Flip Flop

I created my Tales of the Templars blog to record role-playing game reports. I expected that RPGs would only play a secondary role in my gaming experience and TotT would take a back seat to this blog. Recently, however, the situation has reversed. I started playing skirmish games that are essentially light role-playing games. Because these skirmishes created RPG-like narratives, I began reporting on the games in TotT. Now, the latest adventure (or mis-adventure) of Kate and Kip has led to a full-fledged sci-fi wargame campaign. Because the later wargames tie into Kate and Kip's story line, I placed the reports on TotT.

Thanks to my vacation, and the practicality of my virtual games, I have already played out a couple of scenarios of this campaign.

Dogfight
The Federation has launched an air raid on the planet Frigidair. First, Federation fighters must clear out the enemy interceptors.

Rules Notes

• I played the game on an offset square grid. Offset squares work like hexes (each space has 6 adjoining spaces).
• For movement, I used the template I created for dogfights.
• Each turn, I plotted my fighters' movement. Then I rolled randomly for enemy movement (D3 for distance. Then I selected plausible maneuvers and choose one randomly).
• I then rolled initiative for combat order.
• I used the base mechanics from my skirmish games for combat. Each craft was assigned Attack/Defense/Hit ratings. The Federation were better because they had stronger craft and better pilots.
• Federation fighters were 3/2/3
• The enemy interceptors were 2/1/2
• Range = 4 spaces

Air Raid
Once the interceptors were cleared, in came the bombers. They needed to destroy the control post (inside the cave on the right).

Rules Notes

• Because maneuvering was not particularly important, I used different rules.
• Each bomber rolled a D3 for move distance. The randomness added suspense to the game (how long would it take for the bombers to reach a point where they could fire at the target? Would they make it there?)
• For each space moved, a bomber could turn 1 side. Turning did not play much of a role as the bombers pretty much headed straight to the target
• I then rolled initiative for combat
• Similar to the dogfight rules, I assigned Attack/Defend/Hits ratings to each craft/unit:
• Federation bombers = 2-3/2/3
• Bombers had an attack factor of 2 vs. AA (assuming light missiles)
• They attacked with 3 dice vs. the control post (assuming heavy torpedoes)
• AA guns = 3/3/2
• The control post = 0/2/3
•  Bombers had a range of 4 while the AA guns could fire 6 spaces.

What's Next?
It's been a while since I played a space battle but that's next on the agenda, followed by a ground battle. If the Federation wins, then Kate and Kip will be released. If not, I'm going to run a rescue mission skirmish game.