2022 in Review

Another year, another review. Let's take a look back at my gaming for the year.
 

2022's Trends

I began the year on a tear, with lots of projects.

• I ordered figures for a Byzantine project.
• I started a solo play through of Dragon of Icespire Keep with a new character, Ser Killian.
• I even dabbled with some sci fi skirmishes

Rescue attempt on Helos

In February, I got distracted by a new project - 1683 Battle of Vienna. After picking up The Silver Bayonet, this project morphed into a horror campaign set in 1666, with squad level games using my 3mm figures.

Fahnrich Hans Neimand leads a party against a troll

I then went on a baseball kick. I started a league of 1920s teams, but never completed the season.

Then I eschewed miniatures and started working up counters for generic armies,

ancient navies,

and even chariots.

Then I discovered Battles of Medieval Britain. I created counters for the game and played quite a few scenarios.

Disaster at Lewes, from BMB

Inspired by the 3 x 3 Portable Wargame phenomena, I experimented with a fast play version of MicroBattle. Here I use this version to play out part of the 1683 Battle of Vienna.

Then I went on an airplane kick. I developed rules for bombing runs, akin to B-17 Queen of the Skies. Then I created fast play dogfight rules inspired by THW's Aces Up and others.

Quick play dogfight - intercept the bombers

I finished the year by developing a new version of MicroQuest, my rules for fantasy adventures.

2022 Prognostication Review

Let's look back at my predictions for 2022 and see how I did.

• Return to 3mm - I expected to abandon my 10mm skirmish projects and focus on 3mm. Well, I did abandon 10mm, but I also abandoned 3mm. Instead, I've been playing around with counters. So I got this wrong.
• Genre-specific miniatures - I planned to abandon my generic armies and create armies specific to the genre or period. My first project was for Byzantine-Persian wars. This never got off the ground. Again, wrong.
• The Purge - I considered getting rid of my unused 10mm miniatures, but I never got around to it. Also wrong.

So I went 0 for 3 this year. Ah, the joys of GADD (Gaming Attention Deficit Disorder)

Rats, Foiled Again!

From the Tales of Ser Killian

Spoiler Alert - The following adventure is based on the D&D adventure Dragon of Icespire Peak. You may not want to read this if you plan to play that adventure.

Return to the Mine

As Killian promised, the party cleared the orcs from the abandoned shrine. After their victory, they return to Mountain's Toe Gold Mine without incident.

They stop at the miners' camp. Gavril offers to accompany them to meet the toughs, but Killian says that they should not need him.

Abandoned!

The go to the toughs' guard room and announce that they completed the mission. One of the guards offers to escort them to their boss.

They follow the guard. Suddenly, he turns into a giant rat and scampers into the darkness!

"A wererat!" cries out Gruff.

"We've been betrayed!" exclaims Haiden.

"Nevertheless," declares Killian, "we shall venture forth and exact justice!"

Killian Smells a Rat

As our heroes delve a little further into the mine, two rat-headed humanoids confront them.

Killian demands that they surrender and leave the mine. The two wererats sneer and attack.

Gruff holds off one while Killian and Haiden gang up on the second. It does not last long. Seeing the fate of his comrade, the first one runs.

Another Creepy Crawly

The party ventures on. They come to a room that is covered in webs.

"Careful," whispers Gruff, "somethin' may be a lurkin'"

Sure enough, a giant spider flings a web at Haiden. 

He barely dodges.

Gruff looses an arrow. It catches the spider in a critical spot, killing it instantly.

Among the spider webs they find a healing potion. They use it to heal one of Haiden's wounds from the prior adventure.

The Rat Boss

Our heroes make it to the wererat boss's lair. The boss is there with another henchman.

Henchman are stronger than standard minions.

Killian demands that the boss and his followers leave the mine.

"We ain't leaving," it says. "And neither will you!" it snarls as it draws a sword.

A melee breaks out. Killian and Gruff wound the boss. Haiden parries an attack from the henchman. His riposte guts the enemy.

The boss turns on Haiden. With a series of blows, scratches, and bites, it severely wounds Haiden and forces him backward.

Haiden's comrades rush to his aid. They strike simultaneously, both their blades bite deep into the boss's flesh. It collapses to the ground.

Haiden's Fate

Killian checks on Haiden, who is slumped on the ground. He uses his healing power to stabilize his squire.

"He needs additional medical attention. Let's take him to the miners' camp."

Gruff nods, and picks up the young warrior. They return to the camp without incident. There, they perform first aid. They let Haiden rest and recover while they check out the rest of the mine. The wererats are dead or gone. They inform Raskin, who rewards them for their efforts.

Killian is pleased. More funds for the church at Phandalin.

Protecting Pearl - Part 3

Introduction

In this mini-campaign, Crowe and Raven have protected the airfield and saved the naval yard.

Now the radio squawks, "They're going for the battleships!"

Our heroes race toward battleship row. 

The Opposing Forces

Once again I am using my imagi-nation air forces as substitutes.

From left to right.

• Battleship Row (yes, I know it's just a destroyer. It's a substitute)
• Crowe (top) and Raven in P-40s
• The Zero escort
• Three Kate torpedo bombers

The Dogfight

Crowe (top) bears down on a Kate. He fires and it goes up in flames.

But he hears the rattle of machine gun fire. The escort sprays his P-40 with bullets. He is damaged!

Ignoring the danger, Crowe continues to pursue the bombers. This time, the Zero's fire rips into his plane. He bails out as his P-40 falls from the sky.

Raven gets a bead on a Kate and shoots it down.

The remaining Kate gets within range. Anti-aircraft fire bursts around it as it releases its payload. The torpedo runs straight and true, smashing into one of the battleships. The explosion sinks the ship.

With its mission accomplished, the attackers break off.

Conclusion

Despite shooting down two Kates, it was not such a good day for Crowe (who parachutes successfully and gets rescued) and Raven. Chalk this one down as a loss.

Overall, they won two scenarios and lost one. Call it a minor victory.
 

Another Chance

My original pictures came out poorly so I got my minis out for a re-shoot. Then I decided to run the scenario again. This second chance was simultaneously less successful and more successful than the first run-through. Less successful because they were wildly inaccurate and only shot down one bomber. More successful because the Japanese were also less accurate - neither American got shot down and the bombers missed the battleship.

I decided to post the original attempt because it was more exciting.

A Savior Is Born!

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord." (Luke 2: 8-11 NIV) 

Merry Christmas to one and all!

Mine and Shrine

From the Tales of Ser Killian

Spoiler Alert - The following adventure is based on the D&D adventure Dragon of Icespire Peak. You may not want to read this if you plan to play that adventure.

Brother Winston Retires

Once they return to Phandalin, Brother Winston announces that he is retiring from the adventuring game. He will remain in Phandalin and work on rebuilding the church.

Game Note: After 3 "deaths" I think it is time for Brother Winston to hang it up.

PART 1 - THE MINE

After resting in Phandalin, a man rushes into the village. He identifies himself as Don-John Raskin, overseer of the Mountain's Toe Gold Mine. He reports that a gang of toughs seized the mine. He needs someone to reclaim it. Enraged by this act of aggression, Ser Killian readily agrees.

On the Road

The mine lies about 15 miles northeast of Phandalin. They have no encounters on the way.

An Unexpected Ally

Our heroes begin exploring the mine. They discover that a small band of Raskin's miners have holed up in one section of the mine. One of the miners, a brawny lad named Gavril, agrees to accompany the party.

Once again, I converted the published adventure into random encounters. I rolled a boon so interpreted it as meeting the miners.

Cave In

The party continues into the mine. At one point, there is a cave-in. The party escapes but their way is cut off. They need to backtrack.

I keep track of progress using "Progress Points." After gaining 3 PP, the party will discover the objective. However, this turn of events causes them to lose a PP.

Creepy Crawly

They run into a carrion crawler. 

Gruff looses an arrow that buries deep into the monster. Then Haiden attacks, slicing it into bits.

Gruff did 2 wounds in the first round then Haiden did 3 a few rounds later.

Negotiations

Finally, the party runs into some of the toughs. Killian demands that they pack up and leave. They tell him that he has to talk to their boss. One of the toughs runs deeper into the mine and brings back the boss.

The boss explains that orcs have run them out of their home, an abandoned shrine. He is willing to leave the mine if the party clears out the orcs. Killian agrees.

The adventure has an option to negotiate a solution. I rolled to see if the toughs would offer it. When they did, I had Killian agree.

PART 2 - THE SHRINE

Our heroes, including Gavril, head to the shrine about a day away.

Landslide

As they cross the hills, there is a landslide. Fortunately, they escape unscathed.

Orcs

As they approach the shrine, a band of 6 orcs waylay them. 

During the melee, Killian suffers two wounds. Afterwards, he calls upon his deity to heal him. He recovers some of his strength.

I realize that I forgot to account for his medium armor. Oh well.

Trapped

Our heroes enter the shrine grounds and spring a pit trap. Haiden falls in. He is shaken but otherwise unharmed.

More Orcs

The party meets 2 orc champions. 

These are higher level orcs. These count as "henchmen" from my random encounter chart

Gavril manages to hit one of the orcs, severely wounding it. It strikes him back, but Gavril is only shaken. Killian and Haiden kill the other one, then Gruff finishes off the wounded orc.

Next they meet 2 more orcs. They dispatch these quickly.

The Ogre

Our heroes find the leader of the orc band, an ogre. 

They strike it, but it merely shrugs off their attacks.

Armor negated any effect.

The ogre wades into the fray, swinging a large club. It strikes Gruff, and knocks him to the ground (a critical hit!)

Gavril strikes with his pickaxe, burying it deep into the ogre's arm. The ogre strikes back, but Gavril is only shaken.

Taking a cue from my dogfight rules, damage rolls might only shake up the target. I also instituted a "hero" roll, which allows the heroes to reduce the damage by one level. Gavril was extremely lucky. The enemy hit him many times, but he kept getting shaken results.

Killian steps in front to protect Gavril. He stabs and thrusts his blade deep in the ogre's chest. The ogre collapses!

The shrine is cleared. They can return to the mine victorious.

What happens next? Stay tuned!

Protecting Pearl - Part 2

Introduction

It is the morning of December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor.

Our heroes, Crowe and Raven managed to get their P-40s airborne to take on attacking Zeroes.

Now they get an urgent message on the radio.

"Bombers incoming. Protect the naval yard!"

The Opposing Forces

This time, I wanted to play with actual physical pieces. Since I don't have planes for Pearl Harbor, I substituted using my imagi-nations planes.

• Top row - 2 Japanese Val dive bombers (silver) escorted by a Zero (red)
• Bottom row - Crowe (L) and Raven in their P-40s.

The Dogfight

Our heroes manage to dodge the Zero and get beads on the Vals. Their shots are errant, however.

They persist. Crowe takes damage from the Val's gunner but Raven shoots down the other bomber.

The Zero bears down on Crowe. Raven rakes the other Val.

And it goes down. The Zero has a bead on Crowe but he misses.

With the bombers destroyed, the Zero breaks off.

The naval yard is saved!

And another win for our heroes. But can they protect the battleships? Find out next time.

Feeling Five Parsecs

Lately I have had my eye on Five Parsecs from Home.

And it's all Trevor's fault.

That's episode one from a Five Parsecs from Home campaign he is playing. Quite entertaining videos, I must say. I highly recommend them.

Anyway, I am intrigued by this new edition of 5PfH. Now, I am somewhat familiar with the rules, given that I have the first edition. I also have some games from the same author, such as Squad Hammer.  I never got into the original version due to some niggly issues but watching Trevor play has me re-assessing the rules. In particular, it seems that the new version has some rules updates that I find intriguing. I'm tempted to pick up this edition just to check out the changes.

I don't know if this kick will go anyway. Wait and see.

Terror at the Logger's Camp

Part Two of a Ser Killian Adventure

Spoiler Alert - This adventure is based on one of the quests from D&D's Dragon of Icespire Peak. You should not read this post if you wish to play the adventure.

Last Time

Our heroes managed to make it safely to the logger's camp to deliver supplies.

However, the camp is deathly silent. They begin to explore

Out of the Earth

Suddenly, the ground begins to shake. Two small ankhegs pop out.

My encounter tables have different levels of monsters - from minions, to henchmen, and then the boss. So I decided to have different levels of ankhegs - youth, adults, and, well, you'll see.

They surprise Gruff and Winston, but both manage to dodge attacks.

Gruff then shoots one with an arrow. It strikes back and wounds him. Haiden comes to Gruff's aid. Together, they kill one. The other flees.

More Tremors

They approach one of the cabins. It is situated on a rocky hill. It's solid foundation has allowed it to remain standing while the other buildings have collapsed.

But before they get to the cabin, the earth shakes again. This time, three small ankhegs attack!

Gruff drives one off, but another crunches into Haiden's arm. Its acidic saliva burns into his flesh. The rest of the party comes to his rescue. They hack the ankheg to bits. The last one flees.

The Cabin

There is no one in the cabin. But they find a hole in the floor. Inside is a bloody totem.

"Witchcraft!" yells Killian. He tosses the totem in a fireplace and sets it alight.

As it burns, they hear shrieks from outside. Looking out, they see a swarm of ankhegs fleeing from the camp.

Winston opines, "It looks like that totem attracted the ankhegs. Its destruction has panicked them."

Mama Mia

They exit the cabin and discover that not all ankhegs panicked. One monstrous sized ankheg sits in the middle of the camp. As soon as it sees them, it rushes forward.

It spits acid, which sprays Killian and Winston. The liquid burns through their clothing and bubbles their flesh.

The party attacks, but their blades bounce of the creature's hardened chitin. However, one of Gruff's arrows managed to find a chink in the armor and wound the monster.

It lashes out, and strikes Winston. He falls, then rolls down a hill to safety.

Winston should have been killed, but I used a luck point to save him.

The beast turns on Gruff and claws him. He backs away. Killian covers him, then launches an attack. He strikes hard, biting into the ankheg's chitin. Black ichor seeps from its wound. The creature then dives into the ground. They can see its wake as it plows through the earth, rushing into the forest away from the deadly warriors.

Epilogue

Once the ankhegs flee, a figure emerges from the woods. It is Tibor Wester, Harbin's brother. He explains that the loggers fled. He hid in the woods, hoping for relief. He accepts the supplies and sets out to re-staff the camp.

Our heroes return home without incident and receive their reward from Harbin.

THE END.

Game Notes

Converting the scenario into a random quest was far more satisfying than trying to run it like I would for a group of players. I think I'll do the same for the remaining adventures.

Another aspect that made it interesting was having different levels of adversaries. In the module, there are a handful of ankhegs, all of the same level. Having some variety of challenge creates more tension and interest.

Adventure of the Logger's Camp

Part One

From the Tales of Ser Killian

Spoiler Alert - This adventure is based on one of the quests from D&D's Dragon of Icespire Peak. You should not read this post if you wish to play the adventure.

Additional Note - I decided to take a new tack with these adventures. Rather than trying to run through them as written, I'll convert them to random adventures using my latest MicroQuest adventure generator.

The Quest

Once more Harbin Wester, townmaster of Phandalin, has a quest for our heroes. He asks them to deliver supplies to a logging camp deep in Neverwinter Wood.

Ser Killian agrees but Gruff interrupts.

"Beg yer pardon, m'lord, but somethin' just ain't right," he asks as he pores over a map of the region.

"I've done some scoutin' and this seems foolhardy. He's askin' us to traipse through 50 miles of forest with a wagon in tow to deliver supplies. Why don't they jest ship supplies down the river from Neverwinter?"

Harbin looks perplexed. Gruff proposes an alternate plan. Skirt the forest and head toward the river. Find a merchant along the river and buy supplies. Ultimately, this is the plan they adopt.

Game Note - yeah, I thought it is a pretty stupid quest. I can't imagine plowing through the forest with an oxen-pulled cart of supplies.

On the Road

The party skirts the forest, staying far enough away to avoid ambush but close enough to hide among the trees if needed.

About halfway, Gruff's plan is put to the test. They hear a monstrous roar from above. A white dragon is flying overhead!

Akin to Warrior Heroes Adventures in Talomir, I added a travel phase, where wandering monsters might attack. I rolled a Monster on my table, which represents a pretty significant challenge. I figured that the dragon would be appropriate. I confirmed with a random roll, a la the Mythic Game Master Emulator.

"Quick!" Gruff commands. "I don't think it sawr us. Let's hide in the forest!"

They run to the trees. Gruff makes it, then turns back to check on the others. Incredibly, Ser Killian is standing in the open, upon a hillock, shouting curses at the dragon!

Since the party won initiative, I gave them a chance to hide. They needed to pass a stealth test. Killian failed miserably, so I assumed that Killian's urge for glory overwhelmed his good sense.

The dragon swoops down on Killian, maw open and teeth gleaming! At the last moment, Killian dodges, then drives his sword into the dragon's neck. Blood spatters the ground and the beast howls in fury. As it flies by, it knocks Killian to his feet.

Killian hit and wounded the dragon. The dragon hit, but it only shook Killian up a bit.

The dragon climbs back into the sky and circles Killian. The knight is back on his feet, brandishing his bloody sword. The dragon hesitates. It was hoping for easier prey. It turns and flies away.

I figured that the dragon wanted easy prey so I had it roll morale. It failed, so it flies away!

The River

The party makes it to the river and as luck would have it, they come across a merchant's boat plying the waters. They convince the captain to deliver them and supplies to the logging camp. The rest of their trip is uneventful.

I rolled a boon as a random encounter. I interpreted this as them finding a merchant.

Arriving at the Logging Camp

After a relaxing river voyage, they arrive at the camp. They expect to see a beehive of activity, but the camp is deathly quiet.

The merchant drops them off at the dock. They walk into the camp. Not a soul is moving. The buildings are in various states of collapse, as if struck by an earthquake.

Suddenly, the ground begins to shake!

What is going on? Find out next time!

I decided to turn this into a 2-parter!

Protecting Pearl

I decided to run some dogfights in commemoration of the attack on Pearl Harbor. I set up a series of linked scenarios.

I don't have miniatures for the appropriate planes so I used a virtual tabletop with counters from Junior General's Pearl Harbor scenario.

The Dawn's Early Light

Lt. William Crowe is up early. He slept poorly, kept up my a nagging feeling of impending disaster.

The name is an homage to the Heroes of the Pacific video game.

Zero Hour

As he rummages around in the hangers, inspecting his P-40 Warhawk, the air raid alert sounds.

In moments, he is in the air. A swarm of Zeroes are heading toward the airfield. Crowe realizes he needs to hold them off to let his fellow aviators get into the air.

Crowe tangles with 2 Zeroes. He gets one in his crosshairs. One down.

The second Zero gets him in his sights. Bullets whizz by, rattling Crowe but doing no damage.

The Zero continues to circle, taking ineffective shots at Crowe. But this gives the other aviators time!

Helps arrives. It is Crowe's buddy, Rex Raven. They manage to catch a Zero in the crossfire. It goes down.

Unfortunately, other Zeroes get through and damage Hickam Field. But thanks to Crowe and Raven the damage is not as bad as it could have been.

I'm running the scenarios as little snapshots rather than a full-blown simulation. However, I will determine the success of the Japanese attack on the results of the snapshots. So far, so good for the Americans. This scenario is a win.

I planned to finish the scenarios on Pearl Harbor Day but did not get around to it. I decided to post the first scenario. Stay tuned for more!

And Now for Something Completely Different

I've probably used this title before, but it is appropriate. I've been on an air combat kick for the past month, but now GADD has set in and I've been fiddling around with, well, something different.

The cause of my recent tangent is Two Hour Wargames, specifically this.

I previously mentioned that I went in for the Kickstarter of the Quick Play version of Warrior Heroes Adventures in Talomir (WHAT for short). The physical version is due in January, but in the interim THW sent our PDFs of the games.

So far, I'm upbeat about the purchase. The contents seem like they will be useful.

The PDF comes with 3 different 8.5 x 11 inch battle boards, like this one.

As well as a slew of counters. Here is just a sample.

I'm not so keen on the rules. But that's to be expected. I've often said that I don't care for the THW standard dice pool mechanic.

Nevertheless, there are some good ideas in the rules. I like the table for creating quick-play, no-map dungeons. I also like how WHAT QP distills dungeon encounters into 3 enemies - low lifes, minions, and the Big Bad.

The rules have inspired me to give a go at creating my own quick play dungeon table. I added a few additional features - traps, hazards, boons, and monsters - but the concept is the same. Complete a dungeon with maybe 4 to 6 random encounters.

Stay tuned for some play tests of my latest MicroQuest dungeon crawl rules. And don't worry, I haven't given up on dogfights.

Counter Attack

As I progress with my homebrew aerial combat rules, I find myself wanting to upgrade my planes.

Currently, I'm using a mix of Tumbling Dice 1/600 and Irregular 2mm planes.

I went with these because they were small, allowing maneuvers on a small board.

But with abstract, relative maneuvering, I don't need as much space. I can probably use a larger scale. I have a couple 1/300 (I think) scratch built WW1 planes.

But I only have these 2. I would have to build more to have enough for missions.

I could follow my original intention, and use sci-fi minis, like my scratch built rockets, to replicate aerial combat. I'm not just feeling space.

So we come to my latest craze - counters. I'm looking at getting airplane counters that I can use for my games.

I found some good jet age counters. They have Korea, Vietnam, and Cold War planes.

But I'm not feeling jets either. When I think of playing air combat, I hear the whirr of props in my head. I want something pre-jet.

I'm looking for some WW2 counters. I thought about ordering a copy of the 1993 Avalon Hill game Mustangs and scavenging the counters from it. But I find the counters a bit busy.

I'm still looking for good WW2 counters, but in the interim I went with these.

The counters come from TSR's 1983 board game, Dawn Patrol, from ebay. I recently picked up a copy from ebay. The rules are not particularly good, but the counters will work. I just wish they had a better background.

Intercept

I ran another game using my homebrew rules.

The Mission

Blue is the player side.

The mission is an intercept. Blue must stop the bombers.

Forces:

• Blue - 2 advanced* fighters with average pilots
• Red - 2 medium bombers and 1 advanced escort with an average pilot

* I classify fighters as poor, average, or advanced. Aircraft quality modifies maneuver rolls.

Mission Report

Blue spots the enemy and engages.

Blue 1 takes on the escort. It's shots rattle the pilot.

Blue 2 goes for the bombers and damages one.

But the escort gets on Blue 2's tail. It's shots rattle Blue 2 but he still manages to shoot down a bomber.

The escort chases Blue 2 while Blue 1 goes for the remaining bomber. Shots whizz by both planes but do no damage.

The escort damages Blue 2. Blue 1 does more damage to the bomber.

The bomber makes it to the target zone. As AA fire erupts, the fighters break off.

AA hits the bomber. It comes crashing down without releasing its payload.

 Victory for the Blue team.

GAME NOTES

I tried a different mission this time, but I don't yet have rules for bombers. I had to improvise as the game wore on. Here are some notes on these rules.

• I did not roll for bombers. Instead, I assumed they roll a 2. The upshot to this is that fighters
• don't get a shot if they roll 1-2 for maneuvering
• get a side shot if they roll 3
• get a tailing shot if they roll 4-6
• I'm thinking of modifying it so the fighters only get a side shot on a 4. This means that bombers effectively would have a 2.5 for their maneuvering roll.
• Bombers rolled for defensive fire before fighters roll an attack. They need to roll a 5-6 against tailing fighters or a 6 vs fighters taking a side shot.
• Bombers could take 3 damage.
• I rolled randomly to see how many turns it would take for the bomber to reach the target. I forget what I rolled, but for the future I'm thinking D6 + x number of turns. I haven't decided what x should be.
• Once over the target, bombers face anti-aircraft fire. In this case, I rolled a single D6. I scored a 6 so that definitely hit. I haven't decided what the target number should be but I will probably use the same rules as my bomb run game.
• Obviously, I did not have to determine how to work bombing this game. Again, I may re-use my bomb run rules.

Ground Attack

After testing Warbirds, I decided to run another scenario using my homebrew rules.

Rather than a dogfight, I decided to generate a scenario randomly. Using my campaign rules for tiny air combat, I rolled a ground attack with one plane.

Once again, Hank takes to the skies. He is an average pilot in an average plane, which means no modifiers.

On his way to the target, he crosses paths with an enemy fighter. They circle each other for some time before Hank breaks off.

Then he runs afoul of two enemy fighters. They do some damage.

Hank escapes and manages to make it to the target.

AA fire rattles him so he misses.

He tries a couple more passes before AA fire hits him. His plane is in bad shape so he heads for home.

The enemy pounces on him!

But he manages to shake them and escape home!

Sadly, he fails his mission.

NOTES

Here are some issues that cropped up.

• Dogfight turn limit - the initial dogfight went on a long time before I decided that Hank needed to focus on his mission. This experience taught me that I should add a turn limit, like Warbirds' rounds to ground rule.
• Evasion rules - what if my pilot doesn't want to dogfight? How should I handle that? I have rules for fleeing but they assume that the plane rushes back home. I may modify them to allow a plane to escape combat and resume its mission.
• Ground attack - I kind of fudged the ground attack rules. I need to formalize them.

Warbirds Play Through

Let's move on in my experiments with air combat rules. Last is Warbirds.

THE GAME

Warbirds is a roleplaying game of dueling fighter pilots in a fictional, diesel-era world.

Important Stats

Like typical RPGs, Warbirds allows you to stat out your character. 

• Player characters have rating for three attributes: Body, Mind, and Spirit. 
• 0 represents an average person.
• There is a derived attribute called Situational Awareness that plays a role in air combat. It is the sum of Body, Mind, and Spirit. PCs generally start at a +1.
• Characters also have ratings for Piloting. Gunnery, Ordnance, and Strafing skills. These typically start at 1 or 2.

The planes also have stats.

• They are rated for Performance, Armour, and Structure.
• Players outfit their planes with weapons, which have unique stats.
• Players can also buy special traits for their planes.

If you don't want to build your own warbird, the publisher offers a sourcebook for World War 2 planes.

I'll reference these stats throughout my play through.

MY PLAY THROUGH

My Pilot

Since this is a test, I'm not going to create a full character. I'll just generate the stats I'll need.

Our hero is Frank. He has

• Situational Awareness (SA) = 1
• Piloting = 2
• Gunnery = 1

He flies a Spitfire. which has

• Performance = 3
• Armor = 2
• Structure = 3
• Light machine guns (+1 damage)
• The reduced turn trait which gives +1 for Dogfight rolls.

Warbirds does not have tables to generate scenarios. Being an RPG, it is up to the GM. For today, I'll keep it simple. Frank meets an Me109, with Performance/Armor/Structure of 3/2/3. I randomly generate the pilot stats. Frank's opponent has SA = 0, Piloting and Gunnery = 1.

The Dogfight

Our combatants meet in the skies. Let's walk through their dogfight.

Round 1

• Dogfight roll - this is an opposed D6 + Performance + Piloting + SA
• Frank has the advantage over the German, Fritz, with a +7 vs. +4 modifier
• Frank wins the roll. He now has a shot at Fritz.

On Fritz's tail

• Firing - the winner rolls D6 + Weapon Accuracy + Gunnery + SA
• Frank rolls a 4 + 1 + 1 = 6
• Defense - the loser can choose a Defense. Fritz chooses a basic Break
• The Defense score for a Break is Performance + Piloting + SA.
• Fritz has a Defense of 4
• Damage - the shooter does damage = difference in rolls + Weapon Damage - Armor
• Frank scores (6 - 4) + 1 - 2 damage = 1 point
• Fritz has a Structure of 3. 
• He can take 3 points of damage before suffering effects.
• It takes 2 x Structure damage to shoot a plane down

Round 2

• Fritz wins the Dogfight roll.
• He fires with his cannons, which have an Accuracy of -1. He offsets this with his SA of 1
• Frank's Defense = 6
• Fritz cannot beat Frank's defense. Does that mean he cannot hit him?
• I had to check the rules. Fortunately for Fritz, a tie counts as a hit
• Nevertheless, Fritz misses

Final Round

The combatants spent a few rounds circling other and trading ineffective shots. Then:

• Dogfight - Frank wins
• Firing - Franks rolls a 6. Add 2 for mods = 8.
• Defense = 4
• Damage = 4 (difference) + 1 (weapon) - 2 (armor) = 3

Fritz takes a hit!

Fritz now has 4 total damage, which means he is crippled. He takes a -1 penalty to rolls and cannot dogfight. His only option is to Disengage.

• Frank make a Dogfight roll. He scores 1 + 7 (mods) = 8
• Fritz rolls to disengage. He gets +2 for using the Escape defense. 
• Fritz rolls 4 + 3 (mods) + 2 (Escape) = 9

Fritz gets away!

Dogfight 2

With his superior pilot skills, Frank did not give Fritz much of a chance. I decided to try another dogfight with a pilot of equal ability. Here comes Franz

After a few rounds, Franz gets on Frank's tail.

• Firing = 6 (roll) + 2 (Gunnery + SA) - 1 (weapon accuracy) = 7
• Defense = 6
• Damage = 1 (difference) + 3 (weapon damage) - 0 (armor)
• Cannons have 2 points of armor piercing, which means that Frank cannot deduct his Armor from damage
• Final result = 4 points = crippled.

Now it's Frank's turn!
By the way, 1 vs. 1 dogfights make for boring pictures

Fortunately, Frank was able to escape!

ANALYSIS

What do I think?

What I Like

• Defense options - when defending, you can choose from multiple options. This gives some player choice.
• For my play through, I only used Break and Escape. There is also a Stunt defense, which gives you a die roll. It's risky; roll low and you do worse than a standard break but roll high and you are better off.
• There are also a number of advanced Stunts, like Stall, Scissors, Yo-Yo, etc. Each has different effects.
• Intuitive rules - they make sense and should be easy to remember given experience.
• Scaleable - I just did a 1 on 1, but you can have a plethora of planes in combat. Warbirds offers a tracker to help you handle multiple planes.

• Not just dogfighting - I'm just scratching the surface here. Warbirds has rules for all sorts of missions, including strafing and bombing. I plan to mine it thoroughly for ideas.
• Aircraft creation - being an RPG set in a fictional world, you aren't confined to historical planes. You can design your own warbird, fitting it out as you like. This may give me some ideas when I run imagi-nation aerial combat.
• Rounds to ground - the rules assume that planes slowly lose altitude as they engage. After a number of turns (set by the GM), they must break off or crash into the ground. This means that dogfights won't drag on forever. What a great mechanic.

What I Don't Like

• Lots of modifiers - characters have 5 different stats that apply to aerial combat. This makes sense for an RPG, but is too much for my quick-play skirmishes.
• RPG setting - some people like it but I think their setting is silly. Of course, I'm not using their setting so I can ignore this section of the rules. The problem is that it pads the number of pages. As a result, the PDF is quite large. I wish they would publish a stand-alone set of aerial combat rules.
• Hard to hit - I found it difficult to score hits, especially with an inferior pilot. Partially this is because I roll poorly, but even with Fritz, I needed to roll a 6 to hit. This probably works pretty well for an RPG, but could make combat drag.

Final Analysis

Warbirds has a lot of great ideas. As an RPG, it probably has more chrome than I need. Therefore, I doubt I will play it as is. Nevertheless, I plan to borrow from it liberally.