Wings of Glory - "Guadalcanal" AAR

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

This was my second time playing a full game of Wings of Glory (other than farting around myself just learning the rules). 

This scenario takes place in late August, 1942 just after the USMC took Henderson Field.   The Imperial Japanese Navy has sent out a raid to attack US ships off Lunga Point.   Fighters from the USN and USMC try to stop them.


The IJN forces consist of 3 Aichi D3A1 Val dive bombers with two Mistubishi A6M Zeroes as high escort.  The Vals enter the map at altitude level 4 (two pegs).  They're required to fly in a tight Vic formation until they begin their bomb run.  The Zeroes enter at level 5 (3 pegs).










The US forces consist of one Fletcher class destroyer with two USN F4F-F Wildcats flying CAP at level 4 (2 pegs).  Two USMC F4F-3s have scrambled from Henderson Field and enter the map at level 3 (1 peg).







The Vals have 17HP each.  Both their forward and rear-firing MGs do one A chit worth of damage at all ranges.
The Zeroes have 16HP.  Their guns do 2 C's and one A at short range and one C at long range. 




I decided to try something different when determining bomb damage.  Last time I played, I assigned an exact damage value per bomb.  This time, I decided to use chits.  The Vals were usually armed with one 250KG and/or two 60KG bombs.  If the bombs score a direct hit, the 250KG does 1D and the 60KGs do 2A chits of damage.  On a near miss, the 250KG does 1B and the 60KGs do nothing.


The Fletcher destroyer has 10HP but can only be damaged by bombs.  It has two AA guns that can fire out to a range of two ruler's length.  The flak does 2C damage at short range and 1C at long.



The F4F-4s have 18HP and do 3Bs at short range and AB at long range.




The F4F-3s have 17HP and do 2Bs at short and 1B at long.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I used the two coastal maps I have.  I need to make or print an open ocean map as the water space felt a bit cramped here and the scale looked a little odd.




I played the Val dive bombers.  One player controlled the two zeroes.  One player controlled the two USN Wildcats and the destroyer and the final player controlled the two USMC Wildcats.

The IJN planes spent the first two turns flying straight and level towards the target ship.  The Vals flew at high speed and the Zeroes at low speed in order to maintain formation.




The two USN planes flew at high speed towards the incoming raid while the USMC banked towards the destroyer while climbing.  The F4F-3s have a climb rate of 3, meaning they have to climb three times in order to gain one altitude level.  The F4F-4s are much heavier and have a terrible climb rate of 5, meaning they must climb for 5 moves in order to gain one level.




On the third turn, the AA guns on the Fletcher began to open fire at long range.  The zeroes went to high speed.  The one on the left of my Val formation banked to the left in an attempt to avoid a head on attack from the Wildcats but the move failed as the Wildcats broke formation by barrel rolling in opposite directions.








One of the flak bursts from the Fletcher managed to catch the lead Val in its blast while the second barrage just missed.  (The green gun markers indicate the flak positions.  If they contact the base of the miniature, it counts as a hit.)




The Marines were still climbing and banking towards the fight.




One of the USN Wildcats and a Zero open up just outside of short range.




We kept the damage chits secret in this game so nobody knew just how much damage they managed to do.  (The flak blast that hit my lead Val hit hard for 6 points).

There were a number of occasions in this game where the checks to see if a target was within a given firing arc were very, very close.   Had to break out the laser line but even then it was close.  We decided that the Zero was just barely inside the firing arc of the lead USN Wildcat and could be fired upon.  (If any part of the figure's base is within a firing arc, it can be shot at.)





The Wildcat managed to land a crit on the Zero and caused it to start smoking.  (I usually use cotton balls to indicate smoke but I didn't bring any so it was TP time.)




Two of my Vals fired at the lead Wildcat but 2A chits of damage is not exactly going to score a knockout blow.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

On turn 4, things got pretty chaotic.  We're still learning the game and nobody's really that familiar with just how far each manoeuvre card will move a plane.  As a result, this happened.  If two planes are at the same altitude and their bases overlap, it counts as a collision.




The Wildcat and the Val clip each other for 1C chit of damage each.





The Zero on the right also overlapped a Val but as the Zero was one alt band higher, it wasn't a collision.





The Marines finally managed to climb up to level 4 and went to high speed in an effort to close the gap.  The smoking zero and the Marines exchanged long range fire.




Meanwhile, there was a ton of firing in the furball.
The trailing USN Wildcat opened up on the leading Val at close range and managed to blow it out of the sky.
The tail-gunner in the Val on the left that was clipped by the lead Wildcat opened up at close range for 2A chits of damage.  The Wildcat was in the firing arc of the lead Val's tail-gunner but  the gunner couldn't fire as the Val on the left obstructed his view.

The Zero on the right fired at the trailing Wildcat.  (not obstructed by the lead Val because of the alt difference.  Again, just barely inside the firing arc.)



He lands a critical and the engine of the Wildcat bursts into flames (time for some more TP and a red felt pen.)





Things got even more chaotic on the next turn.  The Zero on the right continued to turn left towards the burning Wildcat.  That Wildcat slowed down and banked hard left but turned too hard and rammed into the Val that was rammed last turn.  The Fletcher's AA fired again and landed some flak hits right in the middle of the mess.  (we had to remove the Zero miniature and mark its place with a card due to the overlap).




The other USN Wildcat pulled an Immelman and reversed direction.  The smoking Zero and the USMC planes all managed to fly right past each other.  (The Zero pilot later revealed that he'd taken a critical that jammed his rudder so he couldn't turn right for two turns)




My tail-gunners opened up on the flaming Wildcat and it went down from a combination of damage from flames, a collision, and MG fire.

The collision jammed the rudder on the Val preventing it from turning left.
The flak burst from the Fletcher hit the rudder again and prevented the Val from turning right so all it could do was go straight.
The remaining USN Wildcat fired from long range but I pulled two zero damage chits from the A and B hits.

On the next turn, yet another collision occurred.  The lead USMC fighter ran into the Val, marking the third time it was hit.




The other planes just barely managed to avoid one another, allowing them to open up at close range.




The fire from the USMC fighter hits the pilot in the leftmost Val but at this point it didn't matter as the damage from that and the ram was more than enough to down the bomber.

The other Val got hammered quite badly for 11 points of damage.  The zero and the Val tail gunners all went after the USN Wildcat but it was still flying at the end of the turn.







On the next turn, the remaining Val rolled over and dove on the destroyer while the tail-gunner blazed away at the USN Wildcat. 

The lead USMC fighter pulled an Immelman to reverse direction as its wingman and the Zeroes jockeyed for position.  The Fletcher's AA opened fire on the diving Val as the bombs fell.

The tail-gunner on the Val scored a hit and knocked down the USN Wildcat.  Seconds later, the Val was blown apart from the Fletcher's flak but the bombs were already gone.  They scored a direct hit on the Fletcher's engine room, inflicting a total of 14 points of damage and sinking her on the spot.






As the Fletcher began to slip beneath the waves, the UMSC fighter that pulled the Immelman pulled of a long range shot at the trailing Zero and caused an engine fire.
The other Wildcat went straight towards the map edge.  The Zero player suspected that it was going to pull an Immelman but in fact, it had rudder damage and couldn't turn.




The Zero player, knowing that the Wildcat that had pulled an Immelman had to go straight for one turn after the Immelman, went after the other fighter.




The smoke from the lead Zero finally dissipated as the lead Wildcat flew off the map edge.  The remaining Wildcat pulled another Immelman and reversed direction again.



The fire on the trailing Zero reached the fuel tank and the plane blew apart.  The final Zero, realizing that it was in a terrible position ran for home and flew off the map.




Brutal game that ended in a draw.  The Japanese lost four planes worth 67 points and the final Zero had taken 13HP of damage.  The Americans lost three planes and a destroyer worth a total of 63 points.  The remaining Wildcat had taken 11 damage.


























 

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

New photos from the publisher.

Can't wait to get 3 or 4 Dauntlesses and set up some carrier vs. carrier battles.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

P-47 photo's out now too.

[GroggyGrognard]

Great AAR.

I have a similar collection down to the coastal map, albeit missing some Dauntless and P-47 planes here and there. I need to break it out and get it on the table.

Did you print out the ship pieces yourself?


Groggy

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Thanks.  It's a fun game.  I don't have the SBDs or the P-47s yet.  They're supposed to be coming out in the next few months so I'll definitely grab a couple of P-47s and 3-4 SBDs.

There's a great collection of house rules, mods, and add-ons available at www.wingsofwar.org.  That's where I got the ship card from.

[Bison]

Nice screenshots!   I love those play mats, so much better then a plain wooden table.

[GroggyGrognard]

Thanks.  It's a fun game.  I don't have the SBDs or the P-47s yet.  They're supposed to be coming out in the next few months so I'll definitely grab a couple of P-47s and 3-4 SBDs.

There's a great collection of house rules, mods, and add-ons available at www.wingsofwar.org.  That's where I got the ship card from.

Thank you for the link. I meant singular ship piece, not ship pieces, as it were. :)

Ya, I'm going to have to round out my collection with the P-47s and Dauntless planes. Those are some sharp looking pics--I hadn't seen images of them till now.


Groggy