Help support TMP


"Dogfights over Midway, Fight #10" Topic


4 Posts

All members in good standing are free to post here. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the posters, and have not been cleared with nor are they endorsed by The Miniatures Page.

In order to respect possible copyright issues, when quoting from a book or article, please quote no more than three paragraphs.

For more information, see the TMP FAQ.


Back to the Solo Wargamers Message Board

Back to the WWII in the Pacific Message Board

Back to the WWII Aviation Battle Reports Message Board


Areas of Interest

General
World War Two on the Land
World War Two at Sea
World War Two in the Air

Featured Link


Top-Rated Ruleset

Spearhead


Rating: gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star 


Featured Showcase Article


Featured Profile Article


Featured Movie Review


1,268 hits since 21 Mar 2020
©1994-2025 Bill Armintrout
Comments or corrections?

Just Jack Supporting Member of TMP22 Mar 2020 5:28 p.m. PST

All,

1425 local time
4 June 1942
Midway

It's 4 June 1942, the dawn of the epic "Battle of Midway," a clash of giants, three US carriers vs four Japanese carriers that proved to be the turning point of the war in the Pacific. For more information, both real-life and how I'm running this campaign, please check here:
link

To catch up on all the old fights, please click here:
link

It's now 1425, and a flight of B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers is inbound, escorted by four Zeros. Lt Fitzsimmons, the Squadron XO, leads the six-ship CAP up to meet them.

picture

The super-maneuverable Zeros flown by super-experienced pilots are known to give the Yanks a hard time…

picture

But some of the foxes manage to get into the henhouse!

picture

And while the Americans take their lumps…

picture

But they show pretty well, too.

picture

Though not well enough…

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

Well, this has been incredibly ugly, and there's one more to go. The Japanese dive bomber and torpedo attacks damaged the Yorktown and Enterprise, but flight operations continue. The last Japanese carrier, the Hiryu has been sighted, and it's all hands on deck. The planes have launched, and we've got LtCmdr Case leading the last three Wildcats in escort of six SBD Dauntlesses.

V/R,
Jack

Bede1900223 Mar 2020 4:51 a.m. PST

How do you play an air combat game solo?

Just Jack Supporting Member of TMP23 Mar 2020 6:17 a.m. PST

That's a great question, Neli, thanks. So far I've played about 70 solo aerial combat games (50 with these rules, 15 with Lacquered Coffins, and another five or so with some home-brew rules), and my answer is that so far, at least, it's pretty easy.

First, if you've got non-fighters on the table (bombers, recce, transports, etc…), they pretty much run themselves, no maneuvering, just moving from one end of the table to the other. So when you get to the fighters, it's pretty simple: either get the non-fighters, or protect the non-fighters. With diced-for movement, it typically limits the fighter's options so that there's really only one course of action, and in those cases where there are actually options, I just break it down into two or three potential courses of action and then roll to 'decide' which one the enemy aircraft will take.

For example, a Japanese Zero is approaching a flight of TBF Avengers, and he has enough movement to make a high-deflection shot on the lead Avenger, or to get on the tail of a Wildcat for a zero-deflection shot. His job is to go after the bombers, but it's a terrible shot, and it would be a great shot on the Wildcat, and knocking a Wildcat down would make life easier in getting after the bombers, so I give it a 50-50 on a D10.

If the situation were reversed, i.e., the Zero could get on the tail of an Avenger or take a high-deflection shot on a Wildcat, I'd do something like 90% chance he goes after the Avenger and a 10% chance he panics (is worried about his own survival) and goes after the Wildcat.

See there, nice and easy, and I've been playing solo for so long now it really just flows like gravy, I don't even have to hardly think about it anymore.

Solo gaming is not for everyone, but I have a great time, having wracked up exactly 503 fights, almost all of them solo, since August of 2013.

I hope that answers your question, and please let me know if there's anything else I can help with.

V/R,
Jack

Just Jack Supporting Member of TMP25 Mar 2020 5:37 a.m. PST

Hmmm, a rhetorical question then? Well, don't I feel silly for hammering out such an expansive response ;)

V/R,
Jack

Sorry - only verified members can post on the forums.