Gaming "The War of the Worlds"

"It was the beginning of the rout of civilization, the massacre of mankind." --H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds 1898

Gaming H.G. Wells'
War of the Worlds

The cover of the 1955 Classics Illustrated comic book that permanently formed many youngsters' impressions of what a Martian fighting machine looked like.

This section is a tribute to the uncredited artist who produced the striking illustrations in that book.

In future this section will cover recreating H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds in wargames. Normally, one would think such a game would be a (literal) walkover for the Martians, but:

As the conquering Martians reach southward from the fallen capitals of Europe, the tropical climate points up the weaknesses in the tripods' design. The engines overheat, the advanced weaponry begins to fluctuate in effectiveness, and suddenly the remnants of the human armies seem to have a hope of stemming "the rout of civilization."

-- VictoriaTech: Mad Dogs and Martians

The game came about in 1991, when David's frogman event at a gaming convention was virtually ignored because everyone seemed intent on playing BattleTech, a science-fiction game featuring 'mechs': meters-tall humanoid manned fighting machines. David swore that if he gave a game the next year, it would have "Tech" in the title. So 1992 saw "VictoriaTech -- Mad Dogs and Martians," a game using the original concept of the mech: H.G. Wells' Martian fighting tripod. The game was a convention success for several years. BattleTech's concept of heat buildup and dissipation was adopted as the Martians' Achilles heel (besides the flu virus, of course). If the Martian machinery, designed on a cold planet, were sensitive to the intense heat of the Earth's tropical regions, colonial armies might have a chance against the faltering tripods.

In future this page will feature
pictures from the Martian games,
the VictoriaTech rules and game accessories,
and articles on building a Classics Illustrated-style tripod.

Since the above was written, Bill Jones, author of the forthcoming Classics Illustrated: Art, Adaptations, and Popular Culture (McFarland & Co.), has informed me that the Classics Illustrated artist who illustrated The War of the Worlds was Lou Cameron, who also illustrated CI's version of The Time Machine and others, and went on to write award-winning western, detective and action novels. The Major-General's heartfelt thanks go out to Mr. Cameron, and also to Mr. Jones for providing the information.

DIG
WE
MUST

This Section Still Under Construction

FIGURES - SCENERY - STRUCTURES - VEHICLES - SHIPS - GROUP - RULES
LANDSHIPS - WAR OF THE WORLDS - BATTLES - LITTLE WARS - BOOKS, FILMS - KIPLING - WHAT'S NEW