Bomber Command: The Battle for Berlin AAR

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I bought Bomber Command a while ago but I haven't been able to convince any of my local group to give it a real try after the first play though.  I think the reason stems from the fact that the game design presupposes that the players already posses a fair degree of knowledge regarding the history of the RAF's night bombing campaigns during WWII.  Many of the play mechanics aren't that well explained in the rules and I can see how one with only a passing knowledge of this subject could become confused for frustrated.

Having said that, I was able to hook up with someone via BoardGameGeeks and attempt a PBEM VASSAL game.

The game offers two main scenarios, the Battle of Berlin from autumn 1943 - spring 1944 or Downfall from summer 1944 to spring 1945.

We opted to play the Battle of Berlin as it seems a little more balanced and has less going on to manage than the Downfall scenario.  I played as the British.


The main scenario is meant to depict a single evening's raid during the overall campaign although there are rules to play an entire bombing campaign if one wishes.  We opted for a single night's bombing scenario.

The first step is for the British to randomly draw a chit to determine which German city will be the "Target for Tonight".  I drew a chit and got the city of Karlsrruhe in southern Germany (Hex L10). 



Successfully bombing the city will net me 6 victory points.  The blue #5 in the bottom right indicates the possible turn on which the moon rises should the weather be good during this scenario. 


I rolled for the weather on 1D6.  On a 1-2, it would be good, on 3-6 it would be poor.  I rolled a 3 so the weather would be poor.


The map is a bit esoteric on first glance but once you understand it, it becomes second nature.

The game is divided into zones indicated by the orange dotted lines.  Each zone represents a different Luftwaffe Jagddivision (and an additional zone representing England).  There are 6 zones over all  (1 Jagd, 2 Jagd, 3 Jagd, 4 Jagd, 7 Jagd, and England).

Once the overall weather is determined, the British player draws chits to determine the weather in each zone.  He announces which zone he'll draw for then pulls a chit and places it in that zone.

(naturally we screwed up and forgot to put a weather chit on the map for 3 Jagd).  The weather was as follows:

England:  Cloud (-2)
3 Jagd: Cloud (-2)
4 Jagd: Cloud (-2)
7 Jagd: Cloud (-2)
1 Jagd: Fog (+0)
2 Jagd: Broken Cloud (-1)

Bad weather has a few effects.  It makes detection more difficult for the German player.  It makes accurate bombing more difficult for the British player, and most importantly for the game scoring, it makes scrambling and recovery of nightfighters a hazardous affair.  Fortunately for the Germans, I drew the most innocuous of bad weather chits for all zones except 1 Jagd (Berlin area) which got fog.  Fog is deadly for scrambling and recovery, especially for single engine fighters.

Here's the initial map showing the weather in each of the zones.  the yellow bordered hexes on the map indicate the German Himmelbett defence system.  This was a radar driven ground controlled intercept system.  The Germans would scramble night fighters and have controllers direct individual fighters to a box and then if radar detected a British raid, the controller would direct the fighter onto the bomber stream.





 

[Staggerwing]

I was looking at this on Amazon, along with Nightfighter. Unfortunately it looks like it is not really good for solo-play.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Once the overall weather picture was determined, the German player had to check to see which nightfigher Gruppe would be available for tonight's coverage.

The German player gets a core of Me110, Ju-88, Me109, Do 217, and Hs 219 Gruppe to utilize for the mission.  In addition, there is the possibiliy that he can draw upon training squadrons and groups of day interceptors to use as well.  These conditional units are represented with stars on their chits.  He rolls 1D6 for each starred unit and it will be available on a roll of 1-2 on a d6.  In the Berlin scenario, there are 5 such units.  The German player rolled, 2 were available.  The 3 circled in this photo were not.




The British player then rolls to see further weather and environmental effects.  I rolled to see if the moon was going to rise or set during this mission.  The roll indicated no moon.  Next I rolled to see when twilight would occur.  The roll determined that twilight would occur on turn 14  (twilight makes it much easier for the Germans to spot and down bombers).  This meant that I should endeavor to ensure that all my bombers were back in England before turn 14. 
Next I rolled to see if a heavy tailwind would be in effect.  The roll determined no winds.  Finally, I rolled to see what overall visibility would be for this night's work.  The roll determined that visibility was moderate.  No bonuses or penalties for either side.



Once all the conditions had been determined and the target selected I was required to plan my raids.  In the Berlin scenario the British player has a total of 4 raiding groups to utilize.  1 must comprise the main bomber stream of 400-1000 heavy bombers which will hit the main target.  The British player has the choice of what the other 3 raids will comprise.  He can select a group of Mosquito fighter-bombers that will conduct nuisance raids against cities.  He can select a group of bombers to conduct a "gardening raid" which means they will drop anti-shipping mines near German controlled ports, or he can exchange two Mosquito raids to build a single decoy raid.  I opt for the following:

Raid A:  Main Force raid to hit Karlsruhe
Raid B:  Mosquito raid to hit Darmstat
Raid C: Mosquito raid to hit Stuttgart
Raid D: Gardening raid to drop mines off Bremerhaven

The British player must plot flight paths for each raid prior to the game commencing and then must stick to his pre-determined flight plans for the remained of the scenario.  He keeps the flight paths secret from the German player.

Each raid enters the map off the coast of England on a turn determined by the British player and then proceeds to follow the flight path at 2 hexes/turn.   The only exceptions are that the raid can chose to fly only 1 hex on the turn that they enter the map (and it costs 1 MP to enter so in effect each raid moves either 0 or 1 hex on the first turn they enter) and gardening raids must stop once they start laying mines so if they reach their target zone on the first of their MPs, they don't continue on. 

Only 1 raid can occupy a hex at a time and the main force bomber stream takes up 3 hexes in total.  There is one exception to the rule.  Mosquito raids can start out as part of the main force raid and then break off from the main raid at a later turn.  This is what I opt to do.

I decide to attach my two Mosquito raids to the main force and send them out on turn 1  (The main force are the red markers on the map).  The main force will hit Karlsruhe on turn 6.  I opt to have both Mosquito raids break off from the main force on turn 6 and hit Darmstat and Stuttgart in the hopes of confusing the German player as to where the main force is bombing.  They must then operate indepedantly and make their own way back to England.  The flights both break out on turn 6 over Karlsruhe.  Raid B is blue, Raid C is green.

I chose to have the Gardening raid start on turn 3 and make a beeline for Bremerhaven.  I hope that the Germans will detect the Main Force on radar on turn 1 or 2 and vector most of their fighters to the south thus allowing my mining raid to quickly slip in and out before the Germans react.  The Gardening raid is orange.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I was looking at this on Amazon, along with Nightfighter. Unfortunately it looks like it is not really good for solo-play.

There are solo rules for Nightfighter available now but I haven't tried them out.  Bomber Command is not suited for solo play at all as the main mechanic is that the German doesn't know which raid is the main force or where they are and they have to juggle fuel consumption/dispersion to try and intercept and prosecute different raids.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Once the flight paths have been plotted, the British player's roll becomes basically passive/reactive.  Each turn plays in the following order.

1) Both players draw a maximum of 3 cards and can't have more than 5 in their hand
2) German fighters already in the air can move and lose 1 fuel point unless linked with a CGI controller.
3) German fighters on the ground scramble and check for losses.
4) British raids move.
5) Any British raid entering a Himmelbett hex, crossing an area flak hex, or bombing a city is subject to CGI attack, flak attacks, and wild boar attacks.
6) German ground control rolls to detect and track raid location
7) German twin engined fighters in proper position can try to infiltrate British bomber streams.
8 ) German fighters that have completed scrambling last turn can deploy to cover cities, link themselves to radio direction beacons, or link up with Himmelbett CGI controllers
9) Fighters and bombers can attempt landing and recovery.  Raiders can attack airfields
10)  Bombing
11) End turn and tally results

On the first turn, each player draws 8 cards and keeps 5.



I drew the following 8 cards:





I gamble on the poor weather inhibiting nightfighter and flak attacks and discard the cards that penalize such attacks.  I keep the following 5 cards.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

A key component of the game is the jamming/infiltration track.  In the Berlin scenario, the jamming value starts at 5 which means the Germans need to roll a 6 or better on 2D6 each turn to detect the British raids and a 7 or better to infiltrate them once they've been detected.  The British player wants to play cards to increase the jamming level and the Germans want to decrease it. 


Most cards can be played at any time during the turn apart from the draw cards phase.  Some others have specific guidelines as to when they can be used.  Things start off badly when the Germans hammer me with 3 cards right off the bat.



One of their cards is to change the weather in one of the zones.  Mostly the weather isn't that bad apart from 1 Jagd.  I hope that he'll roll any other zone than 1 Jagd and make things worse.  My luck holds true to form and he rolls 1 Jagd and changes fog (deadly to nightfighters trying to land) to cloud (-2)



The other two cards lower the jamming to 3 which means the Germans need a only a 4 or better on 2D6 to detect my raids and 6 or better to infiltrate.


I reply with Corona Jamming and increase the jamming level up to 4.


The German player scrambles six of his twin engine fighters along the Himmelbett line.  He's obviously going to throw them on Himmelbett hexes so they'll get the opportunity to take a whack at me as I pass by and they won't have to worry about fuel expenditures while they wait for me to show up. Once a German nightfighter (twin engine only in the Berlin scenario) deploys to a Himmelbett hex that's in the same region as their Jagdivision, they no longer lose fuel each turn as it's assumed that only a few fighters from the Gruppe are up in the air at any given time and they're constantly cycling.

He rolls his scramble checks.  All but 1 gruppe take off without incident.  III/NJG4 in hex F9 lose 1 fighter to weather during the scramble.    I play the fuel famine card to prevent the low strength Gruppe in H10 ( II/NJG4) from scrambling.  They're low on fuel and removed from the game.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

After the Germans scramble their fighters, I move my plotted raids.  I have combined my two Mosquito raids in with my main force raid so there is only one raid for me to move on turn 1.  It costs me 1 MP to enter the map at a Mandrel screen marker at hex B9 (the plane in an oval track icons along the English coast.)  Mandrel screens were jamming aircraft that flew circuits off the coast of England to degrade German E/W assets and mask the forming up of the bomber stream. 

My raid moves from B9 to C10.  The Germans have scrambled 2 Ju88 Gruppes in hexes J1 ( Denmark) and G7 (Munchen) and 3 Me 110 Gruppes in J3 (Bremerhaven), H5 (Munster), and G9 (Aachen).

After my raids move, the Germans roll to see if they detect anything.  The current jamming level is 4.  They roll 2D6.  On a 5, they'll get a partial detection which means they'll know a raid is present but won't be able to determine the size.  On a 6 or better they'll get full detection.  They roll a 5.  I place a raid marker in hex C10 but because it's only a partial detection, I don't have to put out the bomber stream behind it.  The main force raid has a bomber stream that is three hexes long in the Berlin scenario.

This is good news for me as it'll will likely keep the Germans guessing.  They know I have up to 4 raids allowed and their detection roll would allow them to see every raid on the map.  Seeing only one and not knowing if it's the main force or not might keep him holding back units.   I did use the fuel famine card to remove the nightfighter unit in hex H10 at the very southern edge of the map so he may suspect that I'm heading through there but I'm hoping that he'll just assume I took that one off the map because it was the only one I was allowed to remove according to the card (it had a strength of 0 and all other units have a str of 2 or 3 and I could only remove units with str of 1 or less).

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Nothing else happens of the remaining phases of turn 1.  The nightfighters are still scrambling so they can't deploy this turn, there are no attacks, no bombing, and no landings so we start turn 2.


We start by drawing cards.  I have 3 cards left in my hand and I don't want to discard any of them so I get to draw two new cards.  You can draw a maximum of 3 per turn and are limited to 5 in your hand.  You have to discard before drawing new cards.

I draw Tinsel and trigger happy flak.  Not bad cards.  Tinsel was a radio jamming system built into RAF bombers that blocked comms between German ground control and fighters. 





The German player draws 3 cards.  I won't get to see them until he abuses me with them.


German fighters move.  He moves an Me110 unit from J3 to I4 (Bremerhaven to Wilhelmshaven) and a Ju88 from G7 to H7.  Units already on the map this turn lose their scramble markers and all have their fuel level dropped by 1 point.  (Ju88s start with 10 fuel, He219s and Do217s start with 9, Me110s start with 7, and FW190s and Me109s start with 3). 

He scrambles 2 more units this turn.  He sends up a Gruppe of He219s in H7 (Munchen) and some Me110s in G8 (between Antwerp and Brussels).  Neither suffers any problems during takeoff.


My raid marker comes off the map and I make note that it moves from C10 to E10. 


The Germans get to roll for detection.  Jamming is still at 4.  Before they roll, I play my Dartboard card to lower their roll by 2.  Once the Brits started jamming radio signals between GCI and nightfighters, the clever Germans came up with a system of informing pilots of possible raid locations by having the national broadcaster play different styles of music to ID target areas.  Waltzes meant Munich, jazz meant Berlin, etc.  When the Brits figured out what was going on, they build powerful transmitters called Dartboard that would drown out the German radio stations. 

The dastardly Germans immediately counter my Dartboard by playing Jagdschloss which was a radar system that changed frequencies and so was harder to jam.  This card gives the Germans a +2 on their roll so our cards cancel each other out.





The Germans roll a 10 for detection and thus know that it's my main force coming for them. I place my raid counter and bomber streams on the map.



I'm allowed to face the counters in any direction I want but I don't think such a clever ruse will fool the wily Hun.


On the deployment phase the German player assigns all the Gruppes he scrambled last turn to GCI-control along the Himmelbett.

I play my Trigger Happy Flak card on Munchen and roll a 5, which knocks down 1 night fighter from friendly fire  (And scores me 0.5 VP).  That'll learn him!

Nothing else happens on turn 2.

On to turn 3 and drawing cards again.

[W8taminute]

Wow this game looks good.  I know this is the table top section of the forums but based on your images I'd say I'm looking at a computerized board war game.  Is this truly a cardboard war game?

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I draw 2 new cards from the deck and get Corkscrew and Corona Controllers.  Both good cards for this turn as I'm about to cross into a Himmelbett hex in G10 and the Germans will be able to attack me once I'm there.




On the German's move turn, they vector 2 fighter units towards my probable flight path (me110 moves into F9 and He219 moves into G9) and scramble a unit of Me109s in hex I9 (they move to I8 as single engine fighters scramble and move 1 hex in the same turn) and a unit of me110s in F9.

No losses from accidents on scrambling.

I remove the bomber stream markers and the Germans replace them with Track markers as a reminder.  I then make a note that the leading edge of the bomber stream has moved into Hex G10, the Himmelbett hex.

There is a German nightfighter unit  being controlled by CGI in hex G9 (1/NJG 4).  If a bomber stream moves through a Himmelbett hex that has a CGI controlled fighter in it or adjacent to it, the nightfighter unit can attack.  I notify the German player that a raid is in G10 and he places a GCI combat marker down.



He announces that he'll attempt an intercept with his Me110s in G9.  I have some cards I could play but I want to see if he's going to throw down anything first. 
His unit has a strength of 2 but its cloudy so the weather modifier of -2 basically cancels out his fighter's strength bonus.  He'll need an 8 or better on 2D6 to do any damage.

He throws down a card indicating that he's attacking a Short Stirling bomber in the stream.  These were the oldest and weakest of the heavy bombers in the RAF's arsenal and they suffered much higher loss rates than the Halifaxes or Lancasters.  The card gives him a +3 to his attack roll.  I do have a high altitude bomber card I could play that would cancel the +3 roll but then he gets to put the Stirling card back in his hand and use it again.  I figure I'll just let him get it over with.  Instead I hit him with the Corona Controller card which depletes his night fighter unit.  That flips the counter and drops his strength to 1 so now his overall roll with be a +2.


He rolls 6 and with the +2 bonus, get gets an 8 which means he shoots down a Stirling bomber and added 1 point of disruption to the raid.  I play the Corkscrew manoeuvre card which means the bomber avoids getting shot down but the stream is still disrupted by 1 point.





With the CGI intercept over, the Germans roll to detect raids and get an 8 which gives them total detection.   That sucks.  They spot my mining raid coming in to the north as well as my entire bomber stream.   Because the Germans have a twin-engined nightfighter in the same hex (f9) as part of my detected bomber stream, they can attempt a Tame Boar infiltration of the stream.  Only the me110 can attempt to infiltrate as the other unit in the hex is still scrambling.

The jamming track is at 4 which gives a base infiltration value of 6 so the German needs to roll a 6 or better on 2D6 to infiltrate the stream.  However, the clouds add a -2 penalty and there's a further -2 penalty because the night fighter isn't deployed to a radio beacon or over a city. He needs a 10 or better to infiltrate.  He rolls a 5 and fails to infiltrate.

Finally, he deploys the Me109s in H8 to cover the city of Aachen and the He219 in G9 to the Lore radio beacon.

Pretty lucky turn for me.  No losses and only 1 disruption point.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Wow this game looks good.  I know this is the table top section of the forums but based on your images I'd say I'm looking at a computerized board war game.  Is this truly a cardboard war game?

We used the VASSAL program to play the game via PBEM and I'm just going through the turns again to get images.

The VASSAL version of the game looks almost exactly like the board game except the artwork on the counters is a little less clear on the PC version.  (and the map doesn't have annoying creases in it.)

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I draw 2 cards on turn 4.  I get "Lucky Crews" which lets me remove any flak damage and "Low Fuel and Ammo" which lets me deplete any nightfighter unit after it makes an attack.  That should come in handy this turn.





The Germans move their fighters.  In the south, they pile into the hexes where they suspect (correctly) that my bomber stream will be.  They then guess incorrectly that my target will be Saarbrucken and play a card that lets them add mobile flak units to that city.  For clarity's sake, I added in the position of my bomber stream after my move into the screen shot even though the German player did not see these chits during our play session.



If he detects my raid during the detection phase after his CGI planes attack, he'll have two units in position in hexes G10 and H9 that can try to infiltrate my bomber stream.


In the north, he scrambles three more units.  One is way up north in Denmark and the other two are around Emden in the south.  None of the scrambled units suffer any losses.  I think he left it too late and my mining raid should be able to get through to lay mines before they can catch me.  I will probably pay the price on the way home but at least I will score 3 VPs for successfully laying mines in hex I3.  Again, I've placed the location of my raid on the screen shot for clarity even though the German player couldn't see it during our play session.





I move my raids.  The trailing end of my bomber stream is still in the Himmelbett hex in G10 so the CGI controlled unit in G9 will get another chance to take a swipe at the Main Force.  He attacks and plays a Halifax bomber card.  This gives him a +2 to his attack roll.  The weather means he suffers a -2 and his unit has a combat strength of 1 so he gets a total of +1 meaning he'll need a 7 or better on 2D6 to do damage.  He rolls a 3 and misses.





I then play the Low Fuel and Ammo card on him which causes his unit to take another depletion result.  As he'd already been depleted last turn, he must now remove his CGI control link and then return to base.  (He didn't take this too well... :) )




He then rolls to detect the raids and gets an 8 meaning he again sees everything.  This could turn out very bad. 

He has three units that can try to infiltrate my bomber stream. There are 2 Me110 units in H9 and G10.  I'm not too worried about them as they'll suffer a -4 total penalty for the clouds and for not being deployed on beacons so they'll need 10 or better on 2D6.  The third unit is the He219 Gruppe on the radio beacon on G9.  They'll need an 8 or better.

I play my Tinsel card and inform the German player that I'll be using it on the He219.  This gives him an additional -2 penalty so each unit will now need a 10 or better to infiltrate.  The first Me110 rolls a 4.  The second rolls an 8.  The He219 rolls an 11.  SHIT!  I can't use my high altitude bomber card to avoid him as it only works on Me110s and Do217s.  He's now got a fighter flying along with my bomber stream and will be able to pick units off each turn and he's got 6 turns of fuel left.  I can only hope to draw a card that will deal with him or hope he rolls doubles on an attack which means he'll suffer a depletion.

He plays yet another god-damned Halifax card giving him a +2 attack bonus.  He rolls a 9 giving him a Halifax bomber shot down and another disruption point to the raid.  ( I took the screenshot before adding the disruption and downed bomber bonus so add one to each chit in the screenshot.



Because he rolled a 6 on one of his attack dice, my gunners get to fire back.  I roll a 10 which nets me 1 night-fighter kill (and more swearing).


Next is the recovery phase.  The nightfighter unit in hex G9 has to RTB.  Luckily for him, he's in the same hex as his home base so he just lands and rolls to see if he loses any fighters due to the poor weather.  He rolls 2D6 and will lose a fighter on a 10 or more.  He rolls a 10 (there's a LOT more swearing at this point.)  He refuels, re-arms, and flips the unit back over to the non-depleted side.

That's the end of turn 4.

On to turn 5.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I draw two cards for turn 5 and get "Flower" and "Command Confusion".  Flower was the codename for Mosquito attacks on German airfields.  It will only affect the westernmost Jagdivisions so it won't be of much use until the return leg.

Command confusion gives me a 2/3rds chance to nullify a successful detection roll.  That could be a very useful card next turn when my Mosquito raids are scheduled to split off from the main raid and hit their targets.



The German nightfighters that scrambled in the north last turn move to intercept my gardening raid but they're too far behind.

In the south, the Me109s over Aachen hit bingo fuel and have to RTB.  The two Me110 units that failed to infiltrate last turn move along the suspected route of the bomber stream to have another go this turn  (and they guess the flight path correctly).  The Germans scramble two more Gruppes in hexes M10 (Stuttgart) and N8 (south of Schweinfurt).  No losses occur from scrambling.


I move my bombers.  Again, I've marked them on the map for clarity but the German player couldn't see them at this point as the markers are removed prior to each British move phase.

At this point in the game,  I was feeling very confident as the Germans didn't have that many fighters up and must've been feeling the pinch a bit as I could conceivably hit any one of 5 cities next turn (Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Darmstat, or Frankfurt).  He wouldn't know which I was going to hit and he had very little in position to cover any of the cities except for one unit one a radio beacon in L8 (Frankfurt).





The German player rolls to detect raids.  He rolls a 5.  I lucked out big time here.  The jamming level is 4 so if he rolls a 5 he gets only a partial detection which means he loses the fix on the bomber stream and sees only the leading element of the raid in hex K10.  Those night fighters in the stream hexes in J9 and I10 won't be able to attempt infiltration rolls this turn.

That means only the unit that infiltrated the stream last turn will be able to attack this turn.  At least that's what I thought until he played the Stragglers card which allows him to make a Tame Boar attack with any unit within two hexes of a detected raid.  Naturally he selects the Me110 unit in L8 as it has the highest attack strength.



The unit attacks the stragglers with a total bonus of +1 and he rolls an 11.  Ugh.  That means he kills two bombers and adds another disruption point to the raid.  Because one of the dice he rolled was a 6, my gunners get to fire back but miss.  I thought about playing the high altitude bomber card to cancel this attack but he'd just get to put the straggler card back in his hand if I had.  Maybe I should have.  Oh well, you have to play the cards before the dice are rolled.

Next, he plans to attack with the infiltrator but only rolls a 6 and misses.


Nothing happens on the deployment phase.

On the recovery phase the nightfighter unit that landed and re-armed last turn moves back to the ready box and will be able to scramble again next turn.
The Me109s land.  The German rolls an 8 but has to add 2 because they're single engine fighters which means one cracks up on landing.

On the bombing phase, my gardening raid mines the waters off Bremerhaven (hex I5) for 3 VP.




Turn 6 up next when the fun begins.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Turn 6.

I have a full hand of cards and decide to keep the ones I've got.

The German player discards 1 card and draws 2 more.


German fighters move. 

Right off the bat, the German player plays a Straying Bombers card against my gardening raid in the north.  This allows the seachlights in the hex to attack with level 0 flak.



He gets a -2 modifier from the clouds but rolls an 11 (he seems to roll a lot of 11s on his attacks).  That's a pretty nasty hit.  The flak knocks down 2 bombers, damages 2 more, and disrupts the raid by 2 points.


Then he moves a bunch of fighters in the north to cut off the Gardening raid.


He's got one in position to intercept my route in hex G6.


In the south, he moves to cover as many of the cities as he can.  He's got a single engine fighter in my target hex but it hasn't had time to deploy to the city so it won't be able to get full combat bonuses this turn.  Now I'm feeling less confident than I was last turn.




British raids move and things turn into a bit of a hot mess on the map.

My raid moves into the target hex at  L10 (Karlsruhe) and the two Mosquito raids break off.  Mosquito raid B flies to Darmstadt (L9) and begins bombing.  Mosquito raid C goes to Stuttgart (M10) and begins bombing.  The Main Force bomber stream crosses Karlsruhe, begins bombing and turns back SW into K11.  Each direction change a flight takes prior to dropping bombs adds 1 disruption point so the main force gets 1 DP for its turn towards Karlshruhe.  Both Mosquito raids get 2 DP each for the initial turn SE to Karlsruhe and for their addition turns to their targets.

This is what the map looks like to me as the British player.





Here's what the German player sees on his turn.


At this point, he knows three cities are getting hit but he doesn't know which attack is from the main force and which are from the Mosquito raids.  Hopefully he muffs his detection roll next phase or my command confusion card works and he won't get a clear picture of what's happening.

Anyway, he gets to make his attacks once the bombings start.
All three cities have a flak value of zero.  There's a -2 penalty for the cloudy weather and Darmstadt and Karlsruhe get an additional -1 penalty because there are Wild Boar fighters present.

He starts in Stuttgart and rolls a 10 (-2) for 8 which knocks down 1 Mosquito, damages 1 more, and adds 2 disruption.
In Darmstadt he rolls a 3 (-2) for 1 which does nothing.
In Karlsruhe he rolls a 4 (-2) for 2 which also does nothing.


Next come the Wild Boar attacks and this is the part where I screwed up and forgot one of the rules which states that the British player must inform the German player prior to any night fighter attack against a Mosquito raid that he is, in fact attacking a Mosquito raid.  So much for my plan for mass confusion.

The Germans attack Mosquito raid B in Darmstadt with the Me110s in L9 and the ones on the beacon unit in L8 (they can attack adjacent hexes because they're on a directional beacon). 

The strength 1 unit rolls double 1s which misses and also depletes the unit.
The strength 3 unit rolls double 4s which depletes that unit as well but inflicts 1 loss and 1 disruption to the Mosquitoes.

Next the Wild Boars attack the Main Force in Karlsruhe.  The German plays an SN-2b Lichtenstein AI radar card which will give him a +3 attack roll.  I counter with the High Altitude bombers card which means his Me110 cannot attack but he gets to return the SN-2b card to his deck.  (I imagine it'll be coming out when his infiltrator attacks).





With the attacks over, the Germans get to roll for raid detection.  They roll an 8, giving them a clear picture.  I play my Command Confusion card.  I roll 1D6, on a 3-6 the bomber stream counters will not be detected.  I roll a 6 so the bomber stream counters will not be placed.

I also play the Lucky Crews card to remove the 2 points of flak damage that the main force raid suffered last turn.


The German player will have 3 chances to infiltrate and attack in the south on the Tame Boar phase.  In hex L9, the two units that attacked the Mosquito raid during the Wild Boar phase can attempt a tame boar infiltration and attack.  Because it's a Mosquito raid and too high and too fast for nightfighters, they won't be able to stay with the raid if they infiltrate but the will get one attack.

The unit on hex L9 needs a 10 or better and rolls a 9.
The unit on hex L8 needs an 8 or better as it's on a beacon.  It rolls a 6.

In L10, the bomber stream is still passing over the target and dropping bombs so even though it's not detected the nightfighter there can attempt to infiltrate.
It needs a 10 or better and rolls a 3.

Finally, the fighter in the stream attacks.  As I suspected, he plays his SN-2b radar card again and gets an total of +3 to his attack roll.  He rolls a 9 giving him 2 more kills and 2 more disruption points.

In the north, the fighters in G3 can attempt to infiltrate and attack.  They need a 10 and roll a 5 so nothing happens.


On the deployment phase, the fighters in L10 deploy to radio beacon "Christa".

On the end phase, the bomb drop markers are flipped to resolve bombing and the fun begins next turn.


On to turn 7.

 

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Turn 7.

I draw 3 new cards.



Not the best set.  Oh well.


Germans move.

They swarm hex E4 in the north, correctly predicting the homeward bound route of the gardening raid.







In the south, they dogpile on Karlsruhe hoping to pick off the last of the bomber stream. 





He scrambles an Me109 unit in hex I9 but rolls a 10 with a +2 penalty for single engine fighters.  That means two planes crash on takeoff and the unit becomes depleted again.



My raids move.  As the tail end of the main force bomber stream passes over Karlsruhe, the flak and fighters take turns attacking.



The flak rolls a 5 and inflicts no damage.

He has two strength zero nightfighters.
The first rolls double threes which misses and further depletes the units due to the doubles.  As it was already depleted it must RTB.
The second rolls a 4, also missing.

Finally, he has a strength 2 unit on a radio beacon.  That unit plays yet another god damned SN-2b Lichtenstein radar card which gives a +3 attack bonus.
But he rolls double 1s ! HA!  He misses and the unit is depleted.


Next the red area flak icon in hex L9 gets to take a shot at Mosquito Raid C as it passes overhead (area flak doesn't attack bombers hitting a city which it why it never attacked last turn.)  It has a strength of 0 so needs an 7 or better to do anything. He rolls an 8 inflicting 1 flak damage and 1 disrupt point.



The raids are starting to look a little rough.




The Germans roll to see if they detect the raids.  I play my Mandrel card to give a -1 penalty from Mandrel screen jamming.

They roll a 7, adjusted 6 which is the minimum they need to spot the raids.



The gardening raid is about to get violated...



There are 3 units which can attempt to enter the bomber stream.
Each needs a 10 or better on 2D6.

The 2 Ju88 units roll 4 and 8, both failing to infiltrate.
The Me110 rolls a 12 and slips into the bomber formation.  At least he's only got 4 turns worth of fuel left and I'm only a turn away from England.  He can stay with me but he'll likely lose as many fighters as I lose bombers if he proceeds into England.

In the south, he has one Me110 on a radio beacon that can try and infiltrate.  It's only got 1 turn of fuel left but he tries anyway.  he needs an 8 or better and rolls a 7.  The German marks him with RTB.


The tame boar infiltrator in the main force attacks again and rolls a 9, killing another bomber and adding another point of disruption.

The infiltrator in the gardening raid attacks and rolls an 8 but gets a +1 from his strength so he also inflicts a kill and a point of disruption.

I decide to play my rear gunner card even though neither attack rolled a 6 on any of their attack dice.  Had they done so, I would have gained a +3 to my attack.  As it is I just get to make a normal attack roll.  I roll an 8, inflicting 1 kill.


Nothing happens on the deployment phase.

On the recovery phase, the two nightfighters with the RTB markers in L10 both land in M10 (Stuttgart).  Stuttgart is the home base of one of the units so they land normally.   I play an accident card against them so they have to add 2 to their roll.  They roll a 9, add 2 for a total of eleven and suffer one loss.


The other unit doesn't have enough fuel to reach their home field so they have to divert to Stuttgart and suffer a landing penalty.  They roll a 4 which is low enough to avoid any damage but they're done for the night.  They are removed from the game at this point.