Planning an Air Campaign

In between painting Zulus, I am up to 180 now, I have finally managed to put together all my Battle of Britain campaign notes for use with the Blood Red Skies rules. The games will feature my small collection of 1:72 scale aircraft and will be played either indoors on the tabletop or, weather permitting, outside in the garden (see here).

Here are the campaign rules...

A campaign tracker I made.

This is a solo campaign where the player takes the RAF role. The campaign is played over 17 turns with each turn representing one week during the period from 10 July to 31 October 1940. The RAF objective is to minimise Luftwaffe bombing success against London, industry and Channel convoys.

Each tabletop game is a key encounter that determines the campaign outcome for the entire week. A very "bath-tubbing" approach with my handful of models.

Turn Sequence

1. Luftwaffe Target Selection: Determine the Luftwaffe’s objective for the week.
2. Mission Briefing: Note campaign modifiers and set up the tabletop.
3. Engagement: Play the game using the Blood Red Skies rules and a Solo Flowchart.
4. Debrief: Record the result and update the Campaign Calendar.

Luftwaffe Target Selection

At the start of each campaign turn, roll 1D6 to determine the Luftwaffe’s primary target.

• 1 = Bombing industrial areas.
• 2 = Sorties & Reconnaissance - Probing defenses and fighter sweeps.
• 3 = Bombing London (Mandatory Target on Turn 17).
• 4 = Bombing Airfields
• 5 = Bombing coastal Radio Direction Finding (RDF) Installations.
• 6 = Bombing Channel Convoys.

Note: If you roll the same target as the previous turn, the mission is scrubbed due to weather. Mark a dash (—) on your calendar; no game is played for that week. A reprieve for the RAF!

Record the target selection on the campaign map’s calendar. For example, cross off the week and write “3” at the end of the week if the target was London.

An example of a campaign game turn ticked off with a line through the week. The target selection was a Sortie game indicated with a "2" that was won by the Luftwaffe shown with an "L".

Mission Briefing

Once the mission is decided the next step is to create the forces involved. The forces are based on my limited 1:72 scale collection.

A couple of Hurricanes chase down a Messerschmitt 109.

Force Composition for Mission Engagements

• Bombing industrial areas - Luftwaffe (1x He 111, 1x Do 17, 3x ME 109) vs. RAF (2x Hurricanes, 2x Spitfires).
• Sorties & Reconnaissance - Luftwaffe (1x Me 110, 3x ME 109) vs. RAF (2x Hurricanes, 2x Spitfires).
• Bombing London - Luftwaffe (1x He 111, 1x Do 17, 3x ME 109) vs. RAF (2x Hurricanes, 2x Spitfires).
• Bombing Airfields - Luftwaffe (1x Do 17, 4x ME 109) vs. RAF (2x Hurricanes, 2x Spitfires).
• Bombing coastal RDF Installations - Luftwaffe (1x Ju 87, 4x ME 109) vs. RAF (2x Hurricanes, 2x Spitfires).
• Bombing Channel Convoys - (1x Do 17, 3x ME 109) vs. RAF (3x Spitfires, 1x Boulton Paul Defiant).

Weather & Defences

Bombing Targets - For all missions except Sorties, place a target marker/objective on one tabletop edge.

Barrage Balloons - For bombing missions on Industry, RDF installations, or London missions, the RAF player can place 2 barrage balloons within their half of the table. This is reduced to 1 balloon if London was successfully bombed within the previous 2 weeks.

Flak - For bombing missions on Industry, RDF installations, or London missions, the RAF player may place 2 Flak units anywhere within their half of the table.

Weather - Roll 1D6 for the number of clouds. Players alternate placing clouds (the Luftwaffe place the first cloud). Clouds must be 6” (or 2 hexes) away from other clouds or targets.

• 1 = Poor (4 Clouds)
• 2 = Fine/Overcast (3 Clouds)
• 3-4 = Fine (2 Clouds)
• 5 = Clearing (1 Cloud)
• 6 = Clear (0 Clouds)

Aircraft Deployment and Pilot Skills

Aircraft Placement - The Luftwaffe starts by placing their aircraft along one tabletop edge (opposite the target if a bombing mission). The RAF may then deploy anywhere within the opposite half of the table.

Starting Advantage Levels - All bombers begin Neutral. For all other aircraft, roll 1D6:

• 5-6: Advantaged
• 3-4: Neutral
• 2 or less: Disadvantaged

The RAF roll 2D6 and use the lowest score if an RDF installation was successfully bombed in the previous turn.

Pilot Skills - Roll 1D6 per aircraft for their pilot’s skill level. Subtract 1 if a Sortie mission was lost in the last two weeks.

• 6+ = Ace
• 5 = Veteran
• 2-4 = Regular
• 1 or less = Novice

The Luftwaffe adds +1 during weeks 1–5; subtracts -1 during weeks 13–17.

At the beginning of the campaign the Luftwaffe had the edge in pilot skills having on hand combat veterans who had already fought in: Poland, Norway, France & the Low Countries. However, they were fighting over enemy territory and overtime they lost their edge in experience. While the RAF pilots were fighting over home territory, that meant a safe landing in friendly territory with quick rescue on land or by the Royal Navy.

Airfield Damage - If the Luftwaffe successfully attacked an Airfield last turn, the RAF begins this game with 1 Boom Token.

A He 111 on a bombing run.

Gaming Notes:

1. The use of aircraft traits in the game allows players to gain advantages with their aircraft. However, the Blood Red Skies full version of the game from Warlord Games uses trait cards, so all aircraft do not always get to use their traits. As I have no trait cards with the Airfix version, where traits can always been used, I have opted to limit the use of traits. Players can use up to 2 traits in a game turn, then must roll a dice and score 4+ to use any more traits during the game turn.
2. When any of the games are played solo, I will be using a Blood Red Skies solo flowchart for determining the actions taken by the Luftwaffe. I found the flowchart in the files of a FaceBook Group “Blood Red Skies Ready Room”.

Campaign Victory Conditions

At the end of Turn 17, count the total number of Luftwaffe Successes (L) involving London, Industry, and Convoys.

RAF Victory - 3 or fewer Luftwaffe successes.

A draw - 4 Luftwaffe successes.

A Luftwaffe Victory - 5 or more Luftwaffe successes.

Air Wargaming of the Garden Variety

I had hoped to get my Battle of Britain campaign rules all written up this week, but hat was not to be and they currently remain a collection of notes and scribbles on a first draft that still needs to be written as a second draft. I also wanted to play-test a bomber scenario, this will help with the design of for some of the campaign missions.

The game set up on the lawn with the target industrial complex in the distance. Two Hurricanes can be just seen patrolling in the upper right of the photo.

As my tabletop was already occupied with a game and the weather being fine and sunny, I decided to take the Blood Red Skies game outside. This is something I have been keen to try out for a while, as it gives the game more space and the aircraft do not feeling as crowded as they do on my 6x4 foot tabletop. I had earlier in the week made some larger bases for the telescopic rods to slot into, they keep the models stable on the lawn, so most of what I needed was already prepared. (Information on the making of the telescopic stands for indoors can be found here.)

The only question I needed to answer was how to represent clouds in an outdoor setting? In the end, I used quilt batting, which is the soft material used between layers of fabric on a quilt. Fortunately, with my wife is an avid quilter and there is always a ready supply of offcuts. She helped me find some suitably sized bits of white batting, which I then cut into cloud shapes for the game.

White quilting batting being used to represent the clouds.

The Scenario

A single Heinkel 111 bomber is being escorted by two Messerschmitt 109s. All are flown by regular pilots. Their objective is to bomb an industrial target.

Intercepting them were two Hurricanes on patrol. One is flown by a regular pilot and the other by a veteran pilot. In Blood Red Skies the pilot skill is important when it comes to the activation order of aircraft, additionally it helps provide an edge with both shooting and dodging any hits.

To represent the target, I used some factory buildings and flak gun emplacements I had made a few years ago (2020!) from wooden blocks for a St Nazaire raid game (info here). The buildings were laid out on a board to create an industrial complex. The complex is defended by two flak positions.

The Rules

For this game I used the Blood Red Skies rules from the Airfix Battle of Britain boxed set, which are a slightly cut down version of Warlords rules without the tactical and doctrine cards. When playing on my tabletop, I have adapted these rules to work on a hex grid, but for the outdoor game I switched to free movement, treating 12 inches, or one foot, as the equivalent of one hex. While I did have a measuring stick, I did on occasion use my feet to measure out distances. This was very convenient as it saved me always having to bend down to measure.

Although I do not have Warlord Games full Blood Red Skies rulebook and supplements, I was able to glean enough information from various quick reference sheets (QRS) found online to pull together a workable set of rule mechanisms for the bomber.

Game Report

As the Heinkel 111 with its bomb load, droned steadily toward its objective, it was sighted by a pair of patrolling Hurricanes. The RAF pilots wasted no time in turning to intercept the incoming raid. In response, the Messerschmitt escorts broke formation and began accelerating forward to engage.

The Messerschmitts move to engage the patrolling Hurricanes. While the Heinkel maintains its course towards the industrial complex.

The Messerschmitts and Hurricanes climbed and engaged each other in a tight dogfight, each pilot jockeying for position. Using a bank of cloud as cover, one Hurricane pilot using the aircraft's agility, slipped into position and shot off a burst or fire that cause minor damage to a Messerschmitt. An unexpected but useful blow.

A Hurricane uses the cloud to its advantage.

A Messerschmitt takes light damage.

Seizing the initiative, the veteran Hurricane pilot broke away from the dogfight and made for the bomber. The German fighters, recognising the danger, abandoned the dogfight and gave chase, using their great dive ability to close the gap and get in behind the Hurricane.

A Hurricane breaks away from the dogfight to threaten the Heinkel.

Pressing home his attack, the Hurricane pilot manoeuvred to tail the Heinkel and fired several quick bursts. The bullets stitched across the bomber’s fuselage, and soon smoke began streaming from one of its engines. The advantage was short-lived, as the Messerschmitts fell in behind the Hurricane and attempted to drive it off as it dodged their bursts of fire.

The bomber takes a hit on one of its engines.

Messerschmitts attempt to drive off the Hurricane.

While the first Hurricane weaved and jinked the tailing Messerschmitts, the second Hurricane had not been idle. Appearing out from a cloud bank, it lined up the stricken bomber and delivered a well-aimed burst of fire. This proved decisive, the bomber's second engine faltered, and it began a steep, uncontrolled descent.

The Heinkel is shot down by the second Hurricane.

With their bomber lost and also having taken light damage, the Messerschmitts saw little point in prolonging the engagement. Breaking off, they turned for home, leaving the skies to the RAF.

Outside on a sunny day wargaming. So enjoyable!

Hopefully this game report provides enough details on how the game progressed. When dogfights occur in the game and aircraft are going up, down, left, right. and centre. It is very difficult to describe all the different manoeuvres which are going on. Anyway, the game worked out well and now I have all the pieces I need to finish off writing up the campaign rules. 

Painting Zulus and a remote Air Wargame

Painting-wise, it has been all about painting the Zulus. Last week I was able to complete 60 figures, and I currently have another 60 sitting halfway done on my painting desk. All the Zulus are plastic HaT 20mm miniatures. I am hoping to keep the momentum going for as long as possible by painting steadily until I hit that inevitable point of not wanting to paint another Zulu. When that happens, as it inevitably will, I will switch to something different for a change, then hopefully return to painting the Zulus refreshed.

In terms of basing, I have settled on 4 x 3 inch bases and have 12 figures per base. This gives a nice dense look to the unit, while still leaving enough space around the figures so I can apply glue and flocking without too much difficulty.

The first batch of Zulus completed.

The Zulus are mounted on 4x3 inch bases. 12 figures per base.

On the gaming front, I have returned to air wargaming using the Blood Red Skies rules by Warlord Games. This was a project I started earlier this year with Airfix’s Battle of Britain set which came with the basic Blood Red Skies rules. The boxed set came with 2 Messerschmitts and Spitfires in 1:72 scale and I have added some additional models to add variety, Hurricanes and German Bombers (see here). They are all mounted on telescopic rods so I can vary heights to show when aircraft are Advantaged, Neutral, or Disadvantaged as per the rules.

Yesterday I played a remote game with Jon from Palouse Wargaming Journal. To make remote play easier I have adapted the rules to use a hex grid, as free movement and the associated measuring and shooting angles can be problematic when gaming remotely.

The setup for remote gaming.

My remote gaming setup is fairly simple, a mobile phone mounted on a tripod using Google Meet. For this game I added a backdrop sheet to prevent the models from getting visually lost against my wall of shelves with their clutter of boxes and containers.

As Jon was new to the rules, and it had only been a few weeks since my last game, we started with a small action with one aircraft each. Jon opted for the Messerschmitt and I had a Spitfire. There is no action report this time, partly due to me not taking nearly enough photos during the game, but also because an air combat game is really difficult to describe. Unlike land battles, where you can write about and take photos of flanking manoeuvres and centres holding firm, it is difficult to describe dogfights that have the aircraft zooming around the tabletop shooting at any enemy targets that end up in your aircraft sights. I will have to think more about how best to describe the games as I am planning a small air campaign.

A dogfight in progress as viewed from the mounted mobile phone.

Early on in the game Jon managed to get his Messerschmitt into more advantageous positions to line up more shots overall, but luck was not on his side with his dice rolls letting him down. On those occasions when he did roll well and landed a possible hit, my pilot proved elusive and successfully dodged incoming fire. With both our aircraft struggling to land any decisive hits, we introduced additional aircraft to escalate the engagement. Jon had a second Messerschmitt, while I added a Boulton Paul Defiant (a recent purchase I that I could not resist getting on to the tabletop) with its distinctive turret guns.

The extra aircraft came with veteran pilots and soon increased the intensity of the game, creating more firing opportunities. It was not long before Jon managed to get on the tail of my Spitfire, and this time, his shooting found its mark and I was unable to dodge. My Spitfire went down in flames and that was the game.

A Spitfire getting shot down.

Thank you to Jon for a most enjoyable game. By the end of the game we had both got to grips with the rules and many of its nuances and our aircraft rule traits. Hopefully I will be able to remember the game's nuances the next time I play! 

Currently reading.

I am planning to setup a short air campaign over the next couple of weeks, and I hope to post the campaign rules in my next blog post. With any luck, my current reading "The Most Dangerous Enemy" by Stephen Bungay will provide plenty of inspiration and ideas.