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Thread: OTT Early Doors Mission 19 - Escorting Trouble - July 17th 1917 by Teaticket

  1. #1

    Default OTT Early Doors Mission 19 - Escorting Trouble - July 17th 1917 by Teaticket

    Somewhere out in the North Sea a submarine has had a mechanical failure. It can no longer dive making it easy prey for any enemy that can find it.
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    An escort of two gunboats are bringing her home,
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    but alas, an enemy observation plane made contact and headed home, trouble will be on its way soon.

    Radio messages were sent to arrange for air support to join the escorting gunboats.

    The situation:
    Your squadron has just received the information about the location of the stricken enemy submarine. Three 2 seat bombers and escorting scouts are sent out to attempt to sink the submarine.

    Air forces involved:

    Attacking forces consist of three 2 seat bombers each with a scout escort.

    Defending aircraft consist of three scouts and two 2 seaters.

    All 2 seaters are ‘B’ gun armed.

    Gaming surface:

    The gaming area takes the same space as two ARES game matts joined along the long edges.

    Starting forces placement:

    1st place the submarine with it’s bow at the center of the board facing towards the far long edge center. (in photo sub is facing bow to the right)
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    The two escort gunboats are placed as follows, one behind the submarine facing the same direction as the submarine(to right), one measure stick behind and 1-1/2 measure sticks to a side randomly determined. The 2nd gunboat is placed on the opposite side of the submarine 1-1/2 measure sticks away and a half stick back, facing the opposite direction of the submarine(to the left).


    Attacking forces start turn one with 1 bomber and scout on board.
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    Randomly decide where along the long edge (1-6) the bomber will start. Aim it towards the submarine or as you wish, with it’s escort scout half a stick in front.

    Defending arriving aircraft set up as follows:
    Randomly choose three defenders from the five planes available.
    Randomly place them on their side of the submarine.
    First randomly chosen plane is one card back from the submarine bow along a line of 6 sectors across the front.
    Second plane is 3 cards back in another random sector.
    Lastly the third plane is in another random section, 5 cards back.
    Point these planes towards the starting enemy bomber.
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    In the above photo the first random plane was a SPAD, die roll 3. As I designated the 6 sectors as 1 on the bottom to 6 on the top, the SPAD is positioned in the center of sector 3, 1 card length back. 2nd plane up is a Triplane, die roll 5, so it is placed in the center of sector 5, 3 cards back.......

    Submarine and ship movement:

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    These are the submarine and gunboats to use for OTT Early Doors Mission 19.
    Submarine dimensions approximately 10.4 cm long by 3.5 cm wide.
    Gunboat dimensions should be 11.7 cm long by 3.2 cm wide.


    The submarine will move on every other card starting with the second played.
    ie. 1st turn card 2, 2nd turn cards 1 and 3, third turn card 2......

    The gunboats will move every card but with the second card of each turn will be at the half/damaged speed.

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    (Above has been uploaded into the WWI files under campaigns as ‘Ship movement compass’)

    To determine how the sub and boats move use an X deck for each. Which X doesn’t matter as they all have 13 cards with same maneuvers.
    Shuffle each deck separately. For the sub and trailing gunboat at the beginning of each maneuver phase turn the top card and move as the chart above.

    For the gunboat facing towards the enemy, it will move like the others but it will only turn in the direction of the submarine. When a turn in the opposite direction is drawn, turn towards the submarine, but only one once per 3 card turn. If a second opposite turn is drawn move the gunboat straight. This should have the gunboat turn in the correct direction but not so fast as to hit the submarine. When you run through a deck reshuffle and start again.
    (Move all ships so that they will not collide. It shouldn’t happen.)

    Surface vessel damage and fire power:

    The submarine has a damage level of 34 points of bomb damage. Bomb cards covering the red dot do full damage, half damage if just touching the submarine card. If you are a dead-eye bomber and the bomb icon (not just the bomb red dot) is touching the submarine red dot and the BOOM card is drawn, the submarine is destroyed outright. A BOOM card is otherwise worth 10 points damage at full strength. The only special damage card besides BOOM to have effect is Engine Damage.
    Airplane machine guns have no effect on the submarine.
    The submarine has no defensive firepower.

    Gunboats damage levels are 22 points of bomb damage and are effected by bombs normally.

    Defensive fire is one AA gun firing 360 degrees, 2 measure sticks from the red dot. Follow normal solo AA gun rules.
    If the first plane in range is a scout, roll a d6, it will hold fire on a 1-4, waiting for a bomber..

    Also, gunboats can fire one ‘B’ card AAMG at the closest plane within one measure stick. This AAMG can be taken out by airplane machine guns with 10 points of damage.
    Airplanes firing at the gunboat can only inflict one ‘B’ card as well. Other than damage points only BOOM and pilot wound special damage take out the ‘B’ AAMG.

    Flying:

    Players will fly all the bombers until they drop their bombs. Then they convert to AI and become fighters with the player keeping control of whatever plane you wish.
    Bombers have 4 bombs each. Each bomb is a 'C' damage card. Use a double 'C' damage deck for the game.

    Turn one set up described above has one attacking bomber and scout, defenders start with 3 planes.

    At the beginning of turn 2 randomly place a 2nd attacking bomber as the turn 1 bomber. Place it’s escort scout 1/2 measure stick to either side, both planes rear base touching the board edge. Planes can be aimed as desired.
    Also place the next random defending plane on its base edge aimed towards the submarine.

    At the beginning of turn 3 do the same as turn 2. All planes are now in the game.

    The game will last 9 turns maximum.

    Victory is to sink the submarine.

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails water bombs.jpg   water bomb.jpg  
    Last edited by Teaticket; 01-01-2016 at 12:30. Reason: Titles & headings

  2. #2

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    Peter, this looks rather... awesome !

    "He is wise who watches"

  3. #3

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    Well Pete , never expect to wake up in 2016 to this!!
    I might have to take some time reading this again as the brain cells are a little on the low side today but it certainly looks a gooden.
    Happy New Year to you and the Dragon.


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

  4. #4

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    Thanks Paul, Happy New Year to you and yours, And to you too Dave! ...And to all the OTT pilots out there.

    I've had a lot of fun playing this one up. The sub has gone down but less that 50% of the time. Its all up to the cards as usual. Once I did come about a mm away from dropping a BOOM down the hatch.
    We have to assume a seaplane is following the attackers to rescue any swimmers. Defenders will be picked out of the briney by a gunboat.

    Moving the ships I tried to get them at a realistic speed. (learned from those damned tanks!) The sub should be travelling about 17 knots. The escorts will go a little faster.
    Remember if a sub/ship turns right you swing the stearn out to the left, like the example.

    The bomb cards I made with a slightly larger set of bombs to make it teasingly possible to drop the hatch. If you drop 1-2 bombs use the single, 3-4 use the cluster.

  5. #5

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    Looks like I definitely need to get a Sails of Glory mat (or reasonable facsimile thereof)
    But I have a few other scenarios to catch up on in the meantime.
    Hopefully can get one done this weekend - or at least started ....

  6. #6

    Question

    That looks impressive Peter!

    I presume for Allied flyers the sub & ships are German & the Central Powers players will attack English/French/Italian Sub/ships ?

  7. #7

    Lightbulb

    Quote Originally Posted by Stumptonian View Post
    Looks like I definitely need to get a Sails of Glory mat (or reasonable facsimile thereof)
    But I have a few other scenarios to catch up on in the meantime.
    Hopefully can get one done this weekend - or at least started ....
    A plain blue Sheet/tablecloth folded to the right size will do nicely.
    I use a blue single bed sheet for my WW2 Pacific scenarios.

  8. #8

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    I purchased a watery looking piece from a fabric shop years ago. I forgot I had it! When I re-discovered it I just had to use it.

    Correct Baz, all of us will fly the attack mission against the sub and it's defenders.

  9. #9

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    Well...I'm not going to get this finished today !!
    Got a late start, set it up and began playing just after lunch. Three hours in, turn three completed....
    Totally absorbing, totally awesome...
    So much going on - AAA banging away, AAMG lashing by, boom cards galore (had three or four now), Bomb dropping, jaw dropping..
    Glorious ! This is the way to bring the new year in
    Thanks Peter.... again !

    "He is wise who watches"

  10. #10

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    Glad you are enjoying it Dave. As with any scenario, it's all what you make of it.

    Since this is the 50th solo campaign game I had to try to make it special. There were some exciting bombing attacks in July '17 I was working on but Shawn's scenarioo 18 pulled that rug out from under me. I think that was a good thing as it made me rethink what could be done. I like to go with a historically time related scenario if possible, so going generic was new for me. (I have put on hundreds of Naps, ACW, SYW, Nap... games at shows that were historical) I know a few of us have float/seaplanes so here is a chance to get some up and out over the sea. I haven't yet gone back to see the previous OTT campaign scenarios nor looked into the air vs sea rules in the files so I had to come up with my own ship rules. I like Neil's Zeppelin turn wheel so I modified it for ships. I kept things simple, hope everyong enjoys this battle.

  11. #11

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    So frustrating ! If I run this again I'm taking the zeroes out of the C deck !!

    "He is wise who watches"

  12. #12

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    Hard to hit that sub. I know the feeling. During testing a couple times I had 20+ hits on the first drop. Then the zeros appeared.

    Once I had it at 30 points and my 3rd bomber lined up to drop on the next card got BOOMed!

  13. #13

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    Still looks good.
    Enough damage to keep it on the surface until something big sails along and rams it.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by Teaticket View Post
    ...Once I had it at 30 points and my 3rd bomber lined up to drop on the next card got BOOMed!
    Getting on target wasn't a problem but I think my bombs were duds and I know how you feel !

    "He is wise who watches"

  15. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Teaticket View Post
    There were some exciting bombing attacks in July '17 I was working on but Shawn's scenarioo 18 pulled that rug out from under me. I think that was a good thing as it made me rethink what could be done.
    I would apologize for "pulling the rug" on you, but I think you have bested my scenario in spades. This looks very unique!

  16. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by diceslinger View Post
    I would apologize for "pulling the rug" on you, but I think you have bested my scenario in spades. This looks very unique!
    I don't mean it in a bad way... I think timing can go wrong when planning a scenario. I was working on a big bomber scenario, so after yours was posted I had to go another direction. My first scenario I followed Dave. I play tested the hell out of it too far in advance and it ended up close to same as what Dave posted. I stuck with it as I didn't have the time to put together another with proper testing but now I wish I had changed it. So I think it ended up a good thing this time that I came up with a new scenario.

    It may be unique but when no one can achieve a victory my head will be on the block!
    Last edited by Teaticket; 01-11-2016 at 10:35.

  17. #17

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    ouuuuch This mission is killing me , and my crews.


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

  18. #18

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    You must be drawing the wrong damage cards.

  19. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by Teaticket View Post
    You must be drawing the wrong damage cards.
    I have a touch of the Flashes ( or is that flushes) Ordinance is of poor quality this mission.


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

  20. #20

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by tikkifriend View Post
    I have a touch of the Flashes ( or is that flushes) Ordinance is of poor quality this mission.
    You must be using the same Ordinance Officer as Dave!

  21. #21

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Teaticket View Post
    You must be using the same Ordinance Officer as Dave!
    Without a doubt


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

  22. #22

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    I would like to try this scenario in either the solo version presented above, or as a multi-player scenario at Gritty Goblin Games in the future. However, I have several questions.

    1) The scenario is dated July 17th, 1917. Does that mean only airplanes flying at that date can be used?

    2) In solo mode, are the damage distances (on the ship movement compass) used when a stall or climb card are drawn from the 'X' deck?

    3) The only special damage card besides BOOM to have effect (the submarine) is Engine Damage. What does that mean? Does the submarine use Damage Distance and Damage Arc after it receives engine damage? Do two engine damage cards cause the submarine to stop moving?

    4) Defensive fire is one AA gun firing 360 degrees, 2 measure sticks from the red dot. Follow normal solo AA gun rules. Where would I find those?

    5) Players will fly all the bombers until they drop their bombs. Then they convert to AI and become fighters with the player keeping control of whatever plane you wish. How does one fly an airplane with AI? Also, does it mean in solo play that the player is then controlling only one airplane? I assume in solo play that the defending airplanes are in AI mode from the beginning of the scenario. Is that true?

    6) Why do you have custom bomb cards and not use cards from WoW or WoG? Did you want cards with a water background or did you want bomb cards that are smaller than WoW/WoG bomb cards?

    I may have more questions.
    So how many books are in your personal library?

  23. #23

    Default

    I wrote this scenario for the solo campaign. Players normally control only one plane while the solo system AI controls all the other planes. This scenario has overriding rules until the bombs are dropped. For the Solo system look in the files section under 'Scenarios' - 'Solo Rules' you will find many pages of solo charts for each type of maneuver deck. There are several systems to pick from. You plot your plane first, then the AI planes. Each plane under AI control will use the chart corresponding to it's maneuver deck. Look for the AI plane's biggest threat and use that facing. Roll a die and you get the three maneuver cards for that plane for the next turn. Play then proceeds through the turn as normal. Repeat as necessary.

    I have run this scenario several times at conventions. No AI planes were used as there were plenty of players. With 6 players I had 3 per side, each flying 2 planes. You'll have to divide up players/planes as you see fit depending on how many players you have.

    Questions answered below underlined.

    Quote Originally Posted by RJG173 View Post
    I would like to try this scenario in either the solo version presented above, or as a multi-player scenario at Gritty Goblin Games in the future. However, I have several questions.

    1) The scenario is dated July 17th, 1917. Does that mean only airplanes flying at that date can be used?

    I only playtested this scenario with the planes listed. I would think it would still play well with others. One way to find out is to play it with other planes!

    2) In solo mode, are the damage distances (on the ship movement compass) used when a stall or climb card are drawn from the 'X' deck?

    The sub and ships use full speed for all movement cards drawn until it has engine damage, then it will use the slower movement. The ships will use the slow movement on the 2nd move of each turn.

    3) The only special damage card besides BOOM to have effect (the submarine) is Engine Damage. What does that mean? Does the submarine use Damage Distance and Damage Arc after it receives engine damage? Do two engine damage cards cause the submarine to stop moving?

    Yes and Yes. One engine damage = permanent slow movement and slower turning. 2nd engine damage = dead in the water.

    4) Defensive fire is one AA gun firing 360 degrees, 2 measure sticks from the red dot. Follow normal solo AA gun rules. Where would I find those?

    The solo AA gun rules are in the rule book at the very end. Pg. 39.

    5) Players will fly all the bombers until they drop their bombs. Then they convert to AI and become fighters with the player keeping control of whatever plane you wish. How does one fly an airplane with AI? Also, does it mean in solo play that the player is then controlling only one airplane? I assume in solo play that the defending airplanes are in AI mode from the beginning of the scenario. Is that true?

    In solo play all defending planes are always AI. See above for a brief explanation of solo play.

    6) Why do you have custom bomb cards and not use cards from WoW or WoG? Did you want cards with a water background or did you want bomb cards that are smaller than WoW/WoG bomb cards?

    I think I made mine with slightly larger red dots but you can use the cards that come with the game.

    I may have more questions.

  24. #24

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    Glad you saw this, Peter.

    Saved me from trying to answer Robert's questions.

    Hard to believe it's been 4 years! since we played this scenario.



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