Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?

Started by Silent Disapproval Robot, October 26, 2015, 07:10:28 PM

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Silent Disapproval Robot

I've been reading a series of books about the air battles around Rabaul from '42 to '44.    I just finished a chapter about the first effective Japanese nightfighter and I'm itching to play the Rabaul scenario from Nightfighter.  Anyone up for a game of it?  You needn't own a copy.  I'll be running the scenario through VASSAL and will post screens and information here.  You'd just need to relay your orders and I'd update the map.


Nightfighter is played by two players.  one controls the bomber/raider force and the other controls the nightfighters.  The bomber player uses a  hidden movement system and it plays out like a kind of cat and mouse game where the bomber player tries to get his bombers to cross the map before the nightfighter manages to find them and shoot them down.

Anyway, the scenario in question takes place over Rabaul in 1943.   Every night that the weather permitted, the Americans sent B-17Es to raid the Japanese base at Rabaul.  They'd approach singly at an altitude from 7,000 - 10,000 ft and harass the Japanese.   The main threats were from flak and poor weather as the Japanese had no reliable night fighters.  This changed in May when the Tainan Kokutai (251 fighter group) received two Nakajima J1N1 "Irving" reconnaissance aircraft.  Cmdr. Kozono Yasuna came up with the idea of installing four 20mm cannons that were fitted at an oblique angle.  Two cannons were angled to fire 30 degrees upwards and two more to fire 30 downwards.  This would allow the J1N1 to assume a position behind and either above of below the target, match speeds and then rake them with fire.

Japanese command was skeptical but Kozono went ahead with his plan.  On May 21, 2943.  A J1N1 flown by Sr. Petty Officer Kudo Shigetoshi successfully intercepted and shot down two B-17Es (Honi Kuu Okole Hawaiian for Kiss my Ass, and an unnamed bomber) from the 43rd Bomber group.





From May to July, Kudo managed to down 5 B-17s, a B-24, and a RNZAF Hudson.  The high command was so impressed with Kozono's modifications that they re-christened the J1N1 as the Gekko (moonlight) and put it into production as a dedicated night fighter.



In this scenario, you'd take control of Kudo's J1N1 and attempt to find and knock down B-17Es that are conducting a night raid against Rabaul on May 21, 1943.  I'll be playing as the B-17s and trying to slip past.

Post if you wanna give it a whirl.  First come, first served.







Staggerwing

Sounds interesting. What kind of turn timeframe were you thinking of?
Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

Silent Disapproval Robot

Dunno.  Hopefully a turn every day or two providing life doesn't get in the way.


Staggerwing

That sounds doable. Are the rules online?
Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys


Silent Disapproval Robot

Scenario book is also online.  We'd be playing variant 2D of scenario 2 "Dunaja".

www.airbattle.co.uk/Downloads/Nightfighter_scenario_v1-1.pdf

Staggerwing

I'll accept if you can give me a day or two to read up. If you get an offer to play immediately from someone already familiar with the game I will bow out.
Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

Silent Disapproval Robot

Sounds good.  You don't need to read all the rules as they're organized to add layers of complexity as the scenarios progress.

You only need to read up to the end of section 13.0 and the rules for oblique guns (20.0).  It's quite a simple game.


Staggerwing

Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

Silent Disapproval Robot

Relevant charts:

Japanese nightfighter data.






B-17 data and bomber behaviour tables:





Tally and combat tables:



Silent Disapproval Robot

Here's the game map.  My bombers are scheduled to enter at the top of the map on turns 1, 5, and 10.  I can delay each bomber's entry up to three turns.  I determine which hex they'll enter by drawing a chit.  The bombers will move in a straight line towards the bottom of the map at their movement speed of 3 until they become alert.  Before we start, we'll have to determine the state of the moon.  Then you'll be able to place your fighter on the map at any location of your choosing.  Your fighter has a speed of 3*.  This means it moves 3MP on odd numbered turns and 4MP on even numbered turns. 

Staggerwing

#11
IIUC, I roll 2 D6 to determine the Moon's state.

This dice roll has been tampered with!
Rolled 2d6 : 5, 3, total 8


(The roll was not tampered with but apparently you can't use the preview option before posting. ???. Lesson learned.)
Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

Silent Disapproval Robot

8 means there is no moon for this scenario. 


First thing you need to do is to decide which you'd like to place your night fighter in and what its facing will be. 

Here's the map.  Let me know what hex you'd like your fighter in and the direction it will be facing.  Might as well make the top of the map north and have each hex side correspond to a compass direction  (N, NE, SE, S, SW, NW).

 



Staggerwing

I'm setting up in hex 1515, facing NW.
Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

Silent Disapproval Robot

#14
Turn order is as follows:

1) move bombers
2) enter bombers
3) move fighters
4) flak
5) ground based radar search
6) airborne intercept radar search
7) searchlights
8 ) tally
9) combat
10) end turn



First phase of the game is to move bombers.  As there aren't any on the map yet, we can skip that phase on turn one.

Next phase is enter bombers.  To do so, I will draw a random chit from a bag which will tell me what my entrance hex will be.  The chits are coloured red on one side and yellow on the other.  I have to choose which colour I will use for this scenario and use that colour each time I draw an entrance chit for my bombers.  Yellow tends to favour one side of the map and red the other.  I keep the colour selection secret from you but show you at the end of the scenario. 

My first bomber is scheduled to enter on turn one but I can delay that entry up to turn three if I want.  I still draw the chit on turn one though. 

Next you move your fighter.  It can move up to 3 hexes this turn (minimum move of 2).  It has to move forward 1 hex before it can turn.  It can turn 60 degrees (one hex side) per MP.  Easiest way to convey it would be to say something like "Move 1 and turn left, move 1 straight, move 1 and turn left."

Next phase is flak.  There is no flak present in this scenario so we can skip it.

Next is ground based radar.  You have a single Tachi 6 radar available.  It's kind of a piece of junk as it's very poor at giving an exact fix.   
You select any hex on the map where you'd like to focus your cone.  The Tachi has a radius of 3 hexes so if there's a bomber contact inside that radius, I will inform you and flip the radar search counter to the radar fix side.  I don't tell you how many contacts are within the cone or where in the cone they are (as I said, the Tachi 6 radar is kind of crappy).  If there are no contacts within the search cone, I will place a radar sweep marker next to your radar search cone.  The marker will indicate the direction to the closest bomber contact.  (If I don't have any bombers on the map yet, I can still place a sweep marker simulating a false contact.)

AI radar search phase is next.  Your fighter doesn't have on-board radar so we skip this phase.

We can also skip the searchlights phase as there are none in this scenario.

Next is the tally phase.  If you think you have a chance at spotting a bomber, you can make a roll to do so. 
In this scenario, we have no clouds, no moon, and moderate visibility conditions.  This means the max spotting range is 0 hexes so you have to be in the same hex as a bomber in order to have a chance to spot it.

Each bomber I use has a number from 1 to 6 on its chit.  In order to spot it, you have to roll your tally dice and one of the dice rolls has to match the number on the bomber's chit in order for you to successfully tally it.  With moderate visibility conditions and no moon, you start with 2 dice.  Because the J1N1 night fighter has good visibility for the crew, you get to add one bonus die so you get to roll 3 dice on your tally attempts.