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Tabletop Gaming, Models, and Minis => Forum-Based Games => Topic started by: Silent Disapproval Robot on October 26, 2015, 07:10:28 PM

Title: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on October 26, 2015, 07:10:28 PM
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.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.airbattle.co.uk%2FAssets%2Fnightfighter2.gif&hash=048e0075da1122add69919b8b02645df7a3eba0d)

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.


(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eckleyaviationart.com%2Fgalleryimages%2Ffullsize%2FRabaul_Night_Raid_500x.jpg&hash=6c993d1482a57595fcb96bcc7a6f9ae8a5fc64fa)

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theswampghost.com%2Fdvd%2F3d%2Fupdate2%2Faproach.jpg&hash=434925a7e42884dc2cd1fda2aa2341aa1eed6862)

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.markstyling.com%2Fpto_b17s%2Fpto_cu_27.jpg&hash=d85274a990eaa53bd92bb9fca3e5ea3880cd2f98)

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.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.wp.scn.ru%2Fcamms%2Far%2F1196%2Fpics%2F65_27.jpg&hash=b62105e15fa5235b37a8b0c9b223729f13c48bf9)


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.






Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on October 26, 2015, 07:18:11 PM
Sounds interesting. What kind of turn timeframe were you thinking of?
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on October 26, 2015, 07:20:25 PM
Dunno.  Hopefully a turn every day or two providing life doesn't get in the way.

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on October 26, 2015, 07:21:26 PM
That sounds doable. Are the rules online?
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on October 26, 2015, 07:24:37 PM
Yup.

http://www.gmtgames.com/p-233-nightfighter.aspx
(http://www.gmtgames.com/p-233-nightfighter.aspx)
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on October 26, 2015, 07:27:30 PM
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 (http://www.airbattle.co.uk/Downloads/Nightfighter_scenario_v1-1.pdf)
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on October 26, 2015, 07:36:02 PM
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.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on October 26, 2015, 07:40:41 PM
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.

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on October 26, 2015, 07:59:05 PM
Will do O0
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on October 26, 2015, 08:12:56 PM
Relevant charts:

Japanese nightfighter data.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2F003_zpslbqpud1l.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=f69699fee318330b0507f20d80f21c59a9200be9)




B-17 data and bomber behaviour tables:

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2F002_zpskbhishcw.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=90c7a770cf99a04db4763e4b8683dafd8669f170)



Tally and combat tables:

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2F001_zpssdm9h7jt.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=20b9be50cacd2bf898a87f6159a67f4a69dd69a4)
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on October 26, 2015, 11:27:51 PM
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. 
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on October 31, 2015, 12:20:28 PM
IIUC, I roll 2 D6 to determine the Moon's state.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgrogheads.com%2Fforums%2FThemes%2Fdefault%2Fimages%2Fdice_warn.gif&hash=09b04beb3d0b7357d8a221f953a58436bc798bbc) 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.)
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on October 31, 2015, 12:34:03 PM
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).

 


Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on October 31, 2015, 12:42:21 PM
I'm setting up in hex 1515, facing NW.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on October 31, 2015, 01:01:36 PM
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.





Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on October 31, 2015, 01:05:21 PM
Quote from: Staggerwing on October 31, 2015, 12:42:21 PM
I'm setting up in hex 1515, facing NW.

OK.  Here's your starting position.

You can move and then select a hex for your first radar search.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNf%2520start_zps9cdqved6.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=06394f292e6674a3574222f9427b4a9d6c0d04bf)
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on October 31, 2015, 01:09:55 PM
Forgot to mention, when I enter a bomber onto the map, it costs 1MP to enter and then moves.  I can vary the MP moved on the 1st turn only so on the turn the bomber enters, I can use from 1 to 3 MP.  I must use all 3 MP for the B-17s on every turn after that.

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on October 31, 2015, 01:36:56 PM
Move 2 and turn right.

I'm a little fuzzy on the Radar. Does my choice of hex mean there is now an actual radar installation there? Does that unit later move to another location? Or are there are a number of installations scattered around the map, not actually shown by counters or other graphics, and I'm just telling them to sweep their array one at a time?
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on October 31, 2015, 01:46:29 PM
The ground based radar is pretty abstracted.  You have one Tachi 6 radar array and its coverage encompasses the entire map.  The chit doesn't mark the location of the radar dishes but is meant to signify a single search cone.   The array is assumed to be constantly sweeping for contacts (that's what the sweep marker indicates) but your placement of the radar search chit is meant to indicate the radar operator focusing on a specific area and trying to obtain a lock within the cone of the beam.

I've moved your plane into hex 1314 and have it facing north. Is this correct?

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNFt1_zpskjqavyug.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=60a4bc9619aa4c9e44db0b9a7f3a4638ca6b4352)



Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on October 31, 2015, 03:14:54 PM
Yes, thanks. I'm selecting 1104 for my first radar search.  I've no idea if this is a good place to start but the Fortresses couldn't have gotten in too far, assuming they have entered the map at all.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on October 31, 2015, 08:12:42 PM
There are no contacts within your search cone. 

If there is a bomber on the map, I have to place the sweep marker in a hex next to your search chit and it must be placed so that it is the fewest number of hexes away from the nearest bomber.  In cases where the distance to the nearest bomber is the same from more than one hex next to the radar search chit, I get to choose which of those hexes to place the sweep marker in.

In cases where there is no bomber on the map, I can place the sweep marker in any of the six hexes adjacent to the search chit.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2Fnfrdrswp_zpsiqpuae4i.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=68606b337b3cf595d72b34e01c1b13554824f7a6)


There's no possibility of a tally at this stage, so we'll move on to turn two.  I've done my bomber movement and map entry for turn 2.  You can move your fighter and select a hex for the radar search.  This is an even turn number so your fighter can move up to 4MP (2MP minimum).


Here's the map for turn 2 (I will move bombers off the map for these screens).



Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on October 31, 2015, 09:10:36 PM
Move 1, turn left, move 3. I should be hex 1011 after that.

0907 for next radar search.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on October 31, 2015, 09:39:12 PM
OK.  Your radar picks up one contact within the search cone.

You're not in tally range so I'll advance to turn three and do my bomber movement and map entry.

You can move your fighter and conduct another radar search.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2Fnfcont_zps2zffdkro.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=97387e96ece1aa796695ea1730eefe48e18cbd69)

Here's the map at the start of turn 3.



Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 01, 2015, 08:23:44 AM
Thanks for including the fullsize map attachment. It helps me keep oriented. I'm moving to 0710.

Does the radar only tell me the contact is somewhere in it's 3 hex zone or can I surmise that the contact is in the direction of the sweep counter from before?
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 01, 2015, 01:09:02 PM
The sweep counter indicates that a contact is outside of the current search cone's coverage and is in the general direction of the sweep marker.  As your first search marker's western most boundary was column 8.  The search marker has to be placed so that it's the least number of hexes away from the contact as possible.  If you look at your initial search, you can see that the contact must be west of column 8 or in hex 0801 or 0901.

My bombers must move 3MP each turn after they enter the map and they must fly in a straight line until they are alerted to your presence (which only has a chance of occurring after you've attacked).  Your next search has a contact within its cone.  Due to the placement of the sweep marker from the previous search, you can eliminate columns 10, 11, and 12 so on your turn 2 search the contact must have been somewhere in row 6, row 7, or in hex 0804 or 0904.   Remember it will have moved 3 spaces on the bomber movement phase on turn 3.


On turn 3, I have your fighter in hex 0710 facing NW.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNFt3_zps0g5n6inw.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=5ad1bb8503b13d5f4022520d43fc4778a309b3ee)

You can conduct another radar search now.





Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 01, 2015, 02:21:00 PM
OK. I'm searching 0708.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 01, 2015, 02:39:14 PM
You have a contact in your radar search area.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2Fnft3srch_zpszgwn0pzu.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=1fdf6f1c90b3fb4c4335468681b8f5937855d1a7)

If you want to, you can try a tally roll so see if your crew can spot anything.  You can do this each turn on the tally phase at your discretion.  I skipped this for the first two turns as there was no possibility of you being in range at the time.  Now that you know you're in the general area, you might want to make a roll.  With no moon, you have to be in the same hex as the bomber to have a chance of spotting but I don't have to tell you if you are in the same hex or not.  The rolls are your choice.


If you want to roll, you get 3 dice and one of them needs to match the number on the bomber's chit.

   
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 01, 2015, 05:29:33 PM
Why not?

[blockquote]Rolled 3d6 : 4, 6, 1, total 11[/blockquote]
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 01, 2015, 05:45:34 PM
No tallies.

On to turn 4.  I've moved my bomber.  You can move your fighter (up to 4 MP this turn) and reposition your radar search.


Here's the map at the start of turn 4. 
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 01, 2015, 05:57:22 PM
 Move 1, turn R, repeat three more times to end up in 0611, while also concentrating radar in 0612.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 01, 2015, 07:12:20 PM
If I turn your plane to the right, I can't get it to hex 0611.  I can if I turn left.

Which direction would you like it to face once it gets to hex 0611?  NE, SE, or S?

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2Fnft4_zpsivagsgeg.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=d21d0753c697da4ea6b01c20d6510928f1d8209b)


Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 01, 2015, 07:33:39 PM
Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 01, 2015, 07:12:20 PM
If I turn your plane to the right, I can't get it to hex 0611.  I can if I turn left.

Which direction would you like it to face once it gets to hex 0611?  NE, SE, or S?

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2Fnft4_zpsivagsgeg.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=d21d0753c697da4ea6b01c20d6510928f1d8209b)


Sorry, latent dyslexia strikes again. Your graphic is correct. Also, thanks for asking about final facing. Due South, please.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 01, 2015, 07:38:21 PM
Got it. 

Your radar has a contact.

Do you want to try a tally roll?
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 01, 2015, 07:47:43 PM
Yes, Rolling for tally:

[blockquote]Rolled 3d6 : 2, 4, 4, total 10[/blockquote]
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 01, 2015, 07:59:43 PM
No tally.

On to turn 5.  I can bring another bomber onto the map this turn (or delay its entry up til turn 7.)


You can move your fighter and do your radar thing.



Turn 5 map.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 01, 2015, 08:32:05 PM
Move three and turn left, radar on hex 0715.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 01, 2015, 08:53:04 PM
I'm still a little fuzzy on what the 'sweep' counter tells me.



Shouldn't a 'contact' indicate direction from the emitter as well since it represents greater fidelity?
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 01, 2015, 08:56:43 PM
OK, you still have a contact on your radar.  Roll for a tally if you wish.


(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNFt5_zpsapxlyjpx.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=784d081ff7dd898259cd68791f55361408c97caa)



A contact means that you have a positive radar contact somewhere within the 3 hex radius of your search marker.

If there is no positive contact within that radius, the sweep marker will indicate the direction towards the closest bomber to the search marker but is outside of the 3 hex radius.

The Tachi-6 radar is pretty crappy and can't resolve a fix closer than about 2 miles.  The game portrays this poor tracking ability by making the search cone so large (3 hex radius).

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 01, 2015, 09:06:59 PM
Here's an example of how the radar works.

In this picture, there is a B-17 in hex 1322.  Because it's within the 3 hex search cone radius of the Tachi-6 radar, I flip the marker over from the search side to the contact side.  Normally the bomber chit would be hidden from you.  You don't know where it is, just that it's somewhere within the 3 hex radius of the radar contact chit (the region shaded lighter than the rest of the map.)

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNf%2520sample1_zpsijfa8hbv.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=96d7842abd000a94d94821f1d703bca137059ae4)



In this picture, the B-17 is outside of the radar's 3 hex radius so I don't flip the marker to the contact side.  Instead, I inform you that there's no contact and I place a sweep marker next to the Tachi-6 search marker.  I have to place the sweep marker so that it's adjacent to the search marker and indicating the direction to the closest bomber.  In this example I could have placed the sweep marker in either hex 1422 or 1423 because they're both 4 hexes away from the bomber.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNF%2520sample2_zpsumpkgtjd.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=8c0ae3df47c4230f1435b1f04a6f9a16a4ea62c5)
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 01, 2015, 09:23:07 PM
Roll for tally:

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]
[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]
[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 3, total 3[/blockquote]



AFA the radar goes:
So basically, the closer to the emitter the plane is, the harder the return but the less fidelity in direction; the further out the plane is the weaker the return (or maybe even a false return) but the greater the indicator of directionality? That seems counter-intuitive some how. Shouldn't a hard contact also indicate what direction from the emitter that contact is?


Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 01, 2015, 09:31:21 PM
Think of it like this.  Assume that the radars in the array are constantly doing their 360 degree sweep.  Occasionally, an operator will take control of one of the dishes and do a tight beam focus on a bit of sky where he thinks there might be a contact.  This is what happens when you place your search marker.  Most German radars in this game have a 1 hex radius so if you get a contact, it's pretty easy to narrow down where exactly the bomber is in that 1 hex radius after a few search placements.

The Japanese radar depicted in the scenario was really rudimentary and could only get an interceptor within 2 or 3 miles of a contact.  It was unable to tell contact height, only direction and the displays were so coarse that the radar" fix" was several degrees wide.

The game kind of expects you to try to narrow down the possible location of the bombers by placing the search marker far out on either side of a contact as it works its way down the map and getting to to determine it's location by a process of elimination.

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 02, 2015, 07:17:08 PM
So basically bracketing either side, squeezing in closer and closer, 3 hexes farther south each time?
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 03, 2015, 12:08:23 AM
Sorry for not replying until now.  My place lost power sometime late last night and it's been out all day.  Hopefully it'll be back on when I get home from work tomorrow morning.

Yes, I think doing the bracketing thing would give you the best chance of narrowing down a location.


Your tally attempt failed to spot anything.   
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 03, 2015, 05:22:54 PM
The good news is my power is back on.  The bad news is that the .vsav file for turn 5 seems to have some issues and I can't get it to load.  It will be easy for me to rebuild but I won't be able to get to it until tomorrow morning after work.

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 03, 2015, 06:49:48 PM
No prob. We'll catch up then. O0
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 04, 2015, 06:07:14 PM
I'm not sure what happened with the old save file.  I couldn't open it and when I set up a new version of the game, I couldn't save over it.  Oh well, things are set up as they were before.  (I couldn't get the bomber counters to match their old chit numbers but I tagged them so I know what they were before and what you need to roll to spot them.)


Turn 6.  I've moved the bombers.  You can move your fighter (4MP this turn) and conduct a new radar search.


Here's the map from the end of turn 5.

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 04, 2015, 08:38:21 PM
Ok, I'm guessing that the 1st bomber has moved 15 hexes now.

Move fighter 1, turn right, move one, turn right, move 1.

Sweep 0616
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 05, 2015, 01:46:09 AM
OK.  You still have a radar contact.  You can roll tally if you wish.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNFt6_zpskexgkbx3.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=408a7a59e1f34943e31033070cd07a0418e5fbb2)
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 05, 2015, 06:38:01 AM
*crew frantically looks around for reported contact*

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 4, total 4[/blockquote]
[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 3, total 3[/blockquote]
[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 1, total 1[/blockquote]
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 05, 2015, 12:48:06 PM
No joy.  (Tell your crew to turn their heads or something!)

Turn 7, bombers have moved.  You can move your fighter and radar again.



Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 05, 2015, 07:55:44 PM
Ok, forward 1, turn left, forward 2 into hex 0519.

Search hex 0620.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 06, 2015, 01:57:18 AM
OK.  Radar still has a contact.

You can roll for a tally if you wish.


(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNFt7_zpsszpa5bff.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=be3d11fb2749e7c8ab1599ee7b83641767127185)
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 06, 2015, 06:28:48 AM


[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 3, total 3[/blockquote]
[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 3, total 3[/blockquote]
[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 3, total 3[/blockquote]
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: BanzaiCat on November 06, 2015, 07:05:32 AM
A question (and sorry to interrupt): are there any solitaire variants to this game?
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 06, 2015, 04:11:43 PM
Yes, there is a solo variant for the game.  You can download it here.

http://www.airbattle.co.uk/nf_downloads.html (http://www.airbattle.co.uk/nf_downloads.html)

There are also some campaign games for the Germans and the RAF available on the Nightfighter page at BoardGameGeek.  They're under the Files sub-heading.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/33924/nightfighter (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/33924/nightfighter)

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 06, 2015, 04:16:10 PM
Quote from: Staggerwing on November 06, 2015, 06:28:48 AM


(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgrogheads.com%2Fforums%2FThemes%2Fdefault%2Fimages%2Fdice_warn.gif&hash=09b04beb3d0b7357d8a221f953a58436bc798bbc) This dice roll has been tampered with!
Rolled 1d6 : 3, total 3
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgrogheads.com%2Fforums%2FThemes%2Fdefault%2Fimages%2Fdice_warn.gif&hash=09b04beb3d0b7357d8a221f953a58436bc798bbc) This dice roll has been tampered with!
Rolled 1d6 : 3, total 3
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgrogheads.com%2Fforums%2FThemes%2Fdefault%2Fimages%2Fdice_warn.gif&hash=09b04beb3d0b7357d8a221f953a58436bc798bbc) This dice roll has been tampered with!
Rolled 1d6 : 3, total 3

Three 3s?  So much for getting the crew to turn their heads!

Not surprisingly, no tally.

Turn 8.  I've moved my bombers.  You can move your fighter and radar.  (4MP for the fighter this turn.)

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 08, 2015, 12:13:26 PM
Moving the fighter ahead 3 and  targeting radar on hex 0624.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 08, 2015, 07:04:37 PM
Your fighter has moved.  You can see Rabaul harbour just to the south. 

Your radar is still locked on to a contact.

You can make a tally roll now.


(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNFt8_zpsydcnw5uk.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=0946bd917d184b8ebba9480f2ebc19fd351a6195)
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 08, 2015, 08:50:59 PM
[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 2, total 2[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 3, total 3[/blockquote]
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 08, 2015, 11:40:04 PM
No visuals. 

Turn 9, bombers have moved.  You can move your fighter and radar again.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 11, 2015, 09:34:57 AM
?
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 11, 2015, 06:25:34 PM
Sorry, was away in a fugue state for a few days. I'm back now. I can't wait for the postcards to to arrive and tell me where I was.  ???


Scan hex 0727, move fighter forward, turn left, forward 2 hexes, ending up in hex 0724 pointed SE.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 11, 2015, 06:50:47 PM
No worries.  Fugue state, you say?  That sounds an awful lot like my 2007.

Anyway, your radar still has the contact.  You can roll for tally.


(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNFt9_zpstzbpi9ry.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=76e1590279ea2c4c91dc3d0b809a00b5e0513002)



Here's the map at the end of turn 9/start of turn 10.

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 11, 2015, 07:48:32 PM
♬ "Tally Man, Tally Man, com tally me banana.. day's na' breaking' so ah canna see de fershlugginer round-eyes in dey flying' forts..." ♬

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 4, total 4[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 3, total 3[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 5, total 5[/blockquote]
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 11, 2015, 11:21:49 PM
No tally.

On to turn 10. 

You get reports of bombs falling around ships in Rabaul harbour.  (1st bomber has cleared the map.)

My 3rd bomber can enter this turn.

I've moved bombers, you can move your fighter and then reposition your radar.










Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 12, 2015, 09:38:16 PM
Move 1, turn left, repeat until entering hex 0822, then hold course. Radar on 0723.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 13, 2015, 01:43:19 AM
OK,  no contacts on your radar.  Sweep indicates contact to the northeast.


(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNFt10_zpsqsdac6xx.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=778f28a43b9897656f34ccedae3bd12b0d65d58a)


Turn 11.  You can move and re-position radar again.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 13, 2015, 06:22:11 AM
forward 1, right, forward 1, right, forward 1 into hex 0820. Radar search from hex 0920.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 13, 2015, 02:29:49 PM
Radar reports a contact in its search cone.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNft11_zpsjrjgiwqv.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=fd2a07d5e030225447297b7f552543dfd000b88f)


I'll move the bombers for turn 12.  You can move your fighter (4MP)  and do a radar search.


Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 13, 2015, 07:00:59 PM
Search 0720. Move fighter to 0719 pointing S.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 13, 2015, 07:04:19 PM
Are you saving some of the turns? When the game is over I'll be really eager to see where the bombers were in relation to my fighter and radar searches.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 13, 2015, 07:25:41 PM
Yes, I'm saving the turns and some of the more "interesting" screen shots.  I'm also making some rolls in secret.  It's been a rather unusual game from my end.

Radar loses its contact.  Sweep indicates southeast.


(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNFt12_zpsihwri0yy.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=96751c35440429e9ae8672e7f0afa9db6d013927)


On to turn 13.  I've moved the bombers.  You can move and do the radar thing again.

Here's the map for the end of turn 12/start of turn 13.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 13, 2015, 09:38:57 PM
Radar on hex 1021. Fighter moves forward 1, turns left, moves forward 2
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 14, 2015, 02:48:38 AM
No contact for the radar.  Sweep indicates contact to the south but it's too late.

On turn 14, that bomber completes its bomb run and attacks ships in Rabaul harbour.  (it exits the map.)

One chance left.  You can move and reposition radar.

Here's the map at the end of turn 13, start of turn 14.






Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 14, 2015, 08:29:19 AM
Quick question- Do the positions of the exited Forts match up with their exit hexes?
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 14, 2015, 08:33:24 AM
Yes.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 14, 2015, 10:36:01 AM
Scan hex 0725. Move fighter to hex 0924, no final turn.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 14, 2015, 10:49:52 AM
Nothing in the radar cone.  Sweep indicates north.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNFt14_zpsukyngncy.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=01de1fa15be493d0b9e24aa7a141acb4198c9422)


Turn 15.  I've moved the last bomber.  You can move your fighter and radar again.

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 14, 2015, 11:40:12 AM
So, if I'm finally getting a glimmer of how this works, the bomber has to be approx on or north of the red lines on the attached screenie and will be on or north of the green lines when you move again. If not then I'm pretty hopeless:
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 14, 2015, 12:20:31 PM
Correct.  Also, the sweep marker that I've placed directly to the north of the radar search marker has to be placed so that it's as close to the bomber (in number of hexes) as possible.  The bomber does get to move again before you can conduct your next radar search so it's possible that it could reach the green lines if it was just out of radar range.  Remember the last bomber entered the map as early as turn 10 and moves 3 hexes per turn (2 on the first turn it enters the map because it costs 1MP to move onto the map) so it could be as far south as column 17 by turn 15.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 14, 2015, 01:36:11 PM
OK then. Scan hex 1216 and move/turn fighter until it gets to hex 0723 facing N
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 14, 2015, 02:07:28 PM
Got a contact in the radar cone.


Turn 16.  Bomber has moved.

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 14, 2015, 03:05:02 PM
OK, Fighter forward 1, R, forward 4, R, ending in the hex 1020 facing SE. Radar search in hex 0920.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 14, 2015, 10:31:18 PM
Your radar has a contact.  You can make a tally roll if you want.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNFt16_zpsvcfrvgiu.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=533356cca75ef2bfc582370706ad4d054bfc335f)
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 14, 2015, 10:42:47 PM
[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 4, total 4[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 1, total 1[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 5, total 5[/blockquote]
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 14, 2015, 11:29:38 PM
No tally.

Turn 17.  I've moved my bomber.  You can move the fighter and the radar search.

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: BanzaiCat on November 15, 2015, 10:30:26 AM
Is it always this difficult to succeed at a tally roll?
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 15, 2015, 02:20:33 PM
Yes, locating a bomber in this scenario is a challenge.  The visibility in this scenario isn't great.  In order for Stagger to have any chance of spotting a bomber, he has to be in the same hex as it.  That's the real limiting factor.  Each bomber has a number from 1-6 assigned to it and one of Stagger's tally dice must match that number in order for him to successfully tally it.  So basically he has to be in the same hex as the bomber and then he's got a 50/50 chance of seeing it as he gets 3 dice to roll.  In most of these tally rolls he's attempting, there isn't a bomber in the hex with him so there's nothing to tally.  The game rules leave the choice of rolling a tally check up to the nightfighter player in order to preserve ambiguity.  If I only called for tally rolls when Stagger was in the same hex as a bomber, it would make it too easy to discern their location and kill them.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 15, 2015, 05:22:40 PM
Sorry, I've been away attending continuing ed credits in-services all day. I'll plot my next move after I make the kids some dinner.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 15, 2015, 06:45:51 PM
Scan hex 1424, move fighter to hex 1222 facing SW.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 15, 2015, 07:29:06 PM
Radar picks up the contact.  You can roll tally if you'd like.  (helps if I add the correct photo)

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNFt17_zpsrry8udnx.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=eafa342208df3ce815ae86e6068773cf87024eef)
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 15, 2015, 08:33:00 PM
If I've been doing this correctly then the location of the bomber now and next turn should be somewhere in these areas (attachment):
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 15, 2015, 08:34:37 PM
^The circle w/ arrow is where I'm thinking my next search should be if I don't tally now.


[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 1, total 1[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 5, total 5[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 2, total 2[/blockquote]
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 15, 2015, 09:18:53 PM
No tally.

Your guess looks good. You just have to pick the correct hex now.  One last crack at it.

Turn 18.  I've moved the bomber.  You can move your fighter (4MP) and radar.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 15, 2015, 09:22:14 PM
Well, I can only reach three of the hexes inside the future probable zone.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 15, 2015, 09:23:44 PM
It's turn 18 so you have 4MP but yes, you can only reach the 3 closest hexes. 
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 15, 2015, 09:27:29 PM
Search hex 1527 and move the fighter into hex 1226.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 15, 2015, 09:28:40 PM
I'm probably 1 hex behind anyway. 1126 would have made more sense as a last shot :(
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 15, 2015, 09:36:14 PM
OK.  I put your radar where you indicated in your screenie.

No contact on the radar.  Sweep indicates west.


Make your tally roll.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNFt18_zpso94rzpq8.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=3dee66d9cca1104057aaae1104f0e380ace75df3)
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 15, 2015, 09:39:24 PM


Tally attempt:

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 5, total 5[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 2, total 2[/blockquote]

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 15, 2015, 09:42:18 PM
It just occurred to me that you could divide the map into horizontal stripes of hexes based on the movement speed of the bomber, in this case 3 hexes apart and starting with the second row from top. The bombers will always have to be on one of these rows.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 15, 2015, 09:43:13 PM
Almost always.  There is a chance that a bomber spotted you but didn't get spotted in return and increased throttle. 
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 15, 2015, 09:49:44 PM
I must have missed that in the rules though I did read about the corkscrew.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 15, 2015, 10:01:22 PM
Anyway....


TALLY!!!!




Off in the distance, your pilot sees streams of tracer arcing through the night skies over Rabaul.  Just for an instant, something up ahead obscures the path of the tracers.

Concentrating on the spot, you think you can just make out the outline of a 4 engine bomber and perhaps even some bluish flames from an engine exhaust.  You're almost at the limit of your flak de-confliction zone (edge) of the map.  You'll only get one crack at this and don't have time to properly line it up.  At least he appears to be flying straight and level at a constant speed.  Probably concentrating on his bomb run.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNF%2520tally_zpsrmlwbuzr.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=f7d16cf055a878add1fb2cad0c5b37d040a7589a)


EDIT: You can attack with your oblique guns.

Your in a poor firing position so you will suffer a -2 to your firepower.  You need to roll doubles on your 1st tally to get a good initial firing position.  You can normally spend a turn getting into a good firing position but in this case, you won't have time.

Your firepower with obliques is normally 4, but becomes 0 from the poor position.  The advantage of the obliques is that there's a lower chance of the bomber successfully spotting and evading you but if they do go into evasive manoeuvres, it'll be very hard to stay with them.  It'll also be harder for their gunners to hit you if they decide to open fire.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 15, 2015, 10:04:12 PM
Oops.  misread the rules.  Your firepower with obliques in a poor firing position is automatically 0, and suffers a -2. 

EDIT again:  D'oh!  Helps if I look at the right fighter.  Your plane can only attack with obliques. and with a -2.   (sorry, got all excited there.)
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 15, 2015, 10:19:06 PM
Just to make sure I understand: My obliques have a 4FP per the plane stats, modified down by -2 due to poor position, so I get a remaining +2 added to my dice roll (2x d6). Thus I can get 4 hits against the bomber's 4 hit points if I roll 2 6's.


OK,

[blockquote]Rolled 2d6 : 5, 6, total 11[/blockquote]

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 15, 2015, 10:28:52 PM
Damn.  I hate situations like this, especially on the last turn in a mission critical situation.  Sincere apologies.  My fault for not asking if we were using the optional rules or not.  I did say just read up to section 13 and the bit about oblique guns therefore we'll ignore the advanced rules concerning poor firing positions and bomber responses.

Therefore, with a roll of 11 and a firepower of 4, you down the B-17 with a concentrated burst of fire from your oblique guns!



Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 15, 2015, 10:31:21 PM
I was just going to ask about the optionals.  :o

I saw them on the graphic for combat results on the first page of the thread. I wasn't sure which way it was going to go.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 15, 2015, 10:37:04 PM
I thought you were going to end it right off the bat when you managed to find yourself in the same hex as a B-17 #5 on turn 4 but you missed your tally roll.  The B-17 gunners also failed their rolls.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNF%2520turn%25204%2520failed%2520spotting_zpshpt2r2w3.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=4ec9c023f3db731508cc3dae2da6511582be90aa)



You were in the same hex with B-17 #5 on turn 5 as well but failed to spot him again.  Since you were at an oblique angle, the B-17 never had a chance to spot you.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNF%2520turn%25205%2520tally_zpshwvzvjs2.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=70c7d0395a1fd8bbfdbbbf7621a78fed2c51eafd)



Then I thought it was going to be a bust as you were never able to pin down bomber #6 and I was 99% sure bomber #2 was going to get away as well but then you managed to pull it off on the final turn.

Here are the entry chits I drew for the bombers.  Bomber #5 entered on turn 1,  Bomber #6 on turn 5, and Bomber #2 on turn 10.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNF%2520chits_zpsozcbzghu.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=37dbf8815646b13ac3a627290b8c35877bdd0375)

Turn 1.  Bomber 5 in hex 0602. 
Turn 2.  Bomber 5 in hex 0605. 
Turn 3.  Bomber 5 in hex 0608. 
Turn 4.  Bomber 5 in hex 0611. 
Turn 5.  Bomber 5 in hex 0614.  Bomber 6 in hex 1202.
Turn 6.  Bomber 5 in hex 0617.  Bomber 6 in hex 1205.
Turn 7.  Bomber 5 in hex 0620.  Bomber 6 in hex 1208.
Turn 8.  Bomber 5 in hex 0623.  Bomber 6 in hex 1211.
Turn 9.  Bomber 5 in hex 0626.  Bomber 6 in hex 1214.
Turn 10.  Bomber 5 exits map.   Bomber 6 in hex 1217, Bomber 1 in hex 1102.
Turn 11.  Bomber 6 in hex 1220.  Bomber 2 in hex 1105.
Turn 12.  Bomber 6 in hex 1223.  Bomber 2 in hex 1108.
Turn 13.  Bomber 6 in hex 1226.  Bomber 2 in hex 1111.
Turn 14.  Bomber 6 exits map.     Bomber 2 in hex 1114.
Turn 15.  Bomber 2 in hex 1117.
Turn 16.  Bomber 2 in hex 1120.
Turn 17.  Bomber 2 in hex 1123.
Turn 18.  Bomber 2 in hex 1126.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 15, 2015, 10:40:40 PM
I'll never be that lucky again...
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 15, 2015, 10:41:37 PM
Thanks for a great game!
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 15, 2015, 10:47:36 PM
That is a tough scenario for the night fighter player.  Some of the others involving the Germans vs. the Brits are a bit more intricate and involved.  The one with the Germans vs. 50 Lancasters is good fun!

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 16, 2015, 06:25:45 AM
Sounds exhausting!

My ability to think abstractly has diminished with my advancing age. At the end I was reduced taking the screenshots you posted and, using the current contacts zones, trying to predict the next zone and sketching it out right on the map with annotation tools in the pic viewer, then overlapping only part of that zone with my next search, then doing it again to search the other side of the next predicted zone after that, gradually narrowing it down (example: red=next predicted possible location zone, purple=next desired radar search):






Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 16, 2015, 04:40:12 PM
Damn!  Sorry to put you through all that work.

(wanna try one with 15 Halifax bombers?   :D  )
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 16, 2015, 08:08:32 PM
I'm very tempted... but I'm also afraid my brain might explode. :o

What scenario were you thinking? And what extra chapters are involved?
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 17, 2015, 12:33:35 AM
It'll actually be easier to find enemy bombers because the German planes are equipped with radar in addition to the ground based radar available. 

It's scenario 4G: 'Y' Guidance.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
The RAF learned a hard lesson in the first months of war when unescorted daylight incursions towards Germany were savaged by fighters. The defensive fire from gun turrets proved to be no deterrent and Messerschmitts carved their way through formations of Wellington bombers. In the absence of long-ranged fighter escorts, the RAF chiefs changed strategy and began to bomb by night. The Luftwaffe, ground down by their daytime raids of the summer of 1940, had a similar epiphany and began to blitz Britain after sunset.

Night was a shield against detection. An aircraft that was visible at five miles by day might only be detectable 2,000 feet away on a good night. In the polluted air over the Ruhr or London, visible distances were far less than that. In Britain, attempts were made to launch single-seat fighter patrols against the bombers, but in 1940 there was no radar coverage over land and ground observers had to fall back on listening for bomber engines. The tracking of raiders was so poor that a fighter pilot had to be lucky to spot a bomber. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. One veteran of these 'catseye' patrols described them as 'bloody stupid', mainly because of the danger. Lacking night navigation aids, and reliant on instrument flying, accidents with single-seat Spitfires and Hurricanes were common and probably more aircraft were lost to noncombat causes than enemies were shot down.

In Germany efforts were made to integrate fighters and searchlights in 'illuminated zones'--belts of searchlights some 22 km deep, away from the flak guns. Fighters would orbit a radio beacon or upward-pointing searchlight until they saw the searchlight belt 'cone' a target and light it up. Then they would dive from their standby position and shoot the bomber down. The first such illuminated zone, or helle Nachtjagdräume (abbreviated to Henaja) was established near Münster and the first kills using the system were achieved in July 1940.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.airbattle.co.uk%2FAssets%2Fhenaja.jpg&hash=9641817dd39586297072797e50657382c5ed5ba2)


ILLUSTRATION: Henaja in action. A nightfighter orbits a beacon behind the illuminated zone until sound locators and searchlights acquire a bomber. Then it peels off to fly to a point behind the bomber where it can shoot it down.

Henaja achieved some modest successes. However, once it became clear to the RAF pilots what this flak-free strip of light meant, they simply flew around it. However, Oberst Josef Kammhuber, the energetic commander of Germany's rapidly growing nightfighter organisation, soon had enough searchlights to establish a continuous zone of illumination from Jutland to Liege. The British dubbed this 'The Kammhuber Line'.

The Henaja system was far from perfect. Searchlights were reliant on sound detection and their crews would often become confused between the noise of the bomber and fighter engines. The need to reduce confusion meant that only one fighter could operate in any sector of the line at a time. However, the RAF obligingly trickled bombers through one at a time, with a space of a few minutes between each raider. And the British bombers' poor navigation meant they often spread themselves across the line, rather than concentrating at a single point.

Henaja fighting's other weakness was a reliance on the fighter pilots' own initiative. Kammhuber knew that a more complete solution to the nightfighting problem would require the development of ground control to direct the fighter to the enemy bombers. He devoted his command's energies to the evolution of new techniques involving radar.

Key to perfecting nightfighting tactics was the development of radar. With it, ground-based fighter controllers could direct nightfighters to intercept a raider and shoot it down.

In the late 1930s the British, in desperation, adopted a third-rate radar system and built a world-class fighter control system around it. Chain Home looked out to sea and was accurate enough to place day fighters within a few miles of a raid, where they could pick it up visually. However, Chain Home was a metre-wave radar and its enormous wavelengths, around 10m to 15m, gave it poor performance over land. It also had problems detecting low-level raiders and lacked the precision for night intercept.

The Germans had a superior ground-based radar in Freya. With a shorter wavelength, around 2.4m, it traded off a modest amount of range compared to Chain Home, but had much better discrimination. In 1940 Freya early warning radars were lined from the Danish to the Swiss frontiers, but unlike the British system they did not report to a central command post. Though they had a better radar the Germans lacked an integrated system of warning and control to hook the radars into. It took them a while to comprehend the potential of radar for control of fighters.

The earliest German attempts at fighter control were crude. If a target was picked up by Freya, a nightfighter was ordered to intercept on a bearing. But without constant updates of precise target information, successes were few.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.airbattle.co.uk%2FAssets%2Ffreya_radar.jpg&hash=8a90f92d81b182f55cd6d533f19cf374af1b6f14)

PHOTO: A FuMG 80 Freya radar of the kind that eventually lined the coast from Denmark to the Atlantic. Initially used just for early warning, they were soon adapted with AN circuits to provide close control of fighters for interception.

In November 1939 a Luftwaffe signals detachment began to experiment with trying to control fighters using the Freya radar. Unfortunately Freya did not give the target position to the level of precision needed for a night intercept. These early radars were difficult to use, using primitive cathode ray scopes that gave distance information, but required careful interpretation to determine the bearing in azimuth.

The result of experimentation was the development of Freya-AN. This used a technique known as 'lobe switching' to give much greater precision. The radar's receiving aerial was divided into two parts, left and right, which were switched between at the rate of 75 times a second. The cathode ray scope would show whether the signal was stronger on the left or right side of the radar beam. If the signal was symmetrical it would mean the contact was dead centre in the beam.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.airbattle.co.uk%2FAssets%2Ffreya-an.jpg&hash=8039bda0b2a84805fc5907fa0abf05da10563665)

ILLUSTRATION: The Freya-AN lobe switching system. The left-most example shows the contact in the right-hand lobe of the radar. As the aircraft moves toward the centre the signal on the left and right of the scope becomes more symmetrical.

Despite problems with height-finding (later solved by pairing the Freya with Würzburg radar) Freya-AN had sufficient precision to permit night interception. The fighter controller operated the radar. He could track both the bomber and the target on his scope and give directions to the nightfighter pilot. It was highly skilled and demanding work, because the controller might only have ten minutes to complete the intercept before the bomber passed out of the radar's view. The first kills were achieved in September 1940. Now nightfighters could intercept without the aid of searchlights and the first 'dark' night fighting zones (or Dunkelnachtjagdgebeite, abbreviated to Dunaja) were established in front of the Freya chain along the North Sea coast.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.airbattle.co.uk%2FAssets%2Ffreya-an2.jpg&hash=f8ed83b5e0b565aaf61b8e30fcc0f6afd9daf197)

ILLUSTRATION: This sequence shows the Freya-AN scope registering the fighter and bomber at different angles from the radar (to the left). In the topmost, the fighter is behind and to the port of the bomber. In the second row it is crossing left to right. In the bottom-most example the fighter is crossing but approaching firing range. The blob at the bottom of each scope is the permanent ground echo. A skilled operative could use this information to give course corrections to the fighter.

The British were also experimenting with fighter control using the more accurate 1.5m Chain Home Low radar. In the National Archive I came across plot sheets from 1940 for interception exercises off Foulness on the coast of England. There were also attempts to employ anti-aircraft gun-laying radars to guide fighters, along the lines of Freya-AN. The product of these developments was the deployment of the first Ground Control Intercept (GCI) radar, in January 1941.

GCI had many radar features that we would now recognize as 'modern', with a rotating aerial array and the Plan Position Indicator (PPI), a scope that gave a map-like plan view around the radar, which was positioned at the centre of the screen. Unlike the Battle of Britain fighter control system, where positions had to be calculated from bearings and gradually filtered through to a plotting table, a PPI scope could provide accurately filtered information in real time, permitting the controller to pass timely instructions directly to the fighter.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.airbattle.co.uk%2FAssets%2Fppi.jpg&hash=9cb8096dbc8447272991fb001ac99a8a4fa9a1d9)

PHOTO: A graphic showing the features of a PPI scope.

Like Freya-AN, GCI had the disadvantage of only being able to control one fighter at a time (though the addition of a scope for a second controller soon increased capacity). But it was part of an integrated system of night defence that included high-frequency communications, well-trained crews and a vital new technology, Airborne Intercept (AI) radar, which could be carried on aircraft.

Ground control of interception was only part of the solution to effective nightfighting. The Luftwaffe's Dunaja 'dark fighting' system permitted a controller to guide a nightfighter close to a bomber with the aid of radar, but still ground radars gave imprecise information. If the controller was just a few hundred feet astray, the target would be lost in the darkness.

It was clear to all involved in night fighting that fighters had to carry their own radar sets. This way the controller merely needed to get the fighter close enough for its own Airborne Intercept (AI) radar to pick up the target. Then the pilot would complete the final stage of the interception alone.


AI radar was one of the great technical challenges of the first year of the war. A radar needed to be small enough to fit in an aircraft and powerful enough to find targets a few miles away. Transmission and receiving aerials had to be sufficiently small that they did not adversely affect aircraft performance. The system needed to be operated by the pilot or observer. These requirements, particularly for miniaturization and power, did not easily go hand in hand and it took a long time for the technology to emerge.

For the RAF the first practical AI system was the AI Mk IV. After various experiments with wavelength, they settled on 1.5m as having sufficient range and sensitivity. In turn this meant that reception aerial dipoles mounted on the wings could be kept to half a wavelength, or 75cm, without hurting aircraft performance too badly. The system had a range of around 2-3 miles.

Metre-wave radar aerials broadcast a large balloon-shaped lobe of radio pulses in front of the aircraft. This was sufficiently imprecise that a comparison of returns between reception dipoles on the port and starboard wings was necessary to give accuracy in azimuth.

Because of the inefficiency of the aerial dipoles, the radar leaked energy into weaker 'side lobes'. These would pick up signals from the ground and feed it into the radar. This meant that the practical range of the radar was limited to its height above the ground. The lower the aircraft flew, the more the ground return overwhelmed the scope. This was to make metre-wave AI radar useless to the RAF when trying to engage low-flying raiders such as minelayers, and was to drive the Allies towards developing radars with shorter wavelengths.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.airbattle.co.uk%2FAssets%2Fai_radar_1.jpg&hash=719f97a2d5e52c66c6cf09dab0d0c3159cb060bb)

ILLUSTRATION: A diagram of a 1.5m radar, showing an idealized main lobe and side lobes. If the aircraft flies any lower, the side lobes will begin to register a ground return, which will fill the radar scope at long range. The lower it flies, the more the ground return fills the scope.

The other big problem that these radars faced was that of minimum range. They could not see targets below a certain distance, and this was a product of the Pulse Width, or the length of time the pulse took to be broadcast by the radar. Difficulties with circuit design plagued the efforts of early radar engineers to produce short pulse widths. If the pulse width was too long, then a target at close range would return an echo before the pulse had finished broadcasting, so making the signal disappear from the radar.

Engineers never entirely got over this problem, meaning that minimum range became a tactical hurdle for the nightfighter. The aircraft had to try and pick up a target bomber before it dropped within minimum range. For the AI Mk IV radar the minimum range was 400 feet, and with a maximum visible distance in the region of 2,000 feet, this meant there was a critical narrow band within which the target must be visually detected.

If the problems of ground return and minimum range was not enough of a challenge for the nightfighter, there was the layout of the radar scopes. For AI Mk IV there were two scopes, showing the radar returns in elevation and azimuth. It took some skill to interpret the information, and as a result the natural division of responsibility in nightfighting fell between the observer, who could constantly monitor the scopes and call out information, and the pilot, who could keep his eyes out of the cockpit, scanning the darkness for the silhouettes of the enemy bombers. This saved the pilot from ruining his night vision by staring at a scope, but put great reliance on tight teamwork between himself and the radar operator.


This division of labour meant that the archetypal nightfighter would be a twin-engined aircraft, something with space for two crew, enough power from the engine alternators to run the radar, great endurance, plenty of firepower, and the space to take all the electronic kit. Though there were exceptions to this--the American Navy and Marine Corps would invest in single-seat fighters--this set the pattern for the years ahead. Initial RAF deployment of AI used the Blenheim light bomber as a platform, but this was too slow to take on fast German bombers, so soon the more powerful Beaufighter was adopted as the mainstay British nightfighter.

While AI Mk IV was being perfected in late 1940, the Germans were developing their own system by repurposing a radio altimeter into an AI radar. This was to become the FuG 202 Lichtenstein BC, which would be operationally trialled in mid-1941 and become the standard Luftwaffe AI equipment for the next few years. This operated on a shorter wavelength than the British AI, around 50cm, which meant a fractionally shorter range than AI Mk IV. It had a useful minimum range of 200m (~650 feet). Four nose aerials functioned as transmitters and receivers and the radar operator had no less than three display scopes, one each for range, azimuth and elevation.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.airbattle.co.uk%2FAssets%2FMe110G-4_2.jpg&hash=63884f4b7278094995060c9100384a8fec1f8e15)

PHOTO: The Me110 became the mainstay of the Luftwaffe's nightfighter arm, but lacked the speed to battle the RAF's heavy bombers. Its replacement, the Me210, proved an abject failure, and so the Zerstörer soldiered on long beyond its sell-by date. This Lichtenstein-equipped Me110G-4 was the ultimate version of the type, with nitrous boost for its engines at high altitude.

The Germans would fit Lichtenstein aboard their own two-seat platform, the Me110 Zerstörer. The heavy 'destroyer fighter' concept had been found wanting in the day fighting of the Battle of Britain, but at night it would come into its own. The only problem was that the extra weight and drag of nightfighting equipment, such as radar aerials and flame dampers to hide the exhaust flares, took 10% or more off the aircraft's top speed. The Me110 could get by when chasing older, slower British bombers but would soon find itself outpaced when a new generation of four-engined bombers appeared.

Now that AI radar had been perfected sufficiently to be useful, the next challenge was to incorporate it into a tactical system.

By mid-1942 the Germans already had a number of systems of night fighter control. First was the Henaja system of illuminated fighting using searchlights. This was being enhanced by the use of the new Würzburg radar, which had the precision to direct a searchlight beam onto a bomber. Each searchlight zone had three Würzburgs positioned at the front, middle and back, able to detect bombers as they entered and exited the zone. However, few bombers were shot down as they left because RAF pilots began to dive as they transited the zone, accelerating past the hazard at low altitude.

The second system was an evolution of the Freya-AN system for directing individual fighters by radar. This grew into a line of 'dark' night fighting zones, or Dunaja, positioned in front of the coastal radar chain. The Freya radar was not precise enough for effective ground control, but the new 'Giant' Würzburg (Würzburg-Riese) had both accuracy and range enough for the job.



Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 17, 2015, 12:33:48 AM
With the arrival of Würzburg-Riese in the autumn of 1941 Josef Kammhuber was able to overhaul his nightfighting organization. The searchlight belts were widened and now Dunaja zones 36km in depth, combining Freya and Würzburg, were placed directly in front of the Henaja belt. A further piece of the jigsaw was the Seeburg plotting table, derived from ideas developed by the operational units. This was a 1:50,000 map of the interception zone onto which points of light, representing bomber and fighter units, were projected. This information, updated from the radars, gave a controller a picture of the battle that was clear enough for him to direct a nightfighter to its prey.

This system of dark and light fighting zones was to prove tremendously complex and Kammhuber experimented with narrowing and widening the searchlight belt. It wasn't until the spring of 1942 that many of the bugs were worked out and the system began to work effectively.

However, Kammhuber's XII Fliegerkorps was faced with a new setback. The Gauleiters of regions most frequently raided by the RAF petitioned Hitler, claiming that the vast searchlight resources devoted to the 'Kammhuber Line' were a luxury and would be better employed in support of the flak defending their towns and cities. From March to July 1942 the searchlight belt was gradually withdrawn on Hitler's orders.

The decision to withdraw the searchlights shocked and angered the night-flyers, but gave birth to two new systems of control. The 'combined' fighting zone, or Konaja, was a response to the loss of the searchlights and the lack of success at intercepting fast, four-engined bombers as they dived through the illuminated belts. By reasoning that bombers had to maintain a fixed course and height when approaching a target, Kammhuber tried to combine flak, the withdrawn searchlights and fighters over a number of target cities. There were problems with coordinating the fighters with flak (which would tend to shoot at everything and disobey orders to cease fire at the approach of friendly fighters) and Konaja at best enjoyed modest success.

The other system was a further development of Dunaja radar-directed 'dark fighting'. The withdrawal of the searchlight belt left the radars in position. At each station one 'Red Giant' Würzburg-Riese would acquire an enemy, while a second 'Green Giant' tracked a nightfighter. Both positions were transmitted back to a Seeburg plotting table from which a controller would guide the interception. This procedure became known as the Himmelbett ('Four Post Bed') method. Himmelbett was not without its disadvantages. As with Freya-AN only one fighter could be controlled at a time, which meant that each box-like Himmelbett zone, or Raum, could easily be overwhelmed by a mass raid. Though Würzburg-Riese was a more precise radar than Freya, interception was still a matter of luck.


The turning point came with the deployment of Lichtenstein BC AI radar aboard aircraft. Production of sets had delayed deployment and it wasn't until mid-1942 that these radars reached units in significant numbers. After initial suspicion (some guinea-pig pilots at II/NJG 1 regarded the sets as 'new-fangled rubbish') successes meant they were quickly embraced by the nightfighter crews. With airborne radar able to provide terminal guidance to the bombers, the success rate shot up so sharply that pilots soon forgot the loss of the searchlights.

The night bombing campaign differed greatly from the day bombing effort. By day bombers clung together in tight formations, all the better to provide mutual gun protection. But by night, formation flying was near impossible, and dangerous too.

Until 1942 RAF's Bomber Command had been sending bombers over Germany in piecemeal fashion. The desire to limit accidents meant that bombers took off at well-spaced intervals. The crews would often choose their own routes to the target and lacking more than rudimentary navigation tools they would wander across the sky trying (and often failing) to find city-sized targets.

This all suited the Dunaja and Himmelbett systems perfectly. Lines of Freya-AN controlled fighting areas and Himmelbett boxes stretched hundreds of miles across the Western approaches to Germany. Each area contained one nightfighter with a dedicated ground controller using radar plots to direct the pilot (see Part 4). The diffuse Bomber Command raids, spread over time and across airspace, would try to penetrate the line at multiple points. At each Himmelbett Raum there would invariably be a nightfighter lying in wait for a bomber. The fighter often had the leisure to complete an interception--a process that could take ten minutes or so--before the next bomber would appear. As a result RAF losses were running at an unacceptable rate of almost 7%.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.airbattle.co.uk%2FAssets%2FHimmelbett.gif&hash=73dfff93f42d638228f33f251ccadf9ea0606ce6)

ILLUSTRATION: This map shows the German nightfighter defences in early 1942. The coastal chain of dark fighting Freya-AN Dunaja zones is backed by a line of Himmelbett boxes ranging from Denmark into France. Each Freya and Himmelbett station could control only one fighter at a time. By mid-1942 the searchlights had been withdrawn to the cities, creating large illuminated zones (here marked in a lighter green) where Konaja, and later Wilde Sau, fighting could take place.

The arrival of Air Marshal Sir Arthur Harris marked a fundamental change in RAF tactics. The RAF radio monitoring service had identified the principles behind German controlled nightfighting and from this information Harris concluded that the answer was to concentrate bombers against a narrow section of the line in the shortest period of time. This would overwhelm the defence and produce tolerable levels of loss.

The first such operations took place in March and April 1942, when the RAF struck Lübeck and Rostock and suffered loss rates under 5%. The German leadership, instead of strengthening the night defences, chose to launch the retaliatory 'Baedecker Raids', and so Himmelbett was again unprepared to meet Harris's unprecedented 'thousand bomber' raid on Köln on the night of 30/31 May 1942. A total of 1,047 bombers were concentrated into a raid of 90 minutes duration. It penetrated the Himmelbett line on a front about 18 miles wide. No more than 8 night fighting zones were touched in the entire raid and just 25 Luftwaffe nightfighters were guided to the enemy. Hundreds of pilots and radio operators sat helpless in cockpits and command posts while the RAF obliterated Köln's city centre at the rate of one bomb load every six seconds. Harris felt the loss rate, just 3.9%, well-justified.

Though Harris would only launch a handful of the thousand bomber raids, the tactics set the pattern for the remainder of the war. Bombers would set off at close intervals and form into a narrow gaggle, a 'bomber stream' some 150-200 miles long, that would swarm into Germany. Navigation was helped by the arrival of new radio aids, and though accidental collisions between bombers were not unknown, they were rare enough for Harris to be unconcerned about them.

Kammhuber responded by extending Himmelbett down to the Swiss border, but he resisted calls from his pilots for 'free' fighting techniques against the streams. Kammhuber feared that a change of tactics would reduce his force's effectiveness and the control facilities needed for such operations were simply not available. In the meantime he demanded a massive expansion of the night fighting force. Göring thought the requests for new men and equipment utopian and flatly refused them. However, this didn't stop Kammhuber inducting personnel from the Nazi Party, SS, SA, Reich Youth Organization and Reich Labour Service as signals auxiliaries, bringing thousands of women into the night fighting force.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 17, 2015, 12:43:32 AM
SCENARIO BRIEFING:  (read rules up to 22.0)
Spring, 1943.  The weakness of the Himmelbett system was that it could only control one nightfigher at a time.  This was because there was only a single Wurzburg-Riese radar to track friendly aircraft.  The 'Y' system changed that.  It was a form of radio direction finding that permitted the Luftwaffe to track aircraft by triangulating on their radio broadcasts.  Now Himmelbett zones could control up to three aircraft simultaneously.

Attacking forces:
Elements of No. 77 Sqn, RAF (call letters KN) 
15 Halifax Mk III heavy bombers.  (one bomber enters per turn)

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.raf.mod.uk%2Frafcms%2Fmediafiles%2F00A91911_5056_A318_A87E78FADA2D0310.gif&hash=2a651562fee733a348f6a51ef689488882a43521)

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.wp.scn.ru%2Fcamms%2Far%2F560%2Fpics%2F9_7.jpg&hash=1e4f59195415cf129079add29735b9a1a99fb7db)

Defending forces:
Elements of II/NJG 2, Luftwaffe.

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Nachtjagd_badge.svg/langfr-120px-Nachtjagd_badge.svg.png)

One Dornier Do217J-2
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.wp.scn.ru%2Fcamms%2Far%2F445%2Fpics%2F2_6.jpg&hash=3ce5002266f41e7481b9d1a0052e8a8313045196)

Two Messerschmitt Me110F-4
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.warbirdphotographs.com%2FLCBW7%2FMe110-G4-NJG1-%2528G9%2BHT%2529-WrkN160128-FuG220-SN2-Fritzlar1945-50f%2B.jpg&hash=7fda7e52de1dacd600ffb8b17792e245100d726c)

The Me-110 F-4s must roll to see if they have been upgraded with Schrage Musik (oblique guns).

Defender setup: Defender sets up anywhere in zones J to R with any facing.  No more than one aircraft may be set up in each zone.

Search Radar:  One Freya, one Wurzburg.

Searchlights:  none

Flak: none

Moon phase:  random

Visibility:  random

Cloud cover: random

Victory conditions:  The defender wings if he shoots down three bombers.  If he shoots down four or more bombers, it's considered a decisive victory.

Special Rules:
Deconfliction is in effect (rule 11.1)

The Do217J-2 starts with altitude advantage (rule 18.0)

'Y' Guidance was a lot less precise at tracking aircraft than Wurzburg-Reise.  This is represented in game as follows:
The player designates one of his aircraft as being tracked by Wurzburg-Reise and the others by 'Y' guidance.  These designations cannot change for the rest of the scenario.

At the beginning of each AI search phase, before any AI fixes are lost or gained, the player rolls one die.  On a roll of 5-6, one of the 'Y' guided fighters is displaced.  The attacking player chooses one such fighter and displaces it one hex left or right of the direction it is facing as it it had corkscrewed (rule 17.4.3).  Only fighters without a tally or an AI fix can be displaced.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 17, 2015, 06:34:23 AM
Cool, let me read up on the manual sections on airborne radar tonight.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 18, 2015, 02:27:08 PM
Here's the map prior to setup.

I'll scan the relevant aircraft stats and post later tonight.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 18, 2015, 07:41:18 PM
German nightfighter stats

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNF%2520German%2520nachtjaeger_zpsj2ywgkm9.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=e1ae60c613364229229ae6b83e630f949802b03b)



Halifax bomber stats.  They have no upgrades in this scenario.

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Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 18, 2015, 10:08:56 PM
How do we determine which Me110s have Jazz Hands?

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 18, 2015, 11:08:47 PM
We can get all the set up rolling done now.

To see if the Me110s have been updated with their nasty cannons, roll 1d6 for each plane.
1-3: It's been upgraded, 4-6 it hasn't.

Then roll for the environment stuff.

Moon phase, roll 2d6+2.  (The +2 is because the RAF had learned to avoid flying in bright moonlight by this point)
2-4: full moon.
5-6: half moon.
7+:  no moon.

Visibility, roll 2d6.
2-4: poor
5-9: moderate
10+ good.

Clouds, roll 1d6.
1-3 cloudy
4-6 clear.


Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 19, 2015, 06:27:02 AM
Me110 #3

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]

Me110 #4

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]

Moon phase:

[blockquote]Rolled 2d6 : 4, 3, total 7[/blockquote]  +2 =

Visibility:

[blockquote]Rolled 2d6 : 3, 3, total 6[/blockquote]

Clouds:

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 19, 2015, 06:29:41 AM
No Jazz   :(


No Moon  :(


Moderate visibility


Cloudless night

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Barthheart on November 19, 2015, 08:09:48 AM
That's a lotta sixes!  :o
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 19, 2015, 08:10:37 AM
Quote from: Barthheart on November 19, 2015, 08:09:48 AM
That's a lotta sixes!  :o

:(
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 19, 2015, 01:14:58 PM
All of your planes offer unobstructed views to the crew so you get +1 die to your tally rolls.  You start with 2 dice due to the environmental conditions so each plane gets 3 tally dice.  Visibility range is zero so you have to be in the same hex as a bomber to have any chance of spotting.

All three planes are equipped with Lichtenstein BC radars.  Their search beam projects straight out in front of the plane for 2 hexes.   If there is a bomber within the AI radar search cone, I'll put down an AI fix marker on the map.

You also have two ground based radar systems, the Wurzburg-Reise and the Freya-AN.  They work just like the Tachi-6 did in the last scenario but their search beams are more tightly focused.  The Freya has a search radius of two hexes while the Wurzburg has a radius of one. 

The Do217 starts with an altitude advantage of 3 (shown on the map with a dives remaining token).  The plane can spend one point of altitude advantage per turn to give the plane an additional 1 to its movement point total.  The plane must be at the same altitude as a bomber in order to attack it.

Here's a shot demonstrating the radar search cones.  It also shows your three fighters numbered 3, 4, and 5.  Select one that will be directed by the radar (the other two will be directed by 'Y' guidance as explained earlier in the scenario briefing).

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNF%2520sample_zpsizqjxkum.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=9e363fd197a58d3917fff8b82ae92acb583c3e72)   


Let me know where you'd like your fighters to start.  You can place them with any facing in zones J through R, no more than one fighter per zone.  Keep the deconfliction rules in mind.  Your fighters cannot attack a target if another nightfighter is within 5 hexes.

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 20, 2015, 06:42:38 AM
I'll set up tonight after work. I need to prepare a little better than last game.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: BanzaiCat on November 20, 2015, 06:48:14 AM
I gotta say, this game looks incredibly boring at first glance, but having followed your last game closely I'm glad to say my first impression was totally wrong.

Even though Stagger was groping around in the dark like a middle school student in a walk-in closet at a party trying to find some middle school boob, and failing utterly for the most part, it WAS a lot of fun to follow along!  O0 Will be watching this one closely too.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 20, 2015, 08:01:45 AM
It's more like a sub hunting game than a traditional air war game.

Quote from: Banzai_Cat on November 20, 2015, 06:48:14 AM
trying to find some middle school boob, and failing utterly for the most part

Hey! I copped a good feel right at the end there!
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 20, 2015, 09:07:38 AM
I have a feeling that this scenario will be a little more lively. 

It's a pretty simple game and it plays a lot faster face to face with the bomber player doing a lot of bluffing (and a but if verbal abuse) and you can usually get through a scenario in 45 minutes or so.

Check out Bomber Command for something with a greater level of complexity and granularity but still using hidden movement.

EDIT: Here's my AAR for a game of Bomber Command I played via VASSAL a while back.

http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=13351.0 (http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=13351.0)
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 20, 2015, 05:54:45 PM
I was going to ask about Bomber Command since it's on sale at GMT right now.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 20, 2015, 06:37:30 PM
I really like it.  It's one of my favourite board games but a lot of that is due to the fact that it's one of the few games that covers the RAF night bombing campaigns which is a topic I'm keenly interested in.

It's not suited for solitaire play at all and it's a bit unusual in that the British player spends the bulk of his time plotting his raids at the beginning of the game but after they're launched, his role becomes much more passive as he can't alter the course of the raids but can only play cards to make life more difficult for the German player.  I really enjoy the tension that you experience as the Brits, hoping that your bombers can get through before the Germans can find them and do too much damage but I know other guys get frustrated by the fact that they don't have greater control over events.

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 21, 2015, 11:49:21 AM
I may have to get it. It's been sitting in my cart at GMT for a while.

Anyhoo


So I'm going to select the Do217 as radar guided and the Bf-110s as 'Y' guided just to make things easier to remember.

Also, Im going to set up Bf-110 #3 on 0319, the Do217 on hex 0919 and Bf-110 #4 on hex 1519. All facing north/top.

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 21, 2015, 10:54:44 PM
OK, here's your initial setup.  I've turned the AI search radar cone highlights on.  I've done the bomber entry and movement so you can move your fighters and place your two radar searches.

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Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 22, 2015, 11:23:53 AM
Search 0704 with the Freya and 1304 with the Wurzburg.

Move all the fighters forward 3 hexes, no turns.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 22, 2015, 11:41:43 AM
No contacts on the radars.  Sweeps indicate NE. 

On the AI search phase, we have to check to see if your two Me110s flying under 'Y' Guidance get displaced.  The way the rules work is that you roll 1d6 and they get displaced by one hex left or right on a 5-6.  I'm supposed to choose where they get displaced.  In order to save time, would you mind if I rolled instead?  That way I could roll and displace in one go.

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Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 22, 2015, 12:09:35 PM
Sure.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 22, 2015, 12:56:58 PM
OK, Me110 #3 gets re-directed by ground control and moves 1 hex to the right.

On to turn 2.  You can move your fighters and reposition your radar sweeps.

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on November 25, 2015, 06:56:44 AM
Search hex 1106 with the Freya and hex 1605 with the Wurzburg.

Move 110#3 1 hex, turn RT, then move 2 hexes. Move 110 #4 forward 3 hexes. Move the Do217 forward 3 hexes.

I may be slow with turns the next few days. I've been fighting a nasty respiratory virus but still have to do the work and thanksgiving things. Not enough of the resting thing to balance the others out.  ::)
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 25, 2015, 12:36:32 PM
No worries.  Drink vodka.  It's medicinal or something.  I'm working dayshifts for the next couple of days so I'll only be able to run a turn late in the evening anyway.

Don't cough in the stuffing! 
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 26, 2015, 12:08:34 AM
No radar contacts. 

I've moved bombers for turn 3.  You may move fighters and radar again.

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on December 03, 2015, 10:38:26 PM
Freya search 1108, Wurzburg search 1607.

Each Nachtjager moves  ahead 3 hexes, no turns

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on December 04, 2015, 12:46:12 AM
OK.  I'll roll the Y guidance checks for the two Me110s here rather than in VASSAL so you can see the results.

Me110 #3

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]



Me110 #4

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 5, total 5[/blockquote]
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on December 04, 2015, 12:57:10 AM
Me110 #3 diverts one hex left due to ground controller error.

No contacts on the radars.

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On to turn 4.  I've moved/entered bombers.  You can move fighters and conduct radar sweeps again.



Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on December 06, 2015, 08:10:36 AM
OK. Search 1408 with the Wurz, keep the Freya in 1108.

ME #3 1010 to 111 to 1211, turn right facing 1212.

Me #4 1509 to 1408 to 1407 facing 1406

Do217 to 0909, then 0908, and then 1007, turn right facing the Freya.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on December 06, 2015, 06:27:19 PM
OK. Checking Y guidance for the Me110s.

Me110 #3: [blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]


Me110 #4: [blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 4, total 4[/blockquote]
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on December 06, 2015, 06:37:20 PM
Me 110 #3 is displaced left to hex 1111.

The CGI operators for the Wurzburg and Freya arrays report no fixes.

The Bordfunker (radar operator) in Me110 #4 reports he has a fix straight ahead.

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv320%2Fbogaty%2FNft4fix_zpsawxqdl5n.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=da98ed7d298c781e47402e14468874cd2f88f02b)


Here's the situation after your moves and radar checks for turn 4.




On turn 5, I've moved the bombers again.  You can do moves and radar checks.



Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on December 13, 2015, 04:38:19 PM
Sorry for the delay.  :-[

Ok, Freya search 1109, Wurz to 1409.

Me #4 goes to 1406, 1306, 1305 facing North
Me#3 goes to 112, then 1212, then 1313 facing 1413.
Do217 goes to 1108, then 1207, then 1206 facing N.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on December 13, 2015, 05:07:10 PM
Checking Y guidance for the Me110s.

Me110 #3: [blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 1, total 1[/blockquote]




Me110 #4: [blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on December 13, 2015, 05:07:51 PM
#4 displaces left.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on December 13, 2015, 05:15:01 PM
Both the Freya and the Wurzburg radars pick up contacts.  None of the night-fighters find anything on their scopes.  Want to make a tally roll for the Do217?

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Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on December 13, 2015, 06:28:39 PM
Sure.

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on December 13, 2015, 06:29:59 PM
No tallies.  I'll move the bombers for turn 6, then you can move your fighters and relocate the radar searches.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on December 19, 2015, 01:11:37 PM
Me110 #3 moves to 1413, turns R, moves to 1414. looks for bomber

Do217 moves to 1206, turns L, moves to 1106, turns L, moves to 1006, turns L.

Me110 # 4 moves to 1204, turns R, moves to 1304, turns R, moves to 1404.

Wurz searches hex 1507.

Freya searches hex 1111.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on December 19, 2015, 11:38:13 PM
Checking for "Y" guidance errors.


Me110#3:  [blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]


Me110#4:  [blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 5, total 5[/blockquote]
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on December 19, 2015, 11:40:50 PM
Both Me110s displace one hex.



Your fighters pick up nothing on their scopes.

The Freya radar has a contact in its radius.  The Wurzburg does not.  Sweep indicates contact to the NE.

You can roll tallies for your fighters.

Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on December 20, 2015, 08:32:03 AM
Ok roll for tallies.

Damn Y-displacement. Not sure how to get back on track with Me110 #3 now.  :(
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on December 21, 2015, 12:15:49 AM
Well, there are 15 bombers coming through.  No need to get them all.

(you still need to roll the tally checks.)
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on December 21, 2015, 06:32:39 AM
OK.

I get two dice, right? Moderate vis, no moon?

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 5, total 5[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 2, total 2[/blockquote]


Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on December 21, 2015, 12:57:43 PM
You get an additional die for having good all around views from your cockpit.  You can roll for all three aircraft.
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Staggerwing on December 21, 2015, 01:01:41 PM
In that case: 

Me110 #3:

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 5, total 5[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 1, total 1[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 4, total 4[/blockquote]


me110 #4:

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 4, total 4[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 5, total 5[/blockquote]


Do217:

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 2, total 2[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 5, total 5[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 3, total 3[/blockquote]
Title: Re: Nightfighter - Anyone wanna play?
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on December 21, 2015, 02:08:02 PM
No tallies.  Turn 7.  Bombers have moved.  You can move fighters and radar.