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Originally Posted by sn0wball
By the way, Wizard ? Is this another term for the old engineer caste or where does magic come in ?
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Sorry, that is just me being meta. Structurally and thematically, Mars is a fantasy setting, re-skinned with sci-fi rationalisations. The engineer caste are practically speaking magicians.
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Originally Posted by isf
Have you decided upon the political structure(s) on Mars?
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Balkansised into city-states, with a few modest empires, barbarian lands, and large areas of absolute desert.
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Why do the immortal engineers no longer have access to an industrial base?
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It was destroyed long ago, in warfare over dwindling resources.
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What is stopping them from gradually rebuilding an industrial base, even if a small one?
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Minimum scale. You can't do very high tech except on a very large scale, because sophisticated manufactures have a very large number of distinct components that require specialised manufacturing.
Continual warfare.
Corruption. The governments are nearly all self-serving, and there is no reliable rule of law.
Lack of co-ordination. The balkansisation of the polity means that there are no efficient courts to enforce contracts or other mechanism to co-ordinate far-flung plants into collaborative manufacturing.
Lack of transport infrastructure.
Inadequate educated workforce.
Resource exhaustion.
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Originally Posted by whswhs
Have you encountered S. M. Stirling's In the Courts of the Crimson Kings? It seems quite apropos to your premise; its Mars has an ancient civilization with extremely advanced biotech that largely makes sense by current scientific standards, and with complex political intrigues in a decadent and corrupt planetary empire. I think you would find things in it worth borrowing.
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isf mentioned it too. I'll find and read it.
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Originally Posted by SonofJohn
In my oppinion there is no greater blessing for ANZAC outfit than a (very) british commander....
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Fortunately we had our own officers all the way up to division level by December 1917. {In May 1918 Birdwood got promoted, the Australian Corps got an Australian corps commander (Monash), its casualty rate plummetted and its effectiveness jumped.}
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Originally Posted by Fred Brackin
An interesting item of realism is that experienced WWI trench warriors are likely to already have melee weapons and experience with them.
The militaries of the day did significantly more bayonet training than more modern forces though according to All Quiet on the Western Front when the Germans went over the top they used grenades and sharpened shovels (probably Two-handed Axe/Mace) instead.
There were a lot of "trench knives" both factory made and field expedient and a number of other things (spiked clubs and such) that look like they were made in a prison workshop.
If the Martians engage in stand up sword fights one of rhe long WWI rifles with bayonet isn't that bad a spear (though very heavy comapred to a real one).
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Indeed. The Australian bayonet of the time was famous (a 17" sword-bayonet), and the Australians notably fond of using it. There was even a cavalry charge against machineguns by a brigade of Australian mounted infantry armed with bayonets. Successful, too. Moreover, the Australian War Memorial has an absolutely gruesome collection of expedient trench knives and raiding clubs, which are everything you say. WWI trench-fighting veterans will certainly be able to hold their own in hand-to-hand, especially against smaller, weaker Martians.