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We have always wondered if there was life on other planets - and now we are certain! They came from the mysterious red planet close to the sun known as Mars. These invaders did not come in peace, but came to eradicate an entire race. Will you fight against this new menace, or fall under the new Martian overlords? This is the premise behind Mantic Games' Mars Attacks: The Miniatures Game.
Combat is resolved by rolling three d8 dice (four if you are aiming) and comparing it to your appropriate skill (shooting or fighting). The target then gets to roll three dice to survive the attack, and if it succeeds the target lives, else it goes down in a flurry of fists or disintegration fire. Cards can also be used to either save or assist in fighting as well as heroic abilities as they can change the course of battle very quickly. If a model is killed in the same square as other units, then that unit may become rattled. The model must make a saving throw on a d8, and if a 1-4 is rolled the unit becomes rattled and cannot do anything until its next turn. It can only survive and can only fight when it recovers the next turn.
There are ten scenarios that are included with the basic rules ranging from a "First Contact" scenario to the rise of the human resistance. Each scenario is laid out with a setup (including how and where all the models are deployed), which side goes first, and the victory points (or VPs) for each scenario. The first player to gather up eight VPs before their opponent wins the engagement, but some scenarios are won not by VPs, but by special conditions (ex: reducing an enemy force to zero, etc.)
The contents of the box are massive, as you get forty miniatures to lay waste to the town of Greenville. There are twenty-one Martian miniatures cast in an eerie green, ten US army miniatures cast in tan, and nine hero miniatures that are deep red. Each of these plastic minis is highly detailed and look great either painted or unpainted. There are even clear domes for the Martian invaders giving them their signature look from both comics and the 1996 movie. Also included are ruined buildings and debris molded out of detailed plastic. These buildings can be arranged in a variety of ways and click together so they can be assembled and then laid flat for storage. Also included are the cards, counters, and dice that you will need to play the game. The counters are used for everything from tracking VPs to specialized units that are used in certain scenarios (ex: civilians or mutant bugs). The rulebook, cards, and counters are also well illustrated, showing the horrors of the Martian invasion and humanity striking back at these otherworldly invaders.
The miniatures are detailed and already pre-assembled. However, unlike the previous offerings from Mantic Games, you can’t customize the minis. Also, the mat is crafted of high quality glossy paper and not felt as it was offered in Dreadball Xtreme.
If you have ever wanted to get into tabletop war gaming and felt it was too expensive to get started then you need to check out this game. Everything is complete in the box and you get some great miniatures for less than what you would pay for a rule book and a starter army for some systems. |
The rules are enclosed in a beautifully illustrated, 43-page manual and cover everything you need to get started. At the beginning of each round, a player can activate two models, only activate one model and draw a card, or draw two cards. Each model can engage in a variety of actions which are: moving two squares, firing and then moving a square, and aiming and shooting. Moving occurs to any adjacent square including diagonally, so long as there is nothing blocking their path (ex: a wall). Each model has five stats: shoot (ranged combat), fight (melee combat), survive (ability to withstand damage), range (how far you can shoot), and heroics (abilities you can use in battle).
