campaign idea with somewhat hidden missions

[celticgriffon]

Hi everyone,

I have been working a little at a time developing a campaign for Wings of War.

1. Each side will have an aerodrome with a limited amount of planes.
2. Each participant in the league will have two planes available at the beginning of each game session.
3. Each mission will generate squadron points.
4. The side with the most squadron points may have a chance to raid their enemies Aerodrome. If this attack is successful starting in 1917 they win the campaign immediately. Otherwise at the end of the war the side with the most points wins instead.
5. Planes will progress in a roughly historical faction.
6. The two daily missions will be flown in two separate sorties - dawn patrol and evening patrol

Each gaming session the highest ranking pilot on each side rolls two mission assignments secretly:

Mission Assignments 2d6
2 - Zeppelin Attack/Raid
3 – Large Scale Bombing
4 – Small Scale Bombing
5 – Balloon Busting
6 – Patrol (Allied) / Jagdstaffeln (Hunting Patrol Central)
7 – Photo Recon
8 – Patrol (Allied) / Jagdstaffeln (Hunting Patrol Central)
9 – Trench Strafing
10 – Small Scale Bombing
11 – Large Scale Bombing
12 – Aerodrome Attack

They then assign a minimum of two planes per mission. There is no limit to the maximum number of planes for a mission, however, each pilot can never fly more than two planes total for the day. Each pilot has their own plane. If a pilot dies the plane will be flown by a newly created character.

Once the plane/pilot assignments are completed for each side the dawn patrol missions will take place. Each side states the type of mission (a, b, c, or d) and consults the following chart (based on the current campaign year) to determine if any special scenarios (i.e. aerodrome assault) come into play. Only at this stage will each side have a rough or complete idea of what kind of mission the opposition is flying (i.e. you will know if their is an aerodrome attack for example).

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The chart determines if their is an attacking side, and the location where the meeting occurs. If a mission is a type a or b mission, one to three targets are placed accordingly (large targets such as buildings or factories, trenches, aa guns, railways, balloons, etc). The mission details will go into more specifics on targets for bombing or strafing or balloon/zeppelin hunts.

Pilots get individual experience for completing items; certain missions will have certain elements worth double points. Also, squadron points will be determined based on the success of the primary and secondary missions.

Once this sortie has been completed the second Evening Patrol sortie is played out. This should hopefully fill an evening of play with five per side. As the strength of each mission is decided without knowing the exact type of mission your opponents are playing I am hoping things will be unbalanced at times and somewhat exciting.

Aerodrome assaults will have some special rules pending if it is the first or second sortie of the day...!

I have a lot of ideas to be honest but I am wondering if I am going down a path that is way too fiddly for the average user? And I must add a huge THANK YOU to all the wonderful campaigns on this site and on the net. I am stealing what I like from a bunch of sources to make my own little design... So thank you so much for the inspiration.

Cheers,
Michael

[Angiolillo]

I am working on mission cards instead: you draw one, and keep it face down declaring only some things related to it. So you actually keep it secret, but under the eyes of the opponent.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

I am working on mission cards instead: you draw one, and keep it face down declaring only some things related to it. So you actually keep it secret, but under the eyes of the opponent.

Sounds very interesting Andrea.
I played at Bony's Avon Flight night yesterday, and he already uses the Mission card idea for his Campaign.
I was very impressed with it.
Rob.

[celticgriffon]

Here is what I was thinking for the Aerodrome Assault mission (sorry the formatting got lost in the cut/paste):

Aerodrome Assaults

1914 – 1916
1. Determine Attacker: The side which rolled an Aerodrome Attack (AA) result on the Mission Assignments is the attacker. If both sides rolled an AA result the attacker is the Squadron with the most Squadron Points
2. Location: Aerodrome Assaults are always primarily in enemy territory (1/2 of map in enemy territory, ¼ of map is of the Front, and ¼ of the map is in attacking territory)
3. Board Setup: Defender should place the following next to the Aerodrome:
a. 0 – 2 balloons (up to two range rulers away)
b. 0 – 3 Light Anti-Aircraft Machine Guns (up to 1 ruler away)
c. 0 – 3 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Guns (up to 1 ruler away)
d. 0 – 2 Vehicles or other bombing targets (up to 1 ruler away)
e. 1 airfield (½ ruler away – any direction)
4. Plane Placement: Defender places active planes (assigned to the Mission) first, then Attacker
5. Altitude: Defending active planes start at the same altitude. This is declared when planes are placed on board. Attacking planes start at the same altitude and this is declared when planes are placed.
6. Duration – No formal time-limit. The game will continue until one of the following occurs:
a. Aerodrome is destroyed – play five additional turns
b. Defending planes are eliminated – mission ends immediately and Aerodrome is counted as destroyed.
c. Attacking planes are eliminated – mission ends immediately


Objectives:
Attacker Primary Objective – to successfully bomb the Aerodrome – 20 Squadron Points
Attacker Secondary Objective – to destroy as many planes as possible – +1 Squadron Point for each enemy plane downed or having fled battlefield

Defender Primary Objective – to prevent their Aerodrome from being destroyed
1. 20 Squadron Points if Aerodrome hasn’t taken full damage
2. 25 Squadron Points if Aerodrome has taken less than ½ damage.
Defender Secondary Objective – to prevent as many planes from being destroyed as possible (each surviving plane = +1 Squadron Point)


Special Rules = Dawn Patrol Mission:

1. Any assigned planes for this mission start in the air. All other planes for the Defender start inside the Aerodrome. Each player may only fly one plane/pilot at a time
2. At the start of each turn the Defender MUST move 1 non-active plane from their drome onto the airstrip. On the next turn this plane must take-off.
a. The take-off happens automatically and is placed outside of the table area if the planes owner is already controlling an active plane.
b. If the planes owner does not have an active plane the take-off should be handled normally as per Wings of War/Glory rules.
c. A plane on the airstrip can be strafed / bombed with normal damage.
3. Defender Tempo (re-spawning), when your active plane is shot down you can immediately start playing your second plane if Attackers are still present (and this is a good idea usually).
d. The plane begins at altitude 1 (if playing with altitude rules)
e. It is placed at any table edge at the start of the next Turn and can move normally during those manouver phases.
4. Attacker Tempo (re-spawning) is not available.


Special Rules = Evening Patrol Mission:
1. All Defending planes carry their damage forward from the Dawn Patrol mission.
2. A destroyed Defending plane from the Dawn Patrol mission may not provide Tempo (re-spawn).
3. All other rules are the same as per the above.


1917 – 1918 - All rules as above with the following two exceptions:

1. If the Aerodrome is successfully destroyed the Attacking side wins the Campaign immediately.
2. If the Attacking Side has failed to destroy the opposing sides Aerodrome by their third attempt the Defending Side instead wins the campaign immediately.

[MoonSylver]

I have a lot of ideas to be honest but I am wondering if I am going down a path that is way too fiddly for the average user? And I must add a huge THANK YOU to all the wonderful campaigns on this site and on the net. I am stealing what I like from a bunch of sources to make my own little design... So thank you so much for the inspiration.

Cheers,
Michael

It's probably more than i would use personally, but don't let that detract you. I really look for the simplest in all things gaming now, just due to time, other commitments, etc. As long as it still has the experience of the theme I'm ok w/ out as much detail. Lind of the "great taste, less filling" approach if you will. ;)

Like you, I'm tempted to "borrow" the best from a number of campaigns/rules set & combine them...but time & energy are both in short supply. I'd rather just be playing. So I'm going to try one, another, etc, for now & maybe combine later.


I am working on mission cards instead: you draw one, and keep it face down declaring only some things related to it. So you actually keep it secret, but under the eyes of the opponent.

I'll be interested in seeing that.

[gully_raker]

:cheezy: Hey Michael! You sure that is not the script from "Billy Bishop goes to War".:confused::lol::lol::lol:

[MoonSylver]

:cheezy: Hey Michael! You sure that is not the script from "Billy Bishop goes to War".:confused::lol::lol::lol:

No, because if it was, no one else would have seen it & it couldn't be confirmed. :lol:

[Lt. S.Kafloc]

In our old campaign game about 2 years ago we had mission cards, plane cards and side cards. No-one then could pick the best plane and it gave some really unbalanced but fun games.

[celticgriffon]

Hey Andrea,

Any updates on the mission cards? I am very interested to see where they are at. A simplified approach is often the best course.

Cheers,
Michael

[celticgriffon]

Hi everyone,

I have been working hard on my campaign structure as of late. It merges a bunch of ideas from a huge variety of sources and it will use many files from the wingsofwar.org download section. Please refer to the credits section for various sources of inspiration.

I am posting the data here in case anyone is interested. I hope to have all of the missions completed by end of the week.

My current residence - Regina Saskatchewan Canada - is sometimes known as the Flatland. I therefore am calling the campaign, "Regina Flatland Wings of War League".

Cheers,
Michael