Hawks and Wildcats over Morocco

 Am still painting up figures for Washington's War.  Have played several small battles and am still figuring out the rules.  

Boom and Zoom is undergoing edits and should be released by the end of February.  I am putting on two games at the Willliamsburg Muster 21 Feb.  

Today's battle is a Wildcat Mission during operation Torch.  I don't have an Atlantic Wildcat squadron rolled up because they didn't see much combat. So this will be a "one off" battle.  The tables in Squadron Forward need to be modified for the Naval operations.  Use this table instead

D10             Mission

1-2              Patrol [ Card A ]

3-5              CAP   [ Card B ]

6-7              Ground Attack [ Card C ]

8-0              Escort SBDs    [ Card D ]

Enemy aircraft will be Hawks.  [ I just read today that the DE 520 were grounded in Morocco because they didn't have 20mm ammo. ]  You can have a 50% chance of encounter, just use MGs. 

As a one off I rolled up my flight of pilots for today:

Flight CC   Bob         Veteran

   Wingman 1  Bill      Avg

Element ldr      Jim      Avg

     Wingman 2  John   Green

 I rolled up a CAP mission over the fleet. 

 Squadron Forward generated 8 light bombers with a 3 hawk escort. ( Vet, Vet, Green )

Now I switched to Boom and Zoom.  I rolled up the encounter dice.  Bob and the Wildcats get vectored into incoming aircraft. They get the jump on the French!

 The bombers are at low altitude (2)  while all fighters are at Med Low.  The french Hawks are weaving over the bombers and are currently behind and to the right.  Bob attacks the bombers from the left.  The Wildcats are flying in two ship elements which in B&Z are important.  But with so many bombers Bob wants to maximize hits to the bombers.  He tells Bill, his wingman, to split off and go for the lead bomber while he will concetrate on the second.  Jim and John stay as an element because John is green and they will end up closest to the hawks. The Wildcats dove on the bombers...

 

all 3 fighters score hits on the bombers [ blue triangles ] but none fatal.  Element 2 climbs back to altitude in preparation to meet the hawks. No mean feat in a poor climbing Wildcat!  

 The french are in a Vic but Jean Claude tells Jacques to break off and go after some more Wildcats.  Jean Claude starts a swirling maneuver with the element 2 but can't get an advantage.  [ The Hawk is slightly more maneuverable than the wildcat, particularly above 8K ft.]  Jacques looks for the enemy but can't see them through the wispy clouds. [ Jacques got a really bad die roll.] 

 

One french bomber is damaged enough that he drops his bombs and heads for home.  Seven to go!

 Unfortunately,  for the US, John can't keep up with all the maneuvers and loses Jim.  The element is broken. They will fly as two separate planes this turn.  Surprisingly, the french wingman stays right with Jean Claude. [ It is hard to stay in a Vic.]   

To make things worse for the US Navy I get a random event per SF... 

Two DE 520s hear all the chatter and come over to play.  [ In a 2 player game I would not have done this as play balance would be ruined.  Also, this was before I read that the DE 520s hear had no cannon ammo. That would also have helped the US. ]
 

The hawks continue to tussle with jim.  Without a wingman they quickly get on his tail.  But Jean Claude can't line him up in his sights! 

Jacques also finds it easy to line up on John's tail.  John is wounded!

Jim is in trouble but he able to go into a shallow diving corkscrew that leaves Jean Claude in the dust. 

 

John, wounded calls for help.  Bob, remembering that air combat in WW II is a team sport, comes over to assist... 

Quickly damages Jacques' plane and John is free.  [ Jacques also doesn't have a wingman.] 

Meanwhile, our cannon armed DE 520s dive on Bill.  He didn't even see them.  There is a parachute seen however.

 

 John, evades the Hawks and makes another pass at the bombers.  

Now there are 3 Wildcats left, all separated and outnumbered by equal or better aircraft.  I designed B&Z to emphasis tactics and teamwork.  What I should have done was to gather the Wildcats together for mutual support and then try to pick off maybe 1 bomber.  What did I do?  We must protect the fleet. Go after the bombers!  

Jean Claude and his wingman amazingly stay together.  The DE 520s break up.  The veteran DE 520 gets the initiative.   

Here he is in the center of the picture.  He is above a rookie, wounded wildcat.  This is almost too easy...
 

Sacre Bleu!!!  He rolls his performance dice.  You need a "4" or a "6" to shoot.  In the swirl of battle he doesn't even see the wildcat down below.  John is spared.

Bill makes another diving attack on these very tough, french bombers.

 The Hawks follow Bill trying to get on his tail.  

The second DE 520 latches onto Jim's tail at the front of the bombers. 

 For a second time today Jim manages to out run a hawk! [ upper left]

John makes another run at a french bomber.  This time it slows down and dumps its bombs...  

and heads for home.  Two bombers aborted!  Meanwhile...

 Bob has his hands full with Jacques.  As they continue to fly circles looking for an advantage they have gained height [ unusual ] and now find themselves at medium high altitude. 16K ft. This is significant because above 15K ft the  maneuverability of the Hawk decreases to that of the Wildcat.  John needs to be on Bob's wing here so they are fighting as a team.   He is not so...

Jacques manages to get on Bob's "6".  Fortunately there is no damage.  

Jim has another go at the bombers while Bob tries to hold the fighters back by himself. Jim sees hits but the bomber keeps moving.

 Jean Claude dives down on Jim after Jim's pass...

 Jim hits the silk!

 John climbs for altitude and tangles with a DE 520. His bleeding has stopped. 

 He quickly finds himself on the short end of the stick and his tail is badly damaged.  

 Unfortunately, the DE 520 gets the initiative on the last turn and puts Johnny's plane on fire.  There is no parachute.  

Having lost 3 out of 4 planes Bob breaks off as the bombers near the fleet.   Terrible showing for the US Navy.  Granted they were outnumbered and their shooting at the bombers was unlucky.  However, in the rush to get the bombers I forgot all the tactics I am trying to show in the game.  The Wildcats needed to stay in elements and keep altitude [ granted hard to climb in a wildcat].  Would be fun to play this again and remember that.  Plus I would cut the DE 520s from FP 7 to FP 4.    

As I mentioned on TMP, I have started an air to ground supplement to Boom and Zoom so this is my first playtest of those rules.    

6 french bombers close with the fleet.  The lead bomber is damaged but he has elected to continue since he is lead and already here.   

A supply ship to the left, DD center and our 6 french aircraft to the right.  The lead frenchman is offset towards the bottom.  He will try to bomb the destroyer.  Heavy AA spooks the second bomber so they are rattled and their bombs will be off target.  

As the bombers descend over the DD the light AA takes over...
 

The lead frenchman, who was going for the DD, is hit by flak.  The hit was only damaging to his engine but since his engines were already damaged he is shot down and ditches.  [ left most plane.]  Of course the 40mm gun crews will take all the credit here!

The other 3 planes pass over the DD, survive more AA and ...

  pass over the supply ship.  Bomber #3 gets a near miss.  

Since the ship is still afloat the last 2 bombers go in...

 they pass over the DD...

 and drop their bombs on the supply ship.  Bomber #1 also gets a near miss.  

The first near miss pushes a mass of water against the plates of the ship but the plates hold.  A second near miss  close to the first springs several plates and causes significant flooding below.  The ship will fight to stay afloat for most of the day with no supplies available. It will remain afloat but be able to move slowly and will have to put into Gibraltar for temporary repairs.   

Not bad bombing for 6 glide bombers.  Of course it is a big slow ship.   

In summary, I really like all the rules and how they play.  Just need to get better at tactics!

 

Enjoy

 

Joe 

 

 

 

  

Boyd's Tavern with Peter Pig's Washington's Army Rules

 My last post I mentioned I purchased some Peter Pig AWI figures.  This was for Martin's AWI rules Washington's Army.  I suspect most folks are familiar with his figures but if not they are very well done.  True 15 mm so not large or bulky and they are pretty easy to paint with a lot of detail.  Given  recent postage I have been getting my figures from Brookhurst hobbies in the US and they have given me excellent service.  

If you can get past my painting and look at the figures here are american militia.  [ The rules state they are suppose to be 3 figures per base but I still have a dearth of figures.] and

an overall US commander.  [ 3 years ago I spent time on bases; now I don't. ]

I have found almost nothing written about Washington's Army.  It is my second Peter Pig rule set.  I really enjoy Poor Bloody Infantry so thought I would give this a go.  For those of you familiar with Martin's rules it follows his general pattern.  There are differences.  This is an old set so there is no grid.  I use hexes with each hex representing 3 inches.  Terrain is still by block however.  "5-6s" hit and unlike PBI there are saving throws based on the quality level of the defending troops. [ I actually like this and will probably have my elite troops get a saving throw in PBI.] Maneuvering is far different as you would expect and the C + C is both familiar and different.  As with Martin's games there is one scenario that you roll up with your opponent to see who attacks/defends.  There are multiple variables to make each game different and WW introduces the concept of "flankers".  These are units that you set aside in the hopes that they will appear on your flank during the game. As with PBI, for two players having a friendly game this looks like a lot of fun.  For a soloist,  it seems like a lot of work when I can  roll up a game using Platoon Forward or something similar.  

So as I often do I will take you through a small battle and give you my initial thoughts on the rules.  One caveat, as I don't have figures for a full game of 3 commanders per side I played a smaller game using 1 British commander and 2 American commanders.  I still think it is representative.  

In the Commonwealth of Virginia on the road from Williamsburg to Charlottesville is a way point for travelers called Boyd's tavern.  It is on a slight rise and controls a secondary road north.  Gen Cornwallis is moving troops across Virginia.  Col Howard is responsible for security along the route.  He stations LtCol Pemberton's battalion at Boyds tavern both to rest and to control the road junction.  In case of trouble he gives Pimberton a galloper gun and some loyalist Scots.  

Map of the area rolled up per Platoon Forward.  British "B" south, Americans "A" north.

 How it translated to the tabletop.  Boyd's tavern at the crossroads in the middle.  Kemp's house left.  Jameson's farm bottom right.

Jameson's farm. 

Pemberton set up his men along the main road facing Kemps house.  The Scots face north along the secondary road where they won't hurt themselves.  In WA units are roughly battalions made up of 4-7 bases including a flag [ or leader ] base.  Units can be line or militia with line units having 4 figures and militia containing 3.  [All my units have 2 figures as I am trying to generate both sides quickly.  As I solo player I am well aware who is line and who is militia.] Where the command base is placed identifies the quality of the unit; right elite, center average, left poor.  I like that!  Simple but impactful.  Quiz time. Based on the picture above, what is the quality of the two British units?  Right! British are average [centerish] and Scots are poor. [ Guy with the sword on the left is part of the command base.] 

Drone view. Americans gather up north.  Loyalists let Pimberton know.  He sends word to Col Howard.  

The Americans are made up of 2 forces.  The main force of 3 battalions [all avg] will move straight toward the tavern.  The 2 battalions of militia [ 1 state [ avg] 1 local [poor] will move down the american left.  The 1st VA will cut across the field and flank the tavern.  The local militia will advance to Jameson's farm and block any reinforcements. [ actually try to slow them down] Great plan!  Let's see what happens. 

The Continental army moves south towards the tavern. 

Each leader has a rating from 1-4. To activate a unit you roll higher than the combined score of leader's rating + units rating + distance.  The Army commander [ if he is properly painted!] can try to assist one leader by giving him a certain number of re rolls.  If a unit doesn't activate it gets 1 action point.  If a unit does activate it gets 1D6 dice of APs.  You have to pay different # of APs to wheel, move, turn depending on how wide your line is. [ 3 bases is the cut off] A short line is easier to move but has fewer muskets forward to fire.  A long line is cumbersome but can throw shot downrange.  It is horrible getting these guys to move and I love it!  It feels like AWI instead of PBI. 

The Militia commander is terrible (4) and he can't even afford a horse so you know the militia is going to be slow.  [ btw that is Kemp leading the locals with the sword and yellow coat!]   

I don't paint well but I really like these 1st VA guys!  

 The Scots prepare to defend the crossroads for King and Country.  Pemberton starts to wheel his line towards the rebels.  I allowed Pemberton to act as a commander of this force until Howard shows up. 

 Units in close range fire in both parties turn.  Cannons only fire during the opponents turn. As the rebels near the Scots the cannon fires.  The artillerymen wonder exactly how long is it going to take to wheel this line of troops!   

The lines finally close.  The Scots take some casualties and their lines become disrupted. [ red marker. I know.  Some day I will paint some AWI ones.] To the right a second unit closes with the British.  The american unit on the left is hung up on the fencing. [ poor die rolls]  

Better look at the US right.  [ Note the red die.  WA is an Igo-Ugo game.  One change I made was at the beginning of each turn each commander rolls a D6 and subtracts his leadership rating. Then commanders go in order highest to lowest with British players winning ties.  This really adds uncertainty to the game as you are not sure who will move first or how far. [ Like Piquet]  As a solo player I am not concerned with both sides being "even".]  

End of the 2nd turn.  1st VA [ love those guys] rolled 6 APs and raced down towards the farm.  They are now ready to turn right and roll up the Scots.  The Local boys missed their activation and moved 1 hex again!.  I don't think Kemp really wants to fight.  
 

Here is the kind of dilemma that you don't get in PBI which I think is realistic here.  Pemberton, being who he is activates first, thank King George otherwise he might have been hit in the flank.  With only 2 APs and a line of 5 bases he is stuck.  He can only wheel 45 degrees and that costs him 2 APs.  He can shorten his line and wheel but still only 45 degrees.  What to do?  [ I want to have the SAW lay down covering fire, throw grenades and assault but that isn't in the rules.]

 The British pivot 90 degrees for 1 AP...

And add 3 bases to their front line.  They are so busy getting organized they don't shoot but at least they are facing the enemy now!   

Meanwhile, the Scots continue to die for their country.  

I guess I missed some pictures here.  The american right closed with Pemberton's troops and exchanged fire with both sides taking loses but the canister from the galloper caused significant casualties. At the beginning of each turn any unit which took casualties check morale.  After 3 casualties and cannon fire the americans have had enough and retreat!  

 Another drone view of the field.  Col Howard has shown up with reinforcements on the south road.  the 1st VA is moving into a line in preparation to flank the Scots. [ bottom]  Kemp's militia is so slow they aren't even in the picture. [ more bottom]  The left american battalion has made it through 1 field and now they are going to tackle the second. [ middle right].  Scotts and central americans battle at the crossroads.  Pemberton's British have just chased away the rebels right flank.  
 

With the new turn the remnants of the Scots retreat to Col Howard!  They tell him how tough the fighting has been at the tavern!  

He is unimpressed with them and their story!

The american commanders rush to rally their troops.  Without them the right flank of their army is exposed!  What will Pemberton do?  
 

Initiative dice in place.  The Continentals go first but fail to rally!  

 Col Howard gets the jump on the militia and orders his men to occupy Jameson farm.  Fighting breaks out with the 1st VA.  He then orders his real Scottish battalion up and onto the crossroads.  

The 835th Highland battalion shows up and even the birds stop for a moment!  [ Did you notice that their flag is on the right?  Just checking!] The Scottish loyalists skulk over to guard the flank near Jameson farm.  
 

With the army commander painted the rebels finally rally.   Pemberton has turned his men 90 degrees and is heading for the american flank.  He had a really bad roll so isn't their yet.  We need you men to get there and stop him!  

 Drone view showing Pemberton lined up to begin his move through the tavern into the flank of the troops at the crossroads.  The final american battalion has finally showed up but their lines are still disordered after crossing fences.  The Highlanders are just across the road from the rebels and shooting at them from long range to keep them pinned in place. 

As sometimes happens, the key moment of the battle happens elsewhere... 

With the British lines disrupted, the 1st VA decides to charge into the farm with a Huzzah!!!

Charging in WA involves a morale test for both sides which is an opposed dice roll.   It seems hard for the attacker but I haven't played enough to really render an opinion yet.  If both sides survived then you play out the assault. 

 The Virginians, British and Col Howard are shocked when...

the british stream out of the farm and race down the road!  [ For the morale test the US rolled a natural 11 while the British rolled a natural 3.  The British routed!]  

If a unit routs 2 units within 6 inches [ 2 hexes] must also take morale tests.  The Scot militia never had a chance!  Now the British right flank has crumbled as well.  

 Col Howard has 2 units left against 5 rebel units but 1 of his units is the 835th Highlanders and the other is sitting on the flank of the enemy.  If Pemberton can flank the continental center he can rout the continentals and then deal with the militia at his leisure.  Pemberton must hit their flank before a) the militia can hit the highlanders and b) Pemberton is hit by the reconstituted unit north of him.  Initiative is critical here as are APs.  

Col Howard rides towards Pemberton to see for himself how the operation is going. The British get the initiative but Pembertons troops move slowly through the tavern area and become disorganized.  It is clear they will not reach the center before their flank is threatened.  With heavy heart Howard gives the orders to retreat from Boyds tavern. 

Great game that had unexpected turns and could have gone either way.  I really like the rules so far.  I am no expert on AWI tactics but they seem to give plausible results and certainly feel different than PBI.  With my addition of "initiative" and the rolling of APs there is plenty of uncertainty. I am not going to give my pros and cons of the rules after one play.  I think that would be unfair.  I will get a couple more games under my belt and then do a more formal assessment.  This post was to give players an idea of how Washington's War plays because there is so little on the internet about them. 

More to come...

Cheers

 

Joe