By Jim Wallman
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff - Saturday 21 Novmeber 2015
This
is a military / political game about interstellar conquest of a single
world, New Cydonia. The aim is to show how complex, politically
and militarily such operations could be.
Background
A major interstellar power (The Martians), have decided on a strong military
intervention to protect Martian colonists on a colony world with many
rival colonies spread over a number of continents. Each of the several
independent colonies on New Cydonia have different international relationships,
and not all of them are at peace with each other.
The most powerful colony, The Democratic Republic of Cydonia (DRC) is, however, set on domination of the entire planet by force and threat, and has substantial quantities of low- and medium-technology military equipment and troops. It is also developing its ability to make powerful new weapons capable of mass-destruction. Despite its name, it is accused by some of being a dictatorship and thoroughly 'evil'.
The invading Martians have smaller quantities of very high-technology equipment and top-quality elite troops, plus control of orbital space and starships. They have to act swiftly from the outset to save the colonies targetted by the DRC – then move on to taking action to achieve 'regime change'. Or perhaps even reach a political settlement?
Game Play
The game is a crisis game, with both operational military and political
activities in play simultaneously.
The issues will be both tactical, political and moral;
for example, the Martians could blast the capital city of the 'bad guys'
with orbital weapons – but that would kill tens of thousands of innocent
civilian colonists and read very badly to other - unplayed- major powers.
The more so because operations take place in the light of interstellar
media reporting – so the Martians have to also consider their domestic
political reaction as well as public opinion within the other major technological
spacegoing powers.
Tactical issues will include the DRC having to continue their military operations without exposing their troops to devastating orbital attack – so they have to be very clever in their deployments. Players on the DRC team will have a real opportunity for players to show devilish cunning.
The other colonies, whilst welcoming Martian intervention and assistance, do not wish to exchange one conqueror for another, and may have to tread a fine line to maintain their sovereignty. Players in the 'minor' colonists teams will have to use their very limited military power to ensure they retain their independence - at the same time using their political skills to ensure they come out of the crisis stronger than they went into it.
The Martians, on the other hand, are at the end of a long interstellar logistics chain and have relatively small numbers of elite troops. So they have to decide how to apply this hi-tech force effectively in 'surgical' operations – e.g. can they decapitate the regime? Should they target economic infrastructure? And losses are not easily replaced, so prolonged attritional battle is to be avoided. The Martian team will consist of diplomats and military players, and will need to use their great power wisely.
For much more information - visit the related Invasion from Mars web pages - containing the game handbook, roles, and latest player vacancies.
Game Roles
| Martian Military | Democratic Republic of Cydonia - Political | |
| Martian Political | Democratic Republic of Cydonia - Military / Security | |
| Pro-Martian Local Colonist | Interstellar Network News Team | |
| Independent Local Colonist | Major Power Military Attache | |
| Orbital Station Corporation | Game Control |
© Megagame Makers 2015