All Quiet on the Western Front

[Dan-Sam]

All Quiet on the Western Front
Prague, 30^th June 2015
6 players, 6 planes, 4 reconnaissance targets

Date of mission: 1^st November 1918
Location: Champagne-Ardenne, France, under US command
Story: During first days of November 1918, everyone smell the change on the battlefield. Offensives stopped and even the air was quiet. But Germans terribly needed to know possisions of US Field Artillery near Reims and sent two reccnnaissance planes to photo suspicious areas. But US pilots were alert. One of the last air battles of Great War just started...
Central Powers Forces: 1x Fokker E.V, 2x Hannover CL.IIIa
Entente Forces: 2x Nieuport 28, 1x RAF S.E.5a
Central Powers victory conditions: photo of all 4 targets, at least one plane has to take a photo of 3 or more targets
Entente victory conditions: shoot down both enemy recon planes before they will go back with photos
Special rules: -
Result: Entante won - they destroys both enemy reconnaissance planes.
Balance: 50 %. Too many defenders or too few reconnaissance planes.

Defenders missed the moment of surprise and attacked from the second wave.


Hitting and running Nieuports during the first photo taking.


Second photo done! But the end of the green twoseater is nearly here...


The second recon plane must retreat with just two photos after the end of the first one. But it crossed the path to his own fighter. S.E.5a is ready for shooting on jammed plane...


The second one is destroyed too. A bad day for Central Powers recon unit...


Check your 5 and fire on plane in front of you! (I shooted him donw in the last move)


The battlefield at the end of the day...

[flash]

A surprisingly bad day for the CP there Daniel

[Stumptonian]

A surprisingly bad day for the CP there Daniel

Took the words right out of my mouth.
(Thanks for the beer, Dave)

[Dan-Sam]

You are right, chaps. When I look back on Tuesday, I see that we overpowered Entente air units. Here are my explanations:

1. All Quiet on the Western Front: We though that recon mission is an easy one, it it was much harder than ussual. And B/B is not same as an A fighter.
2. Bombing Raid on British Expeditionary Force HQ: I expected thast Zeppelin Staaken is "a harvester", but it is not. And B/A Bristol is not a puppy...
3. Balloons over Verdun: I though that the main target for Albatross will be Niuports 16 with rockets, but they bogged down in battles with Nieport 17 fighters.

[Marechallannes]

I had a view on all 3 AARs, Daniel.

Nice missions ans I think not every mission has to be balanced. Sometimes it's fun with a "historical" setup.

Who played with you those missions?

Can't identify the Czech pilots on the basis of pictures of hands.

[Dan-Sam]

If I remember well, we played in group: me, Kubajs, Zdenek, Michal, Lukas, Pavel. In nicknames: Dan-Sam, Kubajs, Bumblebee, BroukPytlik, Wasp and Mauhur. Sasa (kancelot) played X-Wing on another table (he said he must practice before a tournament, but ha can practice all day and all his skill is usually wasted by dices).

To balance: yes, sometimes it should be fun, but we usually try to balance them. But it is a hard task, sometimes.

[Nightbomber]

Nice mission there, Daniel. Balancing a mission without a point system is an issue. The cure is to swap sides.
Although hitorical missions do not have to be balanced at all, the lack of official point system for WoG (there was a thread about that somewhere) sometimes bothers me. IMHO ARES should work upon that and prepare a kind of Tournament Expansion or so. Having some casual experience in X-Wing Miniatures I find it's point system quite well thought (where there is no "historical" aspect ).

[Dan-Sam]

Point system works, we tested it, but for the first playing of a mission is not necessary. Artilery shot the target for the third fire, so if we play only for fun (like in this case), we play without long analysis. And if it is a case that someone wants to replay our mission, there is a balance notes for him like in this mission. If you want to play similar mission, now you know that Central Powers was underarmed
Of course, con missions are in another category

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Whatever, you chose to do Daniel it works for me.
A great set of games with plenty of variety and plenty of action. That with a little liquid beverage and some friends added, is a recipe for a successful night.
well done chaps.
Rob.

[gully_raker]

Well it certainly was not quite for the Central Powers chaps.

Nice scenario there Daniel.