The Giants take to the Sky

Last night I introduced the Zeppelin Staaken and the H-P 0/400s to our group.

We did two scenarios, the first was April, 1918. Two H-P 0/400s where out bound to bomb a German rail station, escorted by a pair of SPAD XIIIs. Flying against them where three Albatros D,Va's and one Pfalz D.III. The HP's stayed close together for mutual support, and actually survived the flight.

The second scenario had two Staaken's with no support, but again, staying in close formation. Facing them three Camels and two SPAD XIIIs.

One Staaken was destroyed, and the other damaged, while three of the attacking planes where shot down.

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Giants are tough indeed. Great pictures and models!:thumbsup: You guys didn't use alt rules, did you? Alt rules may help to take down a bomber from below, but they make a game a bit more complex. For an intruduction scenario they are not necessary though.

We use Altitude rules.

Great setup, wonderful aircraft & photos, Brian! My fingers are itching... I have to paint a Friedrichshafen G.III and finish a 0/400 before I get them to the gaming table. Which models are you using (the 0/400 and Staaken)? The "pegs" seem very strong :)

Jure

Based on your experiences. What lessons learned can you share with us? With 2 bombers how many escorts vice enemy fighter should there be? You have some beautiful bomber out there and a very good looking playing mat.

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Originally Posted by Jure

Great setup, wonderful aircraft & photos, Brian! My fingers are itching... I have to paint a Friedrichshafen G.III and finish a 0/400 before I get them to the gaming table. Which models are you using (the 0/400 and Staaken)? The "pegs" seem very strong :)

Jure

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Thank you. The Models where built by Clipper1801 (from here on the forums, he also built the Zeppelin I have), I believe they are Safeway models. The Stands for the Bombers are from Litko ( http://www.litko.net/products/WoW-Bl...ght-Stand.html ).

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Originally Posted by john snelling

Based on your experiences. What lessons learned can you share with us? With 2 bombers how many escorts vice enemy fighter should there be? You have some beautiful bomber out there and a very good looking playing mat.

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John,

The Staakens need only minimal escorts. The one that was brought down was literally the luck of the draw (the explosion card!). For the Staakens, with two bombers, I would have a 5 vs 2 ratios (this worked well for us, with no escorts). I think a 3 vs. 1 would be good for only 1 Staaken. For H-P's since they are more lightly armed, I gave them two escorts, vs 4 enemy aircraft. Due to their being less armed, I think a ratio of 2 vs 1 with no escorts would be about right. For the scenario we used, I think one additional German aircraft would have been more balanced, or perhaps having only one escort vice two. The key for the Bombers is that they stay very close to mutually defend each other, and when an attacker gets in the wrong position they can mass their arcs of fire and really do some damage. In our games, we drew relatively few engine damage, or crew hit cads against the Bombers. The Guns on the Bombers did experience a lot of Jams, but they were quickly cleared and brought back into action.

You might want to check out: http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/dow...do=file&id=783 for some balance information.

This was based on a member's contributions right after Flight of the Giants came out. I only put it in that format.

The system I'm still tweaking, however, is quite similar.

My rating system takes speed, maneuverability, damage deck type, gun configuration, and firing arcs into account.

In that system...

Staaken rates at 334 points

The top scout is the S.E.5a at 100 points

So a balanced scenario for this situation might be:

2 Staaken - 668 Points

vs

4 AA Guns - 100 points
3 S.E.5a (A damage deck) - 300 points
2 Snipes - 196 points

So you'd end up with roughly:
596 points defender vs 668 Points attacker

1:3 might be roughly correct depending on the plane, but 1 Staaken vs 3 Spad VII isn't likely to end well unless those spads can draw an explosion.

All these 0/400`s and Albatri just remind me of this,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JEAf...eature=related.

Just came across this thread as I was browsing the forum --- as a recent addition to the WoW/WoG I am lucky enough to have "The Black Knight" with a fair array of aircraft but mainly fighters....

Seeing these pictures and the accompanying comments brings a huge smile to my face as to what this hobby has to offer...

Are these aircraft difficult to come by (purchase) now, or is it more appropriate to wait for the new releases?

Clipper1801 here on the forums, was the source for the Bomber Minis.

I seem to recall that the flight of the giants recommends removing the boom card. If one does that, what's a good ration? We will have 1 or 2 Zepplin Staaken taking the air shortly. We will certainly have Gothas and Capronis in the air when they come out.

Pooh

We left all cards in the deck. Played well for us.

Looks very nice. I was wondering how big the gamingtable should be when using the Straakens or Gothas as Squadrons. Our Standart Table is roughly 1,8 meters square and flying just from a to b and blasting everything in the way seems to easy for the big guys to win. To be honest we never played with the heavy bombers but plan to do it in the next couple of weeks. Starting with the scenarios from the Flight of the Giants box.
By the way do you recommend owing more than just 1 box of Flight of the Giants??? Because of the flight decks??

With the box set Flight of the Giants, you have two cards of each type bomber, which limits your scenario to flying two of any one type of Bomber at a time. Regarding the size of the table, what we use is rectangular, 8'x5'.

Many thanks, will go and buy another box.....

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Originally Posted by Wheeling Turn

Many thanks, will go and buy another box.....

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Remember that when the models arrive, they will have all the cards with them Markus, so depending on what you are flying, you may not need to buy another Giants set, unless you need more Staaken or HP. cards.
Rob.

Somehow I missed this thread.

Thanks for digging it out.

:clap:I pick up my bombers tomorrow:clap:

My Planes are mostly Skytrex. And that is why I ask for the decks. Skytrex has these greatSquadron Packs and I love painting whole Squadrons. Three Gothas all with different paint scemes or some Staakens.... That 's why I ask..

Is there a scenario written for a single Gotha G.V? I didn't see one in my Flight of the Giants rulebook or over at BoardGameGeek.

I have a friend who enjoys playing Wings of War / Glory miniatures and is coming to visit over Memorial Day weekend. I'm planning on picking up one of the Gotha G.V minis for some scenario play. Does anyone know of a good scenario?

If not, I just may just fork over the cash and get both Gotha minis and play the "Bomb London!" scenario but, as we play exclusively with miniatures, I'm worried about the second round requirement for the Allied player to field two B-firing Sopwith Triplanes. I'm thinking Sopwith Snipes would work aesthetically as replacements, but would this affect the balance of the scenario? Should I play with Snipes but use the B damage deck?

Has anyone played the "Bomb London!" scenario and, if you have, would you care to give a scenario report or best recollection? Am I correct in my reading that this scenario ends after three rounds?

Thank you!

Yes some idea's for scenario's and stats for the Gotha's would be good.

Attention all squadrons!
Reports of a new giant Hun bomber have proved to be true; several days ago one of these monsters was seen crossing the lines near Beaucort in the Amiens sector, escort by a lone Fokker. A pair of Sopwith Camels from No.4 Squadron were on patrol in the area at the time and immediately altered course to intercept. One camel closed in on the Gotha and set it ablaze although was itself heavily damaged by return fire. The Hun pilot pressed on relentlessly and managed to extinguish the fire - the huge machine headed directly for a battery of French heavy guns and unleashed it's deadly load directly on target in the first pass. As the Hun monster turned for home, it's team mate closed in and sent the already damaged camel spinning to earth and moments later, the second allied machine was seen to explode violently. The total loss of the allied aircraft and ground installations meant no photographs of the new Hun terror weapon exist, but all squadrons are warned to be on full alert and not to engage the giant unless sufficient number of interceptors are available.
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Awesome models and the Staakens are incredible!