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Thread: Possible Battle of Britain Campaign

  1. #1

    Default Possible Battle of Britain Campaign

    I thought today about attempting to create a BoB campaign based as much as possible on the historical flow of the battle (realizing that some aircraft may have to be swapped out, and actual numbers will probably have to be adjusted - I will list both actual numbers and potential adjusted numbers, trying to keep both a manageable number of aircraft and also stay at the historical ratios). Historical info will be coming from http://www.battleofbritain1940.net/0021.html. Would appreciate any feedback - esp. ideas for improving, or ideas regarding aircraft substitutions or numerical adjustments. Sorry, I don't have a fancy .pdf to attach right now, but I hope to be able to develop a .pdf of the campaign eventually.

    The three scenarios I have so far cover the action of July 10, 1940.

    Scenario 1:

    Germany on mission to recon 2 British airfields

    Historical Note: From what I can tell, the bombers used for these recon missions must have been able to perform their recon without ever actually flying over their target. Therefore, to perform recon, German bomber needs to only get to halfway across board and must have target in cone of front FOV.

    The units:

    Actual numbers:

    Britain - 3 Spitfires
    Germany - 1 Dornier 17z bomber

    No adjustment in force sizes needed, as 3-1 is very manageable.

    German goal - recon 2 British airfields, return to base.
    British goal - shoot down the German bomber, lose no more than 1 Spitfire

    Scenario 2:

    Germany on mission to recon a British convoy

    The units:

    1 Dornier + 20 Bf109s (yes, 20)
    6 Spitfires
    British ships in convoy (unknown number - historical account simply says, "large convoy", and I assume these were all ships that could not fire back - as there is no account of any German planes encountering fire from the convoy ships on the page I referenced.
    Reinf - 6 Spitfires
    - 12 Bf109s

    Adjusted numbers
    - 4 Spitfires (2 @ start, 2 reinf))
    - 10 Bf109s (6 @ start, 4 reinf))

    (I tried to drop it down to 2 and 5, but that makes sticking to the historical account very difficult).

    After 1 Spitfire Damaged, it must head back to own side of board to exit safely
    Other Spitfire on board @ start remains 10 turns (or until fuel is such that it MUST return home - if using fuel rules), then return to own side of board to exit.
    When 2nd spitfire turns to leave, remaining 2 Spitfires and Bf109s arrive
    Each time a Bf109 is damaged, it must turn back to exit own side of board (based off of comment in historical account that no Bf-109s were shot down, but yet they were 'stopped' by the Spitfires).

    German goal - recon British convoy - bomber needs to have each British ship within sights at some point, then return to base
    British goal - shoot down German bomber and damage 1/2 of all Bf109s. Bonus achievements if shoot any 109s down.

    Scenario 3:

    Germans on mission to attack the British convoy from Scenario 2

    The units (this one looks like a 'Tim-scale' scenario )
    24 Dorniers
    30 Bf110s
    20 Bf109s
    18 Hurricanes
    6 Spitfires
    British ships in convoy (Again, I Don't know how many there actually were)
    Reinf - 6 Spitfires

    Adjustments
    - 4 Dornier 17s
    - 5 Bf 110s
    - 3 Bf 109s
    - 3 Hurricanes
    - 2 Spitfires (1 on board at start, 1 as reinforcement).

    Historical note - the British planes were from 5 different squadrons at 5 different airfields. Due to this, the British player must space his planes out across his baseline at start and not bring them onto the board in groups.

    German goals - sink 1/2 of ships in convoy, shoot down 60% of British planes.
    British goals - Shoot down 2 Dorniers and any combination of 4 Bf110s/Bf109s, while preventing German player from achieving German goals.

    Reinforcement Spitfire cannot enter the field until half of one side's goals have been achieved (historical account says last squadron showed up during "last stage" of battle.

    For any scenario, of course, each side gets 1 pt for each plane either shot down or forced to leave battlefield (unless scenario description says the player is TRYING to exit the battlefield)

    Thoughts so far?

  2. #2

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    See Fire from skies solo campaign ETO threads.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  3. #3

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    Hi David
    I did play around with a scenario that tries to reflect the chaos that reigned during those days. If anyone is interested I attach a copy so please feel free to give it a go.

    Battle of Britain Game (Provisional Rules)
    Map of London (outline) with Thames Estuary and large enough to put satellite Airfields at relative distances and positions. Tangmere can be off map if space not available. British players can choose which Airfield they are based at. German Bomber players must dice (1 x D6) for where they cross the English Coast between Brighton and Ipswich. Divide into 6 sections.

    Roll 2D6 Result =

    2. Hun in the Sun. German Escort appears anywhere within close range of Enemy. Stay for 3 moves only as at Limit of Range and Low on Fuel.
    3. Early warning. Appear halfway between Airfield and Enemy.
    4. Early warning. Appear halfway between Airfield and Enemy.
    5. Returning Sortie. Low on Ammo and Fuel. 1 pass only at Long Range.
    6. Vectored in. Appear ahead of Enemy just outside Long Range.
    7. Vectored in. Appear astern of Enemy just outside Long Range.
    8. Vectored in. Appear anywhere within Short Range of Enemy.
    9. Jumped by Enemy Escort just after take-off who appear within Short Range.
    10. Fail to take off as still being re-armed and re-fuelled.
    11. Returning Sortie. Low on Ammo and Fuel. 1 pass only at Long Range.
    12. Vectored in but not attained sufficient altitude. Appear within Long Range but 2 Levels below. This may be 1 Level if Target is at Level 2.

    13. Any Double. (Except double 6) Hun in the Sun. German Escort appears anywhere within close range of Enemy. Stay for 3 moves only as at Limit of Range and Low on Fuel.

    British minor victory if only 1 Enemy Plane Bombs London = 10 Victory Points
    British major victory if No Enemy Plane Bombs London = 15 Victory Points.
    Delete 2 Victory Points for each Aircraft lost.

    German minor Victory if any Bomber bombs London = 10 Victory Points
    German major if more than 2 Planes Bomb London = 15 Victory Points
    Delete 2 Victory Points for each Aircraft lost.
    Add 5 Victory Points for any Bomber Leaving the Table having successfully bombed London.

    Airfield Locations.
    Hendon – 15 miles NW of London
    Croydon – 12 miles S of London
    Kenly – 15 miles S of London
    Biggin Hill – 25 miles SE of London
    Tangmere – 60 miles SW of London

    British-Suggest no more than 2 Squadrons per Airfield 1 x Spitfire & 1 x Hurricane.
    German-Escorts can be Bf109 or Bf110 with Bombers being JU88, HE111 and JU87.

    Number of Squadrons, both sides, to suit number of players with max. 3 models per player for Fighters and 4 models per player for Bombers.

    This is still provisional as only played once so far as it requires at least 3 players per side to do it justice. It did seem to work quite well on that one occasion however.


    Rebel
    Last edited by Rebel; 10-20-2015 at 09:01. Reason: To correct an error- 6 per side should read 3 per side.

  4. #4

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    Thanks, guys. I do like the scenarios mentioned - plus the way they are randomized somewhat - one thing that I'm trying to capture with what I'm hoping to finalize is the degree to which the RAF was outgunned -- other than the opening fight on Jul 10, 1940 between the three Spits and the Dornier, I don't think there were anywhere close to an even number of RAF and Luftwaffe pilots in the skies for a particular battle. Germany's hope was to overwhelm the RAF with their superior numbers.

    Yes, I realize that COULD make for frustration in this game on the part of the RAF player, but I was hoping that tweaking victory conditions slightly could offset that (i.e, exit the field safely after a certain point instead of having to actually shoot down 74 planes).

  5. #5

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    As Neil (Skafloc) mentioned there are a variety of BoB scenarios we have played .The rules sticky might be worth a parous for ideas.


    I'm learning to fly, but I ain't got wings
    Coming down is the hardest thing

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by AZTiger98 View Post
    Yes, I realize that COULD make for frustration in this game on the part of the RAF player, but I was hoping that tweaking victory conditions slightly could offset that (i.e, exit the field safely after a certain point instead of having to actually shoot down 74 planes).
    Please take into account that a German plane lost over the island meant as well a lost crew what was not the case for the defenders. So a plane shot down over Britain did not mean the same for both sides. You can reflect this in your victory condidtions.
    <img src=http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/image.php?type=sigpic&userid=2554&dateline=1409073309 border=0 alt= />
    "We do not stop playing when we get old, but we get old when we stop playing."

  7. #7

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    The balance could be limiting the Lufwaffe fuel, ie time on table. I have also been looking at restricting canon ammo. These might balance the odds somewhat.

    Quote Originally Posted by AZTiger98 View Post
    Thanks, guys. I do like the scenarios mentioned - plus the way they are randomized somewhat - one thing that I'm trying to capture with what I'm hoping to finalize is the degree to which the RAF was outgunned -- other than the opening fight on Jul 10, 1940 between the three Spits and the Dornier, I don't think there were anywhere close to an even number of RAF and Luftwaffe pilots in the skies for a particular battle. Germany's hope was to overwhelm the RAF with their superior numbers.

    Yes, I realize that COULD make for frustration in this game on the part of the RAF player, but I was hoping that tweaking victory conditions slightly could offset that (i.e, exit the field safely after a certain point instead of having to actually shoot down 74 planes).
    See you on the Dark Side......



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