(Note - the entire brief can be downloaded and printed as a pdf here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...VE?usp=sharing in the folder WGF)
1. Prologue: “Eight times since this past September 1st! Something must be done!” Political pressure to Do Something was building.
2. “We hit the Zeppelin base in Friedrichshafen when we needed to. The time to act is now! I say this is the threat we must counter. The people need to read about the steps we are taking to protect them, whatever the cost!” Lord Rothermere was adamant and he had taken his case to both Lords and Commons to pressure the newly, if unhappily appointed Trenchard to have a strike prepared.
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“We must avoid contact early on, and maintain ambiguity about our target as long as possible.” They pored over the chart looking at routes to the target. “We will not fly direct, as it would expose us to too much chance of interception and counterstroke.” “But sir, that would stretch our fuel to the limit – there would be little available when we are intercepted – we must plan on defending if intercepted-“ “IF you are intercepted, there should be enough to defend and allow the bombers to reach their targets, here, just southwest of Ghent” he tapped his pencil repeatedly on the RFA 501 aerodrome on the map, “and then make a sprightly withdrawal.”
“It must work like this. The bombers O-400s cross the English coast and head direct overwater due west until abreast of Dunkirk, where the shorter-ranged bombers and escorts from the continent will join up. They head ENE until abreast of the Scheldt Estuary. They will head up the estuary to Ternheuzen, then turn and follow the zeekanaal to Ghent, and then SE to the RFA 501 base in Sint-Denijs-Westrem. Bomb the place and reverse course home.” “But sir, that is a long way back….” “Long, yes, but the shorter rout takes you directly over or between far too many enemy airfields. No, this is the best option.” “Of course, sir….”
The raid is a retaliation for Gotha / Staaken raids on London. Replicating the success in bringing the war to the Zeppelin sheds, the Entente will send its long range bombers on a mission to hit the Staakens on the ground in Sint-Denijs-Westrem. In order to achieve complete surprise and avoid overflight of hotly contested aerial zones along the front, the bombers will leave directly from England and be joined by a scout escort over water north of Dunkirk, proceed east over water to the Scheldt, dive down to just above sea level, and once you see the third island in the estuary begin your climb to altitude of 4 and turn south over the zeekanaal at Ternheuzen and follow it to Ghent.
Over Ghent you will turn west and proceed to Sint-Denijs-Westrem where RFA 501a is based.
This will stretch the combat range of your escorts, and those that stop to brush off any enemy scouts encountered along the way will not have the fuel reserve to make it to the target and back, so plan your assignments accordingly. Expect that the enemy will have Archie and AA MGs to defend his airfield, so descending to a lower altitude to increase the chance of hitting your target will increase your risks in returning. Your job is to get those bombers to the target and back. How you do that is up to you…..
Weather enroute is expected to be fair. You will be fighting a light headwind out, but it will help speed you on your return. Adjust accordingly on your bomb run as it will add to your ground speed. Clouds enroute are 1000m scattered, and 2500m broken, and over the target the forecast is for 2000m scattered, with clouds increasing by mid-morning. You should be in and out before that, lads.
This mission is built around the costs of player choices on a max range mission.
3. Opposing Forces – The size of the Entente attacking force will determine the overall forces assembled as shown in the table below. As the commander of the mission, you choose the number of aircraft used in the mission - the defenses and objectives will scale accordingly. See Table 1.
4. The Battlefield – The mission will be flown on two distinct map areas, the scout Intercept zone, and the Target Zone, as showing in the diagram below.
Setup: Two standard size Mats are used for playing area, along with a Pre-game staging area and an inter-game area as shown below:
Pre-Game Staging– just big enough to hold your planes
(During playtesting, I set up one area, fought it out, and then laid the target mat over the top, fought it out, removed it… )
The purpose of the pre-game staging is to allow the Entente to arrange its flight as it enters the fighter intercept zone. Entente aircraft may not be intercepted until their center pegs are fully on the 1st Mat. The CP player may place its Scouts anywhere on the mat in any direction at any altitude but at least I ruler from the Pre-game staging area. The Entente planes can be fired upon until their center pegs have left the Fighter intercept mat. Pursuing CP planes may not leave the fighter intercept mat. If their center pegs leave it for more than a single maneuver phase, they are considered RTB until the Entente returns after bombing. CP planes may not move to the target zone as they will not risk their own AA guns.
The inter-game zone functions like the pre-game zone – for lining up the formation. The Entente player may revise its formation prior to entering the Target Zone. There are no CP planes in the target zone. It will be defended solely by AA. The bombers will proceed directly to their targets and bomb, turn, reform, and exit. The scouts may maneuver freely but may not leave the Target Zone before the bombers. The “target” for the AI Scouts in the target zone will be one of their assigned bombers. Once their bomber has left the Target zone, you may use Human Intelligence to move their assigned scouts out of the target zone in the quickest manner possible.
5. Special Rules:
Special Rules: Fuel Limitations:
Entente Scouts – you are at max effective range for this mission. Scouts that dogfight during the run-in to the target zone will not have enough fuel to get home and so will RTB or stay and fight until no scouts remain aloft after the bombers and other scouts head to the target (leave the Intercept Zone mat) (Normal campaign rules re: Morale remain in force as normal).
Firing at a plane in your forward arc while in formation traversing the intercept zone does not count against you. Maneuvering for a shot or peeling off to engage and the penalty applies.
Scouts that remain with the bombers and do not dogfight may defend the bombers on the return with no penalty.
Special Rules: Size of forces. Forces engaged will be determined by you, the Human player. You may scale the forces to match both your available aircraft and the number of aircraft you want to manage during the scenario.
Assemble your forces based on the below table, start with Entente planes, and adjust until you have the number and mix you want
TABLE 1 – Size of Forces
Example 1 – The player chooses an HP O-/400, a DH.4. and a pair of scouts as escort. The Central Powers would then have 6 Scouts, 4 targets, 4 AA MGs, and 3 AA guns.
Example 2: The player wants to sneak in and out quickly, with 2 Bristols and 2 Camels. The CP in reply would have 4 Scouts, 2 targets, 2 AA guns, 2 AA MGs
Example 3: Multirole – the player flies in with 3 Bristols, all with bombs. The CP would have 3 scouts, 3 targets, 3 AA guns, 3 AA MGs
Special Rules: Giants/Bombers/2 Seaters used for bombing:
- Will proceed to target by most direct route possible, drop, turn and return by most direct route possible.
- They will travel in and remain in formation. Bombers will drop their salvo(s) on targets selected by the Entente player.
- Central Powers will arrange targets and AA positions before Entente arranges aircraft in the holding area. Entente will assign targets to aircraft prior to restarting play.
- Simplified Bomb Loads are as follows:
Anti-aircraft and Altitude: If played without altitude rules, all AA guns are in range of the bombing aircraft and their escorts as if they were all with one level of the same altitude. If Altitude rules used, then AA gun range and bombing as per normal game rules.
Victory Conditions:
The point values have been assigned such that the total possible points remains equal between the opposing sides regardless of the number or mix of aircraft chosen. It is also biased towards emphasis on successful bombing. If the Entente player is accurate and hits all targets, it can afford heavy losses and still be victorious. The CP player must prevent, or prevent accurate, bombing of targets by any means necessary.
Target Cards: I have posted some special Staaken Target Cards in the Files section here:
http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/alb...hmentid=213881
Alternate sets here:
German: http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/dow...o=file&id=2194
British: http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/dow...o=file&id=2204
Initial Setup / Play:
After the forces have been determined, set up the Intercept Zone maps, place the Entente forces of map in the desired formation, then place the CP forces anywhere in the Intercept Zone maps at least one ruler from the edge where the Entente forces enter play. The Entente need not have all aircraft enter at once. Play continues until all Entente planes are downed, turned back, or leave the far edge of the Intercept Zone; or until all CP aircraft have been downed.
Once all Entente planes’ center pegs have left the Intercept Zone, the table, if smaller, can be reset, with the Target Zone Map. The CP player then place the targets at least one ruler from any edge, and at least half ruler from each other, and defending AA Guns / MGs in whatever way seems advantageous.
The entente player may then arrange its aircraft off map in any formation / position that seems advantageous. Assign targets to the bombers and begin play, moving aircraft onto the map. Remember, you may change Entente aircraft altitude between zones with no penalty. Again, no CP Scouts will be in the Target Zone. Movement / Bombing as per normal rules.
Once all Entente aircraft have left the Target Zone, turned back, or been shot down, the play ends (unless using the optional rule, below).
Playtesting Results / Example: (Note – early rules version used do not use this to calculate sides – use Table 1 only!)
Entente: HP O/400 x 1; Bristol F2.b x 1; Sopwith Triplane x 2
Central Powers: Alb D.Va x 7
Targets: 3
Playing time ~ 4 hours with two people (including lunch break….)
Playing surface – the dining room table. Set up the Intercept zone, played it, laid the target zone on top, played, removed it, and flew the Return trip. If like me, you need to periodically yield your playing surface to others, the mission can easily be broken into two or three sittings.
Results: All targets destroyed, Entente lost the HP and the triplanes; CP lost one Scout. A costly tactical result but a strategic victory for the Entente. The Bombers Must Get Through.
Optional Rules: Return Trip
For the full experience, your attacking Entente aircraft must again run the Central Powers Scout gauntlet on their return to base.
Once all Entente aircraft have left the Target Zone, turned back, or been shot down, the play then reverts to the Intercept Zone, in the reverse direction, with the same initial position / setup rules as before. As before, the Entente player can change the altitude and formation between zones with no penalty.
The Entente player may revise their formation once again between the Target Zone and passing back through the Intercept Zone.
The Entente planes are in play again as their center pegs cross into the Intercept zone mat and remain in play until their center pegs leave the far edge of the mat.
Play continues until all Entente planes are downed or leave the far edge of the Intercept Zone; or until all CP aircraft have been downed.
Optional Rules: Engine Damage
As they leave the Intercept zone on the return trip, but before the game is over, resolve any engine damage results as specified below:
- If Engine damage is received as a result of combat action, that plane will:
o If it occurs prior to reaching target zone, turn back and attempt RTB by shortest route to the point at which you entered the Intercept zone.
o If it occurs at or after the Target zone, attempt RTB by shortest route to the point at which you entered the Intercept zone. Owning player will test for ability to RTB after it successfully leaves the fighter intercept zone.
Best results achieved by drawing from a previously unused deck. The damage values are not applied to the aircraft – just the engine damage effect. Results are not cumulative. First “penalty” card drawn generates the effect, no further cards need be drawn.
Results of off-airport landing follow normal campaign rules.
Optional Rules: Role Reversal
The sides may be switched, with Staakens leaving Belgium and bombing Dover or the like; or transplanted to the Austrian/Italian front or eastern front (Ilya Mourmometz, anyone?) as needed.
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