Tunneling Special Rules Section

The Morlock army introduces a new dimension to games of All Quiet on the Martian Front with their
subterranean nature and ability to tunnel rapidly underground. The ability to move unseen into position and
then burst out from below is a potent one, but as we’ll see it does have its limitations.

The rules for tunneling split into two parts; rules for tunneling units in battle and rules for the underdweller’s
tunnel network. As we’ll see tunneling units are capable of moving along beneath the surface and (mostly)
safe from harm until they emerge, while the tunnel network allows the Morlocks to move their forces around
below ground and take advantage of a network of entrances created by the tunneling units.

Tunneling units
Units with the ‘Tunnel’ or ‘Super-Tunneler’ special rule are collectively called tunneling. These are units
capable of moving underground by dint of having digging claws, rock-melting thermal rays, gigantic
drillheads or other mechanisms.

While a tunneling unit is still below ground it is represented by a tunneling marker.

[[[ show tunneling marker – 2” dia circular marker? ]]]

Only a single marker is used for a tunneling unit regardless of the number of elements within the unit (e.g. a
unit of Mole Apes with four elements is represented by a single marker). Each tunneling unit must be
represented by its own marker while it is underground.

As with a hidden unit marker the ‘contents’ of a tunneling marker are kept secret until it emerges. Unlike a
hidden unit marker a tunneling marker cannot be revealed by an enemy unit being close enough.

Deployment for tunnelers

Tunnelers can normally be deployed submerged at the start of the game and where this is not the case it will
be indicated in the scenario. Tunnelers that enter the game as reserves, reinforcements or replacements move
on as tunneling markers.

Tunneling markers can never be stacked on top of each other, and if movement forces them together for any
reason the moving marker halts on contact with another tunneling marker.

Interaction with other units while tunneling

While a tunneling unit is still submerged (i.e. while it is still being represented by the marker) it normally
has no interaction at all with units on the surface; It may not be fired at or assaulted, for example, and does
not reveal hidden units. Friendly and enemy units can move over a tunneling marker without impediment
(although any terrain effects are still taken into account as normal).

Some special units (see later) can detect and make attacks on submerged tunnelers but for most the tunneling
marker is but a vague and distant rumbling noise until it emerges.

Tunneling Moves
Tunneling underground is a slow business in comparison to travelling on the surface. To reflect this
tunneling moves can only be made in the first movement phase unless the Morlock player expends order
markers.

[[[[[[[[ I put this in because it seemed a bit crazy to have things moving just as fast as on the surface and it
also prevents ‘porpoising’ by emerging, shooting and then submerging again on the same turn. ]]]]]]]]]
A tunneling unit moves up to 5” in a straight line measured by using the tunneling tool. Place the tool so that
the end of it is touching the tunneling marker and the arrow is pointed in the direction of the intended move.

[[[Show tunneling tool]]]

A tunneler may not intentionally move into areas of water or impassable terrain and as noted above if it
moves into another tunneling marker it will immediately be halted.

Once the tool has been positioned roll a die to see if the tunneling marker succeeds in following its desired
course. On a 4 or better nothing goes amiss, but on a 1, 2 or 3 something has gone awry – this might be due
to a mechanical failure, simple confusion about which way to dig or encountering some especially hard
stone, water pocket or other hidden feature.

Roll another die and re-orient the tunneling tool to match the number indicated on the tunneling marker –
this is the new direction taken by our underworld travellers and they travel 5” on that course. On a roll of 9
or 10 the tunneling marker emerges onto the surface and forfeits the rest of its move instead of going off
course.

D10 roll Result

4+ Move the tunneling marker up to 5” in the direction indicated.
1-3 Off course! Roll another die and move in the direction indicated, if the second
roll is 9 or 10 emerge onto the surface immediately instead.

If a tunneling marker moves into impassable ground, a water feature or off the tabletop the whole unit is
considered destroyed, including anything it was transporting at the time.

Emergence/ Submergence
A tunneling unit can forfeit its movement phase to emerge from the ground or to submerge itself, effectively
changing from a marker into models on the tabletop or back again. No dice roll for movement is required in
this case.

Emerging
Emerging units are placed in contact with the tunneling marker and then the marker is removed. Transported
units aboard tunnelers can be deployed within 5” of the marker when the tunneling unit emerges, this
counting as their move for the phase. Emerging and disembarking units that are placed in contact with
enemy units make an assault attack in the combat phase.

An emerging tunneler is liable to cause a lot of damage so units with the tunnel or super-tunneler special
rule have an Assault weapon that is only ever used when they emerge into contact with an enemy unit,
fortification or building, e.g.

Weapons Range Power Special

Emergence Assault +4

Once a tunneling unit is on the surface it acts in all ways like a normal unit of its type and the tunneling rules
are suspended until it submerges again. It may, for example, shoot in the combat phase if it doesn’t assault.

Submerging
When a unit submerges the models in it are removed and a tunneling marker is placed as close as possible to
the previous centre point of the unit. Tunneling transports can embark friendly elements that are within 5” of
the tunneling marker when they submerge. The unit to be transported must be wholly within 6” of the
tunneling marker and not have moved previously in the phase to be taken onboard. Whole units must be
taken on board for transport, although players can optionally rule that elements unable to fit aboard the
tunneling unit are removed as casualties as they are abandoned on the surface.
Note that even with order markers a tunneling unit may not emerge and submerge again on the same turn.

Super-Tunnelers
Super-tunnelers are exceptionally large, fast digging examples of their type. The effects of this are twofold;

Firstly, a super tunneler is moved in the same way as any other tunneler but unlike normal tunnelers it can
move in both movement phases while it is submerged without requiring order markers to do so.

Secondly, unlike a simpler tunneling vehicle that creates a tunnel that collapses behind it, a super tunneler
creates a permanent tunnel so large that it essentially operates as an underground highway for vehicles and
infantry. When a super tunneler emerges it always leaves a tunnel entrance marker behind it on the
battlefield. This connects to the underdweller’s tunnel network and on subsequent turns, the Morlocks can
have units arrive on the table by placing them first on the tunnel entrance and then moving as normal as
discussed in the tunnel network rules below.

These tunnel entrances can be “destroyed” by collapsing them. They have a defense value of 8 and an armor
value of 14. Any damage sustained will collapse them.

The underdweller tunnel network

The Morlocks and their ilk have no permanent bases on the surface as they dwell far beneath the earth in
subterranean caverns that have never seen the light of day. They move around through a vast network of
passageways both naturally formed and dug out by their extraordinary tunneling machines. In battle the bulk
of Morlock forces are often lurking beneath the ground within the tunnel network until the time is ripe to
emerge. Certain Morlock weapons can even take effect even through the intervening earth and rock, acting
as a form of subterranean artillery that is very hard to counter.

The Tunnel Board

The tunnel board is where the underdweller player keeps track of his subterranean units. It is vertical slice of
what is below divided in two areas; the ‘Depths’ representing the subterranean caverns of the Morlocks far
below the earth, and the ‘Tunnels’ interconnecting the depths with the surface. Morlock reserves and
reinforcements are usually kept on the tunnel board to show where they are off-table and the underdweller
player can also opt to keep some forces below even in scenarios that don’t usually use reserves or
reinforcements.

1 2 3 4 5

TUNNELS

DEPTHS
The Tunnels
Units in the tunnels are close beneath the surface and ready to emerge. They are capable of firing
subterranean artillery at targets on the surface and are somewhat vulnerable to enemy counter measures. As
a general rule Reserve forces start in the tunnels.

Moving to the surface

Tunnelers that are in the tunnels can dig up to the surface as their action in the first movement phase of any
turn, becoming a tunneling marker on the tabletop. The new tunneling marker must be placed anywhere in
the underdweller’s set-up zone for the scenario being played, if the underdweller has no set-up zone in the
scenario being played the marker is placed 5” from the table edge designated for force deployment instead.
Roll as usual to see if the tunneling unit goes off course (or even surfaces unexpectedly). The tunneling unit
obeys all the normal tunneling marker rules in future turns.

Non-tunneling units in the tunnels can only exit to the surface via a tunnel entrance, either a pre-placed one
if the scenario has them or one left behind by an emerging super tunneler. Place the unit within 5” of the
tunnel entrance in the first move phase. Assaults may be made by placing units in contact with enemies
within 5” of the entrance, but in this case tunnelers do not get their special emergence assault attack when
exiting via an existing tunnel entrance as there is adequate warning of their approach.

Moving to the tunnels

A tunneling marker can forfeit its turn to go into the tunnels (roll to potentially go off course as usual),
however once there it is not able to subsequently re-emerge without restrictions! Use a dice or counters to
keep track of how many turns pass while the tunneling unit is in the tunnels counting this turn as the first. If
and when the tunneling unit returns to the surface it must be positioned within 10” of where it dug down
from if one turn has passed, within 20” if two turns have passed, 30” for three turns and so on.

A non-tunneling unit can only return to the tunnels via a tunnel entrance. All elements of the unit must be
within 5” of the entrance at the start of the unit’s move to do so. The unit forfeits its actions that turn to be
removed from the tabletop and returned to the tunnel board. As with tunneling units keep track of how many
turns the unit spends in the tunnels, it may emerge from the same entrance or a different one within 10” for
each turn the unit spends in the tunnels.

Non-underdwellers may not normally enter the tunnels unless specifically permitted to do so by the scenario.
Any brave souls that ventured below would almost certainly be lost and the nature of their adventurers in the
Morlock infested underworld lie outside the parameters of this game.

Moving to the depths

In some scenarios the underdweller player may be required to take captives into the depths, or may simply
want to use them as a safe haven. Any unit can forfeit its turn to go from the tunnels into the depths.

Depths
Units in the depths are far enough underground to be completely unaffected by events on the surface and
may not interact with it in any way. As a general rule Reinforcements start in the Depths.

Moving to the tunnels

Any unit, whether a tunneler or not, can forfeit its turn to go from the depths into the tunnels. Note that this
means underdweller reinforcements are more reliable at showing up! This can be imagined to represent their
ability to rapidly move through their labyrinth via underground roads and high speed transits.

Subterranean Artillery
As mentioned above subterranean artillery can fire at targets on the surface while still in the tunnels.
Measure all ranges for the artillery from an existing tunnel entrance. Likewise subterranean artillery
positioned on the surface can potentially target units in the tunnels if within range of a tunnel entrance.
Obviously no line of sight is required for using subterranean artillery as we assume they use listening
devices or other detectors to locate their targets. Surface targets being attacked by subterranean artillery in
tunnels are resolved as per the normal rules, simply pick a target and determine the results.

For counter fire from the surface things are less precise and necessarily abstracted. If multiple units are in
the tunnels roll a die to randomly determine which unit is attacked (if there are more than ten units in the
tunnels the underdweller player chooses which ten are available to be attacked. If the weapon has any form
of barrage effect all elements in the unit are attacked. Hitting the target is tricky so increase the Defense of
the models under attack by +2, the effects of being hit while underground are liable to be disastrous,
however, so increase the Power of attacking weapons by +1.

Anti-tunneler countermeasures
The Morlock’s unexpected attacks from below have created new challenges for both the human race and for
the Martians. New ways of fighting have had to be developed and new drills learned by soldiers of all
armies, an additional burden for nations already committed to the great war of survival against the Martian
menace. A key element of the defensive strategies that have been created is the early detection of a coming
attack. Seismologists around the world had already noted strange anomalies and attributed them to the
Martians before the underdwellers first became known. Subsequently their studies have offered up the only
successful solution found so far for tracking Morlock movements through solid rock by listening for the
ground tremors created by their digging.

Tremor Detection Rules

We use the same rules to cover a variety of different units that can detect tunneling in progress. All
such units have the Tremor Detection special rule.

If a unit with the Tremor Detection special rule doesn’t move in either movement phase it can attempt
to locate and identify a tunneling marker instead of shooting in the combat phase. Roll three dice and
add the result together, this is the range in inches at which a tunneling marker can be detected this
turn. E.g. a roll of 3+5+9= 17 indicates the unit can detect a tunneling marker within 17” this turn. If
multiple tunneling markers lie within range select one to be detected.

The underdweller player must reveal what a detected tunneling marker represents and the number of
elements in the unit where applicable. A tunneling marker that has been detected can be attacked by
subterranean artillery that is within range. Place a counter on the tunneling marker to indicate that it
has been detected. A Tunneling unit will remain detected until it emerges onto the surface or returns
to the tunneling board. If the unit with Tremor Detection rolls 25 or greater it can instead elect to
detect one randomly selected unit in the tunnels section of the underdweler’s tunneling board.

Human countermeasures
Terrapohone Squad
The ‘Terraphone’ is the patent invention of Professor Edward J Chumbley and Dr Anders V Falkersen. It
comprises a portable sounding box and seismic detection pegs which are emplaced in a precise circle around
the listening post. Infantry trained in the use of the Terraphone are able to discern the approximate distance
and depth to tunneling units. More importantly the frequency and pitch of the digging sounds can be
analyzed to determine what manner of threat is approaching. Reliable detection is still tricky as identifying
the confusing jumble of sounds takes a talented ear, but portable Terraphones have proven invaluable in
counteracting the underdweller’s surprise attacks.

Unit: 1 element
Points per Unit: [10]
Type Speed Defense Armor Special
Infantry 6 5 4 Stealth, Tremor Detection
Weapons Range Power Special
Rifles 15” - -

Stealth
A unit with the Stealth special rule can move while it is hidden as described in the rules for hidden
units on p66 of the main rulebook.

Tremor Detection
Terraphone squads are able to potentially detect underground movement as detailed in the Tremor
Detection rules.
[[[ Allow command squads/vehicles to upgrade to gain tremor detection? ]]]]

Support Unit
Terraphone squads are ignored when it comes to calculating how many units an army contains and
how many units have been destroyed. However, if it comes to counting up points values and at the end
of a game to determine a winner Terraphone squads do count their full value just like other troops.

Terraphone Flivver
Mounting a Terraphone squad in a Flivver was initially a field expedient used to chase underdweller
tunneling noises over long distances and cover more ground. Mobile Terraphones units proved themselves
useful on extended fronts and purposes-built Flivvers to carry them soon followed.

Unit: 1 element
Points per Unit: [25]
Type Speed Defense Armor Special
Vehicle 10 5 4 See below

Weapons Range Power Special

None - - -

Tremor Detection
Terraphone Flivvers are able to potentially detect underground movement as detailed in the Tremor
Detection rules.

Road Vehicle
Flivvers are really road vehicles and not good at tackling difficult terrain. Instead of doubling the
distance moved over difficult ground Flivvers multiply the distance covered by four, so 1” travelled
counts as 4”.

Support Unit
Terraphone Flivvers are ignored when it comes to calculating how many units an army contains and
how many units have been destroyed. However, if it comes to counting up points values and at the end
of a game to determine a winner Terraphone Flivvers do count their full value just like other troops.
Terraphone Steamer
As the Morlocks became wise to the presence of detection units on the surface they began to purposefully
target them to clear the way for major attacks. While this in itself served some of the Terraphones’ purpose
by forewarning of impending tunneller assault the loss of experienced Terraphone operators was keenly felt.
Experiments were made with mounting the requisite equipment inside an armored chassis for better
protection, typically utilizing the ubiquitous Baldwin tank as a basis.

Unit: 1 element
Points per Unit: [40]
Type Speed Defense Armor Special
Tank 6 4 8 See below

Weapons Range Power Special

Machine gun 20” +1 Rapid Fire 3

Tremor Detection
Terraphone Steamers are able to potentially detect underground movement as detailed in the Tremor
Detection rules.

MkII Hammer Tank

What was truly needed against the Morlocks was a way of striking back at them before they reached the
surface. Conventional weaponry would clearly be useless in this role. Some success was achieved with
heavy artillery bombardments and buried mines but theor effectiveness proved limited. In the end it was the
Morlocks themselves that furbished an answer with the capture of a virtually intact seismic hammer
apparently abandoned on the surface after the Battle of Freetown.

Scientists and engineers led by Dr Falkersen cautiously disassembled the device to learn its inner working
and found them to be considerably less alien than those of the Martians. A human-built version of the
seismic hammer was quickly derived and has been put into production. Although less sophisticated and
well-modulated than the Morlock’s seismic hammer the Hammer Tank has still proved a godsend for
commanders in the field. Gaining the ability to strike back against the underdwellers has enabled a
fundamental shift in the conduct of the war against them.

Unit: 1 element
Points per Unit: [160]
Type Speed Defense Armor Special
Tank 6 4 8 See below

Weapons Range Power Special

Seismic Hammer 50” +5 See Below, Subterranean Artillery

Machine gun 20” +1 Rapid Fire 3

Seismic Hammer Special Rules

A seismic hammer needs no line of sight to attack. Place the barrage template on the target unit and
roll to hit ignoring modifiers for cover. The size of barrage depends on the die roll; If it scores exactly
the number needed to hit only the targeted unit is affected, if the roll is exceeded by one a 1” barrage
is created, by two a 2” barrage is created and so on up to a maximum of a 4” barrage by beating the
roll needed to hit by four or more. Roll against the Armor of every unit touched by the barrage using
the seismic hammer’s Power of +5. Cover bonuses do not apply against the seismic hammer.
Subterranean Artillery
The seismic hammer is the archetypical subterranean artillery piece. This means it can fire the
designated weapon at detected targets underground in the tunnels or represented by a tunneling
marker. Firing at underground targets makes hitting much harder, adding +2 to the Defense of units.
The increased dangers caused by rock falls and tunnel collapse when the hammer scores a hit
increases its Power by +1 (becoming +6) against underground units. [[[[Too much??]]]

Buried Mines
Various improvised ‘mines’ have been attempted by placing large charges of explosives in caves, tunnels,
wells and mineshafts in areas where the Morlocks are believed likely to attack. Equipped with mercury-
trembler switches these charges have been reasonably successful on a few occasions, but have proved too
wasteful and accident-prone to employ on a large scale. A variant of the Tesla mine has been tested that
promises to provide a more flexible solution, although the drilling rigs necessary for the Mk II Minelayer to
get the mine to a useful depth is still a work in progress.

Buried Mines rules vs tunnelers

Buried mines are a variant of Traps as described on p68 of the main rulebook and are available in scenarios
where one player, typically the defender, is allowed to lay Traps. buried mines may be chosen instead of
traps, replacing them on a one for one basis. Place a counter for each buried mine or note its location
secretly on a piece of paper. Each time a tunneling marker moves while within 6” of a buried mine roll a die
to see if the mine goes off, add +4 to the roll if the unit includes vehicles, add +8 if it is a super-tunneler.
The buried mine will detonate on a modified roll of 8 or more, affecting every element within 6” (both
above and below ground, so be careful!). Roll to hit vs defence of each affected element with no modifiers
for cover and a Power of +2.

Special Tesla anti-tunneler mines are placed by a MkII Minelayer just like ordinary Tesla mines. They work
like buried mines but only roll for detonation and effects against targets within 3” and have a power of +3.

Heavy Bombardment
With the advent of Terraphones barrages of well-directed heavy artillery fire have been shown to have some
limited effectiveness against tunnelers due to the shockwaves transmitted through the ground by exploding
shells. Using delayed impact fuses on artillery shells improves matters somewhat but the density and quality
of the ground is the biggest determinant; limestone and sandstone collapse more easily, granite and other
basaltic rock types transmit shockwaves better, dirt, loam, sand, earth and clay tend to absorb detonations
with little harm to those lurking just beneath the surface. As such bombardments are an unreliable tool, but
for commanders with Terraphone support and plentiful artillery it remains a viable option.

Heavy bombardment rules vs tunnelers

Barrage weapons can be used to try and damage units represented by tunneling markers while they are still
submerged. The marker to be attacked must be within range of the artillery and have been detected. The
barrage is resolved as normal but also roll to hit any underground units (not just the detected one) within the
area of effect. Underground units gain +2 to their Defense and the Power of the barrage is reduced by 3
against them so a howitzer, for example, would have a Power of 0 against a tunneling target. Weapons with
a Power of +2 or less may not be used for bombardment in this way as they simply lack the impact to affect
underground targets.

Martian Countermeasures
Detection Spikes
No new Martian tripods have been spotted that are seemingly designed for specific retaliation against the
underdwellers. In truth determining the precise purpose of the alien tripods has been mostly guesswork and
correlation to date, and is still probably an oversimplification of the vast, cold intellects at work behind
them. A change that has been noted, however is the appearance of curious spurs or spikes on the legs of
certain tripods. It has been surmised that these new extrusions represent some kind of equivalent to the
human’s Terraphones, probably operating on a much higher frequency but enabling the Martians to
triangulate the source of underground disturbances.

Detection spike rules

Tripods with detection spikes gain Tremor Sense as detailed above. Martians can use their Tremor Sense
even if they move, and they may shoot other weapons in the combat phase if they use it too, in essence it’s a
free ability to use for them.

Any Martian tripod can be upgraded with detection spikes for the following additional points cost;

Assault +20pts
Grenadier +10pts
Scientist Free
Dominator +35pts
Scout +5pts
Slaver +10pts
Gatherer +25pts
Harvester +15pts
Founder Free
Overseer +40pts

Weapons
Such is the potency of the Martian invader’s weaponry that it is sometimes useable to attack tunneling units
at reduced effect.

Heat rays
Martians have been witnessed using their Heat Rays to melt the ground to counteract approaching tunnelers.
Although they are seldom used in such fashion it has long been theorized that concentrated Heat Rays could
be used to turn the very earth into a pool of molten lava.

Heat Ray rules vs tunnelers

Heat rays can be used to attack detected tunneling markers. The heat ray must be used on full power and
may not sweep. All elements represented by the tunneling marker are attacked, but they gain +2 Defence
and the Power of the heat ray is reduced by three (e.g. an Assault Tripod’s heat ray would be reduced to +1
against a detected tunneling marker). If the Power reduction would reduce a heat ray’s power below zero it
may not be used to attack underground targets (i.e. a light heat ray may not be used vs tunnelers as its
unmodified Power is only +1).

Black Dust
Black Dust appears to be particularly dangerous to the underdwellers due to its lingering effects and
propensity for sinking into caves, tunnels and hollows. Although of little use against tunneling machines
Martian Black Dust has been used to effectively seal off the tunnel entrances left in their wake and prevent
Morlock reinforcements from reaching the surface.

Black Dust rules vs tunnelers

Black Dust cannot effect tunnelers in any way while they are still underground. However Black Dust used
against tunnel entrances will persist until the end of the turn, attacking any model that subsequently moves
into or out of the tunnel entrance. At the end of each turn roll a die, on a score of 8 or higher the Black Dust
persists for another turn, otherwise it dissipates.
Green Gas
The corrosive Green Gas used by the Martians to such horrific effect against human forces is less suited to
combating underdwellers than the Black Dust. Although somewhat persistent it does not sink so readily into
lower spaces and the after-effects of it are therefore more attenuated.

Green Gas rules vs tunnelers

Green Gas cannot effect tunnelers in any way while they are still underground. However Green Gas used
against tunnel entrances will persist until the end of the turn, attacking any model that subsequently moves
into or out of the tunnel entrance.

Shock Canisters
The Martian’s high explosive shock canisters seem to function especially well against tunnelers, propagating
shockwaves through the ground that are highly dangerous to those below. This has led to some speculation
that shock canisters were created with subterranean warfare in mind, leading to unanswerable questions
about just how long ago the Martians first encountered the Morlocks.

Shock canister special rules

Shock canisters count as subterranean artillery so they may be used to attack detected tunneling markers and
even detected units that are still on the underdweller’s tunneling board. The Inaccurate modifier still applies,
and cannot be mitigated by target illumination. Shock canisters lose their normal reroll on missed hits
against subterranean targets to represent the dampening effects of the ground. Other than these modifiers
shock canisters attack without any further penalties against underground targets, i.e Power remains +2 and
targets gain no additional Defense bonus.
[[[[[[[[[[ I’ve not done specific Martian subterranean artillery piece as the shock canisters from the grenadier
seemed to cover it. We can of course come up with a new weapon or tripod as desired ]]]]]]]]]