A big battle fought in three games - Part 2

Following on from my previous post, where I described the setup and preparation for a larger one-off Napoleonic battle which would be fought as a series of three games, with each game representing one section of the battlefield: the centre and the two flanks. This post covers the battle report.

The idea for this approach came from Donald Featherston’s book War Games. In the Franco-Prussian War campaign described in one of the book's chapters, whenever the opposing armies met and a major battle developed, the battle was fought as three separate games, representing the centre and two wings of the armies. The overall winner of the battle was the side that won two of the three games.

A game in progress with a mix of old plastic 30mm Spencer-Smith figures and 25mm Minifig artillery.

My initial thinking was to write a separate game report for each of the three actions, followed by an overall battle report combining them into a single battle narrative. In the end I decided against this as it is a single battle which just happens to be played across three tabletop layouts.

So, here is the overall battle report, bringing together the three games into a single account of the battle.

Background

A French army has crossed into northern Bravance with orders to march south between the Pies and Zoilern Rivers with the aim of preventing an Austrian advance. The French commander, Marshal Victor de Launay, has organised his army into three Corps, supported by a small reserve.

The Austrian army, under the command of Marshal Karl von Hohenbruck, is marching north in three columns between the two rivers, unaware of the French army commanded by Marshal Victor de Launay. Both armies are organised identically into three Corps and a reserve.

Battle positions using ChatGPT to generate a map from my original line sketch in my previous post.

The first contact between the two armies occurs along the banks of the Pies River, near the towns of Gelsen and Bernsdorf. As reports of the enemy's presence reach both commanders, their armies begin to concentrate, and deploy ready for battle between the two rivers. The ground between the rivers is mainly farming land with a few woods which is intersected by several roads connecting a number of small villages and the regional town of Lemback situated on the Zoilern River.

Opening Clashes

The first clashes were between the scouting parties along the banks of the Pies River, where the French III Corps, on the army’s right wing, came into contact with the Austrian I Corps. These were the first formations to deploy, and by midday the opening attacks were underway around the villages of Gelsen and Bernsdorf.

The setup of the tabletop for the first game.

The French occupied Gelsen, while the Austrians established themselves around Bernsdorf. The high ground on the French right flank, north east of Bernsdorf, soon became the principal objective for both commanders. French infantry were initially able to secured the position, but determined Austrian attacks drove them from the hill. The fighting then developed into a struggle for possession of the high ground as the French brought forward reinforcements in an attempt to recover the position.

The French initially secure the high ground north east of Bernsdorf.

On the Austrian left, their cavalry moved along the banks of the Pies River, seeking a ford where they could cross and threaten the French rear. However, upon reaching the ford they found it held by French infantry who had recently arrived from army reserves. After a couple of charges they were forced to retire.

Austrian cavalry move along the river seeking a ford where they can threaten the French rear.

The Austrian cavalry are unable to cross the river.

Meanwhile, the contest for the high ground continued. Additional French troops had now been committed to the fight, which enabled them to successfully retake the position. The Austrians, having committed their last available reinforcements and with no army reserves available to them were compelled to withdraw, leaving the hill firmly in the hands of the French.

The French are able to retake the high ground.

The French had gained the upper hand in the opening action, as the larger battle began to develop.

A map showing the main thrusts by both sides (French blue and Austrian red) and the held objectives. French 2 objectives and the Austrians 1 objective.

Attack on Lembeck

By mid-afternoon, the French I Corps had commenced an attack along the banks of the Zollern River, with orders to seize the town of Lembeck and the overlooking hill to its north-west. The Austrians had quickly occupied Lembeck and were in the process of deploying their troops to secure the heights. Both forces were still receiving late unit arrivals from their rear as the first shots were exchanged.

Tabletop set up for the second game.

The French advanced in two columns. The main column followed the road towards Lembeck, while a second column moved around the woods and along the Zollern river, with the intention of attacking the town from the north-east. The French skirmishers moved through the woods to be the first to reach and occupy the hill. The Austrians hurriedly formed to meet the French advance with the bulk of their force positioned west of Lembeck.

The French seize control of the hill with their skirmishers as they march towards Lembeck town.

Commanded arms of infantry and cavalry secure the hill for the Austrians.

The Austrians launched an attack the hill. Supported by cavalry, their infantry succeeded in driving away the French skirmishers and secured the hill. The French, continued their attack and fresh troops were brought forward and committed against both the hill and the town.

The second French column attacks Lembeck from the north-east.

The struggle for Lembeck intensified when the second French column emerged from the north-east, advancing along the river and threatening the Austrian flank. With both corps now heavily engaged in the action, all available troops were being thrown into the fight. The French were further reinforced by troops drawn from their army reserve, allowing them to maintain the pressure despite their mounting casualties.

Austrian troops rush to defend the town from a French assault.

The Austrians troops held their ground against repeated French assaults without having to draw upon their army reserves. As the afternoon wore on, and with the hill and Lembeck still firmly in Austrian possession, the French commander was compelled to order his troops to retire. The attack on Lembeck had failed, leaving the Austrians very much in control of their right flank on the Zoilern River.

Key tabletop movements and objectives held on the Zoilern river flank.

The Assault on the Centre

Following their success on the right wing, the Austrians now sought to press their advantage in the centre, advancing II Corps against the French position. The possession of the centre would hinge upon the villages of Herzburg and Offingen, together with the commanding hill to the west of Herzburg.

Game three setup for the centre action.

The Austrian advance met with early success. Their troops were able to occupy both the villages of Herzburg and Offingen. The hill west of Herzburg was soon contested with Austrian skirmishers. Making good use of the broken ground upon the summit, the skirmishers repulsed multiple charges made by French cavalry.

The hill to the west of Herzburg is contested.

The initial fighting around the village of Offingen gradually subsided, with the opposing forces exchanging artillery fire. Meanwhile, the French had concentrated their attacks against Herzburg. Supported by fresh troops, they launched a determined assault that succeeded in driving out the Austrian defenders and seizing control.

French gain control of Herzburg.

The French also succeeded in clearing the hill of its Austrian skirmishers, but their success was short-lived. Nearby Austrian cavalry quickly seized their opportunity and launched a counter-attack, driving back the French and claiming the hilltop.

Austrian cavalry counter-attack and seize the hilltop.

With both commanders committing all available troops, the fighting around Herzburg and the neighbouring heights became increasingly fierce. Eventually Austrian infantry were able to retake the village. Both sides desperately looked for reserves to arrive to tip the balance of the fight.

Austrian infantry retake Herzburg only to lose it to a final French attack in the evening.

Austrian cavalry rush to secure the hilltop before nightfall.

As evening approached, the French once again forced their way into Herzburg, while Austrian reserve cavalry, under fire from French artillery, moved swiftly to take possession of the vital hilltop. With darkness fast approaching, neither commander was able to renew the contest. 

The Austrians held the more favourable position and the French withdrew from the field, leaving the centre in Austrian hands.

Key advances and held objectives in the centre.

End of the Day

The battle had opened favourably for the French, but the terrain on the other flank and centre was just a bit more favourable to the Austrians. Resulting in their failure to capture the town of Lembeck and inability to secure the centre where the Austrians had successfully weathered the French assaults and retained possession of those key positions. The result was therefore a marginal Austrian victory.

I added some arrows to the map to indicate the objectives taken.

Wrap up...

Having now set up and played the three games that make up the overall battle, there are quite a few things that worked out well, along with a couple of changes I would consider for future games and battles.

Tabletop Layout

The tabletop setup for each engagement worked out very well. I drew up three alternative layouts for each game, with each having broadly similar features but arranged slightly differently (using ideas from Grant's "Programmed Wargame Scenarios" book). Once the players had decided on their deployment, the dice determined which of the three layouts would be used. This added a level of uncertainty without making the terrain completely unpredictable. I will definitely be using this approach again.

Layouts A1, A2, and A3 are possible tabletop layouts of the left flank. Layouts B1, B2, and B3 are the possible centre layouts. C1, C2, and C3 are the right flank layouts. Hopefully you can see the variations between tables A, B, and C.

Each layout also had three objectives, represented by significant hills, towns or villages. The winner of each engagement was the side holding the most objectives at the end of the game. This did mean that some thought was needed when positioning the objectives to ensure that neither side gained too much of an obvious advantage. I did not try to apply complete symmetry. These variations made the tabletop much more interesting and made players have to adapt their plans to the terrain.

Random Sequence of Games

The sequence in which the three games were fought was randomly determined, but based on suggestions in the comments (thank you) I will change this next time. Rather than using the dice to determine all three engagements, I will only use it to determine the first. After that, the winner of each game will have some influence over the next game. For example, they could either choose which flank or the centre is fought next, or perhaps have the advantage of being the starting player in the following game. 

Reserve Chance Cards

The use of Reserve Chance Cards did not work quite as well as I had hoped. Each side had a deck of 15 Chance Cards, including three Reserve cards. When a Reserve card was drawn, the player could bring one unit forward from their reserve.

Chance cards in use as reserves arrive in the shape of Spencer-Smith 30mm ACW figures converted to French infantry.

I originally had six reserve units available to each side, but in hindsight I think this was probably too many. I would reduce this to four reserve units in future games.

Another possibility would be to have each player begin the battle with six cards and, before the start of an engagement, select up to three of these to be shuffled into their Chance Card deck. This would force players to decide when and where they wanted to commit their reserves, rather than simply having them available throughout the game. The reserve cards would be three infantry reserves, two cavalry reserves, and one artillery reserve. Once used in a deck they would be unavailable for use again.

This could work well for solo games, with the opposing side using a dice roll to determine how many cards are added to its deck.

A close up of the action around Offingen village.

What Worked

The combination of late-arriving troops, variable terrain layouts and pre-planned deployments produced some interesting situations. The fact that terrain was not finalised until the basic deployment and late arrivals were determined meant that players had to make plans without being able to rely completely on the tabletop they would eventually fight over.

Taken together, these mechanisms created a good level of uncertainty and decision making for me as a solo player while not being too swingy. I will definitely be using them again, including for my one-off games.

This set of games played over a week also got me thinking about using the same approach, but with smaller games where three games could be completed within an evening. I am thinking along the lines of One-Hour Wargames, with its smaller tabletop and six units per side, plus a maximum of one late arrival and one reserve unit.

Anyway, this post is much longer than I expected and I will call it a day.

Battle of Britain Campaign - Turn 8 - 26th August to 1st September 1940

With not much to post about this week, It was time to return to the Battle of Britain campaign and play a quick game, moving the campaign forward another week to 26th August to 1st September 1940. 

A Spitfire is spotted by an escorting Me109.

I have been running this campaign since mid-April and generally manage to get a game played every couple of weeks. For the tabletop games I use Warlord Games’ Blood Red Skies rules from the Airfix's Battle of Britain introductory boxed set, with a few modifications to suit the campaign and allow the games to be played on a hex grid.

So far, seven campaign turns, each representing one week of the Battle of Britain, have been completed. One week did not involve a game due to bad weather, meaning six tabletop games have actually been played. For the campaign I am taking a "bath-tubbing" approach with each tabletop game representing a key encounter that determines the campaign outcome for the whole week.

Details of the campaign rules can be found here. There are a couple of changes to the original campaign rules which I mention at the end of the post.

The Mission

The mission for the week of 26 August to 1 September was determined by a dice roll, with a 5 indicating that the Luftwaffe would attempt to bomb Radio Direction Finding (RDF) installations along the coast.

Selecting the mission.

In the campaign each mission has a set order of battle, and for this game the forces are:

Luftwaffe

• 1 × Ju 87 Stuka
• 4 × Me 109

RAF

• 2 × Hurricanes
• 2 × Spitfires
• 2 × Barrage balloons with supporting flak

When setting up a game there are several factors randomly determined by dice, these including the weather, pilot skills and starting altitude. Apart from the weather (who can predict that!) the other factors can be influenced by the outcome of previous games and the campaign rules. For example, during the first five campaign turns, the Luftwaffe received a +1 modifier to their pilot skill dice rolls.

Game Setup

For this game, the weather is fine, with just a couple of clouds in the sky.

The RAF had one Ace, one Regular and two Novice pilots, while the Luftwaffe had one Ace, one Veteran and two Novice pilots. As always, bomber pilots (in this case the Ju 87 pilot) is treated as a Regular pilot.

The Luftwaffe aircraft were positioned along their tabletop edge, with their starting altitude determined by dice. The RAF could deploy anywhere on their half of the tabletop, after which their starting altitudes were also determined by dice rolls.

Battle Report

As the German aircraft approached their target, they spotted a couple of Spitfires climbing to gain altitude. Then suddenly, two Hurricanes emerged from the clouds, taking the Luftwaffe by surprise. They swept past the escorting Me 109s, aiming to turn onto the tail of the Ju 87. However, their quarry disappeared into a cloud before they could get into position.

Game setup with all aircraft positioned, pilot skills diced for along with aircraft altitude.

Hurricanes emerge from the clouds taking the Luftwaffe by surprise.

The other two Me 109s engaged the two Spitfires. In the resulting dogfight the RAF caused some minor damage and a Boom token on one of the attacking German fighters.

A note on the rules -  In the Blood Red Skies ruleset, a hit results in the aircraft taking a Boom token. These tokens represent a combination of minor damage, fuel or ammunition expenditure, and pilots becoming increasingly rattled by enemy attacks. A hit can be successfully dodged, allowing the aircraft to avoid losing its altitude advantage and potentially being shot down. However, Boom tokens remain in place, and once a certain threshold is reached for a force (not an individual aircraft) it means: 1) the RAF, break off the attack, or 2) for the Luftwaffe the fighter escort protecting the bomber must withdraw, leaving the bomber exposed to RAF fighter attacks.

The Ju87 disappears into the cloud.

With the Ju 87 safely hidden in the cloud, the fighter melee continued as the RAF tried to position themselves for the bomber's reappearance. The dogfight resulted in the RAF aircraft taking some punishment and they accumulated two Boom tokens.

When the Ju 87 finally emerged from the cloud, it was game on. The RAF fighters closed in on the bomber, but luck was on the Luftwaffe's side. The Ju 87 escaped unscathed and one of the attacking RAF fighters took a hit. Fortunately for the RAF pilot, the hit was successfully dodged.

As the Ju87 emerges from a cloud its escorting fighters they and disrupt the RAF fighter attack runs. 

Elsewhere, the two Aces had become embroiled in their own dogfight. Twice the Me 109 Ace gained the upper hand, scoring two hits against the RAF Ace. Both were successfully dodged, but the attacks had nevertheless achieved their purpose. With ammunition and fuel running low, the RAF had accumulated too many Boom tokens and had to break off the attack.

Having survived the worst of the RAF fighter attacks, the Ju 87 continued on towards its target. All that remained was to run the gauntlet of the barrage balloons and any ground fire from the nearby flak batteries.

The RAF break off the attacks.

The Ju87 flies past the barrage balloons and flak.

As it turned out, the flak proved completely ineffective on this particular day.

Wrap Up

A win for the Luftwaffe. While this victory does not earn them any campaign victory points (those can only be gained by successfully bombing industrial areas, London, or Channel convoys) it does have an effect on the next campaign tabletop game.

If an RDF installation is successfully bombed, all RAF aircraft will begin the next game at low altitude. Putting them at a disadvantage so they will need to think carefully about where they deploy. Positioning their aircraft too far forward could leave them exposed to attacks from the Luftwaffe fighters while they try to gain altitude.

This is an amendment to the campaign rules that I originally wrote before I had played many games. The original rule stated:

• The RAF subtract 2 from the altitude roll if an RDF installation was successfully bombed in either of the previous turn.

Having played a good number of games, I have replaced this with the much cleaner and simpler:

• The RAF aircraft all start at low (disadvantaged) altitude if an RDF installation was successfully bombed in either of the previous turn.

This is the third change I have made to the campaign rules as the campaign has progressed. The previous two amendments were:

1. Combining barrage balloons and flak - Rather than treating them as two separate defences, they are now combined. Flying adjacent to a barrage balloon means an aircraft is subject to flak fire.
2. Limiting Ace pilots - Only one Ace pilot is allowed per side in a game. If a second Ace is generated by the pilot skill roll, they are instead treated as a Veteran pilot.

These are small changes which should not drastically influence the outcome of the campaign.

Counter-attack at Bir Kalifa - second remote game

This past Friday I played a couple of remote WW2 Western Desert games with Jon from the Palouse Wargaming Journal. The games moved along at a brisk pace, playing both games took just under two hours. We were using the Tank on Tank board game rules from Lock 'n Load Publishing, with a handful of house rules and some updated unit capabilities.

The rules are fast and decisive, if a unit is hit, it is eliminated. However, this cut-throat combat is balanced by the fact that a player is limited to between two and four activations each turn, with the third and fourth activations having to be diced for.

An activation allows a unit (or units) to fire at one enemy unit, move individually, or make a group move using an HQ. For a useful overview of the board game rules and how it plays, see the review posted by Norm of Battlefield and Warriors Blog (here).

Scenario

The scenario has a German counterattack following a successful Commonwealth advance. As the Commonwealth forces look to consolidate their gains near the settlement of Bir Kalifa, elements of the Afrika Korps launch an attack.

Map

The game is played on a hex grid.

Tabletop set up

Order of Battle

Commonwealth Forces

• 2 × HQs
• 4 × Grant tanks
• 2 × A13 Cruiser tanks

These units begin the game deployed behind the red dotted line. The Commonwealth player deploys first and has the first turn.

Beginning on Turn 5, the following reinforcements may arrive:

• 2 × A13 Cruiser tanks
• 1 × Bishop self-propelled 25-pounder

Afrika Korps Forces

• 2 × HQs
• 2 × Panzer IV (75mm short)
• 2 × Panzer IV (75mm long)
• 5 × Panzer III
• 1 × Wespe (105mm)

The German force begins the game deployed behind the blue dotted line. The Afrika Korps deploy second.

Victory Conditions

The Germans win if, by the end of Turn 9, they either:

1. Destroy all Commonwealth units, or
2. Successfully exit three units from the opposite tabletop edge.

If neither objective is achieved, the Commonwealth player is the winner.

House Rules

For those familiar with the Tank on Tank rules, the following house rules were used in the game:

• Attached HQs – HQs are attached to combat units and may transfer to another unit by spending 1 Action Point.
• Dust – Any unit that moves or pivots in open terrain raises dust. A marker is placed beside the unit to indicate this, and it adds 1 to its defence value unless it already benefits from cover.
• Indirect Fire – Only HQs participating in the shooting action may call in indirect artillery fire.
• Terrain – Hills and buildings are treated as described in the standard rules, while all areas of broken ground provide cover.
• Use solo activation mechanism from the rules - Where the first two activations are free and a 3+ is required for the third activation and a 4+ for the fourth activation. This was because it was a remote game and the usual method requires a bowl and tokens and not suitable for a remote game.

The above unit values were used.

Battle Report #1

For the first game please read Jon's battle report on his blog here. (We decided to split the battle report writing effort.)

I used small sticky notes to attach labels to the back of each unit to help with unit identification for this remote game.

Dyed soft toy stuffing is used for dust markers where units have moved or pivoted, and black dyed stuffing attached to little wooden blocks to show brewed up vehicles where units have been destroyed. The dust did on occasion hide the unit labels - I did not think about that when setting up.

I had a few key takeaways from this first game:

• As the attacker, the priority should always be forward movement, with shooting taking second place unless the odds are overwhelmingly in your favour. The nine turns go by very quickly, so there is little time (turns) to waste.
• The tracks (roads) are important, they provide a useful boost to movement. A blocking unit positioned to on the track can create delays and need to be eliminated.
• Attack with two groups in the beginning and the limited activations should be used with the group able to make the most progress.

It is always easier to be the defender. There is less to think about once the defensive line has been set. Jon was kind enough to take the attacking role first. This was appreciated as when hosting a remote game being the defender makes things a little easier. There plenty of things to be mindful of when running a game for the first time.

Battle Report #2

The second game opened with my Afrika Korps forces advancing towards the settlement of Bir Kalifa and along the left flank. Jon responded by moving a mix of A13 and Grant tanks into defensive positions in and around the broken ground near the settlement, while a second group pushed up around the opposite side of the town.

To keep the forward momentum, my left-flanking force pushed around the broken ground. Jon responded by withdrawing from the position and forming a new defensive line ready to block my advance, using his reserves to reinforce this new position. Meanwhile, around the settlement, I attacked one of the Grant units and successfully destroyed it. Outnumbered, Jon's left-flank group opted to retire back along the road.

Opening moves.

The Settlement of Bir Kalifa is occupied as Commonwealth forces retire to form a second defensive line with their recently arriving reserves.

Pressing forward with both groups, the Afrika Korps left flank engaged the larger Commonwealth defensive line, while on the right flank my forces moved out of the settlement and advanced along the road. The smaller Commonwealth defensive group defending the road was forced further back as it tried to contain the advance.

With the clock ticking, both sides were beginning to lose units in the fighting. However, the Afrika Korps was gradually working its way around the larger Commonwealth defensive line while, at the same time, continuing to inch further along the track.

The tow groups advance on the left flank and out of the settlement.

Nearing the last turn as the attackers are poised to exit the table.

By the final turn, the situation was on a knife-edge. I had four units in a positioned ready to exit the table, two on the left flank and two on the road. With two activations Jon managed to destroy one of them on my left flank. He then needed a third activation with a 3+ on the dice to move a unit into position to block the road and prevent a third unit from escaping using the track bonus to movement (one unit could already travel off road to exit the table).

Fortunately for me, luck was on my side. Jon rolled a 2, leaving the road open. I was able to exit three units from the table on Turn 9, securing a last gasp victory for the attacking Afrika Korps.

Wrap Up

Winning this scenario as the attacker is no easy task, and I certainly needed a little luck at the end to get a victory. These games played very quickly, with the first taking around an hour and the second just 40 minutes. Remote gaming does slow things down a bit at the start until you get into the swing of things.

One of the reasons for running these remote games was so I could to get back into playing Western Desert games using the Tank on Tank rules, keeping them as close as possible to the original rules while making a few small house rules to better reflect the desert environment, such as the use of dust markers.

I have now finally managed to get my own copy of the game, so the next step will be to work through the various scenarios and try to adapt them to the Western Desert. The scenarios are important as without them the game can descent into a shoot out. I am looking forward to seeing how they work on the tabletop.

The game arrived this past week.

What's Next?

I am also thinking about playing a larger campaign using Avalon Hill's old Afrika Korps board game board and may be the counters, with the battles being fought on the tabletop using the Tank on Tank rules and modified scenarios.

I have not yet worked out best to translate the situation on the campaign map on to a tabletop while keeping the overall number of games to a manageable level. I do not want the campaign to become so large that it stops being enjoyable.

This is not my first attempt at a Western Desert campaign. I previously ran a linear campaign starting in early 2020 that continued well into 2021. It was a lot of fun, but I was getting a bit tired of the games towards the end and was quite glad when it ended. You can read about that earlier campaign it starts here.

A second hand game I picked up a couple of years ago always with the idea of using it for a wargame campaign.

Battle of Britain Campaign - Game 7 Battle Report

This Battle of Britain campaign update is from a game played a couple of weeks ago. It has simply taken me a little while to get around to writing it up, as other games, activities, and projects have taken priority.

A game in progress.

The campaign uses the Blood Red Skies (BRS) rules and has now reached the week of 19–25 August 1940. For this seventh campaign turn, the dice determined that the Luftwaffe's mission was to bomb RAF airfields. A successful attack on the airfields does not earn any campaign victory points, but it can have an important impact on the following game. If the mission succeeds, the RAF fighters begin their next battle with one Boom token, putting them at an immediate disadvantage. In Blood Red Skies, accumulating Boom tokens eventually forces aircraft to break off combat, so even a small head start can be significant.

Dicing for the mission.

The game was set up using the standard campaign sequence (which can be found here):

1. Select aircraft based on the mission.
2. Place barrage balloons and flak.
3. Check the weather and place clouds.
4. Deploy the aircraft and determine their starting altitude.
5. Allocate pilot skill levels.

I have kept the battle report fairly brief, as I am finding that most of these games seem to follow a similar pattern. Hurricanes concentrate on attacking the bombers while Spitfires engage the German escorting fighters. This is followed by a dogfight as the RAF fighters try to position themselves for a second attack on the bombers. Occasionally, if they have managed to shoot down one or more German fighters, one or two RAF aircraft may even get a third attack run.

Battle Report...

German bomber and escorts heading to their target.

RAF intercepting aircraft.

The position of a cloud bank meant that the intercepting RAF force, two Hurricanes and two Spitfires, failed to spot the bomber as it passed through the cloud cover. As a result, the opening engagements were fought against the escorting Luftwaffe fighters.

The RAF held a clear advantage in pilot quality. They fielded one Ace, one Veteran and two Regular pilots, while the Luftwaffe consisted of one Ace and three Novices. This experience paid dividends early in the battle, with the RAF shooting down a Messerschmitt 110.

The initial dogfight as the fighters wait for the bomber to emerge from the clouds.

A Messerschmitt 110 is downed.

Once the Dornier 17 emerged from the clouds, the Hurricanes began their attack and quickly inflicted damage on the bomber. However, the RAF did not have everything their own way, as the German Ace managed to line up one of the Spitfires and shot it down.

A German Ace hits a novice Spitfire pilot.

The Dornier 17 emerges from the clouds.

After a couple of attacks the Dornier 17 takes multiple hits and crashes.

Pressing on towards its target, the Dornier came under a second wave of attacks after the RAF fighters had regrouped. This time they succeeded in bringing the bomber down before it could complete its mission.

Afterthoughts...

Pilot skill is a major factor in these rules, increasing both the number of dice rolled when shooting and the number rolled to dodge any hits. The Luftwaffe's three Novice pilots were at real disadvantage and, on several occasions, they failed to capitalise on favourable shooting positions.

The cloud cover also played an important role, shielding the Dornier during the opening stages of the battle and delaying the RAF interception. In the end, however, the better experience of the RAF pilots proved to be the decisive factor.

The version of Blood Red Skies I use is the one included in the Airfix Battle of Britain set. It is a streamlined version of the Warlord Games rules, omitting the advanced rules and aircraft trait cards. Instead, aircraft effectively have access to their traits at all times.

I also play the game on a hex grid, with each hex representing 3 inches. To accommodate this, movement values have been rounded to whole hexes, for example, aircraft with movement allowances of either 6 or 7 inches both move two hexes. This inevitably removes some of the subtle distinctions between aircraft performance, but I find the hexes help keep the game moving along quickly.

One house rule I have introduced concerns the Messerschmitts' Great Climb ability. Under the BRS rules, any enemy aircraft within 12 inches (four hexes) of a Messerschmitt must pass a manoeuvre test before it can gain altitude. I found I was always forgetting this rule, so I replaced it with a one I can remember. Messerschmitts that are at Advantage altitude may make a turn during their Pilot Action phase. It is easy to remember, adds a little tactical flexibility to the German fighters, and hopefully still reflects their superior climbing performance.

Anyway, that is all for now, and I will post this and wait to see how long it takes Google to update their blog feeds.