Types of missions flown in WW1 - some ideas

['Warspite']

Back at our old Romford/Harold Wood club in the 1970s, using Airfix and Revell aircraft mounted on wooden dowels, we flew a number of types of missions - especially when we allocated people to squadrons, allowed them to build up characters and achieve a kill tally. To follow the progress of the war each week we would progress one month of war 'time' so that new types could (eventually) be introduced.

Unpopular missions included balloon-busting, trench strafing and - the worst - was 'bounced on take-off'. This last meant that defending aircraft started stationary and at 0 feet altitude (i.e. on the airfield) and had to build up speed and take-off while under attack. Luckily it did not come up very often.

So… what mission types are there?

1) Fighter sweep (known to the RFC as a contact patrol I seem to recall). A straight fighter mission and the most flexible. We normally diced for starting height with something like 2 x d6 in thousands of feet (2,000 to 12,000 feet). This gave you the height you entered the table at.

2) Reconnaissance - get your two-seater(s) into the other half's side of the board for two or three moves and then get them out again, with the info.

3) Photo recon - as above but one aircraft was nominated as carrying the camera and the mission was to get that one aircraft back safe. There was a 5% chance of the camera being smashed by gunfire if the aircraft was hit (roll 2 percentage dice).

4) Bombing mission - get the bombers over a nominated target, release the bombs and get out with as many survivors as possible. A typical rule was that the bombs' weight was points damage inflicted (a 250 lb bomb provided 25 pts damage - four x 20lb Cooper bombs would be 8pts damage) with targets needing 100 to 500 points to destroy them based on what they were - a railway marshalling yard was judged 'difficult' so came in at about 400/450 points. An ammunition dump was about 250 pts - vulnerable to explosion but spread out over a wider area. Each bomb released at low level over the target had a 4,5,6 chance of a hitting but this fell off to 6 at higher altitudes. Going lower meant you were at greater risk from Flak and fighters but increased your hit chance. I seem to recall the 5 or 6 'medium' band was seen by many as a very happy medium. Points were lost for losing bomber aircraft and aircrew.

5) Balloon busting - says it all really!

6) Fighter escort - supplementary to 2) 3) 4) 5) above, a couple of fighters fly with or near the two-seaters and try to get them to and from the target.

7) Trench strafing - never popular as the Flak and rifle fire coming off the ground could be nasty. The German CL types of Hanover and Halbertstadts are optimised for trench strafing and bombing.

8) Bounced on take-off (as mentioned already) but the other half of this was 'attack enemy airfield'. If you were the attackers it was great fun, less if you were the poor s*d trying to get off the ground.

9) Artillery observation - fly in a straight line for four or six moves to 'spot' artillery fire by radio to score points. The enemy scores points if he can stop you.

Recent WW1 reading has shown we missed a couple of missions

10) Spy drop - a two-seater flies into enemy's rear area, lands and drops off a spy. Returns with empty back cockpit so the rear gun cannot be fired. It appears the French did this one quite a bit. Jean Navarre is credited with flying several missions 1915/16.

11) Ammunition supply drop. Not the WW2 invention I thought it was, RFC RE8s and Armstrong-Whitworths did this regularly in 1917/18 to drop ammunition to troops either advancing too fast or cut off by the enemy's advance. One RE8 squadron suppled 36,500 rounds in one mission.

***

Of course - on a large table and with multiple players - this mission approach could get really fun if each flight gets to draw or dice for a separate mission. So does the German fighter sweep engage the British fighters or go after the DH4 bombers heading for a high value target? Does the British fighter escort stay with its photo-recon flight or does it go to the aid of the trench strafers down low a few feet away who have just been bounced by a German fighter sweep? All options are yours!

It would also help if everyone did NOT arrive on table at the same time. Phase arrivals over two or three moves to present a shifting pattern of activity. So the British fighter escorts break-off to help others - only to see a fresh German fighter sweep emerge on table two turns later. Yes, I am evil!

[LingSter]

These all sound good. I just might incorporate the "phase arrivals" into my Gencon games I'm running.

[LOOP]

We did a "kill the bombers"-mission in a mountain pass. It was very fun
The fighters had the choice between going high over the moutain to intercept or take the longer safer way that the bomber had to take.
And of course, mind the mountainside.....

['Warspite']

These all sound good. I just might incorporate the "phase arrivals" into my Gencon games I'm running.

Phased arrivals create more of the 'fog of war'. As you come out from under cloud you will first become aware of the nearest target/s. A good leader would not necessarily go for the nearest target nor should he/she assume that what you can see is all there is or all there will be.

I suggest that you get a deck of cards, extract all the ace to four or ace to five cards, shuffle and cut those and deal one face down to each player or flight. They will then arrive on table on the move number of their card. I would also suggest that the position of arrival and the height of arrival be subject to further card turns. Alternatively get some standard filing cards (6" by 4") and write missions on them. "Fighter sweep" "Bombing mission" and so on, perhaps with more detail. The mission card can be dealt at the same time.

What you should thus arrive at is singles or groups of aircraft arriving at random into the combat area over the first four or five moves. Of course you could leave a random single 'six' and 'seven' card in the reduced deck for extra variety

['Warspite']

We did a "kill the bombers"-mission in a mountain pass. It was very fun
The fighters had the choice between going high over the moutain to intercept or take the longer safer way that the bomber had to take.
And of course, mind the mountainside.....

Sounds like 633 Squadron or Luke's Death Star attack

[LOOP]

Sounds like 633 Squadron or Luke's Death Star attack

Well the mountain scored several confirmed kills that day

from both sides......

[Captain Chum]

Phased arrivals create more of the 'fog of war'. As you come out from under cloud you will first become aware of the nearest target/s. A good leader would not necessarily go for the nearest target nor should he/she assume that what you can see is all there is or all there will be.

I suggest that you get a deck of cards, extract all the ace to four or ace to five cards, shuffle and cut those and deal one face down to each player or flight. They will then arrive on table on the move number of their card. I would also suggest that the position of arrival and the height of arrival be subject to further card turns. Alternatively get some standard filing cards (6" by 4") and write missions on them. "Fighter sweep" "Bombing mission" and so on, perhaps with more detail. The mission card can be dealt at the same time.

What you should thus arrive at is singles or groups of aircraft arriving at random into the combat area over the first four or five moves. Of course you could leave a random single 'six' and 'seven' card in the reduced deck for extra variety

This looks to be fun and I would think to motivate bombers to the table more often.

I also would think this would be good for solo play.

['Warspite']

This looks to be fun and I would think to motivate bombers to the table more often.

I also would think this would be good for solo play.

Indeedy yes! I am all in favour of getting 'non-fighters' into the battle as there is much they can do.

[spindoc]

Wow Barry, thanks for posting this. The multiple missions approach sounds a lot like what I'm planning to do for the event I'm running at Historicon this year (called "Mission Accomplished"). I may nick a few of your ideas if that's all right with you.

Also, regarding the ammunition supply drop, the Junkers J.I also performed these missions, along with dropping food/ration supplies to isolated machine gun nests etc.

['Warspite']

Wow Barry, thanks for posting this. The multiple missions approach sounds a lot like what I'm planning to do for the event I'm running at Historicon this year (called "Mission Accomplished"). I may nick a few of your ideas if that's all right with you.

Also, regarding the ammunition supply drop, the Junkers J.I also performed these missions, along with dropping food/ration supplies to isolated machine gun nests etc.

Interesting, I did not know that the Germans did supply drops.

[Flying Helmut]

I have been toying with the idea of drawing a 'B' deck card against squadrons of my repaint planes; thus on Turn 1 a ZERO yields no enemy opposition, on Turn 2 a THREE would bring on a trio of enemies, etc.

A typical bombing mission + escort recently had 2 "escort" aircraft arriving first, only to be met by four enemy scouts, who were then reinforced by two more! The six (fixed number) bombers only arrived after their first escort group had been wiped out, and the second escort flight failed to arrive at all!

If more planes are required, I'm considering changing up to an 'A' deck - this would fix he maximum number of planes in a flight at 5.

'Boom' card, NO FURTHER CARD DRAWS for that squadron!

[Flying Officer Kyte]

It is fascinating to see all these ideas chaps, and how many of them have actually cropped up in one way or another in the solo campaigns here on the Drome.
Keep them coming and we will soon have enough new ones for next years campaign too.
Rob.

[Jager]

Interesting, I did not know that the Germans did supply drops.

Indeed; both sides did it. The Americans tried it (unsuccessfully, IIRC) for the "Lost Battalion".
Another mission, in a similar vein, is Contact Patrol. This is where you have to fly within a short range shot at altitude 1 to various ground units to check their identity.
You only get VPs for these when you fly off your end of the map, since you have to communicate the positions by dropping a note on the HQ.
I'll be running this at Origins next month; here's the blurb:

The Offensive has kicked off this morning, and your troops have broken through the front lines. But now, HQ needs to figure out where the leading units are, and without portable radios, this job falls on the contact patrol planes of your squadron. Top cover is being provided because, (did we forget to mention) the other side is doing the same thing.

Karl

[grumpybear]

Some cool ideas for sure. Next game will try a couple

[gully_raker]

Yes most possible missions have been mentioned in the posts above but you could add the Tank/Infantry busting one that was recently one in the "Over the Trenches Early Doors" solo campaign.

[Teaticket]

Another could be attacking a moving train. Could be reinforcements, artillery or ammunition....you know they are coming, can you stop them?

[Franco Lucchini]

Great ideas. Thanks for sharing Barry.

[Naharaht]

A variation on the Reconnaissance mission is to observe the positions of your own side's troops during an attack.

There could also be the reverse of the 'Spy Drop' where a spy is picked up or a downed airman is rescued as in 'Biggles- The Rescue Flight' by Capt. W.E. Johns.

[flash]

Variations on 1 - Contact Patrol - meeting a new type for the first time; meeting a celebrated ace in the sky.
Variation on 6 - Escort duty - meeting and escorting home damaged bombers before the enemy can put them down
There are many ways to cut this cake - I like to randomise who has the advantage too ie who is bounced and who is the bouncee and rather than starting from the edge of the table start in the middle within shooting range - then it gets lively !

[Doug]

Indeedy yes! I am all in favour of getting 'non-fighters' into the battle as there is much they can do.

I agree with you.

[LOOP]

Tank/Infantry busting one that was recently one in the "Over the Trenches Early Doors" solo campaign.

How much damage can a ww1 tank take before blowing up? Can it be bown up with mashinegunfire only or do you need bombs?
I've read some AAR when pilots go tankbusting.

['Warspite']

How much damage can a ww1 tank take before blowing up? Can it be bown up with mashinegunfire only or do you need bombs?
I've read some AAR when pilots go tankbusting.

I have no knowledge of any specific tank-busting missions flown in WW1. However WW1 tanks were not entirely machine-gun proof. Most used butt-jointed plates of riveted armour while the visions slits were just that - narrow slits cut in the armour. As a result if a WW1 tank came under intense machine-gun fire from the ground there was always a chance to hit and wound the crew. Tiny chips of lead, gilding metal from the FMJ and steel chips would enter the butt-joints and vision slits. As a result many wore goggles and/or chain mail 'bibs' to protect them from bits of bullet 'splash' entering the tank. (see illustration later).

I doubt very much that this would be a problem for a tank machine-gunned from the air. The recent MvR documentary showed a computer simulation of a machine-gun being fired from an aircraft. One of the factors included was that the gun was being shaken by the vibration of the engine. Once you factored that in, the bullets were dancing everywhere over a 1-2 yard square. There is no 'hosing' effect you would get from a ground-mounted gun. It therefore follows that machine-guns fired from the air will be less concentrated in their effect.

As to bombs, the Germans are the people likeliest to be attacking tanks as Britain had most of tanks in the field. Hanovers and Halberstadts only carried anti-personnel hand grenades so, again, the effect on a tank would be minimal. Tanks were designed to be grenade and bullet resistant.

In WW1, anti-tank work was the job of the German infantry (with armour-piercing rifle ammunition and later more powerful specialist anti-tank rifles) and also the field artillery - engaging tanks over open sights with 77mm field guns, etc. While WW1 tank-busting may be tempting it is both unrealistic and would probably have been most ineffective. Sorry


British tank crew armour:

[LOOP]

The AAR I read, I read here in this forum (as gameplay) and I was amazed that mashinegunfire would do any damage at all to the tanks. Thanks for confirming my doubts
So "tank-busting" realy means infantry strayfing. And of course without infantry support the tanks would be, sort of useless.

['Warspite']

The AAR I read, I read here in this forum (as gameplay) and I was amazed that mashinegunfire would do any damage at all to the tanks. Thanks for confirming my doubts
So "tank-busting" realy means infantry strayfing. And of course without infantry support the tanks would be, sort of useless.

All riveted tanks suffered some sorts of vulnerability and that includes up to the Lee/Grant in WW2. If the rivet head is struck by a heavy AP shot and 'de-capped' the other half will bounce around inside the tank at high velocity causing horrific injuries, stories of men with jaws or half a face taken off in 8th Army tank battles 1941-43.

WW1 tanks were worse as that plates were riveted to a framework and the plate ends (at the butt joints) often did not close up. Some machine gun hits along the joints could produce casualties inside.

And yes you are right, if you can drive the infantry to ground and strip them away from their tanks then the tanks become vulnerable to other counter-measures.

On another tack, I have seen German infantry with 'cluster' stick grenades but I am not sure how effective one of those would be against a WW1 tank.

[Teaticket]

I designed the OTT scenario where tanks were attacked from the air. If you were to read the whole of the scenario notes I mention that the tanks are not per se destroyed by the airplanes but from ground artillery, getting stuck in mud, stuck in shell holes and their own malfunctions. The scenario was the end of the Somme offensive where tanks were used for the first time. With a stretch of the imagination I had the surprised and confused Germans trying anything to try to stop them. The supporting infantry had to be chased off and or the tanks immobilized by luck.

I have never read of any deliberate tank busting missions, not to say there weren't any.

[LOOP]

I designed the OTT scenario where tanks were attacked from the air. If you were to read the whole of the scenario notes I mention that the tanks are not per se destroyed by the airplanes but from ground artillery, getting stuck in mud, stuck in shell holes and their own malfunctions. The scenario was the end of the Somme offensive where tanks were used for the first time. With a stretch of the imagination I had the surprised and confused Germans trying anything to try to stop them. The supporting infantry had to be chased off and or the tanks immobilized by luck.

I have never read of any deliberate tank busting missions, not to say there weren't any.

I'm sorry if I offended you. It was my bad, not to have read the senario notes only the AAR

[Teaticket]

No offense taken. I just thought I should clear up what was going on in the scenario. I didn't want to give the wrong impression that this was a real mission.

[Jager]

As to bombs, the Germans are the people likeliest to be attacking tanks as Britain had most of tanks in the field. Hanovers and Halberstadts only carried anti-personnel hand grenades so, again, the effect on a tank would be minimal. Tanks were designed to be grenade and bullet resistant.

Actually, the Halberstadt's could carry a few 12.5kg/27lb. bombs. You'd have to be a dead shot to hit a tank, though.
Karl

[csadn]

Actually, the Halberstadt's could carry a few 12.5kg/27lb. bombs. You'd have to be a dead shot to hit a tank, though.
Karl

Be an interesting use for the SPADs with the 20mm cannon -- but then, the Germans never deployed that many tanks to begin with....

The Germans never developed a hub-firing cannon for their birds, did they?

[Flying Helmut]

Spad XII with the 37mm cannon.................watch out A7Vs!!!!!

[RJG173]

Actually, Ernest Udet is credited with one tank. I believe he forced it into a shell hole.