Gritty Goblin Games Wings of War/Glory, 14 March 2024
This month we had four pilots, Todd aka Pseudotheist, Michael aka CaptWillard, Jim aka Jim and myself. We flew two missions, one involving tanks! And the second a Gotha bombing mission.
French Armor & AEF Wings - September 1918 AAR#1:
As part of the Hundred Days Offensive in eastern France, the French and American forces have launched a joint assault on the German defensive line of three machine gun (MG) nests. The French have assembled a force of three Renault tanks to spearhead the attack supported by the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) Air Service comprising a Nieuport 28 and a SPAD XIII (both A-firing).
The Germans have alerted their local winged ground-attack compatriots for support and three Halberstadt CL.IIs (B-firing two-seaters) are enroute.
Special rules
The MG nests can only use infantry rifle fire rules against enemy aircraft, i.e., if an aircraft overlaps the card, the aircraft draws a B-damage card and suffers any special damage effects but not damage points. The nests cannot inflict damage on the tanks. The nests need to receive 5 damage points by tank or aircraft fire or be overlapped by a tank card to be eliminated.
The tanks set up three ruler lengths from the MG defensive line. They move half a ruler length at the beginning of the third movement phase of each turn and fire a half-ruler length inflicting one B-damage. The tanks cannot shoot at airplanes. They can turn using an XA maneuver card but that is the extent of that movement. They need to receive 10 damage points to be eliminated or receive special damage of fire, engine hits or a Boom card to be immobilized.
Otherwise Boom cards count as half damage rounded down for airplanes or MG nests.
Victory conditions:
The Entente forces achieve a marginal victory if all machine gun (MG) nests are destroyed.
The Entente forces achieve a significant victory if all MG nests are destroyed and at least one tank moves completely beyond the MG defensive line.
German marginal victory requires all tanks to be destroyed or disabled and at least one MG nest remains.
The Germans achieve a significant victory if all tanks are destroyed, at least one MG nest remains and all Entente aircraft are destroyed or leave the field.
My thanks to Dom/Spoonfrog and Gary/Baxter for leveraging their AARs for inspiring this scenario.
Three German machine gun nests on the eastern edge with the Halberstadts flying cover. Todd is flying the two to the south including the yellow/red striped one and I have the white striped one to the north. I had to double-up Todd with two Halberstadts for scenario balance after my earlier test run at my aerodrome indicated the need for three defending aircraft. The red/white striped pipe cleaner marks the Hindenburg line.
The French armor start line with the American Nieuport 28 and two Renault tanks to the south led by Michael and the American SPAD XIII and the third tank led by Jim.
Both sides advance towards each other.
The Michael’s Nieuport tangles with Todd’s pair of Halberstadts which are flying in a very tight formation to ease the challenge of flying two aircraft.
The resulting exchange bodes ill for the Nieuport as the first set of cards from the Halberstadts includes the dreaded Boom card, fortunately the half-damage variety.
Next turn has the Halberstadt observers deliver the coup de grace to the Nieuport.
Jim’s SPAD avenges the Nieuport by flying past my Halberstadt and eliminating the northern machine gun nest. A bomb crater signifies its demise.
Meanwhile Todd and I put shots on the tanks which need 10 points of damage to stop them.
As the French armor slowly advances, the remaining American mixes it up with the three Halberstadts.
The SPAD finds himself in a Halberstadt sandwich but still knocks out the southern machine gun nest with one well-placed burst of fire from his Vickers.
Todd’s pair of Halberstadts get in a perfect position on the advancing tanks and sets the southern tank on fire which immobilizes it.
Next turn Todd inflicts engine damage on the center tank which stops it in its tracks.
As Todd pours more lead in the remaining tank, Jim’s SPAD does likewise to the remaining MG nest.
Close range shots from Todd and my Halberstadts on the remaining tank result in four goose eggs!
Todd’s next round of shooting hits home as the tank receives 10 damage points and erupts in flames.
The plucky American continues the battle taking on the best the Halberstadts can throw at him, as he sees the remaining MG has 4 damage points and only needs one more for an Entente victory.
And his next burst of Vickers lead scores just enough to take out the remaining MG.
But the American cannot escape the wrath of the Halberstadts and finally goes down. But what a run of 0’s!
Todd’s yellow Halberstadt took some damage while his other bird was never fired upon.
While my bird was barely touched except for the headache the pilot received from the SPAD.
So with the elimination of all the MG nests, the Franco-American forces achieve a marginal victory which will allow the ground troops to swarm through the gap in the German defensive lines and onto the end of the war. A well fought game with carnage a plenty.
Renault Tanks at Nampcel August 1918
French Renault FT-17 tanks passing through the village of Nampcel, 20 August 1918. Imperial War Museums French First World War Official Exchange Collection.
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Originally Posted by RJG173
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