Old Marta
The railway gun you command. Twenty years in a museum depot, now back on the rails with a tank engine called Pudding, a small crew and a cat.
Old Marta is a heavy railway gun, and she is the only thing you command. She spent twenty years rusting in a museum depot. Now Tilly Brandt, a retired gunnery instructor called back to the war, commands her. There are no other units and no base to build. The gun is your hands, and moving her is her only defence.
The train
On her siding, Old Marta is a short train:
- The gun car, with its turntable and the long barrel.
- The ammunition wagon, which Pip the cat rides on.
- Pudding, the little tank locomotive, driven by Grete.
- Camouflage nets, rigged over the gun.
Her crew are Tilly (you), Fenn the young and nervous loader, Sergeant Abelard on the radio and the spotter link, Grete at Pudding's controls, and Pip. See The crew.
Working the gun
You work Marta in the gun yard, looking down on her from above.
| Control | What it does | Keys |
|---|---|---|
| Traverse | Turns the barrel. The turntable is heavy: about 6° a second, with a rumble and a bearing ring around the gun. | A / D, or drag the barrel |
| Elevation | Raises or lowers the barrel, shown on a side-on dial in the corner | W / S, or scroll on the dial |
| Charge | 1 to 4 powder bags. More bags: more range, more smoke, a longer reload. | Q / E |
| Shell | Pick one from the ammo rack on the gun deck; the crew carries it to the breech | 1 to 6 |
| Fire | Pulls the lanyard. Recoil shakes the yard and a smoke ring rolls across the siding. | Hold Space for 1 s |
On a gamepad, the left stick traverses and elevates, the D-pad picks the shell and charge, and you hold A to fire. See Controls, Charges and range and Shells.
Close up, in clay
Old Marta is the only thing in Shellfall you ever see up close. The war is a watercolour painting seen from far above. Zoom in on the gun, or press Tab, and the camera drops through a band of soft clouds into the gun yard, where everything is soft matte clay.
Zoom in further and you are in the cockpit, the only first-person view in the game: a big elevation wheel, a bearing scale, a few round dials, the firing table pinned up, a lamp, a mug of tea, and a viewing slit onto the misty wood. See The map table and the gun yard.
When she is hit
Every shot gives Marta's position away a little, and sooner or later the enemy's guns come looking for her. See Exposure and moving the gun.
A hit damages a part: the traverse turns slower, a crew member goes to the aid tent, or the crew loads more slowly. Repeated hits force Marta back to the railhead for 2 to 3 minutes of repairs, while the war carries on without you. A single hit is never game over.