"Any interesting ways to determine parachute drops" Topic

I was thinking of buying some toy soldiers with parachutes
and allowing the players to drop the toy from a ladder onto the table. Any other ideas out there for a 'fun' way to determine the landings?

And paper airplane for gliders!

I've used slips of paper dropped off a yard stick held 18 inches over the table

The paper drop method I think was even used in some GW games for drop troops :-)

As I recall, the very old AH Boardgame "air assault on Crete" dropped counters on the board from a ruler 12" up.

TMP link

Yea, little hole punch cuttings, dropped from about 2' – 3' over the table, while walking forward at a brisk pace during the "drop", a few at a time.

Most fun: paper bits, each unit writen on,; you try droping them from high over the table where you might want them; other side stands nearby blowing as much as he can to disturb your attempts.
Chaotic enough.
Can also put casualties or delays or what not on those which fall upside down.

Yep, from the book I got the idea from, "Wargaming Airborne Operations" I think, any paper bits that end up landing in towns/cities, or in woods, or water are lost, due to injuries/death/capture.

I played in a Crete game that had a great way to do this – for individually mounted figures.

Roll for the entry and exit point of the transport. Connect the two with a tape measure. Roll 2D6. Put the first figure there. Roll a D6 for every following figure along the tape measure. Fun and it looks right.

I think I saw the paper drop method mentioned in a WRG game rulebook years ago.

You're right, Old Wolfman, paper dropping was a rule in WRG 1925-1950. You'd drop the paper with numbers representing each stand and then you'd have to dice for whether they landed intact or not depending on where the paper landed.

I liked the Command Decision rules method. Slips of paper (each slip is a unit) on a yard/meter stick. Stick is certain height above target and then pivot stick on target location. Then tip stick to drop paper. Casualties for slips of paper landing on buildings, etc.

If you are doing the US Sicily or Normandy drops, because of the flak and pilot panic, you may want to drop your bits of paper in your kitchen, back yard, your neighbor's house, and put a battalion down somewhere in the next town.

Very true Matsuru,

often thought this would be a great setting for a skirmish campaign. Little groups of US airborne gradually finding each other and stumbling across the Germans etc. Somewhere I saw a map showing the known landing points and they were spread across 10s of miles, can't remember where the map was now though.

What size figures? I wonder of you can still get those $.10 USD parachutes that were available when we were kids? If so, you could just throw them up and let the chutes deploy. They land where they land, and if the chute doesn't open… that's a KIA!!!

Timbo W……"West Point Atlas Of American Wars", 1st Edition, had a Normandy map with dots showing where airborne troops landed. I believe each dot represented a plane load and they were everywhere but where they were supposed to be, even in the ocean. I would think the Official History "green book" on Normandy would have something similar.

These are my house rules:

throw 20-sided die and directional die.
1 = bull's eye, all rest multiply units off target in the direction indicated by the directional die.

Airborne

As per indirect fire. 20 sided dice and directional die. Unit of error is 5cm.
Paratroops drop in sticks of 10 men with section leader first and 2nd in command last.
3cm between each man along a straight line as per directional die.
Paratroops regroup immediately, then have 2 consecutive 15cm moves.
Nothing heavier than LMG or bazooka.
If a paratroop lands on hard cover or water he is dead.
A die roll determines the speed of the enemy reaction: -
1,2,3 after first fast move; 4,5,6 after second.

Glider landing determined the same way. Upon touchdown, glider skids 40cm in same direction.
Occupants have two fast moves.
Glider has defensive value of 10, and counts as soft cover.
If glider lands ‘off table', troops arrive as leg infantry after 3 turns on the side of the table the glider exited. No fast moves.
If a glider lands on water or hardcover it is destroyed with total loss of payload.
If it hits soft cover, die roll for casualties (1,2,3 = dead).

Cheers hocklermp but I thnk it was Iin a considerably less August publication, perhaps an osprey or something similar, oh well!

When I left various low flying objects I may have had a newer toggle controlled chute, or an old-school one with risers you yanked on to steer – hence all those pull ups you do. Dropping paper may work well for uncontrolled static line drops but one should have some control if using a US chute – understand at night with unmarked dropzone etc, but still.
I liked the Crescendo of Doom or Cross of Iron method that took wind direction speed and what type of chute you had into consideration.

Sounds like a great way to break your minis. You might check out the FoW rules instead:

PDF link

PDF link

Have you read the suggestions in Featherstone's Wargaming Airborne Operations?

Furgie