Our Fifth Anniversary Hot Wings of War/Glory Bomber Run

**jbmacek** · 02-08-2016 04:34

Technically, our fifth anniversary of the playing the game was last month, but I wanted to wait for the bombers to arrive before celebrating. And celebrate we did! With a four-bomber mission on a target somewhere along the coast of England.

Preliminary set up. Testing out the fit of the bombers on the table.

I used my in-works Shapeways R.VI in that line-up. It's a shame she was ready to roll, otherwise we would have had five.

My two on the table. In order to exit, they need to two bases deep into the Sails of Glory mat (where there is a nice, dark line, which you can't see in this photo).

Gamers arriving and getting set up.

The battle begins, with four Zeppelin-Staaken R.VIs trying to make their way through 11 British scouts.

Four is cool. Next time, at least five!

The battle plan is, of course, "Swarm them!" I also added, for those in the group who haven't played often, "Don't get caught between them, especially not alone."
And whose burning Camel is that, about to fly between them? Why, it is none other than yours truly.

Normally, we deal the explosions into the bottom half of the deck, but this time we didn't. Marko's first hit, and as I recall the first hit of the game, was an explosion on the camo R.VI, which we decided would do half damage.

And not too long thereafter, it went down under heavy fire.

More to come.

**zenlizard** · 02-08-2016 06:08

Riesen, fliegen!

**Gotham Resident** · 02-08-2016 06:44

Looks like a great time!

**surfimp** · 02-08-2016 08:23

That mat setup (all 3 WoG mats + 1 SoG) is so much fun... perfect for bomber raids. Looking forward to the rest. That Shapeways model looks fantastic!

**BB401** · 02-08-2016 09:03

You're going to need to rent a hall to have space for 5!!

**fast.git** · 02-08-2016 09:20

I knew, on a intellectual level, that the Giants would be big... but they take up a lot of table space!

LOOP · 02-08-2016 09:24

Great pics, great show and great envy

I want my bombers!!!!

**jbmacek** · 02-08-2016 09:48

With the bombers surrounded, my flaming Camel dove through their formation, drawing some fire, but not enough to destroy me. I put in a few good hits, but then my guns jammed.

I decided the best move would be to pull in as tight as I could to one of them, thus avoiding its fire, and hoping the other R.VIs would fire at their attackers and pay no attention to me. Since the bombers were moving on automatic, the rule was for them to fire on the closest attacker.

In the background there is a cluster of pilots who have underflown the bombers, miscalculating how fast they can move. And in front, my friend Marko gets handed an explosion of his own. We played with a triple B-deck, so the Staakens had a good chance of drawing at least one during the game.

I'm about to make my move, and pull out from under the Staaken I have been shadowing.

From low level, you can count four British planes on fire.

I make a run for the lead bomber...

More to follow.

**jbmacek** · 02-08-2016 14:34

At this point, the two trailing Staakens are taking large amounts of damage, as the trailing scouts slowly advance.

Anthony's custom R.VI is the next to go.

My Elwood Camel, having braved the attacks from four Staakens, gets destroyed by the last A-damage card from the fire raging across my upper wing. 23 cards... 20 Bs and 3 As... I think that is the most damage I have ever taken.

Now there are only 8 scouts left, chasing one flaming Staaken, and another with one explosion and two assorted damage cards. Given the straggling scouts in the rear, at least one Staaken has a clear path to England.

The burning R.VI goes down. One Staaken remains, and is able to escape with just under 50% of his hitpoints remaining.

Given that we had 11 players, it seemed only sporting to up the number of surviving Z-Ss. We decided to have three go on the attack run. The defenders were an assortment of two-seaters, all with B guns.

More to follow.

**milcoll73** · 02-08-2016 15:47

now thats what i call epic!!!

**zenlizard** · 02-08-2016 17:58

Turkey shoot? (For the Zeppelin-Staakens, of course)

**Tonx** · 02-08-2016 18:19

What a fantastic looking game - excellent AAR so far.

I understand these Zeppelin Staakens are the Ares Games / WGF Giants rendition of the aircraft and not 1/144 scale paper / balsa wood models which I understand were available previously?

You also have at least one Airco DH.4 - please correct me if wrong but final photograph / left hand side looks like one.

Surely now with the Giants facing you and those exposed undersides / one controlling gun albeit with an excellent line of firing sight comes the David Vs Goliath moment for you? I'll be following this thread with extreme interest and wishing you the best of luck as I am doing so

**Marechallannes** · 02-08-2016 21:34

Epic giant action!

Those Staakens really fill out a whole gaming mat.

Nice AAR.

**gully_raker** · 02-08-2016 22:39

Definitely an Epic encounter John in both size & effort.
Well done to everybody!

**Nightbomber** · 02-08-2016 23:46

An epic game indeed

with some important issues caused by such a close bomber formation.
A scout flying throuh such bomber box may be given 3 B damage cards in one move. If it went on the gunners would have give him another 3 B cards plus 1 point each.

However it is far from reality. The gunners would be afraid of hitting a friendly craft. Thus a more loose formation should be considered

.

**jbmacek** · 02-09-2016 02:23

Glad you guys like it thus far. Now, on to part two.

Over England, the bombers encounter a mix of scattered defenders. My lead Staaken takes the first attack, from a DH.4.

As we pass through their formation, I notice that the bomber to my left has been riddled with bullets, loosing two of his gunners in the initial pass. I turn by bomber towards him, hoping to give him some cover, and possibly line up on his target should he get taken out. Fortunately, one of his still living gunners scores a direct hit on an enemy aircraft.

Passing through their second line causes more damage, and now things look bleak for the burning and smoking Staakens.

Clear skies ahead?

No. The carryover damage, coupled with the new damage, but mostly the fire damage, does me in.

As for my friend Marko, in the plane I maneuvered to protect, he is now flying the zombie plane. I've never seen a plane take this many crew hits. Oh, and he had an engine hit, too.

But duty is duty, and he trundles along. And what's this?!? His first bombing attack in the game, and he scores a partial hit!

Anthony, in the other bomber, plotted a wrong turn. Fortunately, he didn't fly completely off of the map.

In the meantime, Marko lines his bomber up for a run on the other target, as the enemy slowly closes in.

And, a solid hit!

As the Staakens slowly turn for home, Marko's bomber is finally destroyed. At that point, we decided to reset and do the return home segment, but my friend Dave's dad had passed away last week, and instead of gaming, we broke into a chat session that lasted about three hours.

FIN

**jbmacek** · 02-09-2016 03:18

Oh, and we did have hot wings, maybe five different types, but they were upstairs this time (unlike in our first game), so I didn't get a picture of them.

**Tonx** · 02-09-2016 03:46

Well done for bringing down that Staaken - in terms of the Ares Games WGF Giants you have achieved a first there to my knowledge ...

However I'll keep it at that as I am sorry to hear about your friend Dave's Father passing away. I lost my Father in July 1995 when he was only 56 years old: Please could you pass my condolences onto Dave.

A great achievement ... A great game and a fantastically written AAR

**flash** · 02-09-2016 10:30

That's the way to celebrate your fifth John

LOOP · 02-09-2016 10:33

Looks like a night to remember

Great stuff John

**Flying Officer Kyte** · 02-10-2016 12:34

Brilliant show John.
Your remarks reminded me that there is a formula for attacking those Leviathans which we discovered the hard way at Doncaster last year. Don't get behind or across the group.
i loved your whole game. The set up ,playing area and photography were excellent as usual.
What a mammoth production.
Thanks.
Rob.