Armored Infantry Carrier

Order now and get a platoon of Tin Men absolutely free!

Once the Army, in its infinite wisdom, recognized that walking 50 miles into battle in an armored suit that weighs 50 lbs would leave a soldier ill ready for combat once he reached his destination, the search for an armored transport with superior cross country capabilities to the standard Fliver was begun.

Baldwin Locomotive Works soon proposed a modification of there standard steam tank chassis that would stretch the design to include space for a infantry squad to be carried inside, protected from the deadly heat rays by several inches of reinforced steel. Though the design suffered from the traditional difficulties of steam power plant, namely inefficiency and a ravenous appetite for coal, the design was rapidly accepted for service and given the designation AIC (for Armored Infantry Carrier). Armed with only a close defense machine gun, the AIC's sole purpose is to carry infantry into battle as it does not have the firepower to stand up to the Tripods of the invaders alone.

In All Quiet on the Martian Front

If you're scratching your head wondering why this unit isn't in the big rule book, don't panic just yet. The AIC was introduced under Miniature Market once Alien Dungeon sold them the IP. You can find the rules for it on the All quiet on the Martian front website as a PDF for the time being, but who knows what the future holds now that Abby Normal Publishing is at the helm.

Anyway, the AIC has a movement of 5 inches per movement phase, which is one less than the standard steam tank speed but is still faster than the marching pace of armored infantry for what its worth. With a defense rating of 4 but an armor rating of 8 you will find yourself taking hits a little more often but also surviving a few more than you think. The MG is the same as all other MGs with a 20 inch range, rate of fire of 3, and a +1 power, which is fine when dealing with lightly armored targets but will seriously struggle against tripods.

Of course the most important part of the AIC is its ability to carry infantry. Each vehicle can carry two infantry elements, somehow, which means one unit of three AIC's can carry two units of Armored Infantry into battle. This can be seriously surprising to unaware Martian commanders as three weird steam tanks can suddenly cover the board in shining infantrymen if they aren't careful. Infantry can board a transport when it is within their movement distance and they have not moved at the start of the phase (basically boarding a transport is their move) The transport can then move during its movement phases as normal. Your carried unit can then disembark their movement distance when their next chance to move comes up. If the AIC is destroyed, any on-board elements immediately disembark.

A unit of three Armored Infantry Carriers will cost you 120 points to add to your US Army.