29 December - Canvas Eagles - Multi-plane scenarios 1 and 2

Chatting to my gaming buddy the other day got me thinking about likely scenarios for our next matchup. The scenarios presented below represent what those mulling options spewed forth. Apologies in advance. 

Scenario 1: Late Night Bomber (I'll be home for breakfast)

Backstory:

A night bomber is late returning from a night mission over northern Germany. A malfunction causes the bomber to fly low whilst detouring away from enemy positions. Unfortunately there is a miscalculations with the navigation and the bomber ends up flying directly over enemy lines who awake to hear the thunderous sound overhead. Alerted, the enemy react. Meanwhile, Allied command, aware the bomber is overdue, orders the forward air units to be on the lookout and safely escort the bomber home for breakfast.

Forces:

• 1 Allied bomber - Handley Page (1)
• A flight of Allied Sopwith Camels (4) 
• Enemy interceptor planes - Fokker DR-1s (2-3)

Conditions:

• Early morning (around 6.00am). Dawn reveals clear visibility to all on this fine spring morning. Hardly a cloud in the sky.
• Bomber starts on either short map edge and must moves the length of hex map to safely exit the opposite end. Doing so safely while still active in the air is deemed a moral victory for the Allies. But winning the match is counted using the Victory conditions (see below). 
• Allied fighters must RV and then safely escort (or defend) the lost bomber. Roll d6 to determine arrival and spawn point.
• Enemy despatches a flight (2-3 aircraft) to intercept and hopefully shoot down the bomber. Their arrival will be diced for on first turn. This includes deployment location and the turn on which they arrive. Their mission is to down the bomber and drive off the escort.
• No Allied plane may spawn to the rear of the bomber relative to its current location. Likewise, the same applies to the Central Powers interceptors who may not spawn forward of the bomber's current location. 
• No aircraft may spawn within 6 hexes of the bomber on dice roll. If this happens, reroll for new spawn point.
• Spawn point and arrival time are determined by a either a d6 (simplified) or d10 (standard) roll for every fighter/scout plane on Turn 1.

Victory:

• Bomber safely exits map = 3 victory points for Allies
• Enemy interceptor driven off or shot down = 1 victory point per interceptor for Allies
• Bomber shot down/crashes = 3 victory points for Central Powers
• Allied escort plane driven off or shot down = 1 victory point per escort for Central Powers
• Compare differentials with best differential wins. 

Spawn:

• Position is ALWAYS relative to the bomber's direction of movement. So, if moving from right map edge to left map, the bomber's right wing tip (from bomber pilot's perspective) is always "north" while the left wing tip is  always "south". Central Powers aircraft can never spawn forward of the bomber. And Allied escort planes can never spawn rearward of the Allied bomber. 
• Note: if the players decide to have the bomber fly from left to right, then the notations are reversed, i.e., bomber's left wing tip is now "north" while the right wing tip is "south". Got it? Good!
• Using basic cardinal points that match with die roll. So, if bomber is flying from right to left then "1" would be "north", "2" would be "north east". "3" is "east", as follows:
• 1 = north
• 2 = north-east
• 3 = east
• 4 = south-east
• 5 = south
• 6 = reroll
• As above so for the Allied escorts arrival only in reverse for die roll 2 to 4. 1, 5, and 6 remain the same. Therefore:
• 1 = north
• 2 = north-west
• 3 = west
• 4 = south-west
• 5 = south
• 6 = reroll
• If bomber is flying left to right, for the Central Powers spawn point is as follows:
• 1 = north
• 2 = north-west
• 3 = west
• 4 = south-west
• 5 = south
• 6 = reroll
• As above but for Allied escort planes:
• 1 = north
• 2 = north-east
• 3 = east
• 4 = south-east
• 5 = south
• 6 = reroll
• Spawn for either Central Powers or Allied escorts triggers whenever d10 rolls greater than 5 for either side. Let's hope the Allied have a non-incident free flight then and they can get home to a hot cooked full English breakfast. 

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Scenario 2: Reconnaissance over the front line (I see you!)

Backstory:

Captain James "Lofty" Chambers and Lieutenant Egmont "Treetops" Hassler have been ordered to locate the positions of the newly arrived 165th Artillery regiments near St-Iglaire flying their B.E.2c "Checkers". Accompanying them flying covering escort will be a single fighter flown by Lieutenant Thomas "Over the top, boys!" Marchelton-Shivers either in one of them "new fandangles foisted on us by the Air Ministry" DH-2 or his old but reliable Sopwith Triple "Betsy". This is an afternoon flight. The early summer day has been warm for the most part but it looks like "clouding over, so the Met boys believe so". Can the duo find their elusive prize or will it be another empty unrewarding afternoon mission over enemy lines. Lofty hopes so. 

Forces:

• 1 Allied scout/reconnaissance aircraft - B.E.2c (variant to be clarified in batrep)
• 1 Allied fighter escort - Airco DH-2 or Sopwith Triple
• 2 Central Powers Fokker E-IIIs
• 3 German ground artillery batteries (1 gun model represents battery)

Conditions:

• Suitable hex map board (3 x 4)
• Artillery gun models (representing batteries)
• Allied aircraft appear anywhere along a long hex map edge flying towards enemy lines. Dice for altitude of both planes. Both planes start no further apart than two hexes.
• Enemy aircraft will appear once the first artillery battery location is revealed. They may enter only from the map edge up to the AO limits (see further down). Aircraft arrive as one group. Normal altitude die roll takes place for every aircraft. 
• Recon aircraft must locate every enemy battery. These remain hidden until revealed. Their hidden location is written down by player controlling enemy guns PRIOR to start of game and only disclosed once the Allied recon plane enters the individual battery's arena of operations (ARO).
• Enemy battery guns cannot deploy within 3 hex radius of each other nor may they deploy any further apart from one another more than 7 hexes apart.
• The artillery regiment's AO (area of operations) limits cannot be closer than 4 hexes from the Allied planes map edge. 
• Once the recon aircraft enters anywhere inside an enemy battery's hex arena (3 hex radius), the enemy player immediately reveals its location by placing said bty model on board in its true location. 
• Allied player MAY then choose to bomb it (B.E.2 carries one hand-held bomb dropped by observer) if able to. Otherwise, it will record that location and move on to the next location. If successful in bombing bty, result counts towards final victory (see below). 

Victory:

• Enemy battery successfully located = 1 victory point to Allies
• Enemy battery successfully bombed = 1 victory point to Allies
• Recon aircraft safely exiting map board on own side = 1 victory point to Allies
• Recon aircraft shot or crashes = 1 victory point to Central Powers
• Enemy battery not located = 1 victory point to Central Powers per hidden bty
• Enemy fighter driven off (exits map board) or shot down = 1 victory point to Allies
• Compare victory points. The side with the better differential.

Cheers.

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Multi-plane Canvas Eagles game - 27 December 2023

 Caught up with my gaming buddy for our first multi-plane game. Four-vs-four.

 

After selecting sides and start zones, we deployed.

 

 

Pilots for Central Powers are based on historical figures - Jacobs, Voss, and Kleinke. Von Braun is fictional name. The three historical planes are Fokker DR-1 which are C stability meaning they can turn either way without penalty. Von Braun is A stability meaning he will have to fly straight before turning in new direction. Got it? Good!

 

 

The Allied pilots are fictional names. The two Italian airforce pilots - Luigi and Manfredi - are flying SPAD VIIs while Derek and Monty are flying SPAD XIIIs. All four planes are B stability which is like A stability meaning they need to fly straight before turning in any new direction. Map is custom-made. 4" hexes overlaid on a desert satellite image.  

 

Image doctored with background rubbed out using Paint. Next time we are looking to setting up screens painted up as sky for better photo taking.

 

 

Another doctored image using Paint brushes/spray tool achieving same result as previous photo. This image shows all four Central Powers aircraft entering combat at various heights. 

Herein the batrep is fairly simple and straightforward. I, playing the Allies, found myself assailed quickly by my more aggressive and wily Central Powers opponent spearheaded by the legendary Voss. For much of the remainder of the game, the Allies were on the bad end of a hammering. Out-maneouvred. Out-played. But they hung in there until the end when my opponent eased off on the thunder hammer. 

No crashes. One spin-out on my side but he recovered quick enough. Guns jammed a few times on both sides but did not hamper play apart from easing off on the throttling by Voss. Damage delivered was telling (on my planes) and Manfredi would later claim his aircraft was only held together when he landed by his constant praying.

Next match up will feature more multi-planes including a Handley Page bomber painted up in night bomber camo. Thanks again to Simon for being a great sport. He is proving a deadly and focused opponent. We both agreed beforehand though that the planes looked impressive. 

Until then...