"Target for Tonight: how many planes" Topic

In anticipation of the rules coming out in Janauary, I am getting some planes organised.

For the RAF, I am starting off with 4 Lancasters. For these rules, how many night-fighters are required: would it be only one at a time? Do the rules differentiate between the various types of fighters?

Don't know about these rules, but night fighters were allocated to specific areas on their own to prevent blue on blue. So if the rules area realistic it would be only 1 at a time.

Hmm….so…these are just being published? Link plse. I thought they were quite an old set.

See postings on topic "Target for Tonight Rules Availability"

Vigilant, that was the 'Himmelbet' system, part of the
Kammhuber Line established in 1940. When the RAF began
sending all the bombers in a stream through one area,
the Kammhuber 'Himmelbet' tactic was overwhelmed and
only when the nachtflieger began carrying their own
airborne radar sets did the interception rates improve.

I'd get a few ju88 and me110 and through in a couple me109. I bought 6 Lancs and 4 Halifaxs.

Perhaps someone from the Devon Group could let us know how many night-fighters were encountered in a game?

From the reading of the AARs on their site, it would appear that only one fighter was encountered at a time, so it might just be one of each type that is needed.

To me it looked like they placed various aircraft in various squares of the map perhaps where certain NJ squadrons were based through the flighpath.

Assuming Target for Tonight remains pretty much the same as it was in its first incarnation the idea behind the game is to have several small scale aircraft to represent the bomber stream and the individual aircraft in it as shown in the pictures on the DWG blog page, plus nightfighters in areas where they might intercept

The larger scale models are only used when conducting the bomb run and a night fighter intercept and you will only need one of each type i.e. one Me110 or Ju88 or Lancaster.

I don't religiously follow all the posts here on the forum so only picked this up when it was referred to me by a fellow club member.

If you want to enquire about the rules and how we play them, can I suggest leaving a question on the blog page where you are more likely to get a quicker response as I see all the comments that come in there.

I understand the eagerness to get going with Target for Tonight and as I stated I believe the rules will be out early in the new year although I gather now that there may now be a purchase price to obtain them, so all questions will be answered once they are available.

Happy new year
JJ

Thanks.

A Happy New Year to you too.

I don't seem able to post on the Devon blog site.

Am I correct in assuming that smaller scale models such as 1:600 are used for the bomber stream moves and then switching to 1:300 for the bomb run and night-fighter attacks?

Hi Alan,
Yes you are correct.

Aside from the issues of cost of 1/300 planes and the space they take up, presumably there is no reason why 1/300 models cannot be used throughout the game?

What size are the tiles and do all the planes have to be on the same tile? If they represent a bomber stream presumably they could be on different tiles as they move along. If a bomber is intercepted and goes onto its own tile to play out that action, does that hold it back from the rest of the stream?

Many thanks for answering all the questions.

Alan

You could use whatever scale you like. Some have used 1/72nd for the intercept and bomb-run.

All the models on the bomber track take it in turns to move from one sector to the next. Some will be fine, others will have issues to deal with. Once all movement has been resolved the turn focuses on what will happen to the remaining aircraft as they attempt to move into the next sector and so on until they either land back at base or are destroyed en-route.

Many thanks. A 1/72 scale game would certainly look good and is tempting.

I'm going with 1/300, perhaps even a 1/144 for fighter action and bomb runs.

I plan to use 1/600th mainly for the bomber stream, though might switch that up with 1/300th, as availability permits.

Definitely going for 1/144th scale for the tactical combat phase. Might even eventually use the larger scale for the big raid formations too, as space permits – probably at the local club, or at conventions.

To make it a bit more interesting for all sides, may also use "bogeys" as opposed to aircraft minis/models, which have to be found, and then identified, prior to combat, like in the old Air Pirates Yahoo Group rules for nightfighter combat. With that rule, there's a chance for "own goals" too, just for grins (mainly for the evil GM running the game(s)).

I've recently read accounts of some bombers being attacked by multiple nightfighters at one time, or in quick succession. Those accounts are new to me, since most authors and combat narratives from the participants seem to play down that option.

Read one account of a German NF pilot in WWII trying to fly in formation with his leader, in very limited visibility, while searching for and attacking enemy bombers. He said it was white knuckle stuff, since it was so taxing and stressful to try to do that in such dark conditions.