By Mike Crane
The appearance of this article as the sample game for June was a delightful surprise. However, it appeared in a 2015 issue of Lone Warrior magazine and although that doesn’t seem so long ago, I had forgotten the “feel” of playing the game. So, I printed the article and cut out the counters late one night and played the game the next day. Here is an account of my experience. A clipboard with notebook paper was handy for taking notes and a cellphone with a camera was a useful memory aid.
Getting Started
First, 1d6 was rolled for each German plane to determine the type of target it would attack. A roll of 1-3 would mean the German fighter (GF) was dogfighting with an American fighter (AF) and 4-6 would mean it was attacking an American bomber (AB). In this game, three FW190s would roll the lower numbers — GF1 rolled (3); GF2 (1); and GF6 (2) — and would dogfight with the US fighters while the remaining five avoided the American fighter cover and attacked the US bombers. GF3 rolled (6); GF4 (4); GF5 (6); GF7 (5) and GF8 (6). The German planes were divided into two groups: (1) those that would attack the enemy fighters, and (2) those that would attack the bombers.
Identifying Individual Targets
After that, 1d8 was rolled to identify which US fighter each German fighter would attack. GF1 would attack (8), GF2 rolled (7), and GF6 would hit (3). A 1d12 was rolled to identify the American bomber (AB) targets. GF3 would attack (8), GF4 (7), GF5 (10), GF7 (10), and GF8 (3). Notice that AB10 would be attacked by two FW 190s—GF5 and GF7.
Fighter vs. Fighter
The Germans shot down two American fighters (AF8 and AF7) and an Americans P-51 (AF3) shot down one FW190 (GF6).
GF1 vs. AF8 (6,1) = AF8; G2 vs. AF7 (5,1) = AF7; GF6 vs. AF3 (1,4) = GF6.
Fighter vs. Bomber
German fighters destroyed one American bomber (AB7) and damaged two others (AB10-1 and AB3-1).
GF3 vs, AB8 (2,2) = miss; GF4 vs. AB7 (6,2) = AB7; GF5 vs. AB10 (3,5) = AB10-1; GF7 vs. AB10-1 (2,3) miss; GF8 vs. AB3 (3,2) = AB3-1
Flak Attack
Flak took out one bomber (AB3) that already had been hit by a German fighter and damaged two others (AB2-1 and AB12-1).
AB1 (5); AB2 (11) = AB2-1; AB3-1 (10) = AB3; AB4 (1); AB5 (2); AB6 (4); AB8 (8); AB9 (5); AB10-1 (6); AB11 (8); AB12 (10) = AB12-1.
Bomber Score
One d12 was rolled for each surviving bomber. The numbers rolled were placed in the appropriate boxes and added for the total bombing score. The German’s lost one aircraft (5 points) and the Americans lost four aircraft—two fighters and two bombers (20 points). Since the Germans shot down more US planes, subtract 5 from 20. Subtract the remaining 15 points from the bombing score of 70. Since 55 Victory Points is more than the 50 points needed for an American win, this mission is listed as an American victory. Follow the same procedure for the next missions. If you decide to play a campaign, the side that wins three of five missions will win the campaign. Good luck!
Afterword
I hope playing this sample mission has been useful to you. Enjoy the game!