very few people around, then land right by some poor soul whom no one's ever going to believe and then strut up and down in front of him wearing silly antennae on their heads and making 'beep beep' noises.

Rather childish really."

Does that mean that Whitley Strieber`s probing ahem, was the equivalent of college kids cow-tipping??

Nice ldea watching with interest

Glen

[FlyXwire]

Martin, exciting recent update from your blog!

The Connection rule mechanics sounded interesting, but I was wondering how these are done....are these [smaller] discs kept 'off-board', and then associated (placed) alongside each saucer's individual data disc?

Connection Ring (from Martin's blog page)

This orange circle has a number of what we call Connector Points around its rim. The Connector Points are: Crew; Special; Hardpoint 1 and Hardpoint 2. At each of these Connectors are placed an associated, smaller Disc;

The Crew Disc aligns with the Crew Connector Point.

‘Special’ things like Equipment Discs, and the Discs of Assets being transported, connect to the Special Connector.

And finally, at each Hardpoint a Weapon Disc can be placed.

[Macrossmartin]

Martin, exciting recent update from your blog!

The Connection rule mechanics sounded interesting, but I was wondering how these are done....are these [smaller] discs kept 'off-board', and then associated (placed) alongside each saucer's individual data disc?

Good question. All will be revealed in a post next week, but essentially The Data Disc is the central element of a Saucer's 'Dashboard' which you keep on the table but outside the play area. Abutting the Data Disc are the smaller Crew, Equipment, etc. Discs. Each of these has its own points value and information.

This allows you to mix-and-match the way you fit out a Saucer as you see fit, without re-calculating numbers or writing out stat sheets.

As the Saucer takes damage or chews through ammo, the discs are rotated to indicate the changes. It's easier to show the concept than tell... but you'll have to wait for next week! (No, I'm not being a tease; I have not finished the illustrations for the article yet!) 

And Glen? That's a terrible mental image you're generating there!! 

[Storm Wolf]

Good question. All will be revealed in a post next week, but essentially The Data Disc is the central element of a Saucer's 'Dashboard' which you keep on the table but outside the play area. Abutting the Data Disc are the smaller Crew, Equipment, etc. Discs. Each of these has its own points value and information.

This allows you to mix-and-match the way you fit out a Saucer as you see fit, without re-calculating numbers or writing out stat sheets.

As the Saucer takes damage or chews through ammo, the discs are rotated to indicate the changes. It's easier to show the concept than tell... but you'll have to wait for next week! (No, I'm not being a tease; I have not finished the illustrations for the article yet!) 

And Glen? That's a terrible mental image you're generating there!! 

Sorry  , I blame lockdown and the penalties of having an imagination

[Macrossmartin]

How are we all today, Adventurists?  I hope you're making inroads through your lead / plastic / resin mountains... unlike me... 

Meantime though, Saucer War One continues to take shape, with a new design article on the Miniature Martin blog.

https://miniaturemartin.com/2020/05/22/they-rode-the-flying-saucers/


This time, it's about how Saucer Crews survive the incredible G-Forces of hyper-speed combat, and how we record their fates on Crew Discs. Come and take a look!

[Macrossmartin]

Hello all!

There's another new article on the Miniature Martin Blog: This time, we're looking at the Trigger Cards, which provide the means to randomise results in Saucer War One.

https://miniaturemartin.com/2020/05/30/triggered-random-events-in-sw1/

"Why not just use dice?!?" I hear you exclaim. Well, come take a read, and see what you think of my reasoning.



Also — why are there no retro sci-fi images of hot guys in goldfish bowl helmets? 

[Macrossmartin]

A new saucer revealed? Boris and Natasha have done well! Here's an exclusive look at the first ANTIC saucer to be made public. (Project Blue Book will insist it is just swamp gas.)



https://miniaturemartin.com/2020/06/05/know-your-flying-saucers-the-silvercat/

Take a look at the article to discover the real-life inspiration of the Silvercat, and download a bigger version of the blueprints.

[Macrossmartin]

A recently revealed table of organisation showing ANTIC's order of battle on the eve of war! (Don't tell them I showed you this!) 



I have to admit, I love doing this sort of stuff; it adds a sense of reality for me (or at least, the suspension of disbelief), it sparked a few questions that needed answers, (like "Who's running this joint?"), and helps me imagine the forces at my disposal as a wargamer. I'm already working on special rules for the all-black painted Joker Squadron!

Also, creating the table was a lot of fun, especially researching the personalities at the top of the ANTIC tree. Who else knew that Dowding attended several lectures by Ufologists and contactees in the early 1950's? As did Lord Mountbatten, and other notables of British society? Could it be they knew things the rest of us were not privy to? The plot thickens...

Chinese-American WW2 WASP pilot and nuclear scientist Maggie Gee was always on my recruiter's list as the head of ANTIC's R&D department, but I stumbled upon the amazing Virginia Hall. This peerless spy was the bane of the Nazis in occupied France, and she did amazing things to thwart them, in spite of having only one leg! She was neglected by the CIA after the war, and assigned to a mundane desk job. I could not resist imagining that job being merely a cover for her real, world-saving role...

And I had to have Keith Park there as Dowding's tactical genius, because who else would you want leading your air defence against a deadly enemy from afar? 

The hidden CAPER bases from which the saucers fly are all areas that had unusual UFO activity at some time. (Although I suspect Coffin Bay here in South Australia was chosen because of the oysters...)

More in the article on the Miniature Martin blog!

https://miniaturemartin.com/2020/06/13/saucer-war-one-faction-sketch-1-antic/