"Multiple unit air assault" Topic

In the 2016 campaign/convention season I'll be doing an air assault with a number of landers and supporting aircraft. Has anyone ever done a huge air assault game? Any advice?

Biggest assault game I've played was Omaha Beach. I strongly recommend that you have the various waves of troops arrive on a schedule, not on a die roll.

I've read through the Flames of Vietnam LZ Xray scenario a couple times, I think it's a pretty good setup. Helos are surprisingly hard to kill (gotta hit and then roll a successful Firepower check, usually 6+). Gunships roll in first and lay down lots of suppressing fire, then the transports land, drop off their troops, and fly out. Then the helos "recycle" and bring another load of troops in later.

Suppress enemy ADA … is your first priority. Prep the LZ/DZ with CAS, etc., … And based on terrain and situation, decide whether to land on the Objective(s) or next to it. Don't forget to use terrain as cover on the LZ/DZ … Be aggressive … but not foolish. A light force like this can be very fragile if not used properly. Continue to reinforce and land troops to expand the LZ/DZ. Use massive supporting fires like CAS, Gunships, FA etc. …

Thanks, I will definitely do the pre-programmed arrivals. this will be a Victorian Science Fiction setting with a variety of vertical landing assault craft against the alien Hive.

The Hive does have some anti air resources and a lot of fast melee troops who will attempt to overrun the humans once they hit the ground. The bugs can be hiding just under the ground and will be revealed upon movement. They can also use tunnels to move about below ground.

In that case, do everything Legion 4 said, but with brass trimmings and tight corsets.

Definitely scheduled landing for large-scale operations. You won't want to have to deal with the massive unpredictability of call-in rolls.
As Legion 4 said, suppression or destruction of AAA is vital for this sort of operation, especially if your landers are intended to stick around to provide fire support. In my 6mm platoon-level games, I use Vulture gunships with 2.75in rocket pods to suppress enemy strongpoints and AAA, giving the assault craft better room to maneuver.

I said Victorian Science Fiction NOT steampunk :-), so if the corsets are tight they are UNDER the dress.

There should be around 120 or so human flyers,

60 or so are assault landers, five or so heavy landers and a number of fighter type aircraft for air superiority and ground attack

link

Are those Ornithopters 15mm scale? Well, you need to make them for sale regardless. If they are 15mm scale, I want some. Probably only 4, but still.

=====
60 or so assault landers? Yow, you're talking about something broadly comparable to Omaha Beach!

Most Vietnam lifts were 16 Huey slicks, about that many more gunships, with the Slicks making multiple trips back to the staging area. So you'd have about a company (~5 platoons) of troops landing per wave. The famous battle at LZ XRay only had space on the LZ for 8 Slicks, with 16 slicks in the wave flying shuttle runs.

…so if the corsets are tight they are UNDER the dress.

Well, what's the point of that??

I was a Rifle PL and Bn Air Ops Officer in the 101, '80-'83 … plus been playing Epic since '90 … But never in brass trimmings and tight corsets …

Those are in 15mm scale. Hopefully they will be available by next convention season!

I Agree with Legion 4, in addition plan for a secondary LZ, just in case your primary LZ, gets blocked with down crafts, and plan to lose 20% of your troops with each flight that comes in and have casualties standing by, as flights come in to drop off fresh troops those flights become Medivacs to lift casualties out, keep your actual Medivacs for your serious casualties between flights.

Remember use all your assets Artillery, CAS, mortars and gunships,

[MILITARY PEDANTRY MODE ACTIVE]

"As flights come in to drop off fresh troops those flights become CASEVAC to lift casualties out, keep your actual Medivacs (…)"

MEDEVAC/MEDIVAC: dedicated medical vehicle that can provide en route cares (e.g. an actual ambulance)

CASEVAC: non-medical vehicle used to evacuate casualties on an opportunity basis (with or without en route cares, e.g. regural battle taxi ferrying fresh troops in and casualties out)

MEDEVAC vehicles are usually marked (red cross, crescent, diamond…) and protected as per Geneva Convention (and thus cannot be used for anything but for medical roles). CASEVAC vehicles being primarily used for combat (support) roles they cannot be marked and protected as per GC.

[MILITARY PEDANTRY MODE INACTIVE]

[MILITARY PEDANTRY MODE ACTIVE]

You say that like it is a bad thing ! LOL !

Based on your 60+ assault landers, you're talking about an effort on par with the Normandy landings, maybe Anzio at the smallest.

Where's the naval gunfire support? Is it all getting assumed into your air support? I'm not familiar with the Hive, Queen and Country setting, do you have flying warships like Space 1889?

Are you going to have offtable (or on-table) artillery support?

Because you're going to need massive suppression to keep the defenders heads down and not shooting (I assume the bugs can shoot).

If the bugs don't shoot, well, you're violating the basic rules of Colonial Warfare. Let the Fuzzy-Wuzzies come to you, shoot them on their way in. Do not close to bayonets if you can avoid it, you will lose there.

The Hive does have some anti air resources and a lot of fast melee troops who will attempt to overrun the humans once they hit the ground. The bugs can be hiding just under the ground and will be revealed upon movement. They can also use tunnels to move about below ground.

I'd roll in some attackers to shut down the AA, mix of suppression and bombing kills followed by taking out the AA by landing (think Rangers attacking the coastal arty at Pointe Du Hoc). These forces then become bait to draw out the defending Bug melee units, who then get stonked from air. The surviving initial landers will then try to stop up bug holes with explosives to create a safe(ish) landing zone for follow on troopers.

Once you get a foothold, you can start sending troops down the tunnels with flamethrowers, heavier-than-air poison gas, and shotguns.

The first Life secures the LZ/DZ along with a lot of CAS, FA, Gunships, etc. … for the follow on Lifts. Once you get more of your troops on the ground then you can look at expanding the airhead, etc. …

I've been in the habit of running large games at Origins and Diecon where the floor is the playing surface. I'm getting to the point where crawling around the ground is no fun. To still run a big game (about 30 feet X 30 feet) I will be using a few tables to represent the tops of the alien Hive (think of it as a thousand foot tall termite mound). The tops of the tables will be the tops of the Hive and that is where the landing zones will be.

I anticipate that there will be three basic groups of tables some connected with each other and at least one free standing. The Hive mounds are built to be mutually supporting for missile fire from the long range and medium range shooting bugs and all are completely interconnected by tunnels (so bug units may move "off board"

This allows there to be a lot of movement and combat in the areas between the tables as the human assault forces make their approach and the bugs send up flyers of their own to intercept them, as well as the bugs using what ranged attacks they have whenever possible.

The humans face the additional issue that bugs can hide just below the surface of the ground and what looks like a nice safe LZ might have hungry giant arthropods right there when the landers touch down (had this happen in a play test, as the landing party was storming out they got hit by a wave of bugs storming in-It wasn't pretty at all!

Yes it would be easier to let the bugs come to you, but sometimes you have to root them out of their hives. The aerial assault forces are just part of this operation. While not being represented on the tables other forces are tunneling deep into the hives and forcing the queens and larva to the upper surfaces. The victory conditions will resolve around killing the Queens and larva.

In the past I've run games with over 20 human flying machines in action, as well as numerous ground vehicles. I've been working on streamlined damage rules as well

Sounds like fun !

Show up at Origins or Diecon and play!

Heck Legion 4 you live in Ohio! Origins is in your back yard(ish)

And Southern Phantom you should meet us at Diecon, Its just outside of St Louis!

So, Hive and the Flame is a major variant of The Sword and the Flame. You need The Sword and the Flame or 800 Fighting Englishmen. But for the Universe we have four books including Flying Machines of the Worlds 1902. All our books are available on RPGNOW.com and for twenty bucks you can get all four!

Hmmm…when and where, specifically, is Diecon?

It should be in June (no hard date when I last checked). It will be at the Collinsville, IL Convention Center, about ten miles East of Downtown St Louis

It does sound like a blast, but I'm not particularly able to travel right now (need a job that pays more than $9 USD/hr!!).

=====
With the risk of hungry bugs hiding just under the LZ, I'd probably have several different LZs for the first wave. Whichever LZ(s) aren't on bugs get reinforced, and just in case ALL my first-wave LZs are on bugs I would have some new LZs for each of the following new waves.

OK, for $20 USD I can eat purina bachelor chow (aka instant ramen) for a weekend and get the books.

And this is the concept for one of the most advanced fighters in the HQC universe in the early 1900s

That's a pretty neat-looking aircraft.
Thanks for the recommendation/invitation! I may or may not be in Missouri over the next summer; my hope is to be doing work at a surface mine somewhere in the state.

Heck Legion 4 you live in Ohio! Origins is in your back yard(ish)

Yeah, thanks for the invite. But like ice cream in July, I'm old and don't travel well …