Wings of Glory - The Twenty Minuters, part 1

The Twenty Minuters, part 1

The scenario background, mission objectives and house rules can be found here. This battle report was a solo game so that I could learn the rules for Wings of Glory. Ever late to the game when it comes to finding great wargames, I'm often learning when everyone else has long stopped playing the game and its pretty much out of print. Well, better late than never, I say!

TURN 1

The Germans in this battle report will be governed by the scenario Solo AI movement rules. As such, suitable options for their flight paths throughout the game were chosen by a roll of the die.

The Brown Albatross

The White Albatross

The Germans are sporting two Albatross C.III with observer/rear gunners. These will be referred to as the "Brown Albatross", and the "White Albatross" in this battle report. This may cause some confusion as the White Albatross is more of a lighter blue than white, and the Brown Albatross has tan coloured wings. It's confusing, I know, but you'll work it out.

The British today comprise of Lord Flashheart in his SE.5a, and a Rookie pilot named Berty Pemberton flying a Sopwith Camel.

Note of continuity: if one remembers the Blackadder episode correctly, Lord Flashhearts' crashed aircraft looked like a Sopwith Camel and the flying aircraft where Baldrick was fooling around in just before he and Blackadder were shot down by The Red Barron appeared to be a single seater SE.5a. So, because they look good, and because both appeared in the Blackadder episode, I'm running with them. The SE.5a looks too cool for Lord Flashheart to not have chosen it for himself in this little adventure, so he will be flying the SE.5a.

This battle reports contenders

Phase 1 to 3

The opening phases of the battle see the contenders closing on one another.

Lord Flashheart hand signals to Berty to take the Brown Albatross to his 1 O'Clock position whilst he will attack the White Albatross dead ahead. The Bosch meanwhile spot the incoming threat and move to intercept. Neither side however is currently in range and so no shooting can take place this turn.

TURN 2

The combatants have a clear LOS to each other, and the Germans choose their three movement options before randomly selecting the turn's movement cards for each aircraft.

The roll of the dice determines the German movement card pile used this turn.

Phase 1

While the combatants close. Lord Flashheart decides to attempt to attack his targeted Albatross from the side, thus narrowing its options to fire back at him. In order to do this, he is going to attempt to use the cloud bank to his left side to block LOS. Thus, attacking the German aircraft for out of the cloud bank as the Germans pass by.

Phase 2

Berty and his German opposite number close to maximum firing range. Both pilots firing salvos at one another. Berty scores 5 damage on the German aircraft and injures the pilot. His bullets hitting just as the German fired as amazingly Berty suffers no damage in return. "Wow, not bad Rookie", Lord Flashheart quips as he observes the confrontation before the cloud bank blocks his line of sight. If the German pilot suffers a second hit, then he will be either dead or incapacitated, and the aircraft will careen out of the sky. Observers only require one hit to be incapacitated. Pilots are more important you see. Just ask them.

Phase 3

As the aircraft pass one another, the observer on the Brown Albatross fires on Berty at close range. The first machinegun burst (i.e. the first damage card drawn) does no damage, but the second damage card drawn sees Berty's aircraft suffer 2 points of damage. However, the shot also hits Berty's rudder. This causes him to lose the ability to undertake right hand manoeuvres for the next three phases. So, for the next turn, Berty's manoeuvring options will be limited. Not a good start for our Rookie pilot.

With that Turn 2 comes to a close. Berty experiences his first taste of battle and the Germans head relentlessly towards their main objective, the observation of the Entente forces. What will happen next?

Will Flashheart be able to out manoeuvre his opponent? Will Berty survive for more than 20 minutes in their air?* Will the Germans achieve their objective and make it back to their airfield safely. Stay tuned!

* The average life span of a British pilot towards the middle and later part of the war was 11 weeks if I remember correctly. But don't take my word for it.

The Twenty Minuters - A Wings of Glory scenario

The Twenty Minuters

Scenario Background

With low cloud partially obscuring the battlefield, the Central Powers are having difficulty in accurately spotting from their observation balloons. Consequently, things are rather quiet across the battlefield this day. In order to liven things up and guide their artillery, German aircraft have been sent up to assist in the reconnaissance of enemy positions.

This day however sees that the skies over the trenches will not go uncontested. Entente aircraft from the British Royal Flying Corps patrol the skies looking for enemy encroachment. Led by non-other than the ace Lord Flashheart himself (Captain, RFC), two British fighters search for their Hun adversaries.

Lord Flashheart, Captain RFC

The Opposing Forces

Lord Flashheart is currently Squadron Commander The 20 Minuters. A mythical flying squadron of the RFC that comprises mostly freshly trained pilots. On patrol with him today is Berty Pemberton who recently graduated from flying school and newly arrived in France. He is more than a little eager to not be found wanting in the eyes of his hero and mentor Captain Flashheart. Berty accordingly has the Rookie trait in this scenario.

Lord Flashheart pilots an SE.5A whilst Berty Pemberton is flying a Sopwith Camel.

Opposing the British airmen today are two German Albatross C.III's. These are piloted by Fritz and Hanz. But that's unimportant right now. Accompanying each pilot is an observer. This fact however will be important in this scenario.

The Mission

The mission is a simple one. The Germans must get over the Entente lines and make an observation run of their enemy's position. The British must prevent this from happening.

The Briefing

If a German aircraft can reach the Entente lines, which is one target stick's width from the Entente side of the table, and return to their own table's edge and exit the board, they will score 1 Victory Point. This means that the Germans can gain up to 2 Victory Points if they can get both of their aircraft over the Entente lines to observer the enemy.

However, in order to "observe" the Entente line, the German observer onboard the aircraft must be alive. The observer doesn't need to be alive when the aircraft returns to the German side of the table as photos and notes will survive the observer should they be killed. The observer however must be alive when the German aircraft enters the Entente line. If the observer is killed whilst the aircraft is in the Entente line, then it's considered that the observer didn't get the job done. His notes are lost overboard, and the photos aren't taken.

The British must either chase away the German aircraft or shoot them down. Alternatively, if they manage to kill the observers on both German aircraft, the Germans will return to their own side unable to score Victory Points.

For each aircraft that is shot down, 1 Victory Point will be awarded. So, the Germans could win a total of 4 Victory Points for this scenario, from observations of Entente positions and enemy aircraft shot down, whilst the British can score only a maximum of 2 Victory Points for shooting down the German aircraft. If you want to be even handed, then give the British 1 Victory Point for each observer killed before the German aircraft can make or complete an observation of the Entente position.

House Rules

The following house rules apply to this scenario.

Traits

• Lord Flashheart has the Sharp Eye and Daredevil traits.
• Berty Pemberton has the Rookie trait.

Cloud Bank

• The banks of cotton wool cloud block line of sight (LOS). If an aircraft is either within the Cloud Bank, or a Cloud Bank is intervening between two opposing aircraft, then LOS is lost, and the aircraft cannot be targeted by each other.

Height

• Height rules aren't being played in this scenario. But can be used if so desired.
• If Height is being used, the Cloud Bank house rule still applies as the clouds are considered to be extensive enough in height to continue to block LOS.
• By mutual agreement, the Cloud Bank block of LOS can be disregarded if the players agree to a maximum height for the cloud tops. But don't overcomplicate things.

Charmed and Fated Life

• Lord Flashheart is considered to be as having a Charmed and Fated Life. This means that he is only able to be killed in a scenario where the Red Baron is also in that scenario. If the Red Baron is not in the scenario, and Captain Flashheart is "killed" or shot down, he miraculously survives by some twist of fate.

Solo Rules

• For Solo Rules play, choose three sets of the three movement cards for the non-player aircraft and place them in separate piles with the aircraft. Now roll a single d6 dice. On a 1-2, the lefthand set of movement cards will be used by that aircraft for the upcoming turn. On a 3-4, the middle set of movement cards will be used. On a roll of 5-6, the righthand set of movement cards will be used. Discard the non-chosen cards back into the movement card deck so as to not confuse yourself (like I almost did!).
• A logical set of movement cards should be chosen for these three piles each turn, and a pile chosen at random to simulate the pilot of the aircraft attempting to fulfil the mission objective for their side whilst not placing their aircraft in danger from enemy fire.
• Whenever an enemy aircraft is in range and has LOS, the non-player aircraft will shoot at the player aircraft. If there is a choice of aircraft to shoot at, the non-player will shoot at the closest enemy aircraft. If the distance is equal, then roll to randomly choose which aircraft is shot at.

An example of randomly choosing the movement cards of the non-player aircraft that turn.

Set-up

• Aircraft can be set up anywhere on their side of the table within their deployment zone. The deployment zone for each side is one Target Stick's length from their side of the table.

Ignore all my crap at the end of the table. I need to put all that away somewhere.

The length of the scenario will be as long as it takes for one side or the other to reach their objectives.

Mar's Attacks - The Foreshadowing Battle Report - Turn 5

TURN 5

Note: Go over to here if you want to see Turn 4.

"We're screwed. Game over, man. Game over."@

@ - Trivia question. For 5 points, can you identify the movie this line comes from?

Initiative Phase

With things looking very bad for the Bandits, they win the Initiative for the turn giving them a chance to escape. The Martians will activate after the Bandits, then the Mercenaries thereafter before finally the Zombies. But if the Martians escape, its Game over!

Movement Phase

The Bandits waste no time in fleeing the field. The Zombies, who are just out of melee, look on with blank and muted faces.

Run away. Run awaaaaaayyy.

The Bandits lost a total of six of their nine strong crew, leaving only three survivors. A stunning defeat for the Bandits who hopped to find some juicy loot to sell on the black market.

The dishonourable dead and the fleeing.

The Martians get to activate next and the first thing they have to do is see if their Engineer has fixed their flying saucer. Needing a total of 8, and (being now Turn 5) with a +5 bonus to the die roll, he rolls a total of 11. The Martians are out of there.

Each Martian is either within movement range of the saucer or already standing on it. Even the grunt on the mezzanine floor can simply vault over the balcony and on to the saucer. With an "Arkakak!" from the Martian Leader, they all pile on in and kick over the ignition. With a high-pitched wining sound, the saucer begins to lift off and moments later exits the factory main entrance. The Mercenaries look on in stunned amazement as the Martian craft rises slowly before zooming off into the sky.

With that, all that is left of the Mercs to do is search the abandoned factory. There they find pieces of an unusual metal alloy scattered around some discarded strange looking hand tools whose function isn't readily apparent. They also find a number of smouldering ash heaps, a couple of Zombies, whom they dispatch with prejudice, two munched on Bandit corpses, and a single frightened human woman whom they rescue.

One key prize that the Mercs find however lays out in front of the main entrance to the factory. There, its brain popped like an over-ripe melon, is a single alien figure. Next to this oddity is an unusual weapon. The body and weapon they will take back to HQ for sending on to the boffins at the military research facility for further examination. But for now, at least, the military knows that the Martians exist and pose a significant threat to Earth. All wonder what this encounter now foreshadows in the years to come. Earth has been warned.

"What the hell is this ugly thing?"

@ Trivian question answer: Aliens.

Mar's Attacks - The Foreshadowing Battle Report - Turn 4

TURN 4

Note: Turn 3 can be found here.

So, things aren't looking too well for the Bandit crew. They have lost several crew members already and after shooting it out with the Martians, they now are facing down mindless Zone Zombies. Ex-Soldiers who have had their brains fried by the effects of one of the frequent emissions within the Zone.

Initiative Phase

The Mercenaries finally get a chance to act first, winning the Initiative. The Bandits will follow them and then the Martian faction. Last of all will be the Zombies. The benefit of this is that the Martians are now locked down for the entire turn. As soon as they fix their flying saucer, they can escape when each Martian is onboard. With the Mercs getting the Initiative, the Martians are last of all to act this turn. So we will see how they go fixing their craft.

Movement Phase

The Merc's move up to the objective, the abandoned factory where the strange aircraft has been spotted. They move keeping the abandoned military vehicles covering their approach.

The Bandits, having now lost four of their crew, have had enough. Almost half their number gone and nothing good to show for it, it's time to get out of here. So, they begin falling back the way they came covering each other. But they can't make it off the map yet.

It's now time for the Martians to move and first off, their Engineer must test to see if he can get their saucer working properly again. Needing a total of 8, the Engineer rolls a d8 and adds the turn number (i.e. 4). He rolls a 2! Nope, the ship won't kick over and frustration is written all over the Engineers ugly face as he shouts expletives in Martian; "Akakakakakakak." But the Engineer remains at his post so he can try to fix the saucer again next turn.

The Martian Leader and his offsider, having been Rattled by a grenade explosion last turn, get themselves to their feet.

The Martian's on the other side of the main entrance to the factory meanwhile take positions to better get shots at the approaching Zombie who seems to be living a charmed, if somewhat brain-dead, life right now. The Martian on the mezzanine floor also wants to end that Zombies meaningless life and so Aims instead of moving this phase.

Finally, the Zombies shaffle forwards. The two Zombies who took down the Bandit last turn surge after the retreating Bandit crew. One of these Zombies manages to catch another hapless crewmember in a melee.

Meanwhile, the charmed Zombie moves towards the Martians who took a few chunks off it last turn.

Out on the road, the remaining two Zombies from the truck shuffle past the abandoned BTR70 and head in the direction of the Mercenaries after losing sight of them.

Now there remains the issue of the Martian's female human captive. She has been left all alone again and may just have worked up enough courage to make a break for it. She now needs to roll 1 to 3 on a d8 to have enough courage to make a break for freedom. If she doesn't this turn, and remains on her own, her chances next turn will go up by one (i.e. 1-4 on a d8). She rolls a 3 and she is out of there!

She moves quickly and as quietly as possible to the ladder and up to the first floor. Spying that the Martian on the mezzanine floor has his back to her, and the Martian Engineer is also too busy to spot her, she makes a break for the side entrance to the factory. All she can hope for is that the Martian on this floor doesn't look over his shoulder outside one of the windows and spy her. Of course, she has no idea about the two Zombies on the road. This could prove interesting.

Fight Phase

The only melee that currently exists this turn is the Zombie and Bandit. The Zombie proves too good for the Bandit and drags him down screaming as it chomps on his neck. That's five dead Bandits now and the crew drops below half.

Aaaarrrrrrgggg....

Shooting Phase

Only one Merc has any LOS on anything in range, and that's a Zombie. But the Zombie is in Partial Cover due to the vehicles. The Merc shoots and misses the damned thing. Well, be probably hit it a bit, but the creatures Survival successes outnumbered the Merc's shots. These things have proved to be pretty resilient against bullets and heat rays.

Now it's the Bandits turn to shoot. The terrified Bandits open up at close range on the Zombies. The left most Bandit shoots at the Zombie in front of him, but the thing proves too resilient to be taken down. The remaining Bandits open fire on the other Zombie that still has blood and gore streaming from the entrails of their former colleague. The three Bandits fire, each in turn. But incredibly the Zombie shrugs off the hits one after another, surviving them all. The Bandits must have been shooting wildly in terror. Blind panic will do that to you.

Now the Martians get to shoot. The Martian on the mezzanine floor, not having moved last turn, gets an Aim bonus. He targets the Zombie below him and fires his heat ray. Intense concentrated heat blasts down at the creature, the Martian scoring 3 hits. But the Zombie rolls 3 Survival successes and survives. This thing is truly living a charmed brain-dead life.

Next, the Martian on the ground floor, closest to the Zombie, fires his heat ray at point blank range. This time 4 hits to 2 Survival successes sees the creature finally burned to ash. This Zombie has survived five shooting attacks without issue. However, in the end, it was only flesh and blood. Well, now it's just ashes.

"Ak, aak..." Martian for; "I smell BBQ."

Now, only the Martian Leader and his offsider have any target in LOS. The Martian grunt spies the Bandits through the window and shoots his heat ray and one of them. Payback time as the heat ray does 3 hits to the Bandit's 1 Survival success. With that, another Bandit turns to ash.

This must have made the group of Bandits on the right hit the dirt as the Martian Leader only manages to score 1 hit with his own shot, his Bandit target rolling more Survival Success and thus escaping by the skin of his teeth.

One that note Turn 4 comes to a close. Of the nine original Bandits in the crew, three now remain alive and are in a blind panic determined to get out of there. We'll see how that goes.