Mars Attacks playtest

Last year I bought the Mars Attacks game and then painted up all the miniatures.  I still haven't got round to painting all the scenery but I thought it was about time I actually tried the game.  An attraction of buying it during lockdown was the Solo Rules (AI cards drive the Martian behaviour) but I wanted to try a proper game with Andy first.

The game is a good blend of simplified wargaming mechanisms with card-driven events.  There is no measuring as the two playing mats are both discretely marked into an 8x8 board.  Figures can position anywhere in a square to get the benefit of cover but moving and shooting is simply between adjacent squares, including diagonals.  The cards provide bonuses to die rolls or moves, or build up into sets of support cards (like artillery attacks) that can be called upon when needed.  The game uses a set of D8s to resolve everything, for example, three dice when shooting with the shooter getting an extra die or two depending on whether they aimed or the target is fully in the open.  The defender gets three dice and typically rolls against a higher "Survive" figure, so shooting proved pretty deadly, especially since there are no wounds to record - a figure either survives or is removed from play.

It has a You Go, I Go turn order but this is split up over a number of rounds with each round providing an opportunity to activate two figures, or one figure and play a card.  Activated figures are marked with yellow counters and the first player to have activated all their figures can still play cards or pass whilst the other player continues using figures, but the former then has the initiative in the next turn.

There are also eight counters randomly distributed which are initially face down and then revealed as either "critters" (which the Martians want to take away to examine) or "alien technology" (benefit for the Humans).

The first scenario has just 8 US marines taking on 5 Martians, with none of the Hero figures and their special abilities taking part.  All scenarios are won by getting to 8 Victory Points and in this game were earned by killing by shooting (1VP), by hand-to-hand (2VP) and discovering critters or tech (1VP each after the first one).

Andy's Martians used a pretty devastating heat ray early on (highlighting the risk of having more than one figure in a square) and then a couple of random attacks that flattened some of the already ruined buildings, significantly opening up lines of sight.  It then became a shooting match until very near the end when we thought Andy had won 8-7, but we then noticed the first critter didn't count for VPs, so the score was really 7-6.  Since we hadn't yet had any close combat and James needed the 2VPs to win, he encouraged a fight which Andy gamely took on.

The final dice roll saw the last Martian bite the dust and give James the victory.

It's a fun, good-looking game.  Certainly not complex and there are random factors but that seems to fit well with the comic book theme.  The second scenario requires many more figures so we thought this should work well with more players at a future games night.

I subsequently rediscovered some fan-made cards I'd downloaded for this game which I've now printed out ready for next time, so the stats are accessible and the Hero special abilities can be more easily used and tracked.