Family Game Store Wings of War/Glory, 13 June '16

[RJG173]

After several no-show messages on the forum and arduous drive around I-495, we had a total of three players at the store. CaptWillard had proposed an attack the balloon mission, but since said he wasn't going to make it, I brought an observation balloon I had made from Lego bricks. So we played a mid-war scenario with Paul flying a SPAD VII, Bill piloting a Hanriot HD 1 and I handled defense with a Halberstadt D III, two anti-aircraft guns and three machine gun nests. I placed the to AA guns in front of the balloon, one to each side. Then placed a machine gun nest between them but some distance in front of the balloon. The other machine guns were placed further back, one to each side. I started the game with my Halb to the right of the balloon.



I head out to meet Bill's attack, while Paul maneuvers in the background.



After taking some damage from me, Bill is attacked by one of the machine gun nests and draws the Boom card. He respawned about 3.5 feet from the balloon and had to fly his way back.



I am swinging around to catch Paul after he has inflicted some damage on my forward machine gun nest. The one attacked AA gun had zero damage. After starting the game, Paul realized the base for a balloon was much larger than the single Lego plate I was using. We consulted some on-line images and used a sheet of paper to make a larger base for the balloon.



Paul passes in the shadow of the gasbag while I am trying to catch up. Of the three planes involved in this fight, my Halberstadt had the shortest length straight maneuver. Catching up would be difficult.



Paul slips around in front of the balloon and inflicts more damage on my ground defenses.

[RJG173]

Bill flew his Hanriot down the edge of the table avoiding my ground defenses and circled around the back of the balloon to attack. Paul has also circled around to attack and I am trying to get one of them.



After many attacks from the ground and my airplane, Paul succumbs to accumulated damage. The top row are +1 cards while the bottom row is regular damage. He also respawned far down on the table.



One machine gun nest is destroyed from the air.



Another machine gun nest becomes silent.



Finally the balloon takes some fire damage. Yes, I had prepared fire markers from Lego elements for this eventuality.



The balloon only drew one A damage card for the fire, when Paul's attack run along the left side of the balloon resulted in the Boom card. As you can see, the balloon had drawn a number of zeroes and had suffered less than half its damage points before it exploded.



This was a very long game because we had only two attackers with B damage deck guns and no incendiary bullets. Lessons I learned:

* My use of the AA guns was not optimal and only resulted in one successful attack. I don't know the damage that was inflicted.
* I think my ground defenses should have been placed closer to the balloon with possibly one behind the balloon.
* More attackers would have resulted in a quicker game, but the three of use had a good time. How Frank Luke was able to shoot down three balloons in one mission is beyond me.

[milcoll73]

lego balloon, BRILLAINT!!!!

[flash]

...This was a very long game because we had only two attackers with B damage deck guns and no incendiary bullets. Lessons I learned:

* My use of the AA guns was not optimal and only resulted in one successful attack. I don't know the damage that was inflicted.
* I think my ground defenses should have been placed closer to the balloon with possibly one behind the balloon.
* More attackers would have resulted in a quicker game, but the three of use had a good time. How Frank Luke was able to shoot down three balloons in one mission is beyond me.

At least you managed to get a balloon game in with your Lego substitute Robert and you've learnt how difficult they can be to deal with.
More planes, players and incendiaries would definitely help the cause and if you want an improvement on the AA side of things try playing it using the solitaire rules where the draw of an A deck with special damage is a hit and you draw a C card for damage to the attacked aircraft. Reload and fire again on the fourth phase. It works very well.

[LOOP]

lego balloon, BRILLAINT!!!!

Yes, great balloon Robert

[Lt. S.Kafloc]

A very innovative idea for a balloon. And a cracking, corker of a game to boot. REP.

[tusekine]

Nicely done!

[Shadowcat]

That one looked like fun.

[Flying Helmut]

It's been said already, but I'll say it again - love that Lego balloon!

[kwagner]

That Lego balloon looks like a hoot! I need to get back out there some Monday.