Rally the Troops

So, the latest bright and shiny thing to catch my eye has been the website Rally The Troops (RTT), a great gift to the boardgaming community by Swedish game aficionado and software developer Tor Andersson.

On RTT, you can play any of the featured games, for free, without having to download any software or suffer through advertising. The games are all implemented completely; in other words, you move the pieces and play the cards just as you would at the table, and the software not only reflects your moves on the board, but it keeps track of all the administrative details (moves the turn marker, records your victory points) and enforces the rules of the game. 

Many other online gaming tools for board wargamers (like VASSAL or Cyberboard) act as a toolbox, so you have a map and pieces and you can move them around as you like, but they don't know the rules of the game and leave it up to you to observe them properly. Other game sites, like Boardgame Arena, do what RTT does, but they feature mostly euro games--fun, but not the history-themed, crunchy games that we wargamers like best. Other systems (like the Steam community) feature full-blown computer wargames, even including AI/bots to play against, but they are costly. 

Mr Andersson has gone out of his way to make sure the game implementations are correct down to the latest interpretation, contacting publishers and designers and even scouring sites like boardgamegeek to make sure he knows how every rule is supposed to work. He has also received permission to use the artwork of the games and to include the rules on his site for players to read, so the experience really is an all-access pass, as if you had bought the game in the shop and brought it home, except that this way you can play play it with your friends all over the world, either in real time or asynchronously (I make my move, the site records it; you log in the next time you can, see the new state of the board and make your move, etc.)

I own five of the ten games currently on the site, and I'm learning more of them thanks to RTT. I've also played one of them for the first time, thanks to RTT's ability to hot-seat or two-hand a game, meaning one person can sign up to play both sides in a game, switching back and forth. This is a great way to learn a game, especially with RTT enforcing the rules, but it's also just a fun way, in my opinion, to experience and play around with a game, trying out new tactics and strategies.

The game I'm trying out is Nevsky: Teutons and Rus in Collision 1240-1242, another game that has been lingering too long on my shelf. Another game from the hugely talented Volko Ruhnke (Wilderness War, Labyrinth, Andean Abyss, and from there father of the COIN series), this is the first in a series called Levy & Campaign (L&C), a systemic treatment of campaigning in the medieval era that has spawned two more published titles (Almoravid and Inferno) three more in production and development (Plantagenet, Henry, and Seljuk), and another half dozen to a dozen in design, development, or planning.

I spent last Saturday (my birthday) online from early morning to evening, attending a convention hosted by the San Diego Historical Games Convention group. They had participants from all over the US and Europe, and their offerings covered a wide range of gaming topics, including demos and walkthroughs of new games, conversations with designers about the industry, and presentations on historical and military topics. I took particular interest in the presentations on forthcoming L&C games and have since engaged with a number of presenters to offer whatever help I can in their moving forward with L&C games on the Hundred Years War, the Albigensian Crusade, and the Anarchy (the Anglo-Norman civil war between Stephen and Matilda).

Since then I've been trying to give myself a crash course on the L&C system. I've played two two-handed games of Nevsky, started two online Nevsky games with players in the UK, and read up a lot on Almoravid (the L&C game set in 11th century Spain) and begun reading up on Inferno (the most recent L&C title, set in 13th century Italy). I'm very excited for Plantagenet (L&C Wars of the Roses) and Henry (the Agincourt campaign, which I hope to get some of my local friends to playtest with me).

Levy & Campaign is a truly imaginative system, adding the crucial element of logistics to the glossy and idealized images of warfare in a time of knights and archers. It reminds players that armies march on their stomachs, no matter the era, and that when your army is built of feudal lords and their retinues, one contingent getting fed up (or underfed) and leaving can mean your whole force, and hence your whole campaign plan, can unravel because you didn't bring enough food (or enough money) or enough carts to carry it in. Nevsky adds the character of the Baltic's swampy terrain and unhelpful seasons, where what was a serviceable road can turn around and become a trackless marsh, while a river may freeze and become a handy highway for your sledges.

I'm enjoying the heck out of these games and looking forward to more!

Wing Leader: Penny Packets

 

On to the fourth scenario for Wing Leader, Penny Packets, which seeks to demonstrate how the RAF defense against coastal raids, of which they had little warning, was hindered by the distributing of squadrons in small groups (the penny packets of the scenario title) in an attempt to respond everywhere quickly at once. It allowed British planes to react to every raid. But by spreading out everywhere (as that great tactician Bilbo Baggins might have said) "like not enough butter over too much bread", the RAF ended up with too little strength to achieve a desirable effect at any point.

So it was here. The RAF has four full squadrons to take on two squadrons of fighters and their three bomber flock, but the British struggle to get any kind of traction on the bombing flock and their Bf sheepdogs, especially as the escorts/sweeps are Veterans and the home team are not. The RAF are also handicapped, if they are defending in a fight, by their rigid doctrine.

The bombers are coming in at 8, with one escort and a sweep  squadron above.

The RAF start with one squadron low and behind the Germans, one near the bombers and below them, and one very low and approaching the engagement. One squadron enters as a reinforcement. Since that would be the "break glass in case of no serious damage by then" unit and because it was one of the two (superior) Spitfire squadrons, I chose to give them the British Experte, whom I dubbed Biggles, after the hero of British period schoolboy adventure books. The German Experte I gave to Holstein Staffel (the sweep squadron)

The RAF put out vectors in front of the bomber gruppe and began climbing toward them. Kapok Squadron tried tallying the German sweepers and vice versa; nothing doing. Lion Squadron, climbing through the cloud deck into the bright sunshine, finally tallied the trailing bombers (the first time I used the "+2 for a ruddy bog load of the blighters" tally mod). About the same time, Kapok tallied the lead bomber elements.

But before Kapok could land in among the bombers, the escort staffel scored them (my first successful use of escort reaction, and just after the Hurricanes had realized they could use their free movement after tallying to move OVER the tally and dive on it, rather than suffering a head-on engagement).

Sadly (for the Germans) the two groups of 109s were not on the same radio net, so the sweep squadron remained unalerted and just kept sweeping the empty sky ahead.

If the combat is a dogfight, it will always be a turning fight. Otherwise, whoever is attacking can choose whether to use Speed factors or Turning factors to decide who has the combat advantage. If bombers are in the mix, the non-bomber party will always be the attacker. Otherwise it goes by who had the initiative (moved last) in Movement; if all a/c moved at the same time, it goes to the a/c with the highest Speed.

Speed and Turn vary by aircraft by altitude (usually the lower the altitude the better the stat). Spitfires and Emils are comparable, but Spits have an edge in turning fights. Emils and Hurricanes are comparable, but Emils have the edge in speed fights. And anyone diving has an edge in Speed combat (+1 to Speed) and anyone climbing has a detriment (-1 to Speed).

Thus Isar leader got to choose combat with the Hurris, having moved last, and took Speed. He had his Speed advantage, his Veteran advantage, and by making the RAF the defenders he got to use the British "rigid doctrine defending" disadvantage". So, not surprising that the escorts shot down one Hurricane and disrupted the squadron. They also forced the British into a dogfight, thus preventing them from engaging the bombers in the near future (dogfights only end when one side breaks).

Next turn, Holstein finally tallied (miraculously) the oncoming Spitfires and joined them just as they climbed up into the underbelly of the bomber gruppe.

In the dogfight, the Hurricanes take a loss and break, preparing to return to base (RTB).

In the fighting just below, because the Germans were on sweep, not escort, they couldn't React to the Spitfires and catch them before they got in among the bombers, so it will be a fight with the RAF attacking, the Germans (fighters and bombers defending). The Emils were diving, so their Speed (normally the same as the Spits) is one higher, while the Spits had to climb to reach the Heinkels so their Speed is one lower then normal. The Spits, the attackers, take a chance and chose a turning fight. This cancels out the German +1 and their -1 modifiers, which are only to Speed, and it allows them to use their Turn, which is one higher than the Emils. But it also bumps up the He-111's Defence number (the only thing that bombers contribute to a combat like this) from 0 to 2 as a DRM to the German combat roll. A risk, but Echo Leader decides that a Combat Differential of 0 (the British Turn advantage is blanked by the Germans being Veteran) with a +3 German DRM (they're also bringing their Experte) is better than a -2/+2 Differential in the German favour with a +1 German DRM.

And, it turns out, he's right on the night. The Germans actually take a loss in the combat and the RAF don't. But again the Germans manage to pull the Spits into a dogfight.

NOTE: Here's where I made a significant rules error. Since two German staffeln were involved (one fighter, one bomber), it was actually the British choice as to how to distribute the hits before they are resolved, though each squadron has to take one before any can take two, etc. Hits are distributed before they are confirmed (they begin as generic hits that have to be checked to see if they manifest as losses, stragglers, or near misses). But I think I was assigning them to the fighters automatically as they were the primary combatant.

EVEN BIGGER NOTE: And here's where I notice that I've been missing out a major rule through all four of these scenarios. Ammunition! Fighters go low ammo after their FIRST combat round. After their SECOND combat round they then go DEPLETED. These increase their chances of disruption in later turns. Squadrons have had WAY too much staying power in my games so far. This will be an added factor in deciding when to engage; the first shot is going to be the best shot!

Anyway, back to Penny Packets. Having dispatched one group of Hurris off to lick their wounds, the escorts pop down to fight the Hurris that have latched on to the tail end of the bomber gruppe. The Hurris don't lose any crates, but they also don't prang any Jerry bandits. And the dogfight between the Spits and Emils continues.

 

Good news for Great Britain! Flight Lieutenant Biggles and the second squadron of Spits arrive! They rush toward the bombers. The bombers plod forward. And the dogfights fall behind. (Dogfights move either not at all, or one square adjacent to their current location at the same or one lower altitude, at the choice of a random player. They cannot crash or move off the board.)

Biggles dives into the lead bomber element. He takes down one bomber, and Lion Squadron take down an escort 109. 

The next turn Biggles hits twice, but both hits resolve as "miss". Rattled by the misses, he fails to check in with FLt. Snipes, who is smoked by a Jerry tail gunner. E takes a loss and a straggler and disrupts, but veteran Holstein Staffel and their Experte also take a loss and with snakes both break lose their Experte! L and I trade shots, then L breaks and RTBs. This dissolves both dogfights, leaving Echo's Spitfires and Isar's 109s free to engage new targets.

Biggles, like an American cowboy riding herd on a stampede, tries to bring down another Jerry. E Squadron, unable to get direction from GCI at the end of last turn, was going to RTB and hope to tally on the way, but scored a desperate tally on the tail of the stampede! Isar Leader could not tally Echo for all the glare, and so returned to his sweep mission.

But as in even the most heroic Western, the cowboy is sometimes run down by the stampede! Biggles loses another plane and a straggler and is disrupted. 

This is essentially the end of the mission. Biggles' D Squadron and the first of the bombers move off the board on the next turn. E won’t catch up before the rest exit. And even if I tallies E and can move full, without being able to get extra MP from a dive, he will not catch him.

Victory Points: The RAF got one He-111 and three 109s. In the process, they lost seven precious a/c, three Spits and four Hurricanes. The Germans exited three laden bombers (I did forget to count the -1 Speed for bomb loads. Oops! Biggles might have gotten another crate or two. But then, I also wasn't counting ammo, which only works against fighters, not bombers.) That’s 25 German VPs and British 5 VPs, a difference of 20 and a clear German victory.

I think the scenario shows the historical context it tries to demonstrate. The British are a mix of a/c that are slightly better or slightly worse than the opposing fighters, but they are dispersed at start and have difficulty concentrating on their target (the bombers). The German fighters have overall more experienced aircrew and the advantage, in an air tactical setting, of the central position. They can react to each of the British piecemeal attacks, attempting to neutralize them in turn.

The Germans effectively used dogfights to protect their bombers. And most of the British came into the fight too low, not having had time to climb to positions above the incoming bandits because of lack of warning. Later scenarios, as I glance ahead, are going to feature the RAF starting to use wings, groups of squadrons operating together under a wing leader who can provide guidance (he vectors and his squadrons move with him) and local command (he can assign tallies rather than squadrons having to roll them).

Wing Leader: Third Time's the Charm

 

Off we go to snowy Russia, for an attempt by the Luftwaffe to deliver supplies to the surrounded German 6th Army. Two wings of He-111s are trying to fly in food, ammo, and medical supplies with escort provided by a flight of Bf-109F-4s. The German escorts are few, but they're both Veteran and include an Experte flyer.

Facing (or tailing) the German relief flight are two full squadrons of Russian Yak-1 fighters. There's lots of them, but they are all Green. And the Germans are close to their destination when the interceptors arrive. The Russians either have to chase the Germans all the way or take a head-on shot to begin with and then flip around and chase.

The first time I played this I did SO MANY THINGS wrong that I scrapped the playing (I set up the escort 109s stupidly, but I also treated the German bomber flights like squadrons and the Russian fighter squadrons like flights, etc.)

This is the first scenario that actually uses fighter in a true escort mission and so allows the players to test out the escort reaction mechanism. It also features Dense Cloud for the first time, which is important because any interceptors or escorts flying higher than 3 (the bombers start flying at 1) literally will not be able to see anything to shoot at or even chase. The Sun direction is more or less meaningless too; no one can see the Sun through all that Dense Cloud. Both sides' fighters have radio nets, and the Soviets have GCI to help get them on target.

Incidentally, I went hunting on BGG as I played and got confirmation from the designer that the "radio clutter" rule only applies in the Tally phase to a/c in dogfights. The modifier for combat "this turn" only applies to placing vectors in the Admin phase.

I still made one error that I can see right off, placing the transport bombers at 2 instead of 1. It might have give the Russians one Dive bonus for one turn, but it's a minor error.

Nothing like that of the Russian Alpha squadron, which failed to tally the bomber transports rushing straight toward them and circled, hoping they would see them as they passed (they did). The Yak Baker squadron took a long shot and tried tallying the escort...and succeeded! They hoped to keep those Fritzes busy while Alpha jumped the first batch of resupply a/c. 

Didn't quite work. The 109s blew past them after an exchange of gunfire and tallied the Yaks that were now trailing the transports, blazing away without hitting much.

OK, thought Baker squadron; we'll hit the tail-end transports. Well, they engaged them, but did no appreciable damage. The 109 star pilots chased off the Alpha Yaks, shooting down one in the process. Then they came after Baker.

Baker's pilots sprayed bullets all over the sky near the Heinkels, but not in any of the parts of sky the Heinkels actually physically occupied. When the Freiderichs showed up, the Experte took down another Yak, and that was all that Baker squadron needed to justify calling it a day.

The Germans ended up with 8 VPs, the Russians none. Vasily Stalin must have been in charge of this air operation!

Next time, we travel to Kent to view The Few take on the Dastardly Hun!

Wing Leader: Second Action

 So, on to Scenario 2 (or, more accurately, VO 2). This features not only interceptors on one side and bombers on the other, but some aircraft executing a sweep to protect the bombers. We're still in the CBI; the P-40Bs have a few of their E-type brethren to help out, and both sides have some Veteran pilots (the AVG also has some Green pilots). And there is GCI to help vector the Flying Tigers, and they have some radio nets to help them coordinate (the IJA fighters are missing that, which is a handicap).

The IJA bombers are doing a standard basic bombing mission, running straight across the map and exiting. Their fighters are in escort position, and the AVG are at a spread of levels, hoping to catch some target, somehow.

The P-40Es tallied quickly and dived right down on to the approaching bombers while the Japanese sweep Ki-43s were still scanning the sky for enemies. As the P-40Bs tried valiantly to make their way up to the bombers' altitude, the Es scored two kills and disrupted the leading bomber squadron.

The Ki-43 section likewise tallied and dived down to protect their bombers. They took out one P-40E while the AVG separated out one straggler from the bomber herd. The 43 flight, though, just motored on, oblivious to the fighting below.

Another flight of Tigers joined the melee (which was steadfastly *not* becoming a dogfight, despite IJA attempts to turn it into one. And the P-40 squadron climbed up, almost reaching the rear bomber squadron, which it had tallied.

With the two P-40 flights both tallying the lead bomber squadron and the Ki-43 squadron tallying the P-40Es, there was a big single battle flying across the map, which lead to a bit of computational balancing to see who would be the better lead element in each round of fighting. The straggling bomber was downed and the 43s took their first loss. The lead bomb group was disrupted and down three aircraft now.

The Ki-43 flight finally tallied and joined in, just as the P-40 squadron caught up to the second bomb group. The first round of "now everyone's shooting" was also the last, as both of the P-40 flights broke and headed for the barn, as did the two Ki-43 units. Both bomber squadrons had lost three planes now and both were broken.

And that was where things stood as the bombers flew off the map towards their target. The first group probably should have jettisoned and fled for home, in retrospect, but that will be a lesson learned in the IJA hotwash.

The Tigers lost three aircraft in return for two IJA fighters and six (6!) bombers, a differential of -11, a massive Chinese win! Col. Chennault was all smiles at this debrief, handing out cigars and beers.

Next up, off to Europe and a trip to Stalingrad!

Starting a new game series: Wing Leader Victories

I've had Wing Leader in my "to play" pile for so long that GMT has brought out not only a sequel and four battle packs but a whole new edition. So when I finally decided I was goign to stop looking at it and start playing it, the first thing I had to do was go through the very clear page of "what to keep/what to throw out" instructions that came with my second edition update kit.

So I read through the basics and figured I'd play the first scenario, keep the rulebook handy, and learn as I go. Not perhaps the best approach with a complex LB-W game, but I had fun and it kinda worked.

Scenario 1 is a pretty basic learning scenario. Two squadrons of Japanese Ki-21 bombers go drone,drone,drone across the map to their target, drop bombs, then flip around and drone,drone,drone home, trying to ignore two flights of pesky American Volunteer Group P-40s zooming around them like gnats.

I have a slew of photos I took as I walked through the scenario, but suffice to say it was a pretty mild encounter.

The AVG pilots weren't able to attempt tallies on Turn 1 (too far apart), missed their tallies on Turn 2 (really bad rolls), and so had to circle and try to tally the bombers as they flew past (which they managed).

They pursued the bombers toward the target, inflicting and taking a single straggler result along the way.

The IJAAF crews dropped their bombs (which sailed wide of any meaningful targets), and as they turned for home, the P-40s inflicted another straggler (on the same sqn, bumping it up to a loss) and a loss.

The next turn, they inflicted another straggler, which disrupted one of the Japanese squadrons. But the sheer effort of chasing the multitude of bombers across the sky was so exhausting and the pilots so unused to formation flying that they were scattered far and wide (translation: they both rolled a disruption and being mere flights thus broke). Reluctantly, AVG commander Dupoy, seeing his planes spread all across the Burmese horizon, radioed both flights to return to base.

Pointswise, the AVG had downed two bombers, lost no aircraft, and the IJA bombs landed nowhere damaging, but expectations were so high for the fighters against the unescorted bombers that Col. Chennault tore strips off the flyers in the AAR. "You should have downed them all!" he roared, "Tigers? We should call you pussycats!" The chastened Tigers determined to do better next time.