Thunderbolt Apache Leader AAR (proper)

[JudgeDredd]

Battlefield Resolution - 2

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

Enemy Cover Roll
A roll of 3 means any units in the same hex as my aircraft. So the tank in Hex 2 goes to cover

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

Enemy Attacks
Enemy Helicopter Movement
The enemy helicopters still cannot move (nothing in LoS)

Enemy Attacks
The tank in Hex 2 and the SAM in Hex 6 can attack DART. The AH-64s are safe.

The tank attacks DART. A roll of 9 means his ECM Pod worked this time!

The SAM in Hex 6 opens up. His ECM fails (typical) with a roll of 5. The two heavy damage chits are BULLET HOLES and STRUCTURE. It must be awful windy in his aircraft. I think it looks like flying Swiss Cheese!

Slow Pilots - Altitude, Move/Attack

DART
Altitude
DART stays low

Move/Attack
DART can't perform a strike this turn and he doesn't have any stand off weapons left. So he moves to the safest place...Hex 5 heading North East. I can now remove the NO STRIKE chit from DART.

EAGLE
Altitude
He stays low

Move/Attack
He moves into Hex 1 and heads South East. He then fires his LAU-61 at the tank in Hex 5. A roll of 1 modified to 2 and back to 0 is a miss and the weapon is discarded.

ROCK
Altitude
He stays low

Move/Attack
He moves into Hex 1 heading South East and fires his LAU-61 at the tank in Hex 5. A roll of 9 modified to 11 and back to 9 is a hit and he retains the weapon.

This is the attack phase.



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



As it stands, ROCK and EAGLE have 1xLAU-61 and an AIM-9 and DART has 2xMK-20s, 1xMK-83, 1xMK-82 and 2xAIM-9s and suffers a -2 to all strike rolls.

[JudgeDredd]

Battlefield Resolution - 3

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

Enemy Cover Roll
A roll of 4 means any units in the same hex as destroyed units. No change.

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

Enemy Attacks
Enemy Helicopter Movement
The enemy helicopters still cannot move (nothing in LoS)

Enemy Attacks
For the first time there is nothing that can attack my aircraft ...WOOHOO!

Slow Pilots - Altitude, Move/Attack

DART
Altitude
DART stays low

Move/Attack
He moves into Hex 6 heading South West. He needs to make sure he takes out this SAM, so he drops his MK-83 and MK-82 on the SAM. Rolls of 1 for the MK-83  (modified to 2 and then back to 0) and 9 for the MK-82 (modified to 10 and back to 8 ) means the SAM is in smoke! Thank god I dropped both weapons!

EAGLE
Altitude
He stays low

Move/Attack
He moves into Hex 5 and continues to head South East. He then fires his remaining LAU-61 at one of the tanks in Hex 9. A roll of 10 modified to 11 and back to 9 sees the tank disappear in a burst of flames! He retaines the weapon.

ROCK
Altitude
He stays low

Move/Attack
He also moves into Hex 5 heading South East and fires his LAU-61 at the remaining tank in Hex 9. A roll of 1 modified to 2 and back to 0 is a miss and the missile flies off into the ground. He loses the weapon and the tank survives.

This is the attack phase.



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]

Battlefield Resolution - 4

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

Enemy Cover Roll
A roll of 2 means any units in the same hex as my aircraft. No change.

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

Enemy Attacks
Enemy Helicopter Movement
The enemy helicopters still cannot move (nothing in LoS)

Enemy Attacks
None of my units can come under attack.

Slow Pilots - Altitude, Move/Attack

DART
Altitude
DART goes HIGH! He wants those helicopters!

Move/Attack
He moves into Hex 9, then Hex 5 and then into Hex 2 heading South East. He fires his AIM-9s at the helicopters. Rolls of 2 and 10 modified to 5 and 13 (the F-16 gets +2 against helicopters) see the helicopters nose dive from the sky!

ROCK
Altitude
He stays low

Move/Attack
He moves into Hex 9 and heads South West to exit the battlefield next turn. He fires his Cannon at the tank. A roll of 8 modified to 9 and back to 7 is a hit. The tank erupts into a ball of fire.

EAGLE
Altitude
He stays low

Move/Attack
He moves into Hex 9 and heads North East.

This is the attack phase.



Advance Loiter Turn
I move the Loiter counter to 4

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

This is the situation at the start of Loiter Turn 4

[JudgeDredd]

Battlefield Resolution - 5

Popup Counters
DART is high this turn, so I pull a Popup chit - bugger! It's a helicopter. These bad boys inflict 3 heavy hits and have a range of 3! I roll to place it and it goes in Hex 4.

NBConfusingly the helicopter popup has a L signifying Low Altitude...but the rule on helicopters says helicopters don't have High/Low? Colour me confused here.

Anyway - I hope DART's ECM Pod works...'cause 3 heavy hits are going to hurt!

Enemy Cover Roll
A roll of 7 means 1 random mhex and a further roll of 7 sees the tanks in Hex 7 go to ground.

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

Enemy Attacks
Enemy Helicopter Movement
This Popup helicopter does have LoS to DART but is not in range - so he is allowed to move into range. There are two hexes he can move into to be in range - Hex 1 and Hex 5. (house roll) I roll a die and it's a 2 so he moves into Hex 1

Enemy Attacks
The helicopter in Hex 1 attacks DART. His ECM Pod fires up and...works! (roll of 9).

There are no other units that can attack

Slow Pilots - Altitude, Move/Attack

DART
Altitude
DART goes low

Move/Attack
He moves into Hex 7, then Hex 8 heading East ready to exit the battlefield. He drops his MK-20's Those bad boys roll against each unit. Rolls of 3, 1 and 4 modified to 2, 0 and 3 sees the first MK-20 do no damage! Rolls of 3, 9 and 9 modified to 2, 8 and 8 means 2 of the tanks are destroyed.

I just need 1 more tank to go and the Battalion is destroyed.

ROCK
Altitude
He stays low

Move/Attack
Leaves the battleifled.

EAGLE
Altitude
He stays low

Move/Attack
He moves into Hex 6 and heads North West. He fires his AIM-9 at the enemy Popup helicopter. A roll of 9 modified to 10 destroys the helicopter

This is the attack phase.



Advance Loiter Turn
I move the Loiter counter to 3

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

This is the situation at the start of Loiter Turn 3

[JudgeDredd]

Battlefield Resolution - 6

Popup Counters
No one is high so no Popups.

Enemy Cover Roll
A roll of 8 means any one unit in each Hex. Only the tank in Hex 10 is not in cover - so it goes to cover.

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

Enemy Attacks
Enemy Helicopter Movement
No helicopters

Enemy Attacks
No enemy units can attack

Slow Pilots - Altitude, Move/Attack

DART
Altitude
DART stays low

Move/Attack
He fires his cannon (why not) at the tank in Hex 7. A roll of 7 modified to 8 and back to 6 is a miss. He moves off the battlefield

EAGLE
Altitude
He stays low

Move/Attack
He moves into Hex 2 and goes to Hover. He fires his LAU-61 at the tank. A roll of 6 modified to 8 and back to 6 is a hit and the weapon is discarded! The tank (and the Battalion) is destroyed!

This is the attack phase.



Advance Loiter Turn
I move the Loiter counter to 2

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

This is the situation at the start of Loiter Turn 2

[JudgeDredd]

Battlefield Resolution - 7

Popup Counters
No one is high so no Popups.

Enemy Cover Roll
A roll of 3 means in the same hex as my aircraft...no change.

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

Enemy Attacks
Enemy Helicopter Movement
No helicopters

Enemy Attacks
No enemy units can attack

Slow Pilots - Altitude, Move/Attack

EAGLE
Altitude
He stays low

Move/Attack
He moves to the edge of Hex 2 ready to leave the next turn

Advance Loiter Turn
I move the Loiter counter to 1

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

[JudgeDredd]

Battlefield Resolution - 8

Popup Counters
No one is high so no Popups.

Enemy Cover Roll
A roll of 0 means any one hex emerges. I take the tank in Hex 7 out of cover

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

Enemy Attacks
Enemy Helicopter Movement
No helicopters

Enemy Attacks
No enemy units can attack

Slow Pilots - Altitude, Move/Attack

EAGLE
Altitude
He stays low

Move/Attack
He exits the battlefield - just in time! One more turn over the target and he'd be in BINGO range

Advance Loiter Turn
I move the Loiter counter to Bingo +6

Place Bingo Fuel Counters
No need...although the counter is on Bingo +6, all my aircraft are home and dry

This is the battlefield at the end of Loiter Turn 8

[JudgeDredd]

Home Bound

Adjust Battalion Strength Counter
To damage the battalion (half strength) I needed to leave no more than 22 Victory Points on the board. To destroy the battalion, I needed to leave no more than 5. There are only 4 left (2xtanks) so the battalion is destroyed

Home Bound Mission Event
I draw a Home Bound Mission Event card. It's...bad news. AAA FIRE - Inflict 1 light hit on each aircraft that does not expend a weapon. ROCK still has his AIM-9...so he can discard that and avoid the light hit. EAGLE picks up ATTACK -1 but the aircaft designation is AH-64 anyway so it's discarded. DART pulls STRUCTURE. That's 2 he has! His plane is in a seriously bad way!

PIC

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 the pilot stress.

DART has 3 stress, no cool and +1 Mission Stress making 4 stress
EAGLE and ROCK both have 0 stress, no cool and +1 Mission Stress making 1 stress

Record Pilot Experience
All pilots gain 1 XP for flying the mission and 1 XP for destroying the battalion

I record 2 XPs on the Pilot Log.

Damaged Aircraft
I record the damage to the aircraft. All my aircraft are in a bad way...and I don't have enough SO's to fix them!

Destroyed Aircraft and Lost Pilots
I didn't lose any

Promoting Pilots
No pilots are due promotion

Record Mission Victory Points
I record 5 VPs on the Player Log

DONE.

[JudgeDredd]

End of Day 1

No Fly Stress Recovery
As this is my first day, no pilots can recover stress. They either flew today or didn't - if they flew, then they do not recover and if they didn't fly they have no stress.

Gain Special Option Points
I gain 5 SOs as stated on the Situation Card and record it on the track. Also mentioned on the Situation Card is losing 1 SO for each full strength Command Battalion on the battlefield. There are 2 so I lose 2 SOs.

Also the Battalion 3S Bombardment states in it's Special Notes section that I lose 1 SO at the start of each day.

I move the SO chit from 2 to 4.

Lose Special Option Points
You lose 1 SO for each enemy battalion in the Friendly Rear Area
You lose 3 SOs for each enemy Battalion in your Air Base

Neither of these have occurred.

Replacements
You can pay 2 VPs to replace crashed or damaged aircraft with new ones of the same type. I have 7 VPs. I have 4 SOs. I do not have enough SOs to repair my damaged aircraft ANDbe effective from a weapon perspective. So I spend 4VPs and replace the F-16 and the AH-64D ROCK was flying which had 2xPylon damage. I loath to do so...but I have no choice. Both these aircraft are useless as is and beyond repair.

Salvage
If you are replacing an aircraft that did not crash, you can salvage it for parts for an aircraft of the same type for the following sections that did not suffer damage

• HUD
• Display
• Controls
• Engine
• Cannon
• Pylon

This is not applicable to me this time.

Pilots
You can replace a killed pilot or a pilot that has suffered massive stress. 2 of my pilots have suffered alot of stress...but not enough yet to make me want to spend a VP to replace them.

Repair Aircraft
I can now spend SOs to repair aircraft. Well, I've replaced my two most damaged ones. The A-10 I have is considerably damaged, but I need to keep my SOs - so I do not repair it. It can take considerable damage!

Pilot R&R
At the end of each day you can spend 2 SOs to remove 2 stress (+ the pilots cool value) from each pilot in your squadron. I choose not to - yet.

Advance Day Counter
I move the Day counter to Day 2.

[JudgeDredd]

So at the end of the first day - I'm a bit buggered.

I only destroyed one battalion. 2 of my pilots are stressed. My A-10 is in a bad way and anyone flying it will suffer stress immediately. I've lost 4 of my 7 VPs to replace 2 very badly damaged aircraft. I lose an SO every day for each full strength Command battalion in play. I also lose a further SO every day the 3S Bombardment battalion is in play...so I'm unlikely to recover SO's soon.

Next day I have to take out the two Command battalions to keep those 2 SOs at the end of the day.

So it's not been a great day.

I'll finish this here as the AAR's are so time consuming. I hope you enjoyed this one (even though the cat helped me screw up the first mission because of the pilot screw up)

I'm going to read my rule set for my new game now - World at War Blood and Bridges.

[LongBlade]

This is great stuff. I have a solid feel for how the game plays. With the addition of optional minis, I'm thinking this is a game I'm going to want to get.