Thunderbolt Apache Leader AAR

[JudgeDredd]

My first mission is against 12A Battalion and I arm my aircraft.

I have to keep in mind that I cannot use more than 10 SOs worth of weapons.

These are my armed aircraft for the first mission


Although there an no enemy helicopters over the target, they can turn up with the Pop-Up cards you pull...so I've loaded an AIM-9 AA missile.

Also, because of the "SO" limit imposed by the Special Condition card, I've had to load mostly Mk-83s on my A-10A. I would've liked to have used some more AGM-65s as they are an almost guaranteed hit.

As survivability is crucial (I only have 4 airframes for my whole campaign) I've loaded each with an ECM pod.

MK-20s are a nice weapon to carry because you get to roll  an attack against each target in the hex for each MK-20 dropped!

[JudgeDredd]

Next I pull a Mission Event and look at the Target Bound section (the top part of the card - the bottom part is the Home Bound Event).

I pick an F-15 Air Cover card - I can pay 1 SO and remove all helicopter counters and ignore any helicopter popups. I decide to pay the SO - even though I am carrying AA weapons, I am only carrying two...so I'd rather eliminate the problem altogether.

[JudgeDredd]

And this is my Campaign Sheet

[JudgeDredd]

Next stage is to shuffle the hexes and place them one at a time, from top left, through the middle to bottom right...with arrows pointing up. This is an excellent feature as it gives a tactical edge to manouvering.

I then draw the targets and randomly roll a dice for each one to determine what hex they are placed in (from 1 top left to 10 bottom right).

Next is to determine where I will start my aircraft and at what altitude. I start my A-10 in hex 7. He is a fast pilot so he can quickly remove the threat of the SAM which has a dangerous range of 3 and causes two heavy hits.

I then roll for my scout and gain 2 more loiter turns over the target. When you start a mission, you start with 5 loiter turns. You can incresae this by 2 by paying SOs and taking fuel tanks or having a scout and rolling to give you more time over the target. I rolled a 4 giving me 2 extra loiter turns and giving me a total of 7 loiter turns.



Notes on target chits:
1. VP Cost - the number on the top left is the value of that unit. The accumulation of these when destroyed during a mission determines whether a battalion is at full strength, half stregnth or destroyed.
2. Damage - the number on the top right is the number of damage chits you have to pull when being attacked by the enemy unit. A yellow background means you pull a light chit and a red background means you pull a heavy hit.
3. Range - the number in the black circle below the Damage number is the range the unit can attack - if there is no number, then it can only attack within it's hex
4. Type - the letter on the bottom left tells you whether it's a vehicle or a building...the abscence of the letter means it's neither.
5. Modifier - some units will have a modifier next to the V or B. You will use this to modify the roll for your weapon attack. For example a building may have a modifier of -4 meaning you are to reduce your attack roll by 4 and a truck will have a modifier of +2 meaning you increase your attack roll by 2


A word on the hexes. Some hexes have ridges. These block LoS from you to other hexes and from enemies in other hexes to you - IF you are at low altitude. If you are at high altitude, you can see the entire battlefield - with a minor limitation to field of view.

If you are at low altitude and want to move over a ridge, you roll for ridge evasion. Depending on the result (with modifiers) determines whether you crash, suffer stress or damage. At high altitude, you are not at risk so do not roll for ridge evasion.

I've started both my pilots low to protect them from the SAMs with a range of 3.

[JudgeDredd]

More tomorrow

[JudgeDredd]

Or just now.

Start of Battlefield Resolution
Draw Popup Counter
The first stage is to draw popup counters. You do this if you have any aircraft at High Altitude. The counter stays for the duration of that turn and is removed at the end of the turn.
I do not have any aircraft at High Altitude, so I do not draw any

Enemy Cover Roll
First, I roll to check for any targets taking cover. I roll a 7, which means I roll a dice to determine what hex to move units into cover...and I roll 3 and there are no units in there.
If enemies are to go into cover then they move to a ridge scetion of their hex. If no ridges are present, then the units cannot go into cover.

It's now that I think I've placed my A-10 in the wrong position. I thought the A-10 would be able to attack each move...but it can't...it can only attack once each loiter. So I'm going to attack the SAM site in it's hex and then have to move it...meaning it'll be in full view of the AAA in hex 6 and the SAM and AAA site in it's destination hex 10

Fast Pilots - Altitude/Move/Attack
During this phase, you change the altitude of your fast pilot and then move/attack or attack/move. If you have a pilot in hover, then they can remain in hover.
Anyway...to battle. So Viper is a fast pilot, so he gets to attack/move first. So he drops a MK83 on the SAM and need to roll a 4 or higher. I roll a 6 + 1 modifier for Vipers Cannon/Strike makes 7...so it's a hit and the SAM is destroyed.

I then move Viper into hex 6 and to the south east edge and as the A-10 has a speed of 2 I then move him into hex 10 facing west...hoping he sruvives the next round to be able to move west then north east to attack the 3 units there with his MK-20s.

Enemy Attacks
The next part is the Enemy Helicopter Movement...there are none so it's on to Enemy Attacks.

Montana cannot be engaged by any enemy units - there are none in range and whilst I guess the SAM site in hex 10 has line of sight to him, the SAM is required to attack the closest enemy - and that's Viper.

Viper will be attacked by the AAA unit in hex 6 and the AAA and SAM site in hex 10.

The AAA site hex 6 opens up...but first I check to see if my ECM works. I roll an 8 for the ECM Pod and therefore the attack is thwarted.

The AAA site in hex 10 now attacks. Again I fire my ECM pod and a roll of 2 means it failed so I pull 2 hit chits - an A-10 Wounded and an AH-64 Structure hit. Strangely according to the manual you disregard a hit chit if the aircraft on the hit chit is the same as the aircraft being attacked. I'd have thought it would be the other way...anyway...my A-10 has suffered a Structure hit. That's a big one because it's one towards crashing and I will need to pay SOs to repair it.

The SAM in hex 1 now attacks and I fire my ECM - rolling a 7 so the attack is again avoided.

Slow Pilots - Altitude/Move/Attack
Now it's slow pilots turn and I move Montana into hex 1 and leave him in the centre indicating he will be hovering in that hex.

Next I advance the loiter counter (reduce it) by 1.

This is the situation at the end of the first turn.


And Viper has a structural hit.

[JudgeDredd]

Right - still Day one and on Loiter turn 2. I have 5 Loiters remaining after this one.

Popup Check
First thing is check for popups - and as I have no aircraft at High Altitude, it means I do not have to pull a chit.

Enemy Cover Check
Next step is to roll for enemy cover. I roll a 3 - meaning any units in a hex with my aircraft go into cover. Well, there are none in Montana's hex but there are two in Vipers. However, there are no ridge hexsides on hex 10, so they do not go into cover.

Fast Pilots Attack
Viper rolls in for the kill. He drops 2xMK-83s - one each on the SAM and AAA. With Vipers Cannon/Strike modifier he needs to roll a 3 or more. A roll of 9 against the SAM and 4 against the AAA - they are both destroyed.
Viper then moves west into hex 9 and sits on the north east edge ready to move into hex 7

Enemy Attacks
Viper (A-10) can be attacked by the AAA site in hex 6 and Montana (AH-64) can be attacked by both AAAs in hex 2.

Viper switches on his ECM pod and rolsl a 9 - avoiding the attack from the AAA site in hex 6.

Montana is engaged by the AAA sites in hex 2 and rolls of 2 and 3 mean the attacks are successful. I pull 4!! damage chits and they are 2xEngine, 1 Stress and an Altitude hit. The Altitude damage means I have to change the airframes altitude...so I move Montana to High...not great because I will incur a Popup next turn. The 2xEngine means I check twice for a crash at the beginning of each turn...a roll of 2 or less = a crash!

Slow Pilot - Altitude/Move/Attack
Well, I can't adjust his altitude because of the damage chit. However given the damage to him, I'm going to have him exit the battlefield next turn so I move him to the edge of the hex he is in (hex 1) ready to exit.

He can attack though, so he attacks 1xAAA with 2 LAU-61s and the other AAA with his remaining LAU-61. He rolls a 7 for the first one meaning the AAA site is destroyed AND he gets to retain the LAU-61. His next roll against the remaining AAA is a 10...so both AAA sites are left as wrecks.

The final part of the loiter turn is to advance the Loiter Counter to 5

This is the situation after 2 loiter turns over the battlefield. Unfortunately because Montana (AH-64) is set to high altitude, I will pulla  popup chit next turn. Also with his two Engine damage chits, I'll have to roll twice for a crash check. Montana has also suffered a stress hit.

NB - in the pic below I am not showing any LAU-61s on the AH-64 - they should be there really because the AH-64 rolls were above 7 - but because I was exiting the AH-64 from the battlefield the next turn, I just put them back in the counter box...my bad. Also, I guess I should've rolled for the second LAU-61 attack on the first AAA site I destroyed to see whether I retained it or not.


For the record, the Battalion is officially at half strength because there are only 4 unit points remaining. If you remember my battalion card it had numbers 10/2. If the sum of the unit values goes below 10 but above 2 then the battalion is at half strength. If the sum of the unit values remaining go to 2 or below, then the battalion is destroyed...so Viper in the A-10 will be required to destroy both APCs or the AAA site in hex 6 to destroy the battalion. Also - the campaign card suggested I destroy 2 battalions in the first day - so I need to destroy it.

[Keunert]

great stuff Judge, almost makes me want to get the game

[JudgeDredd]

It's a great quality game. Cards, art, process...all very detailed. The hexes and ridges give a good tactical edge. Weapon chits are a little on the low side. I'd like to see other hexes come out as additions...just to give a different flavour of theatre because they are all desert based.

I love the fact you don't roll for hits now...it's an automatic hit from enemies but the type of enemy determines whether it's a hard or soft hit. Also, the hit points have lots of different types - HUD, 1 Stress, 3 Stress, Altitude, Wounded, Killed, Engine, Display, Structure, Pylon...lots and lots of types with differing effects on your airframe. For example, Engine you already know you have to roll foor a crash test. Then Pylon you reduce the number of available weight points by 2 - and if that means you have to drop ordinance, then you drop ordinance. Altitude you know forces you to another altitude. Structure - an aircraft can suffer a set number of structure hits before it crashes. HUD means you subtract 2 from the weapons strike (same hex) attack rolls (meaning for a MK-83 to hit you would need to roll a 6 instead of a 4). Also, some of these effects need repairing at the cost of SOs.

Overall a great game so far.

[JudgeDredd]

To what I hope will be the final stage of this attack. This is my 3rd Loiter over the battlefield and I will have 4 left if needed

Looking at the manual I note that I don't roll for a crash for engine damage during the Battlefield Resolution phase...which I find quite strange. It's performed at the beginning of each Target Bound Stage. That doesn't really feel right...but that's what it says!

Popup Roll
Because Montana in the AH-64 is at High Altitude I have to pull a popup chit. The chit I pull is No Enemy.

Cover Check
I roll to see if any units take cover. I roll a 9 - and one hex with the most active units takes cover. DAMN! That means hex 6 - and therefore no attack for me this time! I move all active units in hex 6 to the ridge edges to signify they are in cover.

[Fast Pilots - Altitude/Move/Attack[/i]
I keep Viper in the A-10 at low level but because all the pilots in hex 6 are in hiding, I have nothing to attack...so I move Viper in his A-10 into hex 6 and move to edge south east heading into hex 10. I then move him (he has a sped of 2) into hex 10 facing west ready for his next attack run into hex 6
NB - I didn't read the rules right here - Viper COULD have attacked the units in cover - he would just need to do so by entering the hex because you cannot use Stand Off weapons to attack units in cover.

Enemy Attacks
Because the enemy is in hiding, they do not attack.

Slow Pilot - Altitude/Move/Attack
Well - because I thought Engine damage would be checked every turn, I decided to move Montana in the AH-64 to a hex edge to exit the battlefield...so off he comes and I move his counter to the side ready for the homebound event check.

I advance the Loiter counter and go to the next turn. This is the situation:

[JudgeDredd]

Well - turn 4 (loiter 4) over the area.

Popup Check
The A-10 isn't at high altitude so no popups occur.

Cover Check
All units are in cover...but I still roll because a roll of 10 moves units out of cover...and I roll a 9. So one hex with the most active units has all units go to cover. However all enemy units are in cover anyway.

Fast Pilot - Altitude/Move/Attack
Viper in the A-10 stays low and moves west into hex 9 and heads north east and moves again into hex 6. He drops a MK-83 on the AAA site and drops his 2 MK-20s - both of which I can roll against all the vehicles in the hex. A roll of 1 (even with Vipers +1 modifier) doesn't cut it for the MK-83. A roll of 5 is enough to destroy the AAA site, a roll of 8 is enough to destroy one of the APCs and rolls of 3 then 10 are enough to destroy the last APC.

The battalion is destroyed and I head home...moving the loiter counter, then moving Viper 2 hexes and off the battlefield through hex 7.

This is the situation at the end of the first mission for the first day.

[JudgeDredd]

I'm sure I read somewhere in the manual that a unit in cover can attack and it moves out of cover...but I can't see where I read that now...but I'm pretty sure that's the case

[JudgeDredd]

To end this mission I have the following steps to perform

Adjust Battalion Strength
Draw a Homebound Mission Event Card
Bingo Fuel Checks
SAR Check for Crashed Pilots
Record Pilot Stress
Record Pilot Experience
Record VPs

[JudgeDredd]

The battalion has been destroyed and is removed from the list of battalions

The Home Bound Event card I draw is Aggressive Enemy. It has no effect as the batalion was destroyed

I do not have to perform Bingo Fuel Checks because my aircraft exited with Loiter points remaining

I have no need to check for search and rescue

I record Pilot Stress...Viper suffers 1 stress and Montana had a stress point allocated when he was attacked in mission - so he suffers 2 stress but he has a Cool value of 1 - so his overall stress level is 1 too.

Each pilot gains 3 XPs...1 for flying the mission, 1 for destroying the battalion and one for destroying every unit in the battalion. I have to record persistant damage to the airframes. So I log 3 XPs each to Viper and Montana and I record 2xEngine hits for the AH-64 and 1xStructure for the A-10.

I record 4 VPs  for the destruction of the battalion and move onto the next mission for the day - an attack on 11A in the Friendly Transit Area

[JudgeDredd]

I was going to stop now...having given an insight into the game, but I'll continue with the second mission for the day. No pictures.

So - Mission 2 for the day is an attack against battalion 11A which is in the friendly transit area (too close for comfort!)

Battalion Makeup:
2xAAA
2xCommand
2xHelicopters
4xTanks

My pilots for the day are:
Gumby in an A-10A and Daddy-O in an Apache AH-64A.

Target Bound
Arm Aircraft
If you remember back to the start, I pulled a Special Condition card - and that card stated for the missions that day I could only spend 1 SO on weapons...with this in mind, I arm my aircraft thus...
A-10A
2xAIM-92 AA missles - not as not reliable as the AIM-9 but doesn't have an SO cost
2xMK-20 - love em. Require a 6 for a hit, but each one dropped is rolled against each vehicle in the area
2xMK-83 - powerful...heavy at 2WPs but almost guaranteed a hit
2xAGM-65 - a very powerful guaranteed hit (almost!)
1xECM Pod - always carry one of these. They helped Viper considerably in the earlier mission for the day
1xMK-82 - not very powerful but has 0 SO value

AH-64A
3xLAU-61 - With a fair chance of retaining the weapon for reuse - it's worth it
1xAIM-9 - just in case
1xECM Pod - again - survivability

Fueling Priority
I have no need for this as the battle is in a zone with no WP penalty

Mission Bound Event Card
The card I draw is
MLRS Bombardment - pay 1xSO and roll for an attack on each enemy unit at the start of the first turn. A roll of 8-10 will destroy the unit...NICE!

Engine Damage Checks
Neither of my aircraft have engine damage (yet) so no need to check this

Place Terrain
I shuffle and place terrain hexes, with their arrows pointing up. I use the same hexes as in the previous mission because those are the hexes drawn for this campaign. the great thing about this feature is it changes the tactical battlefield each time!

Place Enemy Units
Enemy counters are drawn and a die rolled for each to determine it's hex placement
Hex 3 - 1xCommand
Hex 5 - 1xHelicopter, 1xTank
Hex 6 - 1xAAA, 1xTank
Hex 7 - 1xHelicopter, 1xCommand
Hex 8 - 1xAAA, 1xTank
Hex 9 - 1xTank

Place Friendly Aircraft
I determine what hexes to place my aircraft in
A-10 - I start Gumby in low altitude in Hex 1 heading south east into Hex 5
AH-64 - I start Daddy-O in low altitude in Hex 10 heading north east into Hex 7
I've placed both at the hex edge to indicate both are moving

Scout Success Check
I have a scout placed on this battalion so I roll to see if I gain any further loiter phases...and I roll a 4 giving me two extra turns...so I put the Loiter Counter on 7

Next to follow is Battlefield Resolution

Sorry for no images...but it really does drag out an AAR - and I think most of what you need to see is in the previous posts. If you have any questions about the pictures or play - just ask...I'll be more than willing to answer.