Skies Above Britain

Started by nelmsm, February 17, 2023, 05:37:53 PM

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nelmsm

Picked up Skies Above Britain from GMT Games a month ago and finally feel comfortable enough to start an AAR of my campaign.  This will be the story of my fictional 36th Squadron flying Hurricanes during the Battle of Britain.

Chapter 1 Patrol 1
  Pilot selection for my squadron gave me three veteran pilots which is great but it also included 5 green pilots along with 12 regular pilots.  Veteran pilots have some skills and reroll's they can take advantage of but only once per patrol and the green pilots will get singled out for hits on a lot of the cards so this is going to be fun trying to keep 12 pilots rested and active to put into seats.  Today we were assigned to patrol the Coastal Sector which gives us a chance to intercept any raids spotted right off the bat though there is a danger of having to bail out or crash land in the English Channel.  First radio call came in with a raid spotted over the Channel apparently attacking coastal shipping there.  We make contact and the raid consists of 18 Stuka's with a heavy escort of Me-109's in the trailing position.  The squadron was able to approach from the nose high position.  I decided to lead A Flight, consisting of Blue and Red Sections, to take on the escort and send B Flight, consisting of Yellow and Green sections, after the bombers.  Got lucky as flak on the ships managed to down one bomber and separate one Kette from the rest.  Unfortunately, they managed to drop their bombs before we could intercept but all vowed to make them pay a price.  A Flight needed to roll a 6 or better on a 12 sided die to intercept the escort and failed!  Expended fuel and tried again and failed again and lost contact with the raid.  B Flight also had to expend extra fuel to get a reroll but did succeed in intercepting the bombers.  First pass saw several hits on the bombers but Yellow 3 suffered a critical hit and headed back to base to see what his fate would be.  Second pass saw more damage done to the bomber formations with one entire Kette being shot down.  However Green Leader returned to base with no ammo.  Red Section managed to find and chase down the raid and joined in the third pass which saw more damage done to the bombers but Red 3 suffered a critical elevator hit and limped away and two more planes went back to base with no ammo.  Blue Section, still unable to find the main raid, did happen upon a straggler and shot it down but Blue Leader suffered a critical hit in his elevator and struggled towards base.  The Luftwaffe escort finally intervened but was chased off without causing any damage.  After one more pass, with almost everyone with no ammo, the Squadron returned to base.  Everyone was happy to see the Gods of War smiling on us with good die rolls and all three pilots who had suffered critical hits managed to land their planes safely and the pilots available for duty on the next patrol.  The bombers did manage to drop their payload on the coastal shipping, damage unknown, but 36th Squadron managed to down 10 Stuka's to make a total of 11 bombers downed (1 by flak) out of the 18 that ventured out over the Channel.  Flight Officer Gamez managed to shoot down two of the 10 bombers. 

Tripoli

Looking forward to reading of your adventures! The BoB is a fascinating air campaign.
"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" -Abraham Lincoln

ArizonaTank

Good stuff. Have this one on my game shelf, but haven't had time to even take off the shrinkwrap.
Johannes "Honus" Wagner
"The Flying Dutchman"
Shortstop: Pittsburgh Pirates 1900-1917
Rated as the 2nd most valuable player of all time by Bill James.

nelmsm

Chapter 1, Patrol 2

  The first chapter in this campaign is entitled Skirmishing over the Channel. This is one reason the Germans tend to get in and drop their bombs quickly and get out.  There are three more chapters to the campaign that should see the action pick up further inland.  Chapter 1 consists of 6 patrols.
  This time the squadron was assigned to a deep patrol station, which is much further inland.  This makes it a bit more difficult to intercept these Channel raids.  A raid was quickly spotted headed for the coast but since we were two zones away we had to spend fuel on the first cycle just to move closer and higher to be in a good intercept position.  Fortunately for us the coastal flak batteries were on the job and knocked two bombers out of the sky and helping to pinpoint their position for the fighters.  Once again the bombers were able to drop their payloads and turn for home though before the 36th could intercept.  But bombers shot down are bombers shot down on the way home as well so we raced to the intercept.  Once contact was made Blue section moved to intercept the escort in the Ahead position while Red section moved on the escort in the High position.  Blue section failed to gain the advantage (a 6 or better needed) and the Me-109's attacked with the advantage. THey made a head on pass where Blue Leader got a kill and the German fighters flew off but put Blue section out of contact.  Red Section also failed to get an advantage and in the ensuing dogfight Red 3 limped for home with a critical hit before the escort flew off. Red Section also lost contact.
  Yellow and Green sections went after the bombers.  Yellow managed to intercept shooting down one bomber.  Green section failed to get to the bombers and instead tangled with the Me-109 escort.  Green 2 received a critical hit due to he being a green pilot and staggered away.  No other damage recorded as the escort broke away and Green sections last two pilots lost contact.
  During the Chase phase Blue and Red sections both catch up to the raid but Green section was once again intercepted by escorts.  No further damage to Green section but they are once lost contact.  Red 2 gets a Stuka kill but takes a critical fuselage hit and steers for home.  Red Leader took a critical engine hit and limped away as well. Blue section failed to intercept the escort and lost contact once again.
  Green sections remaining two pilots spot a straggler and choose to intercept it rathe then chase the main raid and Green leader scores a kill on the lone Stuka.  Blue section manages to chase down the raid and this time manages to intercept the bomber stream with Blue 3 getting another kill and Blue 2 taking a critical rudder hit.
  After another critical hit or two and most of the planes out of ammo or with guns jammed the squadron decided to call it a day and return to base.  In total 7 of 18 Stukas were destroyed, 2 by flak, and 1 Me-109 shot down.  The dice gods were not so kind this time with only Blue Leader managing to get his plane back to base and landing it.  Blue 3, Blue 2, and Red 3, and Green 2 managed to bailout and will miss a turn. Red 4 crashed and is in the hospital. Will need a good die roll to get him back.  Sadly, Red 2 was killed trying to bail out of his plane suffering from an engine fire.  Red 2 will be replaced with a new green pilot.  So in all I have 4 pilots that will miss this next patrol and one who could miss an undetermined number of patrols but a minimum of 1 or his injuries could prove serious enough to keep him from flying ever again.  So now I have 17 pilots left to man 12 planes but any pilot flying more then 2 consecutive patrols is going to suffer from fatigue penalties so it will take some careful management to make sure I have 12 fresh pilots in those planes.  Just thankful that the factories are working hard and keeping me in planes.  Now if the training schools can do the same with the pilots.
  Any green pilot who completes 4 patrols will be moved to regular status and any regular pilot who completes 5 additional patrols will become a veteran.  Green pilots have some negative modifiers when it comes to maneuvering and the dogfight/bomber resolution cards have a good number of hits that only apply if the pilot is green so as painful as it may be you need to keep those green pilots flying to get to regular status.  I only get one replacement pilot per turn and no stockpiling.  If I don't need him he goes elsewhere.

nelmsm

Chapter 1, Patrol 3

  Not a great day for our intrepid squadron!  Had just enough pilots to fill the planes and not fatigue anyone which was good.  First vector reveals puts a straggler in front of us and I sent Green section to deal with it.  They managed to down the bomber but that sends them back to base.  We started out in the Deep Zone, again, and had to waste one turn on the track just to move to a better position.  Bombers got in and dropped their ordinance before we could intercept, again.  We caught them though and Blue section was sent to intercept the escorting Me-110's with Red and Yellow section trying to intercept the bombers.  Blue section failed their die roll which initiated a dogfight with Luftwaffe advantage.  They were able to execute a tight turn on the tailing enemy and they broke off.  Red and Yellow sections both failed to intercept the bombers (needed a 7 or more with a 12d) and this meant both were intercepted by the escort with Luftwaffe advantage.  Red 2 took a critical engine hit before the attackers broke away and Yellow 2 took a critical wing hit before their attackers fled.  However, this put all three remaining sections in the Lost Contact area and we would have to chase the raid down. Yellow section was intercepted trying to chase the bombers down but again the tight turn maneuver against tailing ME-109's worked and one of them was shot down.  First reveal on the outbound track gave us another straggler and which Yellow section intercepted and Yellow Leader shot down.  Red section was intercepted by the Channel Patrol but managed to fend it off with no damage.  Blue section was intercepted by a random patrol generated by the next outbound vector marker and Blue 3 took a critical rudder hit before the Germans were driven off.  Yellow section was once again intercepted in the Chase phase and both remaining fighters took critical hits.  At this point I called off the pursuit as we were over the Channel and didn't want to risk any bailouts there and it was obvious this wasn't going to be our day.  That meant that we didn't manage to intercept the bombers at all.  I'm sure I'll hear from the brass on this one. 
Final Tally;
2 Ju-88 shot down
1 Me-109 shot down
Red 2 had an engine fire and was KIA trying to escape the plane
Blue 3 managed to nurse his plane to the field and land it safely
Yellow 3 managed to make it to the field and land safely
Yellow 2 managed to make it back to the field and land safely
Yellow Leader suffered a fuselage fire and managed to get out of the plane but finds himself in the hospital
4 pilots return to the squadron after bailing out on the last patrol
Flying Officer Alsup remains in the hospital.
We have enough pilots to man the planes and rest the ones on the verge of fatigue.

We had just horrible die rolls on this patrol and it was not a good day garnering only 2 victory points towards our campaign total.  Currently I have 22 points and I need 9 more to be a success.  Right now I'm at the failure level.  I have scored enough to avoid the Disaster level which would end the campaign.

Tripoli

Good Stuff!  Thaks for writing this up.
"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" -Abraham Lincoln

nelmsm

Chapter 1 Patrol 4

  We start the day off on a good note and are assigned to the Coast Patrol Area which means we should have a shot at the Germans before they can get very far.  Off course as luck with have it Green Section was jumped by a random patrol of Me-109's right off the bat.  Green Leader lost contact and Green 2 took an inconsequential hit and was low ammo before the Germans were driven off.
  Finally spot an incoming raid; 12 He-111's in echelon formation.  Blue Section will take on the Me-109 escorts on the port side and Red Section will take on the Me-110 escorts on the starboard side while Yellow and Green Sections (minus Green Leader) go after the bombers.  All sections used an extra fuel to come in nose high. Blue section gets a good roll and intercepts with the advantage.  The Me-109 Schwarm splits into two Rottes and Blue Leader tails one with Blue 2 and 3 tailing the other.  Blue Leader in a bit of good flying manages to shoot down both planes in the Rotte he is tailing but finds another Rotte on his tail, which with a bit of fancy maneuvering he manages to shake off.  However he is out of ammo and will be headed home.  Blue 2 and 3 have much less luck and Blue 2 goes no ammo and loses contact and Blue 3 heads home with a badly shot up wing.
  Red Section also manages to intercept with the advantage but once again the Schwarm splits into two Rottes of Me-110's.  Red Leader tails one and Red 2 and 3 tail the other.  Red Leader manges to down one of the Me-110's and drive the other off but is out of ammo so headed home when it's time.  Red 2 and Red 3 manage to drive off the Germans but Red 3 is headed back to base badly shot up.
  Green Section minus their leader fail to intercept the bombers.  Yellow Section intercepts damages one bomber and forces it out of formation with a bad engine but Yellow Leader is headed home with a torn up rudder and Yellow 2 is out of ammo.  Yellow 3 is attacked by stray fighters and is headed home with a severely damaged fuselage. 
  Next phase Red 2 spends extra fuel to move from trailing low to starboard high.  The bombers drop their ordinance and turn for France.  The escort violently reacts to the presence of lonely Red 2.  Pilot Gamez, in an incredible bit of flying, fends off 4 attacks while shooting down 3 escorts before suffering critical damage in the 5th attack and being forced to head home.  Gamez becomes our first Ace!
  Meanwhile Green Section has reformed but before they can chase down the bombers they are intercepted by a random patrol of Me-109's.  Green Leader gets a kill in the head on attack but Green 2 has lost contact again.  Another Rotte of Me-109's show up on their tail but Green Leader and Green 3 manage to turn inside them and Green Leader gets another kill but Green 3 is badly shot up.  Green Leader decides to call it a day since he is by himself and sends out a call for Green 2 to return to base as well.
Results:
Green 3 manages to make it back to base and land his damaged plane
Red 3 crashes but survives and is hospitalized
Red 2 has his wing catch fire and is hospitalized
Yellow 2 also suffers a wing fire and is hospitalized
Blue 3 manages to limp back to base on his badly damaged wing and lands it safely
Yellow Leader somehow manages to steer his plane with it's badly shot up rudder home and land safely
0 bombers shot down
8(!) escorts shot down
3 pilots to the hospital
Flying Officer Gamez becomes an Ace but is in the hospital
Pilot Alsup returns to duty from the hospital
Pilot Dynes, one of my beginning veteran pilots, is deemed unfit for further flying duty and upon his release from the hospital is sent to Training Command with a desk job and is replaced with a green pilot.
We are now up to 30 VP and only need 1 more in two patrols to have a successful campaign.

The number of green pilots in the squadron is getting to be worrisome and we had just enough pilots to man all 12 planes without anyone becoming fatigued.  Going to need some good die rolls on this next patrol.

Really enjoying this game.  Plenty of decisions to make but still that element of chance to keep things interesting and challenging. 

Tripoli

#7
Duplicate Post
"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" -Abraham Lincoln

Tripoli


You have done 2 things with your AAR:
1) Made me buy the game (Incidentally, it is a 9.2 on Boardgame Geek  https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/325096/skies-above-britain  :Wow: )

2) Start up a game of Grigsby's "Eagle Day" and probably start an AAR on it


"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" -Abraham Lincoln

nelmsm

I'm probably going to be firing up Grigsby Eagle Day/Bombing the Reich too.   :azn:

MengJiao

Quote from: Tripoli on February 28, 2023, 02:29:18 PMYou have done 2 things with your AAR:
1) Made me buy the game (Incidentally, it is a 9.2 on Boardgame Geek  https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/325096/skies-above-britain  :Wow: )

2) Start up a game of Grigsby's "Eagle Day" and probably start an AAR on it




I had a rough time not buying this game.  I think I'm off the Battle of Britain at least temporarily.
Great AAR though!

nelmsm

Chapter 1, Patrol 5

  Once again we were lucky enough to draw the Coastal Patrol Zone. Fortunate as the raid was spotted in the first vector box.  Weather was cloudy with no sun so no need to worry about "Hun in the sun"!  And we were even more lucky when flak took out one of the 18 Stuka's in the flight.  Escort was Me-109's in the Ahead and High positions. 
  Yellow Section was intercepted by a random patrol (vector chit).  Yellow Leader managed to score a kill on the attacking Rotte but went Yellow 3 went Low Ammo.
  Since intercepting the bombers was going to be very difficult with that escort in the High position I set A Flight, Blue and Red Sections, to attack it.  Blue Section went first, with the advantage, and Blue Leader scored a kill but went Low Ammo and his guns jammed.  Red Section attacked next, again with the advantage, Red 2 got a kill but was Low Ammo.
  Yellow Section intercepted the bombers, using extra fuel to make a second pass to do it (reroll).  Yellow Leader scored a fuselage hit on the lead Stuka but suffered a critical engine hit and was seen headed home.  All other planes missed completely. 
  Green Section failed to intercept, even with the second pass and extra fuel usage (reroll) and was intercepted by the escort.  Green 2 managed to get a kill but went Low Ammo and Green 3 lost contact.
  Green 3 got intercepted by a Schwarm of Me-109s trying to chase down the raid but got a kill and went Low Ammo.
  Blue Section manages to chase down the raid and approaches from the starboard low position.  By now all of Green Section had lost contact and they were intercepted by a tailing Rotte of Me-109s.  Green Leader was seen headed home trailing smoke after a serious fuselage hit.
  Blue Section failed to intercept the bombers and were intercepted by the escort at a disadvantage but drove them off with no damage but lost contact.  That worked out though as they intercepted a straggler.  However the entire section ran out of ammo without downing the bomber and headed home.
  Red Section finally chased down the raid only to be intercepted by a Channel Patrol.  Red Leader takes and engine hit and is seen headed home. 
  By now Red 3 is the last plane left but luckily the vector chit pull was for a straggler and Red 3 sped off to intercept.  The tail attacks had been failing miserably so decided to go in at the nose.  Of course that led to Red 3 taking a critical fuselage hit and heading home but if I had chosen the tail attack it would have resulted in two hits to the bomber.  Arggghhh!!!
Results:
2 Stuka's shot down, 1 by flak
7 Me-109s shot down
Red 3 Fuselage hit catches fire and he bails out.  Forced to sit out the next patrol
Green Leader crashes from his fuselage hit but manages to bail out just in time and will miss the next patrol
Red Leader's engine hit turns into an engine fire and he bails out and will miss next patrol.
Yellow Leader's engine hit turns into fire and he ends up in the hospital
Pilot Juarez returns to duty from the hospital
Pilot Hammer remains in the hospital
Pilot Gamez, our first ace, returns to duty from the hospital
Pilot Nelms becomes our second ace

I'm now at 40 victory points and need just 5 more on the last patrol to get an Excellent result and end the campaign.

nelmsm

Chapter 1, Patrol 6

  Today's weather is clear and sunny and we have been assigned to the Middle Patrol area.  This is okay as we can intercept the Coastal Zone from there but it usually results in a less advantageous position.  The Deep Patrol zone is problematic as you usually have to spend a round moving to get into intercept position.  First vector chit gives us a straggler but rather then send a section after it that would have to return to base afterwards I let it pass.
  The raid is spotted in the second coastal space and it consists of 15 He-111's with a heavy escort of Me-109's in the High position and an escort of Me-110's in the Low position.  We decide to send Blue Section after the 109's and Red Section after the Me-110's and Yellow and Green Sections after the bombers.
  Blue Section intercepts the Me-109's with the advantage.  Blue Leader and Blue 2 both go low ammo but we score two escort kills in the process and suppress them for one phase.  Red Section also intercepts the Me-110's with the advantage, score 2 kills, and they Me-110's abandon their escort duties.
  Yellow and Green sections both manage to intercept the bombers though Green section had to expend extra fuel for a re-roll to get that 3 or better to do so.  Green attacks first and drives one bomber out of formation but Green Leader is forced to head home with a dangerous elevator hit.  Yellow Section attacks next and scores one hit but then Yellow 3 fails to pull up from his nose attack in time and collides with the bomber downing both planes and killing everyone in both planes.  In the next round of attacks Green 2 goes no ammo and Green 3 heads home with a bad fuselage hit.  Yellow section attacks the fallen bomber and Yellow 2 gets the kill but gets jumped by Me-109's and where Yellow 2 takes a bad wing hit and heads home and Yellow Leader runs out of ammo and heads home.
  Blue Section finds a straggler and attacks the lone bomber looking for an easy kill but between the three planes they come up one hit short of shooting it down and all three planes run out of ammo and head home.  Red Section succeeds in chasing down the raid but fails to intercept the bombers and is jumped by the escorting Me-109's.  Red 3 takes a serious wing hit and the other planes are low on ammo so the section heads home as well.
Results:
4 escorts and 2 bombers shot down
Pilot Dilbert is killed in a collision with a bomber
Pilot Williams remains in the Hospital
Pilot Hammer returns to duty
Pilot O'Doul bails out on trip home
Pilot King bails out on trip home
Pilot Juarez nurses his plane back to base and successfully lands
Pilot Cannon gets his plane home as well.

This patrol gave me 6 points, one each for the downed escorts and bombers. This was enough to give me an Excellent result for the chapter and end the campaign but I have decided to carry on after giving my pilots a short break.  We'll be back sometime to fly the 6 patrols of Chapter 2 which is entitled "The Hardest Days".  Hope you enjoyed this and whatever I play in between will probably be getting a write up as well.

MengJiao

Quote from: nelmsm on March 04, 2023, 10:21:08 AMChapter 1, Patrol 6

  Today's weather is clear and sunny and we have been assigned to the Middle Patrol area.  This is okay as we can intercept the Coastal Zone from there but it usually results in a less advantageous position.  The Deep Patrol zone is problematic as you usually have to spend a round moving to get into intercept position.  First vector chit gives us a straggler but rather then send a section after it that would have to return to base afterwards I let it pass.
  The raid is spotted in the second coastal space and it consists of 15 He-111's with a heavy escort of Me-109's in the High position and an escort of Me-110's in the Low position.  We decide to send Blue Section after the 109's and Red Section after the Me-110's and Yellow and Green Sections after the bombers.
  Blue Section intercepts the Me-109's with the advantage.  Blue Leader and Blue 2 both go low ammo but we score two escort kills in the process and suppress them for one phase.  Red Section also intercepts the Me-110's with the advantage, score 2 kills, and they Me-110's abandon their escort duties.
  Yellow and Green sections both manage to intercept the bombers though Green section had to expend extra fuel for a re-roll to get that 3 or better to do so.  Green attacks first and drives one bomber out of formation but Green Leader is forced to head home with a dangerous elevator hit.  Yellow Section attacks next and scores one hit but then Yellow 3 fails to pull up from his nose attack in time and collides with the bomber downing both planes and killing everyone in both planes.  In the next round of attacks Green 2 goes no ammo and Green 3 heads home with a bad fuselage hit.  Yellow section attacks the fallen bomber and Yellow 2 gets the kill but gets jumped by Me-109's and where Yellow 2 takes a bad wing hit and heads home and Yellow Leader runs out of ammo and heads home.
  Blue Section finds a straggler and attacks the lone bomber looking for an easy kill but between the three planes they come up one hit short of shooting it down and all three planes run out of ammo and head home.  Red Section succeeds in chasing down the raid but fails to intercept the bombers and is jumped by the escorting Me-109's.  Red 3 takes a serious wing hit and the other planes are low on ammo so the section heads home as well.
Results:
4 escorts and 2 bombers shot down
Pilot Dilbert is killed in a collision with a bomber
Pilot Williams remains in the Hospital
Pilot Hammer returns to duty
Pilot O'Doul bails out on trip home
Pilot King bails out on trip home
Pilot Juarez nurses his plane back to base and successfully lands
Pilot Cannon gets his plane home as well.

This patrol gave me 6 points, one each for the downed escorts and bombers. This was enough to give me an Excellent result for the chapter and end the campaign but I have decided to carry on after giving my pilots a short break.  We'll be back sometime to fly the 6 patrols of Chapter 2 which is entitled "The Hardest Days".  Hope you enjoyed this and whatever I play in between will probably be getting a write up as well.

Marvelous reporting.  I got a real feeling for what the game is like.  Hope there is more about the Hardest Days