"Fun with Bag the Hun " Topic

Its a very different system to the ones I've used before.

Where they involve predictive movement or initiative sequences they all leave a fair degree of control over the to the player (I pick whether I shoot or not after I manoeuvre my plane, and I know the range of movement of my opponent)

Bag the Hun steps away from this – the option to shoot is available only when the chit comes up, if that means you're target has moved away, or that you haven't moved into posiiton yet, then that's what it means. Of course you don't have to shoot but it can be frustrating to find yourself sneaking up for a rear deflection only to see the target skid across the sky

On the plus side it makes tailing very powerful as that means, once you achieve it, you'll always be in position to fill the target with lead as desired.

The bonus moves took a little getting used to, one or two players thought that moving up to three times (own card, formation card, altitude card) was over-egging it and we may try it out with a bonus d4 move instead.

This and multiple dice for combat are features I recognise from IABSM as well, the combat mechanic emphasises the importance of conserving ammo and not taking long range shots at small agile targets – thats a very good way to burn off your ammo for no effect. It also helps you to really punish big lumbering targets when you get in close and personal.

I'm looking forward to more BTH style games :-)

Phil,

Glad you like them.

As with IABSM, the idea behind the rules is to focus on the experiential side of combat rather than to be obsessed with the technical aspects. Hence, the tactical side of dogfighting takes precedence of technical performance. Altitude advantage, the art of getting on somebody's tail (being on somebody's tail is very differnt to just being behind him) , firing in controlled bursts of seconds and flying in relevant tactical formations are all important but above all else pilot quality is the key factor. A good pilot, even in a poor aircraft stands a pretty good chance of shooting down an inexperienced pilot in a good plane. The bonus cards are there to reflect the fact that aces and top pilots did dominate the airspace and ensure other pilots get the 'this guy's all over me' feeling that we read about so often.

After action reports always welcome!

Nick

Nick

The rules do what I like rules to do, put a strong dash of uncertainty and even fear into the mind of the wargamer – yes you are guaranteed to be able to move and or fire in the course of a turn but, like Piquet to a degree, you're not guaranteed to be able to do this at a time of your choosing :-)

Cheers

Phil.