Tripods & Triplanes Tripod Packs
Tripods & Triplanes is the result of the creative effort of many different talents.- Andrea Angiolino, Marco Maggi, Francesco Nepitello- Tripods & Triplanes Game Designers
- Andrea Angiolino and Pier Giorgio Paglia - Designers of the original Wings of Glory system
- Bob Naismith - Sculptor
- David Szilagyi - Main Art
- Dario Calì - Additional Game Art
- Gareth Hanrahan - Creative Writing
- Fabio Maiorana - Art Direction
- Laura Neri - Graphic Design
- Roberto Di Meglio - Publisher & Producer
The Martians Have Landed! Wings of Glory Tripods and Triplanes Kick Starter Preview!
Tripods and Triplanes Wings of Glory Expansion Game Preview. Publisher: Ares Games Designer: Andrea Angiolino, Marco Maggi and Francesco Nepitello
Rick Martin
Ares Games brings 2017 to a triumphant end with yet more Wings of Glory goodness! This time the Earth is uniting against an alien threat! Tripods and Triplanes has hit Kick Starter!
From Ares Games’ own description –
“March 18th, 1918: the nearest approach of planet Mars to Earth. The First World War suddenly changes into a War of the Worlds, when what appears as a meteor shower falls over a wood in Alsace. A few hours later, just after dawn, an army of giant alien fighting machines appear out of the trees and starts burning villages and houses with their lethal heat-rays, leaving pestilential trails of black smoke behind them.
A truce is hurriedly signed between the warring nations and, against the advancing Martian tripods, the best war machines of Earth are dispatched, manned by the most gallant and skilled warriors of our planet!
In Wings of Glory – Tripods & Triplanes, the knights of the air of WW1 battle against colossal fighting machines sent by the Martians to invade Earth. Take control of an awesome Martian Tripod, set upon bringing death and destruction on our planet… or fly on the most advanced flying machines created by Mankind during World War One, and try to use them to win the War of the Worlds.
Tripods and Triplanes is a new, stand-alone game, but it is fully compatible with the WW1 Wings of Glory collection.”
The Martian miniatures are stunningly designed; they look like an alien steam punk fusion. Currently there are four different types of Martian tripods. Each tripod is rated for its weapon systems – heat rays of various types plus black smoke projectors, movement speed and maneuverability, hull points, energy points and force field locations.
The Tripods use a movement system which is the same as the World War I Wings of Glory aircrafts. For each movement the player lays out a card. The tripods don’t fly as much as walk and run over the ground. For each three card sequence, the tripods must either stand for one card or run for one card. If they don’t, they tumble to the ground and must get up during the next sequence. The player controlling the Martian tripod has another interesting aspect to manage while fighting off those pesky human biplanes, he or she must manage the energy usage of the tripod. Every weapon action requires energy as does picking up items and other actions such as swinging the tripod around. Lucky for the tripods, they can perform actions to regain their energy. If their energy ever completely runs out, out go the force fields and down goes the tripod! For the Martians, learning energy usage and conservation is a must!
For the combined Earth Air Forces, attacking the tripods is tricky. Each type of tripod has different shield configuration. Getting your bullets or rockets past their shields are the key to winning the war. But, let’s say your shots hit the shields, you still have a chance to cause damage to the deadly aliens. Your shots have the chance of draining the energy of the tripod even if they penetrate the shields – certain shield hits cause the Martian pilots to reallocate power to keeping the shields up which drains their all important power supply.
The game includes new A damage cards which add critical hits to the tripods as well as retaining the biplane critical hits. Also damage cards are included for the heat rays and black smoke clouds.
The rules are still evolving but are very fun to read and logically organized. Multiple scenarios are provided and a solo system has been promised. There still needs to be some refinements but game is still evolving. A World War 2 expansion has also been talked about so I guess, even if you defeated the tripods, like most good villains, they’ll be back!
Visit the Tripods and Triplanes Kickstarter for more information:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1402889231/tripods-and-triplanes-the-war-of-the-worlds-in-win
http://https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1402889231/tripods-and-triplanes-the-war-of-the-worlds-in-win”
NOTE: For purposes of my demo play of this game, I used Axis and Allies maps.
About the Author
A college film instructor and small business owner, Richard Martin has also worked in the legal and real estate professions, is involved in video production, film criticism, sports shooting and is an avid World War I and II gamer who can remember war games which came in plastic bags and cost $2.99 (he’s really that old)!
