"Operation Chunky Bandit #24 (Air)" Topic

All,

It's 0530 on 27 July 1990 in the country of South Leon. We are with the Cuban Liberation Air Force's (CLAF) 407th Tactical Fighter Squadron, AKA the "Bonesaws," and they are entering the fight in South Leon. Three days ago, the Communist Army from Federation Socialiste Nationale de Leon (FSNL), South Leon's malignant neighbor to the north, launched an all out invasion of South Leon, seizing the nation's capital. The CLAF's 301st Tactical Fighter Squadron, AKA the "Flying Boxcars," led by Major "Viper" Culero, happened to be stationed in South Leon when the Communists invaded. Over the past three days they've been bled dry in a series of aerial battles that saw the Cubans lose 14 of 18 F-4 Phantoms and four pilots, while the Communists lost 17 MiG-21 Fishbeds and 17 Su-22 Fitters. Despite having a better than 2-1 kill ratio, the Boxcars failed in their mission to protect the South Leon Army (SLA) Headquarters, Marshalling Area, and Logistics Hub, all of which lie in ashes due to the Communist bombing campaign, knocking SLA Command and Control offline and crippling their resources and infrastructure to rapidly respond to the Communist invasion. This is drawing plenty of negative attention at all levels, to include the South Leon military and civilian government, and that has the Cuban national command authority somewhat embarrassed. By all accounts, Major Culero is a CLAF hero, but the heat is on and there are rumblings he should be relieved of command.

But the Bonesaws, commanded by Captain "Masters" Barrientos, have arrived just in the nick of time, buying Major Culero time to reconstitute his decimated squadron and reorganize as new pilots and machines arrive. Captain Barrientos immediately, and not so humbly, takes up the gauntlet; "don't worry, Major, Bone 01 is here to save your ass!" And with that, Captain Barrientos led a six-ship flight, comprised of brand-spanking new F-16 Fighting Falcons provided by the United States, on a classic fighter sweep, to let the Commies know there's a new sheriff in town.

Some new hardware! Versus MiG-21s, should be a pushover.

Not quite…

But things get straightened out.

To see the fight, please check the blog at:
link

I've played plenty of fights, working on all the batreps, stay tuned!

V/R,
Jack

Looks like you're having lots of fun with your air games.

Thanks for sharing your battle reports.

Thresher (Mako?),

I certainly am, and glad to hear someone out there is reading them!

I need to play a bunch more, and get back to the ground side, but first we're taking a detour to WWII for a bit.

Thanks again!

V/R,
Jack

Jack-

I posted a possible fix for dealing with damaged aircraft and maneuvers on the thread… reposting here for visibility.

Jack,

Damaged craft fix *could* be an integrity check (call it a 5+ with a bonus of some kind per skill of the pilot). Pass integrity check, do the maneuver… Fail it, and either take "damage" forcing a disengage or go in a different direction. A roll of one fails though a skilled pilot gets a re-roll.

Sooo….
a Rookie needs a 5+.
a Regular needs a 4+ (no re-roll)
a Veteran needs a 4+ (one re-roll)
an Ace needs either a 4+ (two re-roll) or a 3+ with one re-roll.

Just a thought or three.

Awesome stuff!

Archer,

Hey man, thanks. Yes, this is exactly the track I've been working on, but I guess even a bit more tough.
Rookie – 6
Regular -5+
Veteran – 4+
Ace/NBK – 3+

But that's a ver interesting idea about the 'integrity check,' which I was doing with 'Bag the Hun' and 'Lacquered Coffins.' I really like the idea, but I'm not sure I want to go that deep with these rules, whose charm is their simplicity.

V/R,
Jack

Yep, I do read them, but don't always reply. Seems like a lot of people are doing that here now.

On a 1, the wing, rudder, or other equipment falls off/fails, and the aircraft departs flight. Makes the player decide if they really want to try that maneuver, or just carefully nurse their jet back to base, flying as straight and level as they can.

Time to eject.

No problem, I get it, just not nearly as much commentary overall on TMP as there used to be, kind of a bummer.

In any case, thanks for the recommendations, I'm looking into it. I just try and remind everyone that the beauty in these rules are their simplicity, and I don't want to mess that up!

V/R,
Jack

turn and burn! Nice dogfight.