AAR at Madicon 21, Harrisonburg, VA
We played the first and last of the three scenarios I created for my Battle of Britain mission: the German “frei jagd” (free hunt) which was an RAF vs. Luftwaffe dogfight, and a bombing raid on RAF Lympne. I rounded up several new players (Zachary, Chris, Anthony, and Brett) and one person who had played once before (Keith). Getting the planes out on the table, we learned a lot about the workings of the game, especially about the dangers of flying extremely close formations.
Frei Jagd
This scenario took place over the English Channel, where a four Me 109s had flown ahead of the bombers they were escorting. Four Spitfires, scrambled just minutes before, flew in the opposite direction toward the bombers off board. The Spitfires' objective was to reach the other side of the board into cloud cover that would allow them to separate from the German fighters. The Me 109s' objective was to prevent that.
The Germans initially spread out to create a net into which to catch the climbing Spitfires. The Germans closed the net too fast though and two of the 109s collided with each other causing minor damage to both planes. They pulled themselves apart and engaged the Spitfires only to cause another collision among three 109s and one Spitfire. The German plane in the middle of this rendition of “bumper planes”took enough damage to nearly finish him. Another Spitfire, separate from those, took several hits, caught fire, and eventually crashed. In the derby, one of the Messerschmidts took two hits from the English and crashed. The remaining Spitfires burst through the blocking 109s and raced for the bank of clouds off the board. The Germans turned their planes around too slowly and were unable to catch the English.
RESULT: English victory based on getting three of their four planes across the board.
Air raid on RAF Lympne
The Germans set up a tightly packed formation of fighters and bombers to attack the airfield. The English raced a mix of Hurricanes and Spitfires to meet them, supported by six anti aircraft batteries on the ground. The German fighters immediately focused on attacking the airfield targets, diving to low level and ignoring the approaching English fighters. With devastating strafing fire, the 109s made short work of two AA batteries and several barracks buildings.
The bombers, meanwhile, lumbered toward their targets. Their close formation caused them to collide with each other twice. They were not being heavily attacked by the English fighters because they were pursuing the Me 109s who were conducting ground attacks. In that fight, after strafing one of the airfield's hangars, one low flying Messerschmidt fooled the AA gun crew (I was running the AA batteries) by executing an Immelmann turn – but not the two Spitfires that swung around to meet him in their crosshairs.
One of the He-111s finally got over one of the hangars and, taking no chances, dropped his entire bomb load on the structure. It went up in a conflagration of fire and steel. A Dornier's bomb load was less effective: all blanks. The next turn, however, the hits from an earlier collision and hits from two Hurricanes caught up with the successful He 111. It and the other Heinkel, which was on fire, crashed.
RESULT: German victory based on the destruction of one the hangars, several barracks, and two AA batteries.
The scenarios went well. The players had fun, and I did too. It was a testament to the ease of play, that as people played through the game, they had fewer and fewer questions for me. I was also pleased to introduce four new people to the game. The bombing raid scenario had a Hollywood quality in its pacing and events: fighters planes strafing targets, AA guns firing into the air, bombers overhead, and interceptors racing to face the enemy. I was also very pleased with the broadcloth fabric I used for the battle mats. The mottled blue and green provided good looking texture. The printed cardstock pages of the airfield buildings looked good, but I want to modify them to keep them moving around as planes fly over them. Jodi suggested laminating them. I also learned that it is easier had I imagined for players to collide their planes, and that using AA guns using the Wings of Glory AA rules makes them rather ineffective. So, learning about the game, introducing players to the game, and seeing my scenarios go off, it was an all around good time!
Here is the full album of pictures.
http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/album.php?albumid=1202
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Originally Posted by Marechallannes
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