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!

Falling Bomb(er)s Over Lucrania

I'm off work today so I decided to test the Battle of Britain rules recently mentioned in a TWW post (see yesterday's post for more info). I used planes that I painted for Aetheria, my 1930s pulp-style imagi-nation setting. In this scenario, the Empire of the Iron Fist has launched an air raid on its neighbor Lucrania.

Because I lack the requisite number of bombers, I halved the number of planes.

The Raid

An Imperial raid consisting of 3 Condor bombers and a Raptor escort (red) cross into Lucranian airspace. The defenders scramble their forces - A Peregrine (red, white, and blue) and 2 Goshawk fighters rise to the occasion.

The Raptor makes a pass at the Peregrine, but misses. Meanwhile, a Goshawk gets behind the bombers and brings one down.

The lead Goshawk gets another bomber while the second Goshawk brings down the Raptor.

The Peregrine then brings down the last bomber.

Lucranian ground targets have been saved!

Thoughts

Maneuvering was more interesting than I expected. Random movement points created a degree of uncertainty that is welcome in a solo game. The maneuver limitations required a degree of thought while maneuvering - it was not always straightforward how to line up a firing pass.

Combat turned out to be very bloody (at least for the Empire). Once contact was made, the battle was over in 3 turns (partly because my forces were limited). I'd like to see a little more difficulty in bringing down planes. I may allow bombers to take damage (lose 1 engine on the first hit) and also may consider a saving roll.

More Air Combat Ideas

Recently, The Wargames Website (TWW) has featured a series of "Tiny Air Combat" posts.

A sample picture from the Tiny Air Combat post

Of particular interest are the rules. They are designed for the Battle of Britain, but can easily be modified for different periods. For example, the TWW post features USN Wildcats vs Zeroes in the South Pacific circa 1942. What intrigues me are that they replicate an escorted bomb raid trying to make it past air defenses. Hmmm. Sounds a lot like what I'm doing. The main issue I have is that scenarios typically call for more bombers than I will own. Still, I am interested in running a play test.

Raid on Sarawai

A Rapala Campaign Scenario

Scenario 1

Intro

In 1955, Communist aggressors from the island of North Rapala infiltrated the democratic Republic of Rapala (the main island). The RC (Rapala Communists or RapComms) have seized the northern province of Sarawai and are launching attacks on the south. The United States has sent reinforcements, including a squadron of B-57 bombers.

The first action was an air raid on Sarawai City, a port town that is receiving supplies from Red China. K Flight has been tasked with knocking out the dock facilities (4 VPs) and hitting a radio broadcast center (2 VPs).

After Action Report

Note - Due to cloud cover, recon photos could not be developed (translation - my camera was re-charging). Anyway, I'm still waiting for my order from Tumbling Dice so I used substitutes. Probably better that I did not have pics. :)

K Flight barely crossed into RC territory when it spotted a trail of smoke coming from the ground. It was one of those newfangled Soviet surface-to-air missiles. Both planes tried to evade, but the missile exploded near K-2, sending a shower of shrapnel through its tail surfaces. Fortunately, damage was minimal and the raid could continue.

K Flight then flew through some cloud cover. AA artillery started banging off, but could not hit the obscured bombers. Later, another SAM was fired, but K Flight evaded.

Over Sarawai, an enemy MiG dove at them, but an American Sabre drove it off. K Flight's bombs were mostly on target, and did substantial damage to the port (3/4 VPs). The bombers turned and dropped their remaining payload on the radio tower, utterly destroying it.

On the way home, K Flight passed harmlessly through some AA fire. Later, 2 more MiGs threatened but fled at the sight of American Sabres. Then K Flight made it safely home.

Debriefing

K Flight secured a victory in its first action (net 7 VPs).

In my first 2 test games, the bombers were very successful. I am contemplating changes to make things a bit more difficult. Changes could include:

• Reducing the bomber "payload," thus making it harder to garner VPs
• Tweaking the encounter charts to make encounters more likely. This could up the damage to the bombers, resulting in negative VPs
• Modify the escort rolls, allowing more enemy fighters to make firing passes

Anyway, I'll have to experiment more. But in the meantime, I am contemplating a dogfight scenario.

Bomb Raid Rules

As part of my Canberra project, I have been looking for a set of rules that allow the bombers to be the star of the show. As I pondered my predicament, I remembered Warpspawn had a Vietnam era bombing raid game (by the way, if you've never been to Warpspawn it's worth a look. Most of the games are card games so I haven't played many, but there is a treasure trove of ideas over there). Similarly, Warpspawn has an F-14 bombing raid game that features 1-2 planes. Sounds about right for my project. I decided to test out the concept using some 1930s era planes.

K Flight sets out on a raid over enemy territory. They reach the first target without incident. However, AA fire hits K-2 as it drops its bombs.

Over Target 1
Target 2 is in the distance (top)

The bombing run leaves the enemy outpost in flames. The bombers continue towards the second target but are pounced by 2 enemy fighters (red). The escort is out of position and the enemy planes make a firing pass. K-1 takes some damage.

K Flight arrives at the second target but its bombs are off target.

On the way back, an enemy fighter attacks but it driven off by an escort.

The another enemy fighter makes a head-on attack. K-2 fires back and drives off the bogie.

As K Flight nears friendly airspace, AA fire bursts around them. Evasive maneuvers succeed and the flight arrives home safely.

Notes

• These rules seem like a good starting point. The biggest issue is the randomness of the game. The bombers don't have much in the way of decisions to make. I'm wondering if I can rectify that (e.g. select high or low passes over enemy target).

Canberra Project

My father's recent passing has prompted me to begin a new, small project. My father flew the B-57 Canberra bomber for the US Air Force in the 1950s. As a tribute, I decided to paint up a B-57.

Tumbling Dice Canberras

But, being a gamer, I decided I wanted to play with the minis I paint. End result = new project.

I wasn't sure about the setting so I posted a query on The Wargames Website. I got some good info, but in typical warwell fashion I'm probably going to dispense with good advice and go off on a crazy tangent. More on that in a moment.

But first, the miniatures. I ordered some 1/600 scale Canberras from Tumbling Dice. I also needed some opposition and escorts so I picked up MiG-15s and F-86 Sabres. I know these would likely have been superseded by the mid-50s (the probable setting for my campaign) but I can make do. Besides, they'll work better if I ever decide to do some straight-up Korean War scenarios.

So what is the setting of this project? My initial inclination was a re-start of the Korean War, and I may still do that. However, I am now thinking of an imagi-nation. For colonial gaming, I once devised an Indian Ocean island called Rapala. I'm thinking of using it for a 1950s Cold War campaign. Naturally, the US gets involved, sending military aid (including a squadron of Canberras) to the beleaguered anti-communist forces on the island.

Now my next quandary is rules. Originally, I planned to modify Kaptain Kobold's excellent Spandau and Lewis rules (as I've done for 1930s and even space dogfights). However, I want the Canberras to be the stars of the show. Most air combat rules (including S&L) focus on dogfights. There is typically not much to running a bomber - go straight and fast until you get to the target. Not much in the way of maneuvering.

So, are there any rules that focus on bombers? I thought about games like B-17 Queen of the Skies but that focuses on heavy bombers. I then thought of Bommerz over the Sulphur River. I never played it myself but I downloaded the rules and think it may make a good starting point. I'll continue to consider rules until the minis arrive.