Martian Banded Riflemen

The Martians had several surprises in the makeup of their armies and weaponry. One was the use of what is referred to as banded rifles. These are extra long rifles that held an overly large powder charge. They had excellent accuracy and an effective range that exceed the more common British Martini Henry by almost 20%. Their single downside is that they were slow to load.

The banded rifle was difficult to manufacture and was given only to troops strong enough to bear the fierce recoil along with the extreme weight of the weapon. Similar to the jazail used on earth by the Afghanistan’s during the wars there earlier in the 1800’s. Martian tactics commonly used the banded rifles specifically as long range weapons to force the earth defenders out of there protective defenses.

Earth troops had to make sure that they were supported by heavier weaponry (MG’s and artillery) to counteract the effect of the longer range of the Martian banded rifles. Luckily there was usually only a single unit or two of Martian troops equipped with the deadly weapon.

The figures shown are from The London War Room.