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Thread: The Battles at Zatu.

  1. #1

    Default The Battles at Zatu.

    Yesterday morning I met by arrangement with a young man named Charles at the Zatu Games shop on the Bowthorpe Shopping Estate in Norwich to play Tripods & Triplanes because he was interested in learning about the game. I was hoping that some of the other customers that morning would, come, take a look and perhaps join in. That did not happen as things tuned out because the shop was not very busy that morning. Charles had not played Wings of Glory before so I went through the rules on using aircraft and about using Tripods and we started with the 'Bring Proof' scenario from the rulebook. Charles flew the Nieuport 16 from the Starter Set and I used the Locust. Since the Nieuport was not using its rockets, I gave it the extra machine gun card. I became so busy with the game, I forgot to take many photographs.

    Charles
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    The Black Smoke launcher was used.
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    Charles flew away before using an Immelman turn to return.
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    He came in again and ran into another black smoke cloud.
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    That was sufficient to finish off the Nieuport.
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    Game 2 will follow.

  2. #2

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    Good to see you recruiting a young pilot into the fold.

    You seem to have quite potent black smoke. When I have used them the pilots just laugh.

  3. #3

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    The second game was based on the First Contact scenario from the rulebook. Charles flew three aircraft - the Nieuport 16 (with an extra machine gun) and, since it was Tripods & Triplanes, Raymond Collishaw's two gun Sopwith triplane and Manfred von Richthofen's all red Fokker triplane. I operated the Locust again. The Martian's aim was to destroy three out of four objectives and exit from the far side of the mat or destroy all three planes.. The Earthlings aim was to destroy the Tripod. The Special Damage rules were introduced for this game.

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    After a few moves the Locust was closing on its first objective and the three planes were approaching for an attack.

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    The Red Fokker flew ahead, straight into a close range heat ray shot from the right projector on the Tripod, which had moved forward to the edge of its objective . The Nieuport and Sopwith turned to line up attack runs.

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    The Fokker suffered heavy damage and was set on fire.

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    The Locust strode forward onto its objective. The Nieuport and Sopwith moved in to fire at close range. The Nieuport did slight damage and the Sopwith cost the Tripod an energy crystal. The Fokker turned behind the Tripod.

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    The Locust remained stationary and drained energy from the objective. The Fokker turned left, whilst the Nieuport and Sopwith both flew ahead and nearly collided.

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    The Fokker turned right and the other two planes continued straight ahead. Meanwhile the Locust, which was still stationary, gave the Nieuport and Sopwith a dose of black smoke from its right rear launcher.

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    Last edited by Naharaht; 12-23-2019 at 21:50.

  4. #4

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    Whilst the Locust remained stationary the Fokker turned right presumably to attack the Tripod from behind or the left and the Sopwith turned left possibly to attack from the side. The Nieuport's Immelmann turn allowed it to fire at the Tripod's rear shield.

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    The Locust headed for the next objective with the Nieuport in pursuit. The Fokker turned right to attack but its prey had moved on. The Sopwith continued turning left.

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    The Fokker turned left to attack the Tripod's rear. The Sopwith continued turning left to attack the Tripod from the right. The Nieuport turned away but the Locust driver must have anticipated this because he was ready with his black smoke launcher.

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    The Nieuport survived the black smoke and flew off to the right. The Sopwith flew over the stationary Tripodand blocked the line of fire of the Fokker, which had stalled to remain behind the Locust, which drained the energy from the objective.

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    The Sopwith flew on followed by the burning Fokker. The Locust remained stationary and destroyed the objective. The Nieuport turned left to prepare another attack run.

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    Last edited by Naharaht; 12-24-2019 at 18:48. Reason: Incomplete

  5. #5

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    After two more moves the red Fokker's fire had gone out and it had flown around behind the Locust. The Sopwith had performed an Immelmann turn to face the Locust, which had turned towards the next objective. The Sopwith and Locust exchanged fire.

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    The Nieuport had meanwhile continued turning left.

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    The red Fokker continued turning behind the Locust. The Sopwith flew up close to the Tripod. The Nieuport flew straight ahead into a cloud of black smoke from the Locust.

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    The Locust moved towards the objective. The Sopwith flew straight ahead over the Tripod. Would it return after an Immelmann turn? The Nieuport turned left to prepare for another attack. The Fokker turned right and began shooting at the Tripod's rear shield.

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    Last edited by Naharaht; 12-25-2019 at 19:39.

  6. #6

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    Looking forward to the next enthralling installment Dave.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  7. #7

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    Two moves later the Locust had moved almost to the edge of its next objective and rotated to face its pursuers. The Sopwith had performed an Immelmann turn and was heading back towards the Tripod. The Fokker had moved forward and then turned sharply right accidentally into the path of the Nieuport, which was arcing left towards the Tripod..

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    The resulting collision proved fatal for the red Fokker Triplane. The 10 damage card finished it off.

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    However, the shots from the Sopwith and Nieuport at the unshielded forward part of the Locust damaged it and set it on fire.

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    The Locust moved to the left. Both the Nieuport and Sopwith moved straight forward and collided. However the Sopwith was still able to continue firing at the Tripod and then its guns jammed.

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    In return the Locust used its black smoke launcher to hit them both.

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    Frustratingly, the end of our time slot on that table was almost upon us and we had to stop at this exciting point.

    The Locust had taken 8 damage and was on fire. It had destroyed one objective and one aircraft had been eliminated by the crash.

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    The Nieuport had taken 6 damage points.

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    The Sopwith had taken 8 damage points and its guns had just jammed.

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    Who would have won? Much would depend upon the amount of damage the fire would cause to the Tripod. It is a pity that we shall never know the answer.

    I think that Charles enjoyed himself. He said that he would tell some of his friends about the game, so I will wait to see whether he asks for another game. I gave him the web address of the Aerodrome, so he may apply to be a member. The shop assistant on duty seemed impressed by the equipment so they may let me try another session some time.
    Last edited by Naharaht; 12-25-2019 at 19:38.



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