All I can say is the quality of play went up dramatically. Both sides have started to understand what the campaign consequences are going to do to them on following sessions and are acting much more responsibly. We had another great day, I had a load of fun, and we also got a new player (Dave) in on the action.
That said, I think the Huns have dug a hole so deep they will be hard pressed to ever get back in this thing. Now that everyone has learned the basic game, and seems to understand the campaign better, I am thinking we might restart and add the advanced rules and altitude etc...
The player stats will always carry over, so no worries there, and there are some additional campaign tweaks I think we could introduce to streamline things and fix a couple of issues.
I'll send out a discussion email to you guys and let's decide the course.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Player Statistics
After the Saturday session the leader board looks a bit different. Mike von Richthofen is still on top of the pyramid as he has never been shot down. Mark had a good day and pulled even with Mike on kills but he got a taste of a burning crate. Chris is steadily moving up and giving a bit better than he's getting. George's count came alive but he's getting what he's giving. I had a bad case of Kelley syndrome and didn't manage to finish anyone off so I stay put. The big moment of the day was when Kelley got his first kill. After dealing out loads of damage last session only to have his hard work go to others, he was a bit excited. I swear you'd have thought he'd just invented teeth he was grinning so much. Jil and Dave also had Kelley Syndrome. Their play was good and they dealt out a lot of damage for their sides but couldn't seem to be in the right place for finishing.
Monday, June 6, 2011
1st Day Photos
 |
| Chris and Willy wind up shooting each other down in the crowd. |
 |
| Kurt's Recon plane is separated from his escorts and attracting a lot of attention! |
 |
| He runs the Allies a merry chase! |
 |
| But the odds are overwhelming. |
 |
| Mike begins to tail his next victim. |
 |
| Keeping his eye on the ball. |
 |
| Kempf is almost free! |
 | ||
| But Mike gets him with a crack shot at the last moment. |
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Campaign Start Up
We had a great turn out with 8 players for the campaign today. I can't remember the last time I had this much fun!
We are roughly 30% into Day 1 and the Germans are getting hammered, but I think the fortunes are apt to change soon because the Allies have generally had the luck of numbers so far. This is bound to change throughout the day as the Germans get some missions that are more favorable to them and hopefully they can get some payback.
So far we have seen a lot of aggresive play with players taking a lot of foolish chances and getting what they asked for. In this campaign with resources limited, we are going to have to learn to think a little more before jumping into the fire!
We are roughly 30% into Day 1 and the Germans are getting hammered, but I think the fortunes are apt to change soon because the Allies have generally had the luck of numbers so far. This is bound to change throughout the day as the Germans get some missions that are more favorable to them and hopefully they can get some payback.
So far we have seen a lot of aggresive play with players taking a lot of foolish chances and getting what they asked for. In this campaign with resources limited, we are going to have to learn to think a little more before jumping into the fire!
Allied Squadron Roster
Friday, June 3, 2011
Campaign Rules
Here is the stripped down version of the campaign rules. Later on I will post the full deal with design notes and everything else. Anyone who wants this in word or pdf format can just send me an email.
Campaign Turn Sequence:
Example: If you generated 4 HQ assigned missions, you will roll on the following table 4 times and duplicates are possible.
For each mission type generated above, note the location and roll the appropriate dice to establish which Sector Location the Mission will be performed in. Record the results on the Sector Chart below.
ANY Enemy Sectors = Roll 1D6 for Enemy Sectors 1 thru 6.
ANY Sectors = Roll 1D6. On a 1-3, roll 1D6 for Allied Sectors 1 thru 6. On a 4-6, roll 1D6 for Axis Sectors 1 thru 6. Repeat as needed.
ANY Enemy FRONT Sectors = Roll 1D6 for enemy FRONT sectors, divide by two and round up. This will give you Enemy Front Sectors from 1 to 3.
It is very helpful to make little tags or tokens in duplicate so you can have a token with your assigned planes and the corresponding one on the sector map. Tokens labeled Flight 1, Flight 2 etc…
Note: There is one other type of mission, the “Scramble” Mission. These are not assigned missions. They are performed in reaction to enemy activity over your side of the front. In order to perform a Scramble, you must have planes in reserve at your Aerodrome. This will be covered in detail later in the rules but it is important to consider your reserve while planning missions in the assignment phase.
Note: At this time you may now assign as many additional PATROL missions as you like, as long as you have enough pilots and machines. These are squadron commander assigned "hunting missions" without orders from HQ, performed on your own initiative. These optional “hunting” missions may be assigned to any sectors.
Note: A Mission Assignment Worksheet and Sector Chart are provided at the end of these rules. Print them out for easy mission plotting.
Note: All Mission generation should be kept secret from the enemy player(s) until the Mission Assignment phase is completed and locked.
3. Pilot/Aircraft Assignment.
Now the player(s) must assign pilots to the assigned missions. You may assign up to a maximum of 6 planes per mission if you have the resources to do so. Once these assignments are made, they cannot be altered until the next day. Any pilots not assigned to mandatory or optional missions will remain at your home airfield. In many cases you will purposely want to leave a reserve at home in case a scramble mission comes up this turn. If there are no planes left at the airfield, then scramble missions cannot be performed and will automatically fail. This will not only cost you Prestige, but will give the enemy easy Prestige gains in addition. Think of your home field force as a reserve pool for trouble-shooting.
4. Play first assigned mission. (Important! The following items must be performed in this sequence!)
a. Determine the East edge of the board (the Axis edge) and the West edge of the board (the Allied edge). These are the table edges that planes will have to exit from for some missions, and also if players decide they need to quit the fight and run!
b. Place Objective. If this is a strafing, recon, or balloon busting mission, then place the target objective in the center of the table.
c. Determine which table edges the players enter from. One player from each side takes a dice and sets it on the table with his hand over it. Both players reveal the dice at the same time and the results are as follows: 1=North, 2=South, 3=East, and 4=West edges. Both sides place their planes at the designated table edge, facing as desired.
d. If both sides enter from the same edge, then a player from each side rolls a 1D6 and the highest roll wins. The winning side “gets the drop” on the enemy and gets to reposition their planes starting positions on the edge of the table after the “surprised” player places theirs. In case of a tied die roll, re-roll until someone wins. “Getting the drop” simulates one side achieving surprise by flying out of the sun or clouds etc... Or possibly even that the enemy had been drinking heavily the night before! Also, the winning player(s) may opt to deploy as far away as possible in the event that the flight is outnumbered and they may want to flee.
f. Play the mission! Play as you normally do with or without any advanced rules as desired. If players accidentally or purposely exit the map from any edge other than their home edge, there is a chance they will not return from the mission (lost and out of fuel or captured etc…). If a player exits from the North or South edge during a mission, that plane is out of the mission and cannot return. In addition, when the mission is over, the enemy player will roll 1D6 and if the result is a “1” then that plane never returns to base and is MIA. Similarly, if a player exits the table from the enemy edge, all the same conditions apply except that his opponent makes his plane go MIA on a roll of 1 or 2! If any planes are lost as a result of this rule, the enemy squadron gets credit for the “kill” but none of their pilots do.
5. Record Mission Results (Points are cumulative)
Mission Success: (+1 Prestige Point) - Did you destroy your target? (strafing or balloon) Perform successful reconnaissance? (recon) Did you control the table? (patrol or scramble)
Mission Success vs. Enemy with Superior Numbers: (An additional +1 Prestige Point per difference in aircraft quantity) - Instant Hero! They don’t scare you!
Mission Failure: (-1 Prestige Point) – Opposite of Mission Success!
Mission Failure vs. Enemy with Inferior Numbers: (An additional -1 Prestige Point per difference in aircraft quantity) - You hang your head in shame!
Confirmed Aircraft Kill: (+1 Prestige Point per machine) – Your climbing the ladder!
Confirmed Aircraft Loss: (-1 Prestige Point per machine) – You can’t afford this!
Celebrated Kill: (Additional +1 Prestige Point for each kill that the pilot had to his record) – What a payday!
Celebrated Loss: (Additional -1 Prestige Point for each kill that the pilot had to his record) – Its going to be Monday all week!
Fleeing the Mission: (-1 Prestige Point if you flee from equal or smaller enemy otherwise no penalty) - Run away and fight another day!
Note: Mission results can be recorded in any manner acceptable to the players. The important things to track are the status of the machines and the Prestige Points which are the economy of the campaign. When you run out of machines and the Prestige to replace them, you are in trouble. I like to track all kinds of window dressing and sample records can be viewed on my blog.
At the end of each day, the Prestige Points (gains as well as losses) will be totaled out using the Squadron Status Board.
6. Repeat Steps 4 and 5 until all the Missions for the day are completed.
8. Check for new machine acquisitions:
When you have lost a machine you can replace it if you have Prestige Points to spend. So if you lose two machines and have only one rep point available you can only request one new machine until you gain more Prestige. It takes two full days of down time before you can get a new machine. It takes one day to beg, borrow and steal it. Then it is brought in at night and it takes the next full day to prep it for squadron use. The new machine will be ready to go on the third day.
9. Status of injured or downed pilots/crew.
If a crew member is wounded, a pilot goes down in enemy territory, or exits a mission from a non-home edge and goes MIA, there is still a small chance they might survive or return to the unit. Roll a 1D6 for each applicable case:
Wounded – Roll 1D6 and on a 1 it is superficial and he will return on the 3rd day. Any other number is how many weeks he is out.
Downed in enemy territory - Roll 1D6 and on a 1 he returns on the third day.
The only time you should bother with this is if it happens to be a valuable member with kills to his credit. If their machine is replaced before they return a generic “green” pilot can fly until they return and take over.
That’s it, time for the next day!
*** Optional: I record which enemy pilots score kills so that they can represent superior pilots during the campaign.
Receive daily assignments from HQ - (Roll 1D6) Number of Missions: __________
Mission Type Assignment - (Roll 2D6 and compare to table below)
For each mission type generated above, roll the appropriate dice and record in sector location chart below.
ANY Enemy Sectors = Roll 1D6 for Enemy Sectors 1 thru 6.
ANY Sectors = Roll 1D6, on a 1-3 reroll for Allied Sectors 1 thru 6. On a 4-6, reroll for Axis Sectors 1 thru 6.
ANY Enemy Front Sectors = Roll 1D6 for enemy FRONT sectors, divide by two and round up. This will give you Enemy Front Sectors from 1 to 3.
© 2010 LTL Dad – You may print, copy, fold, tear, use, not use, curse, mutilate, enjoy or gripe about this work in any way you like. You may NOT use it for commercial purposes as it is a free works for the gaming community.
Campaign Turn Sequence:
1. Receive daily assignments from HQ - (Roll 1D6) to get number of missions.
These missions are mandatory! Failure to perform mission results in Prestige loss.2. Determine HQ-Assigned Mission Types.
For each mission generated above, Roll 2D6 and determine results on the Mission Type Assignment Table below.Example: If you generated 4 HQ assigned missions, you will roll on the following table 4 times and duplicates are possible.
Mission Type Assignment Table 1
| Mission Type | Die Roll (2D6) | Location |
| Strafing/Bombing | 2, 3 | Any Enemy Sectors |
| Reconnaissance | 4, 5, 9, 10 | Any Enemy Sectors |
| Patrol | 6, 7, 8 | Any Sectors |
| Balloon Busting | 11, 12 | Any Enemy Front Sectors |
ANY Enemy Sectors = Roll 1D6 for Enemy Sectors 1 thru 6.
ANY Sectors = Roll 1D6. On a 1-3, roll 1D6 for Allied Sectors 1 thru 6. On a 4-6, roll 1D6 for Axis Sectors 1 thru 6. Repeat as needed.
ANY Enemy FRONT Sectors = Roll 1D6 for enemy FRONT sectors, divide by two and round up. This will give you Enemy Front Sectors from 1 to 3.
It is very helpful to make little tags or tokens in duplicate so you can have a token with your assigned planes and the corresponding one on the sector map. Tokens labeled Flight 1, Flight 2 etc…
Note: There is one other type of mission, the “Scramble” Mission. These are not assigned missions. They are performed in reaction to enemy activity over your side of the front. In order to perform a Scramble, you must have planes in reserve at your Aerodrome. This will be covered in detail later in the rules but it is important to consider your reserve while planning missions in the assignment phase.
SECTOR CHART
| Allied 6 | Allied 1 (FRONT SECTOR) | Axis 1 (FRONT SECTOR) | Axis 6 |
| Allied 5 (Aerodrome) | Allied 2 (FRONT SECTOR) | Axis 2 (FRONT SECTOR) | Axis 5 (Aerodrome) |
| Allied 4 | Allied 3 (FRONT SECTOR) | Axis 3 (FRONT SECTOR) | Axis 4 |
Note: A Mission Assignment Worksheet and Sector Chart are provided at the end of these rules. Print them out for easy mission plotting.
Note: All Mission generation should be kept secret from the enemy player(s) until the Mission Assignment phase is completed and locked.
3. Pilot/Aircraft Assignment.
Now the player(s) must assign pilots to the assigned missions. You may assign up to a maximum of 6 planes per mission if you have the resources to do so. Once these assignments are made, they cannot be altered until the next day. Any pilots not assigned to mandatory or optional missions will remain at your home airfield. In many cases you will purposely want to leave a reserve at home in case a scramble mission comes up this turn. If there are no planes left at the airfield, then scramble missions cannot be performed and will automatically fail. This will not only cost you Prestige, but will give the enemy easy Prestige gains in addition. Think of your home field force as a reserve pool for trouble-shooting.
Example: I have 12 pilots and planes available this day. I received 3 assignments from HQ and rolled 2 patrols and 1 recon mission. I decide to send three planes on each mission and I leave 3 planes at the airfield in case of a scramble mission. If the enemy is performing a mission over my home territory where I have no forces present, I can then dispatch up to 6 of my reserve planes to intercept the enemy.
4. Play first assigned mission. (Important! The following items must be performed in this sequence!)
a. Determine the East edge of the board (the Axis edge) and the West edge of the board (the Allied edge). These are the table edges that planes will have to exit from for some missions, and also if players decide they need to quit the fight and run!
b. Place Objective. If this is a strafing, recon, or balloon busting mission, then place the target objective in the center of the table.
c. Determine which table edges the players enter from. One player from each side takes a dice and sets it on the table with his hand over it. Both players reveal the dice at the same time and the results are as follows: 1=North, 2=South, 3=East, and 4=West edges. Both sides place their planes at the designated table edge, facing as desired.
d. If both sides enter from the same edge, then a player from each side rolls a 1D6 and the highest roll wins. The winning side “gets the drop” on the enemy and gets to reposition their planes starting positions on the edge of the table after the “surprised” player places theirs. In case of a tied die roll, re-roll until someone wins. “Getting the drop” simulates one side achieving surprise by flying out of the sun or clouds etc... Or possibly even that the enemy had been drinking heavily the night before! Also, the winning player(s) may opt to deploy as far away as possible in the event that the flight is outnumbered and they may want to flee.
f. Play the mission! Play as you normally do with or without any advanced rules as desired. If players accidentally or purposely exit the map from any edge other than their home edge, there is a chance they will not return from the mission (lost and out of fuel or captured etc…). If a player exits from the North or South edge during a mission, that plane is out of the mission and cannot return. In addition, when the mission is over, the enemy player will roll 1D6 and if the result is a “1” then that plane never returns to base and is MIA. Similarly, if a player exits the table from the enemy edge, all the same conditions apply except that his opponent makes his plane go MIA on a roll of 1 or 2! If any planes are lost as a result of this rule, the enemy squadron gets credit for the “kill” but none of their pilots do.
5. Record Mission Results (Points are cumulative)
Mission Success: (+1 Prestige Point) - Did you destroy your target? (strafing or balloon) Perform successful reconnaissance? (recon) Did you control the table? (patrol or scramble)
Mission Success vs. Enemy with Superior Numbers: (An additional +1 Prestige Point per difference in aircraft quantity) - Instant Hero! They don’t scare you!
Mission Failure: (-1 Prestige Point) – Opposite of Mission Success!
Mission Failure vs. Enemy with Inferior Numbers: (An additional -1 Prestige Point per difference in aircraft quantity) - You hang your head in shame!
Confirmed Aircraft Kill: (+1 Prestige Point per machine) – Your climbing the ladder!
Confirmed Aircraft Loss: (-1 Prestige Point per machine) – You can’t afford this!
Celebrated Kill: (Additional +1 Prestige Point for each kill that the pilot had to his record) – What a payday!
Celebrated Loss: (Additional -1 Prestige Point for each kill that the pilot had to his record) – Its going to be Monday all week!
Fleeing the Mission: (-1 Prestige Point if you flee from equal or smaller enemy otherwise no penalty) - Run away and fight another day!
Note: Mission results can be recorded in any manner acceptable to the players. The important things to track are the status of the machines and the Prestige Points which are the economy of the campaign. When you run out of machines and the Prestige to replace them, you are in trouble. I like to track all kinds of window dressing and sample records can be viewed on my blog.
At the end of each day, the Prestige Points (gains as well as losses) will be totaled out using the Squadron Status Board.
6. Repeat Steps 4 and 5 until all the Missions for the day are completed.
8. Check for new machine acquisitions:
When you have lost a machine you can replace it if you have Prestige Points to spend. So if you lose two machines and have only one rep point available you can only request one new machine until you gain more Prestige. It takes two full days of down time before you can get a new machine. It takes one day to beg, borrow and steal it. Then it is brought in at night and it takes the next full day to prep it for squadron use. The new machine will be ready to go on the third day.
9. Status of injured or downed pilots/crew.
If a crew member is wounded, a pilot goes down in enemy territory, or exits a mission from a non-home edge and goes MIA, there is still a small chance they might survive or return to the unit. Roll a 1D6 for each applicable case:
Wounded – Roll 1D6 and on a 1 it is superficial and he will return on the 3rd day. Any other number is how many weeks he is out.
Downed in enemy territory - Roll 1D6 and on a 1 he returns on the third day.
The only time you should bother with this is if it happens to be a valuable member with kills to his credit. If their machine is replaced before they return a generic “green” pilot can fly until they return and take over.
That’s it, time for the next day!
*** Optional: I record which enemy pilots score kills so that they can represent superior pilots during the campaign.
Daily Planning Worksheet
Mission Type Assignment - (Roll 2D6 and compare to table below)
| Mission Type | Die Roll (2D6) | Possible Location | No. of Missions |
| Strafing/Bombing | 2 – 3 | Any Enemy Sectors | |
| Reconnaissance | 4 – 6 | Any Enemy Sectors | |
| Patrol | 7 – 10 | Any Sectors | |
| Balloon Busting | 11 - 12 | Any Enemy Front Sectors | |
ANY Enemy Sectors = Roll 1D6 for Enemy Sectors 1 thru 6.
ANY Sectors = Roll 1D6, on a 1-3 reroll for Allied Sectors 1 thru 6. On a 4-6, reroll for Axis Sectors 1 thru 6.
ANY Enemy Front Sectors = Roll 1D6 for enemy FRONT sectors, divide by two and round up. This will give you Enemy Front Sectors from 1 to 3.
SECTOR CHART
| Allied 6 | Allied 1 (FRONT SECTOR) | Axis 1 (FRONT SECTOR) | Axis 6 |
| Allied 5 (Aerodrome) | Allied 2 (FRONT SECTOR) | Axis 2 (FRONT SECTOR) | Axis 5 (Aerodrome) |
| Allied 4 | Allied 3 (FRONT SECTOR) | Axis 3 (FRONT SECTOR) | Axis 4 |
© 2010 LTL Dad – You may print, copy, fold, tear, use, not use, curse, mutilate, enjoy or gripe about this work in any way you like. You may NOT use it for commercial purposes as it is a free works for the gaming community.
Wings of War Campaign Blog
This blog is for tracking the Wings of War Campaign status for our local gaming group. I will be posting our rules and methods as we go along and hopefully it will be of use to others. My main gaming blog page is http://tacticalminiaturesgaming.blogspot.com/ in case you are interested in miniature gaming and would like to see how the insane do it properly.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)