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Thread: Op Lockdown

  1. #1

    Default Op Lockdown

    As there are a couple of people considering trying solo gaming whilst most of the world is in some form of 'lockdown' due to the corona virus I thought I'd post a couple of mid-late war solo games in this thread from the vaults of the OTT campaign for them to try out.

    Head to Head Over The Trenches




    1. The Mission:

    This is no subtle scenario. There is no advantage to either side, it is simply a balls to the wall five on five head to head charge from each side of the table into a furball somewhere in the middle, like the knights of old charging into battle – the winner takes all, the devil take the hindmost !

    Option:
    If you don’t want to handle a full on 5 v 5 (that could be 5-9 AI aircraft after all) then consider doing a 2 v 2 or 3 v 3 and when one side loses an aircraft then replace it with one coming in from a randomly determined tables edge and cycle through the five a side that way.

    I will leave the story telling of how you got in that predicament to you - Good luck gentlemen.

    If you wish to ramp it up a bit try out the air rules:

    Air Rules:
    ˇ The playing area can be as big as you can manage but a pair of mats should be sufficient.
    ˇ Single seat scouts only to be used; use what you have, like, or randomly generate.
    ˇ You can control as many, or, as few of your scouts as you wish but all enemy scouts must be AI controlled.
    ˇ Scouts should fly in recognisable formations at the start of a game. (eg Line astern, Line abreast, echelon left/right, Vic)
    ˇ This scenario may take quite some time to play – if you are concerned this will take too long then set a time limit to suit yourself as a
    'fuel limit' & all aircraft will retire at that time.
    ˇ In order to ‘thin the herd’ aircraft can be driven off. All aircraft can fight until they are:
    a. within 3 of destruction, or,
    b. within 5 of destruction if on fire, or,
    c. the pilot’s wounded (on an A deck 5, or, B deck 3 wounded pilot card), or,
    d. the engine is damaged,
    They will then disengage and head for the barn at best speed taking whatever evasive manoeuvres are necessary for survival, and shots at targets of opportunity - that's something in range crossing their nose !
    ˇ Wounded pilots bugging out - rather than they just leave we use the damage number to dictate the result ie the severity of the wound. So on a Wounded Pilot A deck hit of 5 or B deck hit of 3 the pilots head for home but on a Wounded Pilot A deck 3 or B deck 1 they will stay in the fight. This means your pilots may fight on in spite of a wound, or, equally, may push off home. The cards will decide.
    ˇ The mats shall be nominated German/British to give plenty of escape options.
    ˇ Burning aircraft take whatever damage is due to them even if they have left the table, if they crash then, hopefully, at least they will be behind their own lines (so no, there are no 'he landed just off table' !)
    ˇ Explosion cards will be used but may be seeded in the bottom quarter of the deck to promote a shooting solution to the battles.
    ˇ Collisions apply – defined as when a base cannot be placed correctly where it should be due to the peg of another aircraft; both aircraft will draw a C Damage card – so give your chaps plenty of room to manoeuvre !
    ˇ Use two A damage decks if you can, recycle cards from driven off, o.o.c. and destroyed aircraft if needed
    ˇ Wounded Pilot: In addition to the usual rules a pilot taking a wound will, in his whole next turn, fly the same manoeuvre that he was
    ˇ Gun Jams - When scouts equipped with two separate gun systems (eg SE.5a or Nieuport 17) take a Jam card only one of their gun systems is jammed. They may continue firing with the other gun but use the B damage deck to reflect their loss of firepower. If they get another jam cardthen the other gun also becomes jammed. Any jams are resolved as usual but no firing allowed when un-jamming the other gun.
    ˇ A tactical withdrawal of all aircraft is allowed at the cost of victory !

    Taken from original Scenario 17 of the original Over The Trenches campaign.
    https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...bruary-12-1918

    "He is wise who watches"

  2. #2

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    Circle of Death Over The Trenches.

    The war seems to be going the Ententes way - new aircraft have arrived but it's business as usual in the skies around the front...


    RE8 Combat [Graphic by Gustav Farmer]

    Situation:
    A single two-seater is plodding a racetrack pattern in the sky near the lines directing artillery fire onto your forward positions
    You and a wingman are above him and up sun – he has no idea you’re there....

    Mission:
    Knock the spotter from his perch.

    Ground :
    A single mat size could be big enough for this but use bigger if you like.
    The battle takes place on your side of the lines - Nominate an end for your enemy to escape to if he needs it.

    Method:
    You signal your wingman to stay as top cover and dive down on the enemy spotter....
    The two-seater will be driven off by the usual ie:
    Heavy damage to his machine,
    Wounded pilot (on a 5),
    Engine damage,
    Fire with high damage
    Dead observer - two wounds - we will be using the optional rule for wounded observer:
    a. You knock him down for the remainder of the turn he is hit in
    b. He stays down the whole next turn
    c. He returns to action at the beginning of the next turn with these penalties applied.
    ie 4 move gun jam, can only fire at short range & not after steep moves.
    A second hit and observer is taken out.

    Decide where the sun is - you will start within* one & a half rulers of the enemy aircraft and will be counted as diving into the fight, using appropriate card, if you fire on him from the dive card you will receive the +1 bonus to any hits as per the rules.
    * back edge of your a/c base is one & a half rulers from target a/c base. Two rulers may work with A or N deck scouts.

    The two-seater will be flying the following pattern: Stall - Straight - Stall - Straight - Stall - Straight then Left turn – Left turn – Left turn
    You decide where he is in the pattern when you bounce him.

    Once you shoot or are in range of him you will be spotted and next turn the pilot will react and make defensive moves of circling.
    Plan your moves first then:
    Roll a D6 – odds: he will turn left – evens: he will turn right.
    He will do this for two full turns then roll D6 again, on a roll of 1 or 6 he will change direction and circle the other way. Rinse & repeat !

    In the case of a rudder jam he will reverse direction of the turn on the next game turn; if he has a rudder jam in both directions he will attempt to run. Play three straights.



    Reinforcements:
    1. Any turn after your initial attack your wing man may join the attack, that can be a random event or planned whatever you choose (he may be coming to save you’re butt !)

    2. Every turn after your initial attack you may roll for enemy AI scout reinforcement.
    A roll of 1 or 2 on a D6 will bring on the reinforcement from any table edge - Roll a dice to decide where;
    roll again - odds: a single scout appears – evens: a pair of scouts appear.
    If using altitude - the scout(s) start altitude can randomly determined against the two seater – Roll a D6: 1-2: below; 3-4: same height; 5-6: above
    Once deployed there are no further reinforcements.

    3. Option: If enemy reinforcements arrive then on every subsequent turn you may try for further reinforcements of your own.
    A roll of 1 (or 1,2 if you prefer) on a D6 will bring on the reinforcement from any table edge - Roll a dice to decide where;
    roll again - odds: a single scout appears – evens: a pair of scouts appear.
    If using altitude - the scout(s) start altitude can be randomly determined against the two seater – Roll a D6: 1-2: below; 3-4: same height; 5-6: above
    Once deployed there are no further reinforcements.

    Victory:
    Mission is successful if you either destroy or drive off the enemy two-seater, any other result is a failure.

    Good Luck !

    Taken from original OTT Final Months - Mission 11: Circle of Death ! 25th September 1918
    https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...ber-1918-Brief




    More games will follow:

    See post #10
    Last edited by flash; 04-11-2020 at 01:23.

    "He is wise who watches"

  3. #3

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    Thanks for the thought, Dave. If there is to be any flying in my part of the world it will be solo.

  4. #4

  5. #5

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    No worries chaps, should give you a couple of games to break into using solo charts and have a bit of fun with.
    If you have any queries pm me or post in the OTT CYM Mess sticky as most of the chaps there will be able to answer a question.

    "He is wise who watches"

  6. #6

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    Nice Dave. I don't remember these. They must come from way back from before I jointed OTT. I've told myself to look at the previous campaigns. This is a good time to do so for sure.

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by Teaticket View Post
    Nice Dave. I don't remember these. They must come from way back from before I jointed OTT. I've told myself to look at the previous campaigns. This is a good time to do so for sure.
    They're a couple of mine from the original campaign & the final months campaign Peter. All linked through the OTT sticky.

    "He is wise who watches"

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by flash View Post
    They're a couple of mine from the original campaign & the final months campaign Peter. All linked through the OTT sticky.
    Thanks. I guess this is a good time to go and fly the original campaigns.

  9. #9

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    Thanks.

    I am getting back into WGF tomorrow by solo flying my newish Rumpler C.IV (with a Siemens Schuckert escort) against my new Breguet Br.14 escorted by a SPAD XIII. I’ve just set the two mats up on the dining table in fact (my wife volunteered to move the jigsaw puzzle which has migrated to the living room carpet on a foldout jigsaw mat and a couple of trays).

    The scouts vs 2-seater would be a good follow on and the 5 vs 5 would allow me to use my SE.5s and Pfalz D.III I haven’t flown yet, with a couple of other scouts per side. Good stuff.

    Edward

  10. #10

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    The Hunter in the Skies!

    This is an adaptation of scenario 3 of the original OTT campaign by Blackronin that uses ace skills. I thought this might give people a chance to have a go with them if they have not already done so.
    As these have evolved somewhat since this was written in 2012 I have updated the selection used.
    If you want to check out skills & optional rules they're all here in the Rules help sticky


    Background:
    As more and more planes meet each other over the trenches in violent dogfights, some pilots stand out - they fight better - they become known by the other pilots - his deeds achieve the status of legend - they are turned into myths.
    Some of these pilots sometimes hunt the skies alone, waiting for a challenge or a prey. But being an ace also makes of them a prized target. Can you take down an ace?



    This is a one v one engagement.

    Mission:
    Take down the ace.

    Enemy:
    Enemy flight consists of 1 single seater fighter flown by an ace.
    The enemy ace already has 4 ace abilities and you have to choose a 5th ace ability for him. This ace can be a historical Ace or a fictional ace, if you care, and he has a huge advantage in abilities !

    The enemy ace has the following abilities:

    Bullet Checker: Ignore jamming cards with the green symbol.

    Lucky Pilot: May choose to ignore a single damage card during the game. Once only.

    Sharp Eye: When this skill is used the ace can hit a plane at long range as if it were at short range giving it two cards of damage instead of one. This skill can be used twice in a game. (be the I in A.I)

    Firm Hand:
    This pilot may ignore a rudder jam special damage.
    This skill can be used twice in the game - put a counter on it as a reminder each time the skill is used.

    The player must choose one of the following abilities to give to the ace:

    Stuntman:
    This ability can be used on single seaters only. Before anybody reveals a manoeuvre card, if this ace planned a straight manoeuvre you can declare that he turns the nose to right or left and skids while shooting. In the next firing phase his firing arc on the chosen side is widened as indicated (on the card - normal arc plus to 3 or 9 o'clock ie 90 deg left or right)
    When you use this ability take four recovery tokens

    Strong Constitution:
    This ace ignores the effects of the first crewman hit special damage on himself.
    If the ace takes a second wound, and he is the pilot, he is incapacitated and the aircraft is eliminated.

    Weapon Specialist:
    When un-jamming his own weapon this ace takes one phase less than usual.
    Two phases normally, three phases if wounded.

    Fire Expert:
    When receiving smoke or fire damage take two tokens instead of three.

    Itchy Trigger Finger: Aces with this skill are faster to shoot than everyone else.
    When they fire all the damage they cause is resolved before the simultaneous fire of the other airplanes that do not have an ace with this skill.

    Sneak Attack:
    When firing, if the shot is at short range, and the ruler reaches the target airplane stand passing through the rear edge of the target's base, the target draws a third damage card.
    When you use this ability, take two recovery counters.
    If higher machinegun optional rule is in use, overlapping targets hit thanks to that rule also draw an extra damage card.
    When playing with Advanced Rules, and extra damage card is also inflicted to targets at a higher altitude. There is not extra damage card against airplanes at the same altitude, if the firer has at least one climb counter, and the target has none.


    Set-up:
    Two mats side by side. Nominate the friendly & enemy edges.
    The player starts in the middle of the mat facing the enemy edge; the Ace starts more than one ruler and less than 2 rulers behind the player's plane.

    Special Rules:
    The Ace will attack the player's plane mercilessly until it reaches 5 or less hit points, pilot is wounded, or, receives an engine damage.
    The next turn after this, he'll try to escape.

    Victory:
    Take down the ace !

    Adapted from Scenario Three: The Hunter in the Skies! - October, 31 - 1917 by Blackronin.
    https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...r-in-the-Skies
    Last edited by flash; 04-11-2020 at 01:24.

    "He is wise who watches"

  11. #11

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    Looks to be quite the interesting challenge, Dave.

  12. #12

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    Greetings

    Thanks very much for Hunter in the Skies. Ran it this afternoon (after running the recon mission I mentioned earlier) with Lt Vickers’ Camel [MacLaren model] taking on ace Lt Oskar Sigmund in a Dr.I [MvR model]. One of the quickest WGF games I have had. Definitely a close in knife fight. Despite using his ace abilities to ignore a rudder damage and a boom card, Oskar ran out of damage and Vickers survived a fire as he turned for home.

    Regards

    Edward

  13. #13

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    Glad you had fun with it, I will see if I can pull some more out of the archives...

    "He is wise who watches"

  14. #14

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    “Death Flies High"

    Some missions will require an element of air superiority, or, the distraction of opposing air forces. To that end this mission is to represent those events. Sometimes things go your way – sometimes they don’t.



    Mission: To engage the enemy and clear him from the skies.

    Method: All scouts to engage and drive off any enemy aircraft.

    Setup:
    A pair of mats side by side.

    Select three single seat scouts & at least 3 opponents
    Randomly determine the enemy scout types you are up against by a method of your choosing.
    All aircraft but your own are AI.

    Now determine whether you are the Bounced or the Bouncer: Roll a die for each side – highest wins and is the Bouncer.

    Those being bounced start in formation in the middle of the table. (eg Line astern, abreast, vic, echelon left or right etc)

    The Bouncers start at the o’clock rolled on a D12 within one and a half rulers of the Bounced.(ie back edge of base at that range)
    The bouncers may appear as a formation, or, you may dice for each aircraft's point of arrival - you may decide to dice to see what they do - Evens: in formation, Odds: individually.

    If the Bouncers are the enemy AI and you have the time/models/inclination then the bouncers may have an extra aircraft to make it interesting.

    In order to ‘thin the herd’ aircraft can be driven off. All aircraft can fight until they are:
    a. within 3 of destruction, or,
    b. within 5 of destruction if on fire, or,
    c. the pilot’s wounded (on an A deck 5, or, B deck 3 wounded pilot card), or,
    d. the engine is damaged,
    They will then disengage and head for the barn at best speed taking whatever evasive manoeuvres are necessary for survival, and shots at targets of opportunity - that's something in range crossing their nose !

    I would suggest that the mats be nominated German/British to give plenty of escape options.

    The side that remains on the table at the end is the winner of that particular action

    Option: if you are concerned this will take too long then set a time limit to suit yourself as a 'fuel limit' & all aircraft will retire at that time, or, you can adjust the number of models used.

    This was adapted from my scenario 6 in the original OTT campaign
    https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...-Flies-High%94
    Last edited by flash; 04-11-2020 at 10:58.

    "He is wise who watches"

  15. #15

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    The Prototype

    Adapted from Over the Trenches - Mission 10 - The Prototype by Sven (Marechallennes)



    Due to the achievements of your squadron, the Headquarter decided to test a prototype under „front-conditions“. You are the lucky one to test it in a sector near the front, without aerial activities the last two weeks.

    You are not allowed to go for a fight, but there are no direct orders what to do when an enemy plane attacks - as far as you could remember. So it was no question that you will engage a lone enemy plane, spotted just over no-man’s land !

    Mission:
    Prove the prototype in combat.

    Set up:
    One or two game mats
    Enemy over mid point of mats
    Your plane starting within 2 rulers of the enemy plane

    Your Plane:
    Use any Entente/Central Power scout / prototype model / scratch build you like for this mission

    Enemy plane:
    A scout, or, two-seater that fits with the timeline of your scenario.

    Reinforcements:
    After game turn 3 another scout or two-seater coming from the enemy side - 2 rulers away - heading directly for your position

    Both planes accept the fight and will try to shoot your plane down

    Winning conditions:
    Force the first encountered plane to return to base (through damage/wounds), or, shoot him down and return to base.

    Special Rules:
    As with all prototypes/new things there may be teething problems...:

    After turn 3 before you plan the manoeuvres for turn 4:

    Roll a 1d6:

    1. Nothing happens *
    2. Gun Jam **
    3. random rudder damage (L or R)
    4. Engine damage
    5. Engine damage
    6. Smoke damage***


    * roll again after turn 6 (if you roll 1 again - everything is ok)
    ** after the three manoeuvres of jam you got only a “B”-firing MG because something is wrong with the ammunition feed / if you had only a “B”-firing MG from the beginning – everything is OK
    *** three manoeuvres later, your plane gets an automatic fire damage

    Note: All damages a cumulative to other special damages! Engine and fire damages are handled as normal.

    Try not to lose the prototype - that may be difficult to explain !
    Last edited by flash; 04-11-2020 at 11:36.

    "He is wise who watches"



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