WW1 Aerial Combat with a Twist!

This past Thursday our group of five "old guys" met for lunch followed by a game at Steve's house.  I brought my Wings of War/Wings of Glory WW1 biplanes for some afternoon aerial combat over France.  Please click on the pictures for a larger image.

As game master, I developed two fairly similar scenarios set in mid to late 1917.  In the first game, two German light bombers, escorted by two fighters, had to bomb some targets in the British rear area in support of a German offensive.  They were opposed by four British fighters.  In the second game, the roles were reversed and two French light bombers, escorted by two French fighters, had to bomb some targets in the German rear area in support of a French offensive.  They were opposed by four German fighters.

German vs British scenario -- Two Rumpler C IV escorted by two Albatros D III against one Bristol F2B, one SE-5, and two SE-5A.

French vs. German scenario -- Two Breguet BR-14 escorted by two Nieuport 17 against two Albatros D III and two Pfalz D III.

In each scenario, there were six targets randomly aligned across the defenders side of the playing area.  The bombers could choose to bomb just one target with their full load or three different targets with 1/3 loads each.

Game 1:

The Germans divided their aircraft into a bomber and a fighter for each player and chose to bomb single targets.  The British had the F2B and the SE-5 under one player's control and the two SE-5As under the other.  As the second round began, the British planes fly over a massive cloud formation when suddenly out of the clouds came two flying reptiles who were disturbed by the offensive noise of the airplane engines!  They immediately attacked two of the British planes.

Notice in the background that one of the SE-5As is already on fire and the Brisfit in the foreground is gunning for the tan reptile.

The orange flying reptile was shot to pieces fairly quickly (they only had a damage level of 6) before it could cause too much damage to its SE-5A target while the second stayed latched onto its British fighter target (the SE-5).

The pilot of that SE-5 tried Immelmann after Immelmann to shake the reptile. but couldn't as his plane came apart under the claws of the beast and both of them fell from the sky.

Germans were able to hit both targets and get their bombers headed for home before the British could seriously intefere.

I had fun controlling the flying reptiles to the initial consternation of the four players.

Game 2:

With the palyers' roles reversed, the British decided on the same organization, one bomber and one fighter per player, while the the Germans each controlled a pair of similar fighters, either two Albratros or two Pfalz.

An initial scrum with the red Albatros sliding in between a Breguet and a Nieuport while the blue Albatros wanders around, getting pegged by the Bregeut's forward gun.

Later in the action both Pfalz and the red Albatros team up to down a Bregeut but the camo winged Pfalz is also shot down by the Bregeut's observer/gunner.

In this game, the French only succeeded in bombing one target with a partial bomb load.

Everyone had fun which was the object of the gaming!

More Flying in the Friendly French Skies

For our 'Old Guys" Thursday get together last week, I brought over my Wings of War/Wings of Glory WW1 biplanes for some fun dogfighting.  We divided into Allied and Central Powers sides and each of the four players chose two planes, without any consideration of whether they would actually have been in the air at the same time.  I acted as umpire until one of the Central Powers players had to leave to attend to a business conference on Zoom (bah!!!).

Allied Powers:  Russ chose a pair of Nieuport 28s while Steve chose a pair of Sopwith Camels.

Central Powers:  Jay chose a Fokker Dr-1 and a D-VII while Ed chose a Fokker Dr-1 and an Albatros D-III.

We used my new Cigar Box aerial battle mat which, to my eye, looked really good.

After a couple of turns maneuvering for advantage, the action began:

In the distance, Russ and Jay go at each other while close-up Steve and Ed start to get tangled up.

Russ' pair of Nieuport's try to get on the tail of Kempt's Dr-1.

The Red Baron and a Camel (Snoopy maybe) go head to head while the Albatros wanders around.  It was about this time that Steve lost his first Camel, shot down by the Albatros.

Sometime later, Russ lost his first Nieuport to Ed's Dr-1 (Red Baron) and gets Kempf's Dr-1 on the tail of his remaining Nieuport with the Fokker D-VII right ahead.  Steve's remaining Camel is on fire and trying to stay clear.

From a different angle, Ed's Albatros and Dr-1 are looking for targets.  About this time Ed had to leave so I took over his planes.

My Albatros and Steve's burning Camel go head-to-head while Jay's D-VII and Dr-1 also fire at the Camel.  Both the Albatros and the Camel are blown out of the sky.  Russ' remaining Nieuport is keeping his distance.

Another angle of the above action.  Russ tries to figure out what he will do next.

After this, Jay's D-VII, which was badly damaged fled the scene of the action with Russ' Nieuport in pursuit, followed by both of the Dr-1s.  But none of the planes could close into firing range so we ended the game.

Results:

Russ lost one Nieuport 28 and didn't manage to shoot down any German plane.

Steve lost both of his Camels but did manage to shoot down the Albatros.

Ed's Dr-1 shot down a Camel as did his Albatros (under my command) but the Albatros was lost.

Jay, while not shooting down anyone, also didn't have either of his planes shot down.

But the main thing was that we all had a blast!!

Wings of War/Glory Storage (continued)

Last night I completed all of the lattices for the five boxes in which I will be storing almost all of my WW1 biplanes.  If you'll recall, I reported on the start of this project several days ago.

Here are the five boxes:

Box 1 -- Fifteen Allied Powers single-seat fighters

Box 2 -- Fifteen Central Powers single-seat fighters

Box 3 -- Mixed Allied and Central Power single- and two-seat fighters and bomber/recce planes

Box 4 -- Eight Allied Powers two-seat bomber/recce planes

And Box 5 -- One Allied two-seat fighter and four Central Powers two-seat bomber/recce planes

The planes that are not in these boxes are my four heavy bombers (two Gothas and two Capronis, still in their original boxes) and the four single-seat fighters (two Allied and two German) in the Revised Deluxe Set box, as well as my Snoopy in his trusted Camel doghouse, although he will probably ed up in Box 5.

These will fit in two one-cubic foot cardboard storage boxes with room left over for a box holding the control panels and rule books.

Now all I have to do is get busy printing and folding the maneuver deck and damage deck boxes.

Wings of War/Glory Storage

As I've increased my holdings of WW1 Wings of War/Glory biplanes, it has become quickly apparent that lugging all of them around has become prohibitive.  My current storage is two "legal size" clam shell document boxes plus the original boxes in which they came, all in one large plastic bin..

As you can see, I was using plastic 1/4" (~ 6.3 mm) H-columns placed just far enough apart that I could slide the bases and planes between them as well as keep the plane cards under each base.  But the planes were not perfectly secure as it is hard to keep the plastic columns perfectly aligned.

So I researched what other WoW/G gamers have done over on the "Wings of Glory Aerodrome" forum.  There were a couple of usable systems but in this time of "stay at home" I couldn't justify getting out to buy the components, especially as I fall into one of the "more likely to catch it" categories.  So I started planning to use what I did have.  My first foray was out of foam core but I quickly realized that wouldn't work - took up too much room and was difficult to cut and fit.

My second foray used a lattice of mat board about 1/16" (~ 1.5mm) thick.  That worked much better as it was easier to cut and gave me more room in the box I was using.  Here's the first completed box.

It holds 15 small fighters.  Eventually I'll have two of this type, one for Allied and one for Central Powers planes.  This "mixed" box has, from the left, three Fokker D VII, three Fokker Dr I, three Sopwith Camels, three SPAD XIII, and three Sopwith Snipes.  My Albatros D III, Pfalz D III, Phoenix D I, and Nieuport 17, 23, and 28 planes will all fit in this arrangement.  Overall I am very satisfied with this arrangement.

This is another view of the box showing how I attached the individual plane cards using a rubber coated paper clip.  The bottom is lined with a rubberized shelf liner that helps to keep the planes from sliding around too much.  I also have some thin padding that I'll use as well on the sides of each cell.

The other planes will go into three boxes -- one with three SE-5/5A, four Albatross D V, and five small two-seaters (Rolands and Ufags); one with eight larger two-seaters (all Allied); and one with five larger two-seaters (Central Powers and Allied) plus room for boxed maneuver and damage decks and bagged markers.

The boxes I'll use are by the Sterilite Company which I get at our local Target.  They are designed for American "letter" (11" x 8-1/2") paper.  I use them for troop storage, both 15mm and 25/28mm.  The interior dimensions are 12" (~ 305mm) by 9" (~ 229mm).  The lattice is 2" (~ 51mm) tall and notched to fit together.  The lattice fits into the box very snugly, preventing any lateral movement.  For additional security during movement I can lay a piece of bubble wrap on top.

This is the label of the box.  They are relatively inexpensive, about $7.00 (US) each.  The advantages of these boxes are they are dust and water resistant, have locking clasps, and will fit into a standard one-cubic foot cardboard box for easy transport.

I'll post additional pictures of the completed boxes once I get them done -- see link.

Snoopy and the Red Baron

A little fun was had at Col Campbell's Barracks this weekend.  I found a rubber toy of Snoopy as a WW1 pilot sitting on top of his doghouse on eBay.  That plus a standard flight base and several flight pegs from Aerodrome Accessories and an airplane card courtesy of the Wings of War Forum made ---

Snoopy pursues his nemesis!

Will the Red Baron get away?

The Snoopy airplane card

We'll see how well this "slightly" oversized characture does in actual combat sometime in the future.

Hope you enjoyed my silliness!

Gotha Raid on a Bridge

Lats Thursday several of the retired Jackson Gamers gathered for our weekly lunch and game.  This time we again flew the "unfriendly" skies of war-torn Europe using my Wings of War/Wings of Glory airplanes.  The scenario originally was for two German Gotha bombers to raid targets behind the allied lines with six allied two-seaters operating in defense.  But I only had enough maneuver cards for three allied planes so I reduced the bomber strength to one.

The bomber (flown by me) had a choice of two targets.  I chose the bridge which was only "protected" by one allied fighter.  It was an interesting mission as I overflew my turn-in point for the bomb run and had to make a different approach.  I think that mistake sealed my doom as you'll see below.

We had a plethora of engine's smoking and catching fire on both sides as well as many machine guns jamming.

As usual, please click on the pictures for a larger image.

After making the turn toward the bridge target, my Gotha is pursued by two enemy fighters.

After the successful bombing run, I head for home, pursued by all three enemy fighters.  "Ace" pilot Lord Sterling (red shirt) ruefully considers the consequences of allowing the Gotha to get away.

But I didn't.  The Belgian "ace" Russ shot me down just before I could cross the front lines.

Having missed my turn-in point was my downfall.  That extra set of maneuvering I had to do was what sealed my doom.  But it was a fun and exciting game especially as machine guns jammed just at the worst (or best for the traget's point of view) times.  At one time I had both my forward and aft guns jammed for a series of three maneuver cards.

"A Bridge Not Too Far"

Several weeks ago a small group of the Jackson Gamers joined in a Wings of War/Wings of Glory WW1 aerial game.  I decided to give one of my newly acquired "giants" an outing.  A Caproni bomber, escorted by two SPAD XIIIs was to bomb a bridge behind German lines to disrupt the flow of enemy reinforcements and supplies to a crucial section of the front.  The Germans spotted the approaching giant and scrambled four Albatross D-Vs to engage the bomber.  The ensuing action was captured by an Allied photo reconnaissance aircraft.

The Caproni and one of its SPAD XIII escorts in the foreground and the four German Albatross in the background.

As an Albatross draws a bead on the Caproni, so does its rear gunner on the Albatross.  Unfortunately the Albatross' machine guns jam!

And down the Albatross goes under the deadly fire from the Caproni's rear gunner.  Unfortunately the Caproni took some hits from another Albatross which wounded its rear gunner.

The SPADs engage the Albatrosses as the Caproni lumbers toward the target,

Reaching the bridge, the Caproni releases its bomb load, but its aim was a little off and it only crated the far side approaches to the bridge.  By this time the front gunner had also been wounded and the Caproni couldn't return any fire on the annoying Albatrosses.

One of the SPADs shoots down another Albatross as the Caproni, with an engine on fire, returns to the dubious safety of the Allied lines.

This was the first outing with a heavy bomber.  Although the target was missed, at least two of the German fighters were shot down.  I think that with more "practice" the bomb aimer can do a better job.

Flying the (Not So) Friendly Skies

Col Campbell has gone into the aeronautics business, obtaining a large horde of Wings of War/Wings of Glory WW1 aircraft.  I ran my first game last Saturday with some of our gaming club.  There were six players (3 Allied and 3 German) who each controlled two fighters.  After a brief "basic pilot's school" they went to "Fly the Friendly Skies" of 1918 France.

Here are some of the pictures I took during the game.  Please click on them to get a larger image.

A British Sopwith Snipe smokes after taking fire from a German Albatros.

The "Red Baron" dodges Rickenbacker's SPAD XIII while another Albatros seeks a foe.

One of the first casualties, a British Sopwith Snipe

Planes speeding by each other as they try to outmaneuver the foe.

Rene Fonck's SPAD XIII goes down.

More swirling planes trying to get a bead on the foe.

The Allies are starting to look outnumbered in this "furball"

And Rickenbacker goes down with an engine fire and severe rudder damage.

It was a learning game for everyone, including me as game master, but everyone seemed to have fun trying to outfly their opponents.

We'll definitely be trying this again, maybe using either some 2-seaters in a light bombing or recon role or some of the "giant" bombers I got.