Last week we started playing the Flying Tigers campaign, a four-scenario mini-campaign included in the Check Your 6! rules. So far the campaign wasn't going well for the American Volunteer Group.
In the first scenario 12 Sallys were headed for Mingaladon Airfield trailed by a formation of Nates. At first the fighters were equal on both sides but when the two British Buffalos bugged out after the first pass to await cripples falling to them below, the Americans were left with four P-40s. The end result was the loss of two Sallys, one Nate for the Japanese but two P-40s were lost (one the result of a pilot deciding to return for a second pass along the flank of the entire bomber formation while leaking fuel!) One of the many side gunners got him.
In the second scenario the Tomahawks intercepted the Sallys unescorted. However the Sallys had split into two groups. One Tomahawk went after the far group and ended up overshooting the formation which escaped with only one bomber damaged after bombing Rangoon. The other group of bombers rolled amazingly well on defense and lost only two bombers. They escaped the first pass of three Tomahawks, losing aircraft in the rear of the formation after the Tomahawks looped around. It didn't hurt that two of the Tomahawks quickly ran out of ammo.
For the third scenario, Tiger Hunt, we had a formation of nine Sallys escorted by six Oscars vs. three Tomahawks. We had two new guys joining in, Brian had played the demo at Historicon and Dave joined in after we had assured him that the game was easy to learn. So we had Mark, George and Brian each in a Tomahawk. Mark was the ace (+3) and George and Brian were vets (+2) so excellent crew quality for the Flying Tigers.
I ran the bombers while Wyllie, Ed and Dave each took a pair of Oscars. I had them roll off to see who got the +2 veteran pilot (all others were +1s). It went to Dave, who despite never playing the game before turned out to be the best pilot on the Japanese side.
The bombers had to get across 3/4 of the map to win, and at a speed of 2 hexes a turn it would take awhile. The Oscars set up west of the formation. The P-40s dove in from the east, out of the sun. In response the Oscars turn towards them, in front of and through the bomber formation.
With the top HMG turret of the Sally II being its best defensive weapon, we expected the P-40s to attack the bombers from below. However the P-40s decided to dogfight first and stayed high. The Oscars approached in something resembling echelon or trail formation. Wyllie's lead Oscar suffered engine damage on this head-on encounter in Turn 3. Next turn, the Tomahawks kept their formation and had three shots on Dave's veteran pilot but all missed. Dave returned fire and amazingly scored an engine damage on Mark's ace, which would have repercussions for the rest of the fight. However Dave's wingman went blue-on-blue (rolled snake eyes) and inflicted airframe damage on the veteran pilot ahead of him!
Next turn, Mark's ace Immelmanns onto Dave's vet pilot's tail:
"I need a four." (to hit on 2d6)
"A one and a one," says Ed, who rolls amazing dice and puts hexes onto other people's rolls, especially Mark.
(Mark makes unkind gesture to Ed).
Mark rolls a three and misses! (everyone roars in laughter)
Ed and Wyllie's four Oscars become enraptured with making wide left turns and in effect disengage from the battle. The bombers steam ahead south, unmolested by the battle above them. The three P-40s become obessessed with Dave's vet Oscar and pursue him to the north. Again and again they miss, and Dave's pilot reaction on the vet P-40s makes it harder for them to hit.
One of Ed's Oscars finally gains enough speed and altitude to come to Dave's aid and does a head-on point-blank shot against Brian's P-40. Ed misses, and return fire blows the Oscar out of the sky, but the P-40 runs out of ammo!
Finally on Turn 9 Dave's veteran Oscar goes down after being damaged a second time by Mark's ace. Now they must turn and pursue the bombers, who by now have been joined by the other four Oscars.
As George approaches the bombers, an Oscar maneuvers for his six. "This one was maneuvering on George and he was SCREAMING for me to get the Oscar off of him," recalled Mark. Mark did, not bad for an ace with a damaged engine.
By Turn 14, two of the rear bombers have been downed, one by Mark and one by George. One bomber, damaged by Mark (who then runs out of ammo), makes save rolls on three consecutive shots from George. Out of about 21 shots from the bombers (almost all require 12s on 2d6 at medium range), one hits George but he makes the save. The Flying Tigers are better learning how to attack bomber formations.
More escorting Oscars now reengage. Ed's remaining Oscar manages a rudder hit from behind on George. He passes his out of control roll. George stays on target with the bombers but they keep on making their saves.
Ed then scores an engine damage on George, causing him to go out of control. George regains control next turn only to see Wyllie's Oscar approaching head on after a split-s. Ending in the same hex and altitude, both pilots fail their aircrew check rolls (George would have passed but for the engine damage) and they collide! George's rudder and elevators are trashed. Wyllie also suffered elevator damage.
Ed, following closely behind, gets hit by the debris which damages his engine. After getting past the flying debris, Ed opens up with his machine guns, which hit but George makes the save, however it comes up doubles and there's a lucky hit with fuel on the windscreen. George maintains control of his wrecked aircraft long enough for Wyllie to get a hit, igniting George's P-40 into a flaming ball of fire.
This game had a lot going on. It was quite a scene watching the Oscars turn to engage the Tomahawks as the bombers continued on their course. I'm glad we chose the 1/600 scale. The 2-inch hexes gave room for the fighters to fly through the bomber formation. The Americans did a great job engaging high and avoiding the bomber fire. However the vet Oscar pilot did a good job distracting the P-40s. The final combat was quite memorable with a jinking bomber, spin, a mid-air collision and explosive end to the last Tomahawk.
Final tally (kills)
Flying Tigers 2 Sallys, 3 Oscars
Japanese 1 P-40
7 Sallys exited the board
We played this game using the Check Your 6! rules on a 2-inch hexgrid with 1/600 scale aircraft.
