6 Attachment(s)
Richthofen’s Progress (sort of) historically accurate scenario generator & campaign
Richthofen’s Progress is a scenario generator and campaign game for WGF which aims to set up historically accurate(ish), often asymmetric, encounters between German and Allied aircraft over the Western Front, inspired by accounts of Jasta 2, Jasta Boelcke and Jagdgeschwader 1’s experiences. The idea is to create a historically representative mix of missions where realistic asymmetric encounters happen and players can experience the ebb and flow of advantage throughout different periods of the war, and experience the gradual increase and intensity of encounters. Players get significant bonuses for achieving missions against the odds, or even just for not running away when heavily outnumbered, so encounters such as Werner Voss’ lone dogfight in a Fokker Dr1 against 6 SE5s could happen in this campaign.
The campaign game overall has 30 missions, but players can choose to fly as many or few missions as they like for each era. The campaign can include any of 79 different aircraft types.
Full details are attached here: Attachment 193597, and a summary is below.
Summary
The game is split into 7 eras, from late 1915 to late 1918, each with its own mix of aircraft and aircraft volumes. The campaign starts off in late 1915 with mainly small encounters between aircraft such as Fokker EIIIs, Vickers FB5s and BE2s. As the campaign progresses, different aircraft types become available and older types gradually retired, more missions are flown per era, and the volume of aircraft increases. Each era consists of between 2 and 6 WGF missions.
Aircraft types, numbers and mission types are determined based on tables with weighting so the likelihood of encountering an aircraft type in an era should roughly correspond with that aircraft's actual historical usage in that era. For each mission in an era, players roll to see who will be the attacker, which is weighted accordingly to the actual strategic position of that era, and then secretly roll to see how many aircraft and what types of aircraft they have, and for the attacker, what the mission is.
The heart of the system is the aircraft availability table, which is based on Western Front Jastas accounts of Allied aircraft actually encountered, and aircraft production volumes. Aircraft types in an era are identified as either “Staple” or “Rare” for that era. Staple types are those which have relatively high production volumes and are in their main phase of usage in that era, while Rare aircraft are aircraft which either a) have very low production volumes (eg. Morane Saulnier N, Bristol Scout, Fokker EV), or are b) only starting to be introduced in that era (eg. Sopwith Pup in late 1916), or c) have mainly been withdrawn in that era (eg. BE2 in late 1917). Staple aircraft types are about 4 times more likely to be selected, but Rare aircraft may show up.
If players do not have minis for all aircraft which appear in a scenario, players can either substitute similar aircraft models, or, for purists, reroll until aircraft which have minis are selected. Aircraft stats are included for all 79 aircraft, based on the Unofficial Wings of War (as was) stats from 2012. Where a new Wings of Glory model has been released, use the WGF deck and values for that aircraft. The campaign uses a points system of allocating between 10 and 30 points to aircraft types, but the system will work fine using Andrea’s tournament points system instead.
Example
For example, in an early 1917 scenario, the Allies will be the attacker on 1 d6 roll of 1-5, reflecting the strategic situation at the battle of Arras. Allies will have 1d6 of aircraft, which are likely to be equally split between scouts and two-seaters. With average luck, the Allied aircraft will be 1 flight each of scouts and two-seaters from the Staple list, so with good luck it could be Sopwith Triplanes escorting RE8s, or DH2s and BE2s if less fortunate. There’s a chance of a Rare aircraft appearing, which could be a brand new type such as a Bristol F2B, or an old relic like a Morane Saulnier L. Germans will have 1d6 -1 aircraft, which are probably Albatrosses, but there’s a chance of something obsolete (Fokker EIV) or new (Pfalz DIII) turning up.
Attachment 193602
Attachment 193599
Attachment 193600
Mission Types
Mission types are those in the A Week Over the Front (WOTF) campaign game (see http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sho...erator-for-WGF), except that Photo Recon is replaced by an aerodrome raid scenario. Missions are Artillery Spotting, Recon, Trench Strafing, Bombing and Aerodrome Raid. Use the same mission set-up and rules as in WOTF. As in WOTF, players can secretly note late arrivals to the scenario to lure in unwary opponents, and (except for the aerodrome raid which has a different set-up) the attacker’s mission is not declared until the end of the scenario.
Attachment 193603
Points
As many scenarios are likely to be unbalanced, scoring is weighted in favour of the outnumbered side. Players both score points for destroying enemy aircraft, but the side which has an advantage in aircraft points does not score any mission-related points. Both sides are encouraged to have a go, as their opponent gets a “Whitewash” bonus if the mission is achieved or abandoned without the other side firing a shot or getting near the mission objective.
Worked Example:
It is the Verdun Era (H1 1916). The Intensity Table says there are 3 missions in this Era. Either player rolls 1d6 on the Aggression Table to see who the attacker is in the first mission. It is 3, so the Entente is the attacker in this mission.
The players then secretly roll to determine their aircraft volumes and types for the mission. The Entente player rolls 1d6 for volumes, rolling a 3. The Entente modifier on the Volume Table for the H1 1916 Era is -1, so the Entente player has 2 aircraft for this mission. The Entente player then rolls 1d6 for each aircraft on the Category Table, scoring a four and a six, meaning both aircraft are 2-seaters. The Entente player rolls 2 d6 to see if the 2-seaters are Rare or Staple types, scoring a 2 and a 5, meaning both aircraft are Staple. There are 5 possible Entente Staple 2-seater types in this era:
Attachment 193601
The player allocates a number from 1-5 to each type, and will roll again on a six. The player has 3 or fewer Staple 2-seaters so the aircraft will both be the same type. Although the player hopes for a FE2b, a 1 is rolled, meaning both aircraft are BE2cs.
Meanwhile, the German player rolls a 4 for Volume, so when modified by -2, the German also has 2 aircraft. There is no category selection as defending aircraft are always Scouts. The German rolls a 2 and a 3 for Rarity, so both Scouts are Staples. There are 3 possible Staple Scout types (Fokker DII, Fokker EIII and Halberstadt DIII), so the German allocate 1-2 to a DII, 3-4 to an EIII and 5-6 to a DIII. The German has 3 or fewer Staple Scouts so both aircraft will be the same type. The German rolls a 4, so the German has 2 Fokker EIIIs to defend with.
The Entente player rolls for mission type, and scores a 5, which is Balloon Busting. The Entente has no Scouts, so this converts into Bombing.
So the mission is 2xBE2c on a bombing mission against 2xFokker EIIIs. As BE2 chances are slim, they can chose just to immediately flee, in which case the German gets 10 points for a “Whitewash”, as the British didn’t even try. Alternatively, the BE2s could have a go, fire a shot or drop a bomb vaguely near the target and then successfully flee, meaning points would be zero. In the unlikely event they actually get 50% of their bombs on target and escape the BE2s would get 10 points for the successful mission.
Points scored would be:
Each BE2 shot down = 10VPs to Germans
Each Fokker EIII shot down = 15VPs to Entente
If BE2s do not fire a shot or drop a bomb vaguely near the target = 10 VPs to Germans
If BE2s fire a shot or drop a bomb vaguely near the target = 0 VPs to either side
If BE2s successfully bomb = 10 VPs to Entente
