A New Aerial Campaign

A few months ago I finally put together enough supplies for a full-scale mission using the Tiny Air Combat / Battle of Britain rules. I promptly stopped playing the game. What happened?

Well, I think it just grew too much for me - too large, too many minis, and too much bookkeeping. I found that I wanted a more streamlined version. Recently, I started playing around with some changes:

Smaller Board
The first thing I did was to shrink the game. For the full-scale version of the game I used a 16 x 30 square grid but I preferred a game that could fit into a pencil box. I wanted to squeeze onto an 8 x 10 grid. The movement rules of the original game were problematic, however. It is possible for some planes to move 8 squares in a turn. For the smaller grid, halving movement distances seemed like a good solution. I could effectively do this by doubling the movement cost of each maneuver but that left some maneuvers to expensive. In the end, I just upped the cost for each maneuver by 1 point. It seems to work fine.

Smaller Forces
In order to reduce the board I also had to reduce the size of the forces involved. I now use a single squadron of bombers + 2-4 fighters per side.

New Campaign Rules
The original rules involve a bit of bookkeeping (especially considering that I game solo) as you have to track the fate of 18 squadrons. I wanted to reduce the record keeping so I decided to follow the fortunes of a single fighter squadron. It dawned on me that a fighter squadron could do more than escort bombers, so I came up with additional missions. Eventually, a new set of campaign rules evolved.

Campaign Rules Overview

• The campaign follows the fortunes of a single squadron of 4 pilots/planes
• A campaign will consist of 5 missions. The squadron wins the campaign if it succeeds in 3 of the 5 missions.
• Possible missions are patrol (fighter vs. fighter dogfight) escort (defend your side’s bombers), intercept (stop an enemy bombing raid) and attack (strafing run on ground targets)
• To reduce the death rate, planes that get “shot down” get a chance to escape instead. Also, I gave the player characters a bonus when determining damage – there will be less chance of them getting shot down in a single hit.

Introducing the New Campaign
During the Lucranian War (set in my 1930s-style imagi-nations), Capt. Devin Drake, veteran of multiple aerial campaigns, has been selected to lead a new squadron. Known as the Dragons, the squadron has been outfitted with the latest Peregrine fighters.

Drake has 3 pilots under him – the veteran Howell Green and two promising novices, Taylor Hicks and Ike Peters.

Notes:

• Player characters are rated as novice, veteran, or ace. The rating affects movement points, chance to hit, and chance to escape.
• I came up with the name Devin Drake on my own but the other names came from a name generator

Initially things are quiet in the Dragon’s sector of the front. Drake decides to take Hicks on a patrol over the front.

Notes:

• The campaign rules call for a random roll to determine the mission type. I decided that I am just going to do one of each mission, then roll randomly for the last.
• I rolled randomly for the force make-up for each side. The Dragons start with 2 planes; I decided that Drake and Hicks will be the pilots. We’ll see what the Dragons will be up against.

FIRST AFTER ACTION REPORT IS BELOW

Blasted Biplanes

While the air campaign focused on northern Lucrania, the south featured battles between older fighters and light bombers.
I recently picked up some Irregular generic biplanes and finished some light bombers from PicoArmor/O8. I wanted to see them in action so I decided to do a one-off air battle. I painted the biplanes an off white with dabs of red or blue to denote their side. Alas, the colors do not show up well in the photos.

A wide shot of the upcoming air battle. One Lucranian has already gone up in flames (upper center).

A damaged Lucranian makes a pass on the lead bomber formation. He manages to damage one.

Another Lucranian makes a pass, shooting down one bomber. He flies into the arc of fire the tail gunner of the lead bomber. The gunner avenges his fallen comrade.

Another bomber goes down.

As a storm front closes in, the remaining fighters break off. Four bombers make it to the target zone.

Their run is accurate, dealing significant damage to the airfield they were targeting. They only lost 2 bombers and a fighter. On the other hand, the Lucranians lost 5 of the 6 fighters engaged, with the 6th damaged. A bright day for the Empire. 

Saved!

Campaign Against Lucrania - Mission # 6

Mission Details
Mission # - 6
Target - Radar Station
Forces Engaged:

• Bombers - first wave = 2 Condor bombers
• Escorts - 2 Raptor fighters
• Defenders - 3 Chick fighters (blue and yellow) and 2 Goshawk fighters (silver and blue)

Note - The "Chicks" are considered inferior fighters (D6+0 move) while the Raptors and Goshawks are average (D6+1).

After Action Report
With their forces decimated, the Empire makes a last ditch effort to salvage the campaign. Once again they target the radar station but can only muster 2 medium bombers and 2 escorts.

The Lucranians are able to scramble a squadron of Chick fighters, leftovers from the previous war. They are outdated compared to the Goshawks and Raptors but their pilots are determined to stop the invaders.

First blood - one Raptor damaged (top) and one shot down (bottom)

The defenders make numerous passes at the bombers but keep missing. This becomes a recurring theme.

 The remaining Raptor shoots down one Goshawk and zeroes in on another.

The Goshawk manages to evade and pursues the bombers. Meanwhile, a pair of Chicks finally hone their aim and manage to down a bomber.

The Goshawk manages to damage the other bomber before it flies into AA range.

Fortunately, the anti-aircraft gunners prove their worth, knocking the bomber from the skies before it deposits its payload.

Once again the radar station is saved!

With his forces depleted, Air Marshal Gruber realizes that the campaign cannot succeed. He calls off any future missions and begins rebuilding his forces.

Game Notes

• Because of losses, the Imperial bomber squadrons are severely undermanned. Thus, the 2 squadrons in this raid were only able to field 2 bombers. Similarly, the escorts are under-strength. The Lucranians managed to get lucky and rolled a full-strength squadron as one of the defenders.
• I plan to introduce "inferior" fighters to the line-up. They (some Irregular biplanes) are on the painting table so I substituted, demoting some Goshawks to Chicks and Peregrines to Goshawks.
• At this point, the Imperials cannot win the campaign. All targets are still intact so at best they can only destroy one. Thus, I decided to call an end to the campaign, with a decided Lucranian victory! I'll start a new campaign eventually.

Blind the Defenders

Campaign Against Lucrania - Mission # 5

Mission Details
Mission # - 5
Target - Radar Station
Forces Engaged:

• Bombers - first wave = 3 Condor bombers; second wave = 3 Vulture bombers (note that I use fictional names for the plane types)
• Escorts - 4 Raptor fighters
• Defenders - 3 Goshawk fighters (blue and yellow) and 3 Peregrine fighters (silver and blue)

After Action Report
After the Empire's latest debacle, Air Marshal Gruber realized that a new approach was needed. He decided on an all-out blitz against the Lucranian radar in order to blind the defenders.

First blood. A Lucranian Peregrine fighter falls (top right) while an Imperial Raptor fighter (bottom center) is damaged. Two waves of bombers approach - Condors (medium) followed by Vultures (heavies).

A Raptor shoots down a Goshawk but is in turn shot down (bottom)

The Peregrines go after the Condors (right) while the Goshawks chase down the Vultures (left)

One Condor goes down (right)

And then another. Meanwhile, the Raptors and Goshawks dogfight with one Raptor going down (left).

One Condor makes it to the target. It avoids the flak and drops its bombs, doing moderate damage (6 points on 2D6).

 Meanwhile, the Vultures press on. Defensive fire knocks down one Goshawk.

A Goshawk makes a daring run, shooting down a Raptor and damaging a Vulture.

It then turns, shoots down a Vulture.

and then takes down another Vulture! Three kills!

The last Vulture manages to make it to the target, albeit heavily damaged. Its bomb run is markedly less accurate than the Condor. Nevertheless, the radar station has suffered significant damage (10 out of 21 total points).

Despite the damage, it has been a costly day for the Empire - 4 bombers and 4 fighters destroyed. The Lucranians only lost 2 fighters.

Notes

• Raptors and Goshawks move D6+1 while Peregrines move D6+2. Condors move 3 and Vultures move 2. Condors bomb with 2D6 and Vultures get 4D6. Damaged bombers remove 1D6 per hit.
• Today's session ran for about an hour. I kind of missed the shorter, 3 plane raids. I've been looking at the roster, however, and all the bomber squadrons have lost planes. The next raid will be small because of the losses.
• Now that I can do full scale raids, I have pro-rated the damage capacity of the targets. This is how I arrived at 21 total points for the station.
• With 2 missions left, no targets destroyed, and all bomber squadrons short-handed, the situation looks bleak for the Imperial cause.

A Dark Day for Lucrania

Campaign Against Lucrania - Mission # 3

Mission Details
Mission # - 3
Target - Airfield
Forces Engaged - 3 Bombers and 2 Escort vs. 2 Interceptors

After Action Report
Disturbed by Lucranian success in the air, Air Marshal Gruber orders his forces to concentrate on the Lucranian forward airfield. One escort flies ahead of the swarm and engages a defender. Although he takes damage, he manages to destroy one of the interceptors.

The damaged escort heads for home, allowing the remaining interceptor to engage the bombers from the rear. His attacks fail.

And fail again.

Until an Imperial escort closes on his tail and shoots him down.

Now the bombers are free to unload on the target. Their bombs do extensive damage on the airfield.

Lucrania has suffered a major blow!

Campaign Notes
The airfield took 11 points of damage; only 4 away from destruction. In addition, the Lucranian air force lost 2 fighters with no kills. A dark day for Lucrania.

Campaign Against Lucrania - Mission 2

Mission Details
Mission # - 2
Target - Factory Complex
Forces Engaged - 3 Bombers and 1 Escort vs. 3 Interceptors

After Action Report
In the first pass, the Lucranian defenders damaged a bomber and drove off the lone escort. The Peregrine fighter from 3rd Squadron got on the tail of a bomber but took some damage.

The Peregrine continued his attack, knocking down his target. As he broke off from his attack, he found himself in the cross-hairs of his victim's comrade. A burst of fire from the tail gun blasts the Peregrine from the sky.

The remaining defenders chase after the bombers. One shoots down his target but takes some damage. The other cannot close the gap.

The bomber makes his run as flak bursts around him. He manages to destroy some outlying buildings but only does minimal damage to the factory.

It has been another disappointing day for the Imperial Air Force, while the citizens of Lucrania remain defiant!

Invasion Irma - Aetheria Style

It's been a while so I decided to get back on the 6 x 6 campaign. I had a little trouble setting up

But I was able to manage to get my Aetheria planes out.

The last time we saw our heroes, Dirk Daring and his wingman Pip Paddington, Pip managed to down two Imperial Raptor fighters. This time an even bigger prize presented itself - the Imperial Air Ship (IAS) Irma.

Dirk and Pip spot (lower right) spot Irma being escorted by 3 Raptor fighters. Our heroes are in an excellent position for an intercept (their starting position was determined randomly).

 At long range, Dirk manages to riddle the airship. One Raptor spots our heroes and begins to turn towards them. (The lead Raptor was a veteran while the other two were inexperienced. Their qualities would have major implications throughout the game)

Dirk and Pip continue their run at the airship. The lead Raptor turns back toward the fray.

As Dirk focuses on the airship, the lead Raptor maneuvers into an excellent firing position. His burst is deadly accurate - Dirk's plane shudders and goes down.

Pip keeps up the pursuit and continues to hammer the airship.

Irma heads for the clouds, hoping to escape Pip.

Pip circles around the cloud.

 
And avoiding the veteran Raptor pilot,  Pip zooms ahead of the airship.

He turns back and makes a head-on pass. More bullets rip through the airship.

Pip turns for a tailing shot. His burst blasts Irma; it catches fire and begins to plummet to the ground. But before Pip could celebrate, a burst rips through his Goshawk fighter - he goes down!

Fortunately, both Pip and Dirk manage to parachute out of their stricken aircraft and are rescued by friendly forces. Although they lost two aircraft, they managed to destroy an enemy airship!

6 by 6 Challenge - 3.6 Complete!

Pip's Big Day

Introduction
Over the past couple of weeks my enthusiasm for my pulp air project has been waning. As a result, I have not played a scenario in a few weeks. There are a few reasons:

• Real life (esp. Buster) keeps taking time from gaming.
• I want to run a zeppelin scenario but I'm not happy with my zeppelin marker.
• GADD has struck again and now I am interested in sci fi in the Slipstream setting

Over the past week I have been pondering how to do Slipstream. I'd like to build some retro rockets for space battles (using Spandau and Lewis!). I'd also like to get some character minis for skirmish/RPG combats; I just cannot find small scale figures (10mm or less) with the aesthetic I want.

Temporarily stymied in my Slipstream project, I decided to run a Dirk Daring scenario.

Report
Our hero, Dirk Daring, in his red-white-and-blue Peregrine fighter, is on patrol with his wingman Pip Paddington (in a Goshawk fighter). They small an EIF Condor bomber being escorted by two Raptor fighters (top right)

Tally ho! They race to intercept. One Raptor engages Pip but Dirk roars past to take on the Condor. Dirk hits the bomber but takes damage in return!

Dirk gets on the bomber's tail and blazes away. He takes more damage, though. Pip cannot quite turn on the bomber's tail but he gets a shot at a Raptor.

Dirk and Pip are hot on the bomber's tail. One Raptor pursues Dirk - more damage!

Our heroes continue to focus on the bomber. Pip blazes away and the bomber goes down in flames! The Raptor continues to pursue Dirk. Bullets rip through his plane, which begins to smoke and smolder.
[Please pardon the lousy photos from here on out]

"I'm about to go down!" Dirk radios Pip. "Let's get out of here."
But as he says this, the Raptor turns on Pip. Dirk valiantly races to his aid.

But Pip manages a nifty Immelman and sets his erstwhile pursuer ablaze.

The other Raptor had got lost in the clouds. leaving Dirk and Pip free to head back home.

With 2 kills, Pip had a big day!

6 by 6 Challenge -  3.4 complete

Dirk's Patrol

After his run-in with the squadron's CO, Dirk stomps off in a huff. His plane is in for repairs so he borrows one of the squadron's Goshawk fighters and sets off by himself.

For my next experiment with Spandau and Lewis I want to see what happens when an ace faces a superior plane with an inferior pilot. In the first encounter a Goshawk (aka a Nieuport 11) faces a Raptor (aka an Albatross). I messed up a bit though. Both planes have an agility of B so I bumped one to an A. Unfortunately, I bumped up the Goshawk by mistake, giving Dirk an extra advantage.

Encounter 1
Dirk, in a blue and yellow Goshawk, spots a crimson EIF (Empire of the Iron Fist) Raptor fighter.

Note that I have some new toys. The Goshawk is actually an American P-26 while the Raptor is portrayed by a Russian I-16. Both came from the O8 range stocked by PicoArmor.

The enemies approach and trade long-range shots. Dirk scores a hit!

Game Note: In S&L forward firing guns have a 45 degree arc of fire.

They circle, looking for an opening.

Dirk takes advantage of a mistake by the inexperienced Raptor pilot. Dirk swoops in on the enemy's flank, his machine guns chattering away. Bullets rip into the Raptor's fuselage.

Now damaged, the Raptor tries to escape. Dirk gets on its tail, but his shots miss!

With its superior speed, the Raptor begins to pull away.

Game Note: In this turn, the Raptor won initiative. Dirk had to slow down to prevent zooming past and letting the Raptor get on his tail. The Raptor took advantage by throttling to full speed.

Seconds later, the Raptor ducks into a cloud bank (i.e. makes it off the board) and escapes.

Encounter 2
Dirk continues his patrol. He spots another lone Raptor, this one heading back home.

The Raptor also spots Dirk. They rush at one another, trading head-on shots. Each takes minor damage.

The inexperienced Raptor pilot has difficulty turning his craft.

Dirk takes advantage and is able to line up a shot. The Raptor takes more damage.

He heads for the clouds. Dirk pursues.

Hoping to shake off the pursuit, the Raptor makes a 90 degree turn in the cloud. Dirk is not fooled, and pounces on him when he flies out of the cloud, Dirk's bullets rip into the Raptor.

Panicking now, the Raptor makes a beeline for home. Dirk stays on his tail and shoots him down.

Dirk continues his patrol but finds no more enemies. As the light fades he turns back home, pleased with his successes.


Final Thoughts

• In addition to new planes, I also tried some Litko clear acrylic bases. I am very pleased with them. It is nice not having to paint bases. I may have to try them with some of my land forces. For my planes, I used the 3mm thick bases (I wanted to lift the planes off the board a little bit) but I would likely try the thinner 1.5mm ones for my 2-3mm ground forces.
• These encounters (especially the last) really highlight the importance of pilot experience. The Raptor was faster (speed 6 vs 5) and more maneuverable (agility A vs. B) and had greater firepower (2 machines guns vs. 1). But Dirk's ace status trumped all that. Dirk usually won initiative, making it easier for him to get in a good position,
• 6 x 6 Challenge: For the challenge, I am counting the 2 encounters as 1 game. I was going to run a third encounter but ran out of time. Still, I think this was sufficient to count as a game.
• Next up: Dirk will tackle a zeppelin! I whipped up a stylized marker, I intend to scratch build a proper zeppelin but haven't had the time to get the materials. In the interim, I'll be using this marker make from a craft stick. I haven't figured out all the rules yet, but I may borrow some ideas from Junior General.