Die Wunderwaffen des Luftwaffe: Air Pirates Game In Rich's Basement

[zippyfusenet]

Wednesday night in Rich’s Basement I GMed two iterations of my scenario Die Wunderwaffen des Luftwaffe using the Air Pirates/Mustangs rules. Here are a few pix of the action and my AAR.

I’ve committed to present this game Saturday March 2 at 2 PM at the Cincycon gaming convention, at the Butler County Fairgrounds in Hamilton Ohio. You should come if you’re in the neighborhood or within a day’s drive. Cincycon is a full-function three-day game con featuring boardgames, role-play and miniatures gaming, dealers and on-site food service. IMO Cincycon is the premier gaming convention in southwest Ohio. We have visitors who come from Indianapolis, Ann Arbor and Pittsburg. I’m sure you’ll find something to entertain you.

http://cincycon.org/?fbclid=IwAR2s-QObSiJ4rhyEFKxnXnyosybVtMwsLIUn22eVfoyHItF8vqsebaS4h6E

It’s a good thing we play-tested this scenario. It didn’t work like I expected, and I’m going to change my approach for the convention.

The theme is: Me 262s attack a formation of B-17s with P-51 escorts. I also have available an element of Do 335s (a wonder-plane that never actually got operational, with a piston engine at both ends) and two elements of FW 190Ds, if players prefer to fly prop planes. The fighters are 1/144 kits and pre-paints, the bombers are ‘down a scale’ to better fit in my 5-inch hexes, c. 1/225 scale diecasts. We played on a pair of old Battle Master hex mats. Although they’re not the prettiest, the hex grain runs straight down the long dimension of the map, and I wanted that feature for this scenario.

I’ve listed my game for 8 players, and I could squeeze in a few more if a rush develops. I never know how many players I’ll get at a convention or in a basement. One year I got no players at all for my event, and the disappointment put me off GMing for a while…but I’m back! This year I already have two pre-registrations and one verbal commitment, so I’m confident that the show will go on. I always prepare more models and log sheets than I expect to use, ‘cuz it’s better to have and not need than to need and not have.

Wednesday night I had 5 players, so I gave three of them one Me 262 apiece and the other two a pair of Mustangs each. I set the bombers up in mid-map, altitude 4 (c. 30,000 feet) speed 2. I told the American players they could set up wherever they pleased, and warned them that the Germans might come on from either end of the map. The German players decided to come on from behind the American formation. Here’s a pic of the B-17s and P-51s lumbering majestically across the sky. You can just see the Me 262s coming in behind them.

Here’s a better pic of the Me 262s, a mix of Bandai and 21st Century pre-paints:

This was the first time that I ever put jet aircraft into a WWII air game. I learned some things. On paper, the Messerschmitts were only one speed point faster than the Mustangs, and very hard to maneuver, though their fire-power was massive. They go very fast in a straight line. I thought that by using their superior agility and their dive speed, the Mustangs might catch the jets. I was wrong.

All of my players Wednesday night had played the Air Pirates rules before. But the American players just couldn’t figure out how to get at the German jets. Maybe with more experience and a more thorough grasp of the rules…but not that night. The Mustangs never fired a shot in either game. The American players were frustrated. The German players had a lot of fun.

Here is a pic of the end of the second game. The Mustangs are sitting in front of the jets. They wanted the Germans to fly past them so they’d have a shot, but the Americans kept their speed too high for that to happen. The American escorts at this point were actually trying to draw German fire, but the Germans were saving it for the B-17s. It was like a Daffy Duck cartoon: “Shoot me NOW! Shoot me NOW! I DEMAND that you SHOOT ME NOW!” “No. I’m hunting wabbits.”

The German jets worked their way up the back of the bomber box, shot one down (note the fireball), shot two more out of formation crippled (white pipe cleaners), then dove out of the game and got away clean when they ran out of ammunition. Fun for the German players, frustration for the Americans.

One of the American players told me that he thought it was a perfectly historical scenario, that the Mustangs just could not react fast enough. “What was that?” “Omigawd, what happened to that bomber?” “Did you see that?” “What WAS that?” Shmaybe historical, but not fair or entertaining for the American players.

So, time to adjust my parameters. At Cincycon, I will give all my players German fighters and turn them loose. Two of my pals from the play-test, Rich and Bob, who enjoyed flying Me 262s, have volunteered to fly Mustangs in the convention game. We’ve agreed that their role in the game is to be a credible enough threat to keep the German players honest. If they ever get a shot off at a jet, that will be a bonus. They have enough experience with the rules that they might pull it off.

Come fly with us. It’ll be fun.

You'll shoot your eye out, kid!

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