Jingle Bells, Machine Gun Shells... Or Red Sleigh Down?

[OldGuy59]

Due to an excellent link posted by Andrea on another thread (Link), I offer this translation of his link to a French Wings of War site (Link: Look for "Le Père Noël"):

NOTE: My sincere apologies to the original author, Pierre, as my translation may be seriously lacking.

Santa Claus

Santa does not take a break. Even in times of war, he continues his deliveries. Unfortunately, unscrupulous pilots regard anything that flies as a target.

Movement

Santa’s sleigh moves using an “A” maneuver deck. However, given the difficulty of keeping gifts in the sleigh, the Immelmann card is not used. Santa will not risk losing his precious cargo by executing this maneuver.

Combat

Santa Claus is not very aggressive, but he can become violent if attacked. Santa may use gifts as a weapon (this is the only ammunition he has available, besides the reindeer) in response to attacking aircraft. When a plane shoots at Santa Claus, Father Christmas throws a gift at the attacking plane’s propeller: The aircraft “receiving” the gift draws an “A” damage card, ignoring the numbered damage on the card (a gift rarely causes fatal damage to the structure), but special damage affects the plane as follows:

- Rudder Jams: resolve as usual. The gift has become temporarily stuck in the rigging.

- Smoke, Fire and Engine damage: count as an engine damage, and can cause an explosion if it is the second time drawn. A gift was actually caught in the propeller and damages the crankshaft. [This could be interpreted as on the second time drawn, or you could house rule some alternate result]

- Gun Jam: A Gun Jam does not count toward Santa, but toward the attacker. The gift has shielded the sleigh, and the attacker’s shot is canceled, just for this phase (but the plane may fire next phase, if desired).

- Observer Wounded: for a two-seater plane, the observer was able to catch the gift. He will therefore spend the next three rounds to unwrap the package and open the gift, before realizing that it is a teddy bear dressed as a pilot. Disappointed, he will take his machine gun in hand, once again. For a scout aircraft, the pilot caught the gift. Rediscovering the joy of a child, he attempts to unwrap the package for the next three phases. All planned operations are canceled and replaced by straight maneuvers, no firing can take place. After three phases, also disappointed, he continues the battle.

- Explosion: Sometimes Santa Claus places trapped gifts under the tree for particularly nasty children. This was the case here. Sorry, dead!

If the attacking plane doesn’t draw the above stated special damage results, it may fire normally at Santa Claus.

Damage

Santa has six magic reindeer that make his sleigh fly; therefore, he has a damage resistance of six. It is therefore necessary to kill the reindeer to shoot Santa down. If you play with Aimed Shot rule for more realism (the ruler must touch the silhouette of the aircraft, not the card), the reindeer will have to be your target, not the sleigh (Santa Claus, as we know, is immortal, the gifts will absorb the bullets, and the sled is made of cured oak.). Damage cards are drawn normally, each point of damage removes a reindeer (reindeer are indeed magical, but not armored). Special damages are ignored except Jams, which affect the shooter, and the Explosion Card which immediately kills all of the reindeer. When all the reindeer are eliminated, the sled is, lamentably, toast. Tonight, Santa is walking back to the North Pole.

Playing Santa Claus

It is possible that a player could fly Santa solo, or in a formation that escorts him into enemy territory. But it is also possible to play Santa Claus as an “AI” piloted plane. Two modes:

Mode 1: Santa Claus enters the game from anywhere and only flies straight lines (as he has fixed ideas: he knows where he wants to go!) until he leaves the playing mat.

Mode 2: Santa Claus flies a straight card for the first and third phases. For the second phase, randomly draw a card from the “A” maneuver deck cards not chosen, making the path more uncertain ...

Scenarios

It is possible to introduce the Santa Claus in a dogfight, or in a scenario.

In a dogfight, Santa wins if he manages to stay alive on the play mat for a number of turns.

In one scenario, for example you can ask Santa to fly to a few villages or isolated farms to bomb .... uh, sorry ... drop his gifts to the homes. If he succeeds, he wins the mission. He may have a pro-Santa escort and an anti-Santa squadron.

[Edit by OldGuy59:]
Any scenario in North America since 1954 for Santa will have a minimum escort of two period jets (CF-100 Canucks, CF-101 Voodoos, or CF-18s)
Santa is tracked and escorted over North America by NORAD. Really. There is a NORAD website for it: Operation SANTA CLAUS.

We can give points for Santa or his team if he wins. If you are sadistic, you can also give points to whoever kills Santa Claus, at the risk of the player destroying his inner child...

The Card (Stolen from the above site):


Aircraft Type: SLEIGH
Pilot: Father Christmas (Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, etc...)
Maneuver Deck: A
Damage: Special (Using an A Damage Deck)
Resistance: 6

Card Number: Etr. V. 06 (Etrons Volants 06, or ignominiously translated as "The Flying Turds 06")