Thunderbolt Apache Leader AAR (proper)

[JudgeDredd]

So I'm going to do another AAR for Thunderbolt Apache Leader and try not to screw this one up!

I wanted to give this game the AAR it deserves before I went on to learn my new baby - World at War:Blood and Bridges

Here goes....

[mirth]

Looking forward to it JD!

[JudgeDredd]

Cheers. Lets hope I don't balls this one up! :)

[JudgeDredd]

Campaign Setup
Select Campaign Card
First thing to do is select a campaign. There are 8 campaigns to choose from with varying difficulties

• Iraq 1991 (Introductory)
  
• Libya 1984 (Standard)
  
• Libya 2011 (Standard)
  
• Pakistan 2013 (Standard)
  
• Iran 2014 (Standard)
  
• Israel 2001 (Advanced)
  
• North Korea 2001 (Advanced)
  
• WWIII North Atlantic 1986 (Expert)
  
  I choose the Israel Defence Advanced Campaign
  
  
  
  The campaign card has the following information
  1. Name, year and difficulty
  2. Evaluation chart
  3. Setup - Total number of Battalion Victory points
  4. Terrain tiles to use
  5. Special Notes
  
  I also select the specified Terrain Tiles and set them aside. For each mission, these are gathered, shuffled and placed from top left to bottom right on the Tactical Display
  
  Select Situational Card
  Next is the Situational card to select. There are 6 options
  
  
• Show of Force (2 days)
  
• Surge (3 days)
  
• Rapid Deployment (4 days)
  
• Cut Off (5 days)
  
• Holding Action (6 days)
  
• General War (8 days)
  
  I choose HOLDING ACTION.
  
  
  
  The situation card displays the following information
  1. Name
  2. SO points assigned at the start
  3. Length of the campaign (days)
  4. Daily SO points
  5. Tactical ruleset
  6. Description
  
  Battalion Cards
  Choose the Battalion cards you will face in the campaign where the victory point value of the cards meets or exceeds the Battalion Victory Points specified on the Campaign card (in my selected campaign that is 37).
  
  You choose battalion cards (blindly) by separating them into their 3 categories (Command, Support and Assault) and drawing cards in the following order:
  
• Assault
  
• Assault
  
• Support
  
• Command
  
  And do so until you meet or exceed the Setup value on the Campaign card.
  
  The ones I am assigned are:
  
• 2A - Tank Focre (Assault - 5VPs)
  
• 12A - Air Defence Unit (Assault - 4VPs)
  
• 3S - Bombardment (Support - 4VPs)
  
• 2C - Scout Group (Command - 3VPs)
  
• 9A - Fast Assult (Assault - 3VPs)
  
• 6A - Tank Spearhead (Assault - 6VPs)
  
• 2S - Convoy (Support - 1VPs)
  
• 1C - Command Unit-  (Command - 5VPs)
  
• 5A - Mounted Infantry (Assault - 4VPs)
  
• 3A - Mechanised (Assault - 3VPs)
  giving a total of 38VPs - more than the Setup value of 37 required - so I stop choosing battalions
  
  
  
  The info supplied is:
  1. Battalion Name
  2. Battalion Designation
  3. Enemy Units in battalion
  4. Victory Point Value
  5. Half and Destroyed values - the battalion is reduced to Half Strength if the value of the units remaining is reduced to the first number or less but more than the second number. The battalion is destroyed if the value of the units remaining is reduced to the second number or less.
  6. Special Notes
  
  I place the battalions on the top right section of the Tactical Display. Generally, Assault Battalions are placed in the Front Line section, Support Battalions are placed in the Enemy Transit section and Command Battalions are placed in the Enemy Rear section.
  
  As you can see the 5A Battalion (displayed above) which is an Assault Battalion is to be placed in the Enemy Rear section because it states on the card in the Special Notes section that it should be placed there.
  
  Buy Aircraft
  The next phase of the Campaign Setup is to buy your aircraft. You use your SOs here to buy aircraft. They are expensive, so pickings can be slim because you have to keep SOs for weapons, repairs and Scouts. Unlike Hornet Leader, weapons DO NOT cost their weight in SOs - each weapon has an individual weapon point cost. As weapons are added to an aircraft, the weapon points are added and every 10 weapon points on an aircraft cost you 1 SO.
  
  This is a 6 day campaign - so I'm going to buy
  
• 1xF-16 @ 5 SOs
  
• 1xA-10A @ 8 SOs
  
• 2xAH-64D @ 5 SOs
  costing a total of 23 SOs
  
  
  
  The values displayed are
  1. Airframe number and Type
  2. Canon Rating
  3. Year and SO cost
  4. Hits to Crash
  5. Weapon availability
  6. Weight Points
  
  Buy Scout Counters
  Scout counters allow your aircraft to Loiter over the battlefield longer. They cost 1xSO each. I buy 2
  
  Select Pilots
  Pilots have 3 cards with a total of 6 skill values. You choose 1 Average pilot for each airframe and 1 extra pilot for each airframe type. Having 3 different aircraft types, that means I select 7 Average pilots (1 for each airframe and 1 extra for each airframe type)
  
  You can upgrade a pilot's skill by downgrading another pilot by an equal amount...I do not do so and leave all pilots as Average. You could also spend 1xSO and upgrade a pilot without downgrading another pilot. Again I choose not to.
  
  The pilots I choose are
  
• A-10A - PIRATE
  
• A-10A - THOR
  
• AH-64 - COUGAR
  
• AH-64 - EAGLE
  
• AH-64 - ROCK
  
• F-16 - DART
  
• F-16 - MOHAWK
  
  
  
  The values displayed are
  1. Callsign, Skill rating and XP to promotion
  2. Airframe to pilot
  3. Speed of pilot
  4. Canon/Strike modifier (same hex)
  5. Standoff modifier (outside current hex)
  6. Cool value
  7. Evasive modifier
  8. Shaken/Unfit Status
  
  I have spent a total of 25 SOs and I dare not spend anymore. If I'm honest, I think that's more than I should have spent.
  
  Place SO and Day Counters
  I place the SO Counter on the SO track. I place it on the number 5 as I have 5 SOs left at this moment. I also place the Day counter on Day 1.
  
  
  
  
  
  

[JudgeDredd]

Start of Day
Special Condition
I pick a Special Condition card. It's good news Hornet Support. I am to remove 3 random Popup counters that are NOT NO ENEMY. The popup counters removed are Infantry, AAA Site and AAA.



Special Condition cards stay for the entire day and apply to all missions for the day unless otherwise instructed. I can discard this one as I have removed the 3 Popup counters.

Allocate Pilots and Aircraft
This step sees you select the battalions you are going to attack and select pilots and aircraft.

Looking at the Battalions I try and evaluate which ones I would be best to get rid of. Normally getting rid of Assault Battalions because they are on your front door is a priority...but I have some other battalions that affect me like adding to Battalion move rolls or losing SOs. I opt to attack Tank Force and Air Defence Unit...both Assault Battalions.



I'll be sending my A-10 flown by PIRATE to attack Air Defence Unit 12A



I'll send my F-16 flown by DART, and my 2 AH-64Ds flown by ROCK and EAGLE to attack Tank Force 2A



Allocate Scouts
I allocate both my scouts to the targets for the day. Scouts give you a chance of a longer Loiter time and could also reduce stress.

[JudgeDredd]

Mission 1 Resolution

12A - Air Defence Unit

Abort Mission
You can elect to abort the mission at this point.

Arm Aircraft
PIRATE is in the A-10. It has a WP of 14. As the target is in the Front Line, there is no penalty to weight points.

I load the A-10 up with

• 1xECM Pod
• 6xAGM-114
• 2xMK-83
• 2xMK-20
• 1xAIM9

The ECM, MK-20's, AIM-9 and the AGM-114's  have an Ordinance Point cost of 1 each. I've used 10 Ordinance Points and therefore have to pay 1 SO. 10 Ordinance Points cost you 1 SO, 20 Ordinance Points costs 2SOs etc.



Fueling Priority
You can buy the Fuelling Priority for 1 SO. I don't have to because the target is in the Front Line

Target Bound Mission Event
I draw a Mission Event card and obey the top portion (Target Bound)...F-15 Air Cover. I can pay 1 SO and ignore all Helicopter Popups and destroy all helicopters on the battlefield. Well, I intend to stay low and there are no helicopters on the battlefield - so I'm going to refuse the offer. I need the SOs



Engine Damage Checks
This step lets you check to see if any engine damage results in a crash

Place Terrain Hexes
Shuffle the hexes and then place them top left to bottom right on the Tactical Display.

Place Enemy Units
You place enemy units by rolling a dice for each unit and placing it in that hex. The hexes number from 1-10 from top left to bottom right.

Place Friendly Aircraft
Next I place my aircraft. I want to stay low for as long as possible, I need stay out of trouble AND take out the SAM sites as soon as possible.

Trouble is my pilot is slow. So I either start in LoS of the SAMs (eg in Hex 9) or I start in cover in Hex 1 or Hex 4. That will keep me in cover and out of trouble. However if I go high to avoid the ridge, I'll run into a whole hornets nest of trouble. I could stay low over the ridge, but I will have to roll for Ridge Evasion. I think I'll take the chance with the Ridge.

I place my pilot low and in Hex 4 heading east into Hex 7 and then south east into Hex 9 turning north east. On turn 1, he'll be out of harms way, fly over the ridge and surprise the SAM sites. BY moving into Hex 9 he'll be out of the way of the AAA Site in Hex 8.



Scout Success Check
I roll for my scout and roll a 9. That's 4 extra turns over the batllefield AND -1 stress. I put the scout counter back on my Scouts section on my Air Base as I didn't lose it and set the Loiter Counter to 9 (normally 5 + the 4 from the scout)

NB I must remember that with this Battalion I have to add1 to the range of AAA and SAM sites as stated in the Special Notes section of the card.

This is the game board at the start of Loiter Turn 1 on Day 1 of Mission 1.

[JudgeDredd]

Battlefield Resolution - 1

Popup Counters
As PIRATE is at low altitude I do not need to draw a Popup counter

Enemy Cover Roll
A roll of 7 means 1 Random Hex goes to cover. A further roll gives a 7 means Hex 7 and there are no units there.

Fast - Altitude, Move/Attack
I have no fast pilots

Enemy Attacks
Enemy Helicopter Movement
Helicopters moves at the start of the Enemy Attack phase. Helicopters do not use altitude and can move over ridges fine but ridges do block LoS

There are no enemy helicopters

Enemy Attacks
As PIRATE is low and behind a ridge and other enemy units are behind ridges, he cannot be attacked by any enemy units

Slow Pilots - Altitude, Move/Attack

Altitude
PIRATE needs to stay low...if he goes High, he's stuck in High and can be attacked by just about every unit except the APCs next turn.

Move/Attack
PIRATE
He moves east into Hex 5 and rolls for Ridge Evasion. A roll of 9 is 1 stress. He heads to the south eastern edge of Hex 5 and then into Hex 9 and heads north east.

Now he fires his weapons. He fires 2xAGM-114s...1 each at the SAMs. He gets a +1 modifier to his Strike ability. Rolls of 8 and 7 modified to 9 and 8 means a hit as the AGM-114 only requires 4 or more. The SAMs are toast (thankfully)



Advance Loiter Turn
I move the Loiter counter to 8

Place Bingo Fuel Counters
No need...at present.

This is the situation at the start of Loiter Turn 8

[JudgeDredd]

Battlefield Resolution - 2

Popup Counters
As PIRATE is at low altitude I do not need to draw a Popup counter

Enemy Cover Roll
A roll of 9 means 1 hex with the most active. There are two...Hex 2 and Hex 10. The rule book says I can choose which hex goes to cover. I choose 10 (I need to STRIKE Hex 2). Maybe this isn't the best way of doing it - why should I get to choose? Perhaps a roll would make it random...but I follow the rule book.

Fast - Altitude, Move/Attack
I have no fast pilots

Enemy Attacks
Enemy Helicopter Movement
There are no enemy helicopters

Enemy Attacks
PIRATE is again surrounded by ridges and cannot be attacked by any units.

Slow Pilots - Altitude, Move/Attack

Altitude
PIRATE stays low again

Move/Attack
PIRATE
He moves north east first into Hex 6 and then again into Hex 3 and heads west. He then fires 2xAGM-114s...1 at the AAA unit and the other at the APC. Rolls of 4 modified to 5 and 2 modified to 3 means a hit on the APC and a miss on the AAA unit. Bugger! I knew I should've fired 2 AGM-114s at the AAA unit! Now he's in trouble (though he does have an ECM Pod!)



Advance Loiter Turn
I move the Loiter counter to 7

Place Bingo Fuel Counters
No need...at present.

This is the situation at the start of Loiter Turn 7

[JudgeDredd]

Battlefield Resolution - 3

Popup Counters
As PIRATE is at low altitude I do not need to draw a Popup counter again

Enemy Cover Roll
A roll of 9 means 1 hex with the most active. The one with the most active is already in cover - Hex 10.

Fast - Altitude, Move/Attack
I have no fast pilots

Enemy Attacks
Enemy Helicopter Movement
There are no enemy helicopters

Enemy Attacks
PIRATE is now in trouble. He is in direct LoS of the AAA unit in Hex 2 and the AAA Site in Hex 8. Normally (with a range of 2) the AAA Site would not be able to reach the A-10 - but the Battalion Card has a +1 for the range of SAM and AAA Sites.

The AAA unit locks onto PIRATE. He fires up his ECM Pod. A roll of 8 means thankfully the attack is avoided.

The AAA Site fires up it's radar. A roll of 6 for the ECM Pod means it failed this time. PIRATE pulls 3 light damage chits. I pull NO EFFECT, 2xSTRESS and BULLET HOLES. A lucky escape I think.

Slow Pilots - Altitude, Move/Attack

Altitude
PIRATE stays low again

Move/Attack
PIRATE
He fires an AGM-114 at the AAA unit in Hex 2. A roll of 1 modified to 2 is a miss again!



He then stays low and moved west into Hex 2 and then west again into Hex 1 and heads south west. He has to roll for Ridge Evasion again. Luckily a roll of 9 (-2 for his stress level) means 1 stress.

He's now SHAKEN. I place a SHAKEN counter on his card and he suffers -2 on all rolls...one more stress point and he will be UNFIT - losing all weapons and not being able to attack.

Advance Loiter Turn
I move the Loiter counter to 6

Place Bingo Fuel Counters
No need...at present.

This is the situation at the start of Loiter Turn 6

[JudgeDredd]

Battlefield Resolution - 4

Popup Counters
As PIRATE is at low altitude I do not need to draw a Popup counter again

Enemy Cover Roll
A roll of 3 means in the same hex as the A-10...and there are none.

Fast - Altitude, Move/Attack
I have no fast pilots

Enemy Attacks
Enemy Helicopter Movement
There are no enemy helicopters

Enemy Attacks
PIRATE is again surrounded by Ridges and therefore cannot be attacked.

Slow Pilots - Altitude, Move/Attack

Altitude
PIRATE MUST go high. If he stays low he'll have to roll for Ridge Evasion and it will result in stress...and he cannot take anymore stress.

Move/Attack
PIRATE
He moves into Hex 4 and Heads south west. He then fires his remaining AGM-114 at the AAA Site in Hex 8 and a roll of 1 modified to -1 (because of his -2 for his SHAKEN status) is a miss. He's in real trouble now.



He then moves into Hex 8 and heads south east...he's getting the hell out of dodge!

Advance Loiter Turn
I move the Loiter counter to 5

Place Bingo Fuel Counters
No need...at present.

This is the situation at the start of Loiter Turn 5

[JudgeDredd]

It's a shame - he had so many turns left and quite a few weapons. He could've easily taken out the Battalion. He will get 1/2 points as the total left is below the 10 specified on the Target Card of 10...so the Battalion will be reduced to half strength.

I think I relied too heavily on the AGM-114s. I should've been more liberal with them.

As it is, he'll be lucky to survive before exiting the Battlefield. I should've exited from Hex 4 - he wouldn't have suffered any firther - as it is he will be attacked by quite a few units before he can leave the Battlefield. Bad move on my part - especially considering I didn't need that AAA Site to get the half destroyed battalion!!

[JudgeDredd]

Battlefield Resolution - 5

Popup Counters
PIRATE is high and the Popup Counter pulled is an APC with a range of 1...so no danger to him.

Enemy Cover Roll
A roll of 6 means all infantry. There are no infantry on the field

Fast - Altitude, Move/Attack
I have no fast pilots

Enemy Attacks
Enemy Helicopter Movement
There are no enemy helicopters

Enemy Attacks
Well...because PIRATE is high, he can be attacked by the AAA unit in Hex 2, the AAA Site in Hex 8 and the AAA unit and AAA Site in Hex 10 (remember the Battalion card gives all AAA and SAM sites +1 extra range!)

PIRATE's ECM Pod fails with a roll of 2. The AAA unit in Hex 2 opens up and hits PIRATE. BULLET HOLES and STRUCTURE are the chits pulled.

The AAA Site in Hex 8 targets him. His ECM Pod is successful this time with a roll of 8 and the AAA Site loses track.

The AAA unit in Hex 10 opens up - but a roll of 10 means his ECM Pod thwarted the attack.

Finally the AAA Unit locks on to PIRATE but again his ECM Pod is successful with a roll of 7.

I think that's a very lucky escape for him considering the position I put him in!

Slow Pilots - Altitude, Move/Attack
I could - but it makes no odds. The Battalion is half destroyed and therefore only half the units will show...I gain nothing else by using ordinance on the AAA Site. Also, I could need my AtG weapons to counter a Special Event card.

PIRATE exits the battlefield and the mission is over...with half points going to him.

This is the situation at the end of the mission.

[JudgeDredd]

Home Bound

Adjust Battalion Strength Counter
The battalion is half destroyed because the victory points of the units left on the battlefield is 9 and 10 or less is half destroyed. I flip the 12A counter to it's half strength side. If I attack this battalion again, I only put half of each unit type on.

Home Bound Mission Event
I draw a Home Bound Mission Event card. It's...bad news. SAM VEHICLE - Inflict 1 light hit on a random aircraft. It does not mention using munitions to counter the instruction - so the Light Hit chit I pull is NO EFFECT!



Bingo Fuel Checks
I did not go into Bingo Fuel, so I do not have to perform this check.

Crashed Pilot SAR Check
No pilot crashes, so I do not have to perform this check.

Record Pilot Stress
I record PIRATE's stress on the record sheet. He suffered 4 stress and he gains 1 stress for entering into the Front Line...5 stress makes him UNFIT...I will not be able to choose him until his stress is reduced. He does not have a COOL value either - so his final stress value is 5.

Dare I suggest he use the doown time to train with AGM-114s?

Record Pilot Experience
The pilot gains 1 XP for flying the mission. If the battalion was destroyed he'd get another XP and if ALL units were destroyed he'd get a 3rd XP. As it is - he gets 1.

I record 1 XP on the Record Sheet.

Damaged Aircraft
I record the damage to the aircraft. Bullet Holes means a pilot stepping into that aircraft at the beginning of a mission suffers stress immediately. Structure damage obviously means the airframe is 1 closer to crashing.

Destroyed Aircraft and Lost Pilots
You lose 1VP for each airframe and pilot lost in the mission. I lost neither.

Promoting Pilots
PIRATE is not due for promotion...yet

Record Mission Victory Points
I record 2VPs (half of the 4 the battalion was worth) on the Player Log

Mission over! Not quite the outcome I wanted but not a total disaster.

I did balls up! The other day the cat managed to knock my game for 6. I thought I had sorted everything out, but I screwed up because I put the GREEN card for PIRATE face up. How did that affect my game? Well it gave him an OKAY value of 0-3 and SHAKEN 4 (at average he should have been OKAY 0-5 and SHAKEN 6-8)...so if I had put him the proper face up (AVERAGE) I would not have exited the battlefield so quick.

So sorry about that...not totally my fault this time...damned cats and boardgames DO NOT GO!

Anyway I won't be adjusting the AAR - it's done and it's done early on. It would be a mare to try and fix it now.

[JudgeDredd]

Mission 2 Resolution

2A - Tank Force

Abort Mission
I am not aborting the mission

Arm Aircraft
I have 3 airframes involved in this one...2xAH-64Ds and 1xF-16.

F-16

• 1xECM Pod
• 1xMK-83
• 2xMK-20
• 1xMK-82
• 2xAIM9
• 2xAGM-114

AH-64D (both)

• 1xECM Pod
• 3xLAU-61
• 1xAIM-9

I have assigned 17 Ordinance Points which costs me 2xSOs



Fueling Priority
I don't need to take this option

Target Bound Mission Event
Creative Navigation. I can increase my Loiter turns over the battlefield by one. I move the Loiter chit to 6 and return the card.



Engine Damage Checks
All airframes are fine

Place Terrain Hexes
Hexes are placed. Interesting layout



Place Enemy Units
I place the enemy units



Seemingly I can't start my aircraft anywhere where they will not be engaged!

Place Friendly Aircraft
I place my aircraft. I place all 3 pilots in Hex 8 heading north west.

Scout Success Check
A roll of 4 for my Scout means an extra 2 Loiter turns. I place the Loiter chit on 8 and return the Scout to my pool

This is the game board at the start of Loiter Turn 1 on Day 1 of Mission 2.

[JudgeDredd]

Battlefield Resolution - 1

Popup Counters
All pilots are low, so no Popups chits are pulled.

Enemy Cover Roll
A roll of 4 means any units with destroyed units in the hex - and there aren't any.

Fast - Altitude, Move/Attack
I have no fast pilots (wish I had!)

Enemy Attacks
Enemy Helicopter Movement
There are two enemy helicopters in Hex 10. Because the helicopters are behind a ridge and my aircraft are low, the helicopters do not move.

Enemy Attacks
The LoS is confusing to me in this game....but anyway, I know my pilots can be attacked by the units in Hex 4 and I think they can be attacked by the units in Hex 1.

The AAA site in Hex 4 attacks ROCK. ROCK's ECM fails. The 2 heavy damage chits are 2xPylon! He loses 4 weight points of weapons. So he's lost 2 of his 3 LAU-61s! Damn!

The AAA Site in Hex 1 opens up on DART. His ECM Pod fails too. His damage chits are HUD, BULLET HOLES and NO STRIKE! Damn it. HUD means -2 from strikes and NO STRIKE means he cannot perform a strike next turn!! The boys are really getting it!

The SAM in Hex 1 now has a go! A roll of 5 is DART again. DART's ECM Pod fails! 3xSTRESS and BULLET HOLES again.

Slow Pilots - Altitude, Move/Attack

DART
Altitude
DART stays low

Move/Attack
DART fires his 2 AGM-114s at the SAM and the AAA Site in Hex 1. He has a +1 modifier on Stand Off Attacks. Rolls of 4 and 3 modified to 5 and 4 means 2 direct hits. Revenge is sweet! He then moves into Hex 4, Hex 1 and finishes his move in Hex 2 heading South East.

EAGLE
Altitude
He stays low

Move/Attack
EAGLE fires 2 of his LAU-61s at the AAA unit and Tank in Hex 4. The AH-64D gets a +1 on all Cannon, Strike and Stand Off attacks. Rolls of 3 and 9 modified to 4 and 10 (modified back to 8 because the tank has a -2) means 2 hits and his 2nd missile is retained. He then moves into Hex 4 heading North East.

ROCK
Altitude
He stays low

Move/Attack
He fires his sole remaining LAU-61 at the tank in Hex 1. A roll of 7 modified to 9 (his +1 for the AH-64D and +1 modifier for his Stand Off attacks) and further modified back to 7 (-2 for the tank) means the Tank is destroyed and he retains the weapon. He also moves into Hex 4 and heads North East.

This is the attack phase.



Advance Loiter Turn
I move the Loiter counter to 7

Place Bingo Fuel Counters
No need...at present.

This is the situation at the start of Loiter Turn 7