001 IntroductionHere's the Hornet Leader AAR I'd been talking about for some time. A review will be forthcoming here on GrogHeads (on the Mythical Front Page
TM no less) by the end of June. This AAR should start up by then, but there's a few things to get done, first.
For one, I'm still working on some graphics to illustrate. I have most of the counters done (I had to redo a couple as they looked awful when I scanned them and I couldn't find a reliable source online for them).
Also, need to get some of you jokers to sign up. If we don't meet the pilot quota, I'm going to have to shanghai some of you. And you know who you are. 8)
Once we've got those pieces I'll be ready to move forward. Likely the first mission will be the week of June 21...I will be out of the country from June 13 through 20 and next week will probably afford me only bits of time here and there. I'd like to be ready to roll by the start of the following week.
I will be running this one myself, playing it solitaire and narrating the events/showing images as the action and drama unfolds. As long as you don't mind associating your name with my victories (and defeats), hopefully you enjoy what I come up with.
I will be running the
WWIII North Atlantic 1986 campaign, with a Medium length. Short is too short, and Long is too long...at least, for the purposes of an AAR. A Medium Campaign gives me ten pilots/planes. Here is a list of the planes I have to choose from:
- F/A-18C Hornet
- A-7 Corsair II
- F-14 Tomcat
- A-6 Intruder
- EA-6B Prowler
- E-2C Hawkeye
The Corsair may seem out of place, but choosing one actually grants bonus Special Operations points, which help in-game. It's really not that bad an aircraft, though it does carry a lot less munitions than the A-6 (hence, the bonus). I'll get into more details later when the time comes. For now, I just need some volunteers. Here is the list - let me know which spot you want. As far as aircraft go, if you REALLY have a need to "pilot" one particular aircraft from above, let me know in your response post. Otherwise I'll just put you into whatever aircraft I choose for that skill level. Likely I am going to make the Veteran-rated pilot an F-14 or F/A-18C driver and the Skilled-rated pilot an A-6 driver. The rest I'm not sure about, but I will definitely include one E-2C Hawkeye and probably one EA-6B Prowler. If nobody wants the Hawkeye, I volunteer Toonces and his giant watch for that one. O0
Pilot 1:
Airborne Rifles (Exp: Veteran)
F/A-18C HornetPilot 2:
SDR (Exp: Skilled)
A-6 IntruderPilot 3:
mirth (Exp: Average)
EA-6B ProwlerPilot 4:
Dammit Carl! (Exp: Average)
TBDPilot 5:
Besilarius (Exp: Average)
TBDPilot 6:
Staggerwing (Exp: Average)
TBDPilot 7:
PanzersEast (Exp: Average)
TBDPilot 8:
Barthheart (Exp: Green)
F/A-18C HornetPilot 9:
JudgeDredd (Exp: Green)
F-14 Tomcat (?)Pilot 10:
Windigo (Exp: Newbie)
E-2C HawkeyeOnce the roster is filled up, I will give a bit of background and share some of the pics I've done so far.
Thanks! I hope everyone gets into it and enjoys it.
I'm down (w/ no preference).
Hmmm...poor choice of words for someone in a plane :-\
Banzai, this is really dated, but off of Vietnam, the word was that the SLUF was a really good dogfighter at low altitudes. Don't know if there would be any combat on the deck, but the Corsair might have some advantages in the dirt.
Thanks, Carl!
Bes, yeah, the Corsair was a good aircraft. For some reason I have a mindset that it was a dinosaur of the Vietnam War era, though that could be said of the A-6 or even the Tomcat to an extent. In-game, it only holds 7 Weight Points worth of munitions, though, while the A-6 holds 12. So, though they don't hold a lot of weapons compared to the other platforms, taking them grants extra Special Operations points, which are used for strategic assets like special weapons (including the Phoenix air-to-air missile), priority R&R to get pilots rested quickly, and that kind of thing.
You down for the pilot's list too, Bes?
I'll enlist as well. I'll fly whatever is needed so if others want the shiny hot rods I'll be glad to drive the Google van.
I'll fly the Queer.
OK, so that's mirth, Dammit Carl!, and Stagger in on this, with possibly besilarius as well.
Since you called out the Prowler specifically, mirth, I put you into that slot. As for the others I'm going to wait and see who else has specific requests, if any, otherwise once I get enough volunteers I'll go ahead and put you guys in 'em then.
Reporting for duty. Any plane that flies is good enough for me.
A-6 for me please. I like dropping explodey things.
Updated! Four slots to go.
I'll fly with you.
Great! Three left!
I'll be watching from the ground and generally wishing you fly boys well O0
Gimme a Hornet. I like to drop bombs but I like to shoot missiles too.
Did a squadron patch.
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I've also been working on some aircraft as well, complete with tail colors, but that won't be finalized until we get three more to sign up or shanghai'd in, then I figure out which aircraft I'm going to use (besides the ones I've already listed).
Was hoping you'd want a Tomcat, AB. Because this campaign is in the 80s, and because DAAAAAANGER ZONE!
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But who's to say we can't mix it up? I might do a couple of Hornets with the Tomcats.
Ooo... if you do more than one Hornet I'd like one them. O:-)
If there's any spaces left throw my hat in the ring [com'on with a groggy reference like that I have to get a space], sides Windigo is a great call-sign, amiright?
Windy, by the Rule Of First Come First ServedTM, and possibly the Power of Greyskull, you have indeed received a space. O0
However I'm still debating if I want to 'shop the cards/pieces with your forum names (more work), or just assign you the call signs that are already in the game, depending on the aircraft type (easiest and potential yuks). I'm leaning towards the latter.
There's two spots left, one of which is the E-2C Hawkeye. Which, admittedly, is not terribly exciting, though it adds benefits in-game to the other pilots. If I get one more sign-up I'll just make them generic.
The E-2C sounds kinda up my alley [damn there's another great groggy reference] given some of the day job stuff I do now so I'll take that one and trust my fast mover aviator friends to keep the bear at bay
Sweet patch, BC!
^ Thanks!
Seemed kind of odd to give this group a 'normal' squadron designation since there's so many different aircraft in it, so I thought as long as this was fiction, might as well take it to the extreme.
Well hey, I'm not set on any airframe. I'm an infantryman, after all. Give me whatever works.
Awesome squadron patch, too.
Thanks, AB.
I re-did the patch; just changed the blue to black is all. The tails of the aircraft look a lot sharper with yellow and black instead of yellow and blue. I'll repost the patch when I get the aircraft art up, once we get those two open spots filled.
Give me Pilot 7..... ah or just call me Lucky 7.
PE
Squadron is full. I will get some more art uploaded by Friday, and then we'll kick this off the week of June 20. Thanks all!
I feel the need...
... the Need for Speed Beer.
Here we go...here's the aircraft we will be using, complete with squadron colors and insignia. Haven't quite figured out which ones I'll be using, but I'll be setting up the game most likely tomorrow night.
A-7 Corsair
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EA-6B Prowler
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F-14 Tomcat
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F/A-18C Hornet
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A-6 Intruder
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FA6%2520Intruder.png&hash=c1ca08110121701c90d9f973f4835fd752797ff6)
E-2C Prowler
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(Don't know why I did the squadron insignia on the Hornet's tail - just felt like doing something different for that one.)
^Sweet! I'm psyched to start jammin
LOL, my vid for my role is too too easy.
^nice
002 Home Base
The VFX-01 Squadron ("GrogHogs") was formed as a preliminary test bed for a new naval aviation concept: DROWN (Dedicated Response, Optimal War: Naval). The idea was to create a single entity squadron with mission-capable airframes in one group that could take on any role of offensive or defensive missions, primarily to be used off of aircraft carriers, and primarily used to eliminate sea and ground targets (or, TARGET - Threat Area Rapid Ground Elimination of Targets).
The Navy chose the test bed of this squadron to be the USS Saratoga (CV-60).
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At 81,101 long tons full and with a compliment of 552 officers and 4988 men, the Saratoga was a mainstay of the US Navy's Atlantic defense strategy versus any Soviet attack. If the balloon went up and the Warsaw Pact invaded western Europe, Saratoga and her squadrons would be on the front line of the sea war. A very choice location from which to launch counterstrikes versus the Warsaw Pact, but also very much in harm's way. Saratoga's other squadrons had their own tasks, of course, but VFX-01 was the first to be intrinsically capable of multi-role efforts along a paradigm ISO9000 delineation axis of threat elimination parallel within a sphere of conflict.
003 VFX-01
Despite the grandiose concept of DROWN and TARGET, VFX-01 did not attract the best pilots in the Navy. In fact, several commands saw this as an opportunity to sluff off some of their poorest-performing crews and send them to what several derided as the "Navy's old age home."
Indeed, many of the pilots and crews that arrived on Saratoga on November 30, 1985, were pushing maximum age limits, based on the Navy's OLDFOGEY plan (Old Lateral Defense Forthwith Offensive Ground Elimination of Youth). While the concept of VFX-01 was indeed a solid and possibly highly flexible idea, it rapidly became a joke. Many pilots were almost too old to fly, but several were far too young, or too inexperienced, making the GrogHogs squadron a motley collection of old farts, young heathens, and global warming pundits.
However, something interesting happened. The VFX-01 squadron, fully aware of their low-level turd-surf status among their peers, took to their tasks with GUSTO (Great Underboobage Staring and Targeting Often). They gelled quickly as a unit, outperforming older and well-established squadrons, rarely receiving landing grades lower than OK and having the highest instances of OK Underline performances in the entire Atlantic Fleet. The old joke might have made them out to be long in the tooth, but those long teeth were proving to be as much a fan of cavities as mirth on a Saturday night. Or something.
The VFX-01 concept was, despite all reasoning, becoming something of a success, but its lifespan was short; within four months of becoming operational, the Navy concluded that the VFX-01 plan was pretty much TURTLE (Turd Underoos, Raw Tampons, Little Else) and began plans to break up the squadron by mid-summer 1986, returning many of the pilots and crews to obscure stations and, very likely, non-flight statuses.
That is, until history took a turn for the worse...on June 10, 1986.
On that day, VFX-01 was looking at ending its mission at the end of that month. The training schedule was already winding down, and the pilots and crews listed in VFX-01 already were shaved down to a bare-bones core group that could still technically take to the air for missions, but everyone more or less knew their time was over.
On June 10, 1986, VFX-01 was comprised of the following:
Air Superiority Flight
Airborne Rifles ("WEDGE"), flying an F/A-18C Hornet.
PanzersEast ("KERMIT"), flying an F-14 Tomcat.
JudgeDredd ("OGRE"), flying an F-14 Tomcat.
Barthheart ("WOLF"), flying an F/A-18C Hornet.
Strike Flight
SilentDisapprovalRobot ("MULLET"), flying an A-6 Intruder.
DammitCarl! ("SHIFTY"), flying an A-6 Intruder.
Besilarius ("WASH"), flying an A-7 Corsair.
Staggerwing ("PSYCHO"), flying an A-7 Corsair.
Support Flight
mirth ("MOON"), flying an EA-6B Prowler.
Windigo ("EYES"), commanding and piloting an E-2C Hawkeye.
These ten pilots were all that remained of VFX-01, previously of 24 aircraft and now down to a mere 10.
Those 10 were going to be tested quickly, because on June 10, 1986, that balloon did go up in Europe.
As you can all tell, I'm not even going to try to be legitimate when it comes to US Navy conventions or lingo. Any Naval personnel reading this (coughTooncescough) will laugh at me anyway, so I might as well make everyone laugh at me.
More to come in the next day or so. Thanks for reading, folks.
Quote from: Banzai_Cat on June 23, 2015, 08:07:38 PM
As you can all tell, I'm not even going to try to be legitimate when it comes to US Navy conventions or lingo. Any Naval personnel reading this (coughTooncescough) will laugh at me anyway, so I might as well make everyone laugh at me.
Write him into the narrative as "Watch Commander Toonces" and he won't care :P
There is always a wing wiper on a carrier.
Watching for any system that is loitering with intent.
Noice.
Strike flight in a Intruder; mirrors my time as a A&O equp. operator in Army CE platoons = we make holes where needed.
Short lifespan = widow with a new Lexus and a young, hot, boyfriend O0
004 Pre-Game Stuff
I've been vacillating as to whether or not I should give a lot of in-game explanations, as a full review for this game is due from me for GrogHeads' front page. Do I just go for the straight narrative, or mix it up?
I've chosen to mix it up. Some of you might not even read the review. So, if I repeat anything in the review that you read here, please have patience for both as you slog your way through either.
Hornet Leader gives you something called SO (Special Option) Points. Anyone familiar with Phantom Leader or Thunderbolt/Apache Leader will immediately recognize what this is. These SOs are used to purchase aircraft, special weapons (usually more advanced/effective ones), and other things. In this WWIII scenario, for the Medium campaign I've chosen, I get 36 SOs to spend.
Since I've selected two A-7 Corsairs to join the squadron, that's an additional 16 SOs (+8 for each one for a Medium campaign), giving me 52 to spend. The aircraft I have selected otherwise do not cost SOs nor do they grant me any further bonuses. (Some campaigns, notably ones that take place post-1986, like the year this one is based in, will allow more advanced aircraft and will therefore cost SOs to employ. Not so here.)
I could choose to promote a Pilot one skill level at the cost of 12 SOs immediately, before the campaign begins. I'm choosing not to. For one, I'm still getting the hang of this game and don't want to screw up - I'd rather have a plethora of pinatas, as the quote goes. Also, the only one that probably should be promoted - Windy's "EYES" E-2C Hawkeye - isn't really necessary. I may be very wrong about that later, but the E-2C is not designed to go into harm's way. At least, not in this game. I intend to do my best to protect that aircraft so putting it at 'Newbie' seems to make more sense than granting that status to a strike or air-to-air pilot.
The sequence of play overall is pretty simple, though there's a lot to each step. I will probably go into greater detail in the first few Missions, then will skip most of the detail later once you get the idea of how the game works. I'll just have to play it by ear.
Now, there is a rule I'm not a fan of. It tells of how normally, any unused ordinance is returned to your counter pool. That's all fine and good, except when it comes to Special Weapons, which cost SOs. (Standard weapons do not cost SOs.) It seems to me if you spend SOs to buy a Harpoon or a Phoenix, if you fly back to your carrier, that weapon is still going to be available and not be taken away. There IS a rule on DVG's site (images.dvg.com/www.dvg.com/hlsoc.pdf - click that link and you'll automatically download a PDF of this optional rule) where you can spend 15, 30, or 45 SOs to be allowed to keep any Special Weapons (15 for Short, 30 for Medium, and 45 for Long campaigns). If you invoke this rule, you get the SOs back for any unused ordinance after any mission. I understand this is for play balance, and while my instinct is to completely ignore it and use this optional rule - and NOT pay the SO cost it is asking for, as that seems rather steep - I'm going to go ahead and play by the 'normal' rules, so if I don't use Special Weapons, I'm going to lose the weapons when I get back.
Again, it doesn't make realistic sense, but from a play balance perspective, it would be wise not to mess with that for my AAR. And it does make sense from that latter perspective.
I'm going to try to run a mission sometime today. O0
Wait...you mean there's a place on this site, some sort of "front page"-like location, where longer thingies get posted?
Brant-rage in 3...2...1...
Quote from: Airborne Rifles on June 26, 2015, 11:02:49 AM
Wait...you mean there's a place on this site, some sort of "front page"-like location, where longer thingies get posted?
It's just a myth.
Quote from: Banzai_Cat on June 26, 2015, 11:08:28 AM
Brant-rage in 3...2...1...
Coffee spew.... and so unexpected too. LOL
Damn - missed this thread somehow. B_C, I'd like to be a reserve if any places come free.
Oh...I'm sure they will, Bob. >:D
005 MISSION 1
Day 1 of 8
On June 10, 1986, NATO is taken almost completely by surprise by a Warsaw Pact invasion of West Germany.
Leading up to this date, there were rumblings of democracy movements hatching throughout Eastern Europe, which slowly bled over into the Moravia SSR and Ukraine SSR provinces. KGB crackdowns, in conjunction with several Red Army and Border Guards units throughout the Warsaw Pact, settled the matters in the short term, but not in the long run. Civilian memories went long.
One particular KGB sweep in Warsaw uncovered a joint MI-6 and CIA operation, in place to observe the 'Solidarity' movements first hand. Whether or not the CIA and MI-6 were actually involved or not was immaterial; the KGB's methods of interrogation might very well have driven the captured suspects to admit to anything, after a point. The subsequent reports that went to Moscow did nothing to calm the fears of the old men in the Kremlin. Mikhail Gorbachev's attempts to serve as a 'great mediator' among a rising sense of militaristic Soviet destiny did not seem to have much of an effect. Reports of Gorbachev's death in an automobile accident, when his ZIL limousine crashed into a tree in a forest outside of Moscow, were not suppressed. The Soviet Central Committee reported this was part of the CIA and MI-6's joint plottings against the Warsaw Pact. Rumblings from the East put NATO on a higher state of alert, but weeks passed with little more than the usual verbal tirades, and after a few weeks NATO's troops stood down.
Their stand-down from alert came just a few days too late. While VFX-01 and the Saratoga were preparing to return to Norfolk, having just spent several days exercising with a Royal Navy detachment in the North Sea, had just barely turned around when word came down that the Soviets and their Eastern European cohorts were pouring across the West German and Czechoslovakian borders.
With this report, the Captain of the Saratoga barely had time for the crew to be briefed before radar pickets picked up a very large Soviet raid inbound. They were not, apparently, wasting any time. The Captain had little time to worry how quickly his crew could turn on a dime from peacetime drilling to war footing; he had to trust them to do the jobs they had been trained to do.
The Saratoga received reports from another carrier group, centered around the America, that they had attackers from the same raid inbound. A large group of aircraft broke off to head for America, while the remainder remained fixed on the Saratoga.
Orders were given, and pilots were readied. World War III had arrived.
NOTE: This particular report will not be as image-intensive as I'd like. I will do better in the following reports. Some images are on my work laptop, and they're not all that important to progress this story. I will add them later, though.
DAY 1 of 8
PRE-FLIGHT PHASE
Draw Target Cards
The Recon Level, at campaign start, is 3. This means three Target Cards are drawn.
My first draw is Target Card 60.
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The Scramble notation indicates that I have to stop drawing now. Normally, I would need to draw three Target Cards, but the remaining two go undrawn.
This Target is in the first Range Band. Note this map, located on the World War III Campaign Card; number 60 is in the same band as the arrowhead. The arrowhead represents the Saratoga and therefore, VFX-01.
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This is going to be a little different from 'normal' Missions, as there are no ground targets. Eight Su-24 Fencers are the target of this attack, escorted by possibly many Bandits. Upwards of NINE more Bandits, actually, can be accompanying this Raid on the Saratoga. This makes it a bit easier as I will only have to select air-to-air weapon loadouts, but it won't give you a good idea of how ground strikes work. I'm very sure this will be rectified in a future Mission, though, so don't worry. :))
Determine and Place Sites
Normally, this is where I'd draw Sites (ground defense units) and place them on the tactical board. Since there aren't any, this step is pretty simple - I ignore it.
Assign Pilots
Target Card 60 allows a maximum of five Aircraft (note the large 5 in the middle of the Card). I need to be careful and not go ALL out early on, as flying missions can wear pilots out. This particular mission may be big trouble as it can mean a LOT of air-to-air fights and a LOT of pilot Stress added on.
Stress is essentially a measure of pilot exhaustion. It can be caused by mission length (farther targets can cause more Stress), and also by combat and trying to Evade enemy attacks. This mission will only cause one Stress. Hopefully that's it, though with such a large potential for air-to-air targets, I'm almost certain there's going to be tons more put on anyone I assign to this mission.
I'm going to send four Pilots out - Wedge (Airborne Rifles), Ogre (JudgeDredd), Kermit (PanzersEast), and Psycho (Staggerwing). Sending Psycho out is something of a gamble, as the A-7 Corsair can only carry two ATA missiles (specifically, two AIM-9s). There is a method to my madness, though.
The two F-14 pilots (Ogre and Kermit) will get loaded up big time with AGM-54 Phoenix missiles.
Arm Aircraft
This is how I arm each aircraft:
Wedge (F/A-18C Hornet): ECM Pod, 3 x AIM-9, 4 x AIM-7
Ogre (F-14 Tomcat): ECM Pod, 4 x AIM-54, 2 x AIM-9, 1 x AIM-7
Kermit (F-14 Tomcat): ECM Pod, 4 x AIM-54, 2 x AIM-9, 1 x AIM-7
Psycho (A-7 Corsair): ECM Pod, 2 x AIM-9
The eight AIM-54s cost me 8 SO Points, reducing my total from 52 to 44. I think it's worth this cost as we should now have a really good chance of swatting this raid out of the sky.
As fighters from Saratoga are launched to intercept, VFX-01 is assigned an intercept course to one particular bandit group, comprised of Su-24s and an "undetermined" number of escorting MiGs. The pilots won't know what they're up against until they get within range.
TARGET-BOUND FLIGHT PHASE
Draw Target-Bound Event Card
As these four Pilots head towards the approaching Soviet aircraft, I draw the "Bad Chow" Event. This means one Pilot uses their Shaken skills.
Pilots have three status ratings - Okay, Shaken, and Unfit. 'Okay' pilots are at their best. 'Shaken' occurs after too much Stress is accumulated, and their ATA and ATG skills go down. 'Unfit' happens when their Stress gets to higher levels; if this happens, they cannot fly another mission, I think, until their Stress goes back down (I think anyway - I'm writing this from memory).
Randomly, I determine that Kermit (PanzersEast) happened to grab a plate of chow that had some bad chunks in it, giving him stomach pains. It didn't really hit him until he was airborne.
Kermit hoped he really wouldn't shit his pants in combat, but as they approached the Soviet elements, he realized that might be the least of his concerns.
Place Aircraft
I'm going to keep all four aircraft together. I want Psycho's A-7 to hang back and provide support only where practical, while the two F-14s will take the lead and try to pummel the Soviets. Wedge's F/A-18C will provide direct support as well, though more actively than Psycho.
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Determine and Place Bandits
Next, I need to see how many MiGs we'll be facing.
The Target Card calls for two Bandits in each of the four Approach Areas, and one in the Center Area, accompanying the Su-24s. Like I said, upwards of nine MiGs can be in our way, in which case we might not do much damage to the Su-24s.
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Six of my nine draws result in 'No Bandit.' For the moment, we're facing two MiG-29 Fulcrums and one MiG-25 Foxbat.
But wait, there's more!
Intel Air Defense Adjustment
The current Intel level indicates that there are "+3 Center Bandits." So I need to draw three more chits, which still might mean a more 'interesting' mission...
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...and each Draw is a 'No Bandit.' Whew.
So, my flight of four are facing off against three Bandits. Not bad odds for eight Phoenix missiles.
Wedge, the flight leader, felt an inward fear that he kept bolted tight and deep down. He cooly scanned his instruments, which at first reported almost two dozen enemy aircraft. He blinked once, twice, and his heart fell to his stomach; his four aircraft might put a dent into the formation, but might not defeat it. Turning tail was not an option; Ogre and Kermit would have their chance.
As they got closer, he realized the reading was a false echo, and there were only eleven enemy aircraft - eight of which were the vulnerable Su-24s. He smiled in his oxygen mask; this might be a turkey shoot after all.
Draw Over Target Event Card
Another random chance Event happens, and my draw results in "No Adjustment." So, no additional enemy aircraft appear in this battle. Just as Wedge was thinking, this might indeed be a turkey shoot.
Phoenix Missile Attacks
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The AGM-54 Phoenix missile is a long-range air-to-air missile that is radar guided and very deadly. It's one of the mainstay offensive weapons for the Tomcat in this game, and each F-14 can carry up to six of them. With four each, they still can do some major damage.
This game phase allows the player to fire as many of their missiles as they would like. Guess how many I decided to fire?
Wedge's smile turned into a grim line. "Kermit, Ogre, you are weapons free. Select your targets and tally-ho!"
Each of the F-14 drivers relied on their RIOs (Radar Intercept Officers) to target each of their four Phoenix missiles. The Tomcat's radars locked on quickly, and each pilot called out "Fox Three" as each Phoenix slid off its rail and accelerated at blinding speed. Soon, each Tomcat was trailing four contrails of Phoenix missiles that sped to their targets upwards of Mach 5, giving the Soviet pilots very little time to react.
Yep. All of them.
Kermit launched one Phoenix at the northernmost MiG-29, twp at the easternmost MiG-29, one at the center mass of Su-24s.
Ogre launched one Phoenix against the westernmost MiG-29, two versus the mass of Su-24s, and one against the northernmost MiG-29.
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Kermit splashes the northernmost MiG-29 and the easternmost MiG-29, as well as one of the Su-24s in the center of the formation.
Ogre splashes all of his targets - a MiG-25, a MiG-29, and two Su-24s.
Not a bad day's work. Each F-14 crew cheered as they watched their Phoenix missiles blot seven of the eleven Soviet aircraft from the sky. All escorting fighters were brought down, and there were only a handful of Su-24s remaining. The Soviets that remained faltered; they were so close to the American task force, and this was supposed to be their first glorious strike against the capitalists. Single of mind, despite their fear, they pushed their aircraft forward.
Big mistake.
Turn 2 (of 5)
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"Close on the bastards," ordered Wedge. "Let's clean 'em up!"
All four American aircraft pushed a bit closer to their enemies, scant seconds after the huge AGM-54s destroyed most of their targets. Their remaining AIM-9s didn't have the range to engage the remaining Soviet aircraft...at least not yet. However, their AIM-7s did.
The Soviet flight leader, one of the few survivors, began to realize the error of his ways, and was just ready to call a retreat when their warnings warbled in their headsets yet again.
In each Turn, Fast Pilots attack first, then enemy Sites and Pilots, and finally Slow Pilots attack. Wedge and Psycho are Fast Pilots, but only Wedge has AIM-7s that can reach the targets. Psycho only has AIM-9s with a range of 1, so he's out of the fight for the moment.
Wedge's AIM-7 nails another Su-24.
As the Soviet aircraft sped forward, another of their number is blotted from the sky in a flash that's faster than the blink of an eye. The remaining pilot's fear was mixed with outrage and utter helplessness, as none of the Su-24s were armed for air-to-air attacks. The escorting MiGs were supposed to protect them, dammit!
Since the Soviets cannot retaliate, next the Slow Pilots go - Ogre and Kermit. Each unleash an AIM-7.
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Ogre hits his target, but Kermit's missile goes wide as the enemy aircraft ducks, barely avoiding a hit. Kermit curses, hoping for another chance. It didn't get any easier than this! And he missed, dammit!
I push the fighters one area closer to the Su-24s. Now, Psycho will have his chance...
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Being Fast pilots, both Wedge and Psycho go first, launching on the three remaining Soviets. Both bag their targets, one having a wing cut cleanly off and the other losing both of its Tumansky R-21F-300 turbojet engines in a fireball that consumes the back half of the aircraft.
One Su-24 remains. It cannot do anything, so the Slow Pilots now attack.
Both Ogre and Kermit let loose with an AIM-9. I randomly determine which one goes first, and Ogre's name comes up. His missile hits, destroying the last Soviet aircraft.
Wedge watched the last Soviet aircraft come apart like a ripe melon; suddenly the skies were noticeably empty.
"Saratoga, Banshee Flight," said Wedge. "Splash eleven. Repeat, splash eleven enemy aircraft. All threats neutralized."
As Saratoga congratulated them, all four pilots felt a huge sense of accomplishment. But, all were professional enough to realize how easy this first mission was; they managed to survive an onslaught that very well could have been much worse for them. Had it not been for some Soviet failures at vectoring their escorts in, they very well could have been on the losing end of this engagement.
Saratoga's orbiting E-2C gave the pilots a return vector, and they turned for home.
Homebound Phase
Another Event Card is drawn, and this time I get a result that lets me move any one Campaign counter one to the right. I can move the Recon, Intel, or Infra markers over one; I choose Intel. If you'll recall, the Intel track is what gave the Soviets that possible extra three Bandits in the center area. Moving it one to the right now means +2 Center Bandits instead of +3, which might make a world of difference in the future.
The Recon track gives me the number of Target Cards I can draw each turn (unless a 'Scramble' card is drawn, which happened here with the first draw). The Infra track measures enemy infrastructure and indicates a number of extra hits (or number of hits less) a target needs to take to be destroyed. Since this was an air-to-air mission, the +1 Hit in the Infra Track didn't take place. At least, that's how I interpreted it; it very well might be considered to be another Su-24. I only thought of that just now, as I am writing this.
As the pilots land back on the Saratoga, each receive +2 XP. When the number of XPs exceed their Experience Points number, they get promoted one Skill Level. None of these Pilots are close, so no promotions occur.
The number of aircraft shot down do not add extra XP, unfortunately.
However, the Pilots can claim the following air-to-air victories:
Wedge - 2 x Su-24
Ogre - 4 x Su-24, 1 x MiG-25
Kermit - 2 x MiG-29, 1 x Su-24
Psycho - 1 x Su-24
Looks like we'll have to call Ogre (JudgeDredd) "Mr. Ace."
Day One ends in a huge victory. We earn 4 VPs for destroying the target. However, we have a ways to go before we can hope to achieve a measure of victory in our little corner of this war.
Look for another mission, coming soon.
I want to do some HARM!!!
I'll take credit for Ogre's success. I was managing the fight, after all.
Nice job, Lieutenant :P
Take that Putin, err... Gorbachev, err... Whomever!
Little did the SCO know, I was packing some extra heat in my pants..... O0
Over the headset you can hear a loud voice cry "Eat $h'1e M-29"
The fact that a chimp flinging crap has appeared in one of my AAR threads means I have arrived. :crazy2:
That said, the crap might hit the fan for this second mission. I've drawn a decent target card and a secondary target as well, and I think we're going to go all-out on this one, so all hands should be on deck. Mirth, this means you'll probably be HARMing something. 8)
I've only gone so far as to select the mission during lunch today. I'll get the rest of the details done later tonight most likely. With two missions, I'll probably do two posts since this last mission's post was rather long.
DAY TWO (of eight)
Mission 1
Part One: Pre-Flight Phase
Note: The first post was so long, I'm going to break these up into smaller posts. I'll do the Pre-Flight Phase, the Over Target Phase, and the Debrief Phase, all in separate posts.
After yesterday's missions, the reports trickled down, indicating Ivan took a beating on the first day of the War. Soviet armored spearheads were, however, pushing NATO forces back in West Germany. Some scuttlebutt spoke of Special Forces raiding the Kremlin, of Russian nukes taking out Anchorage, and even of Soviet paratroops seizing Iranian oil fields. All hell had broken loose, but for now, the Saratoga, her crew, and her pilots remained whole. Their world remained intact...at least for the moment.
That ended when the whole of VFX-01 was called to the briefing room - every pilot, every crew member. Each entered the squadron ready room, harboring their own thoughts as to what was going on. A major strike was in the works, it seemed, and it would be all hands on deck for this one.
When they arrived, though, they found out it would actually be TWO separate strikes, not one, and VFX-01 would be leading the way on both.
"Gentlemen," the Squadron Commander started without preamble, "we're going to hit Ivan's forward naval base. If we can neutralize it, their Fleet assets will be easier to take down."
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Note that I already have an ASW Fleet target card that is in play and will remain so until eliminated, thanks to the "Improvement" trait. The Naval Base target card means that ASW Fleet will require 4 extra hits to destroy, at least until this Naval Base is dealt with.
And that will be no easy task - note it requires 16 hits to destroy!
I also drew this Target Card:
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Since this card has the 'Secondary' trait, I can fly a second mission today against it. Might as well go all-out, even though it will greatly increase the Stress on the pilots. The Secondary target is in the furthest Range Band, while the Primary isn't as far, but there will still be a lot of Stress applied.
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I guess I could ask WHY the USS Saratoga needs to fly a mission against SAM sites located in northern Poland, especially when we're in the far North Sea...but hey, it's a game, don't ask serious questions. :)
First, we're going to deal with the Naval Base. We'll deal with the SAM Trap target in a follow-up post. First, I draw chits to determine the sites located around the Naval Base.
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Note that most of the site chits have the "R" notation, which means AGM-88s can be used against them. You know what that means, mirth! You're up!
Here is the composition of the strike I put together, along with the armament for each one:
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1175.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr624%2FMichaelE6%2FFA18%2520C%2520Hornet.png&hash=b074deebc357e782335dcd3d57be4923d3f9e383)WOLF (Barthheart) F/A-18C: 1 x ECM Pod, 5 x AIM-7, 1 x GBU-16
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The EA-6B Prowler only carries four AGM-88 anti-radar missiles, and it also provides a bonus to aircraft in its same space when avoiding enemy attacks. Furthermore, the Prowler also has a bonus to defense when it is attacked itself.
The E-2C Hawkeye gives a mission the ability to avoid events on a roll of 7+. It also can give Situational Awareness. SA is basically an extra turn.
I think I've armed this strike to deal with the radar sites (and then some). Both WOLF and OGRE have a good loadout to deal with any enemy bandits over the target, and there's a lot of good anti-ground armament. I've had to spend a LOT of Special Options points...more than I wanted...to allow each aircraft to carry its full loadout to this target and not have to incur the WP penalty.
Let's see if this actually works in practice, though.
All aircraft were on deck and ready to roll.
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Note: I want to thank Sundog, from the BGG forums, for letting me use some ideas from his excellent USS Ford graphic he created for the Hornet Leader game. I took inspirations from it to create the above image, based on some of the things he did. Thanks, Sundog!
Day Two (Continued)
Part Two: Over Target I
The strike (code named Lightning Ride) is on the way, and it's time to determine a Random Event. The card I draw is Aerial Refueling, which is fortunate: it gives us +1 Turn over Target. I was worried that we might not be able to fully destroy this Target within the timeframe allotted, because as you may have noticed, to drop bombs on the Target card it takes at least three Turns to get to it in the first place. This will help tremendously and may mean the difference between success or failure. The margin for success here was already razor-thin because of the 16 hits required to destroy this naval base...
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I went ahead and lined up all aircraft in the southern approach area, to keep them all with Moon and the Prowler's protection. Everyone is going to swoop in as quickly as possible and hammer the hell out of the Naval Base.
Note that Ogre is the Flight Leader in this strike, as he was randomly determined to be so based on the highest skill levels present (Go Average!).
Now that the strike is on target, we can determine the enemy Bandits we'll be facing.
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Once again, a lot of possible MiGs present, but only three end up being in the air as we approach. The MiG-29 is a badass in this game and should be targeted and eliminated quickly.
There's an extra two draws for the Center Area, over the Target card, and I draw a MiG-23 and another No Bandit chit. So there's four MiGs to deal with now.
Another Event card draw is required, and another stroke of luck - it's Clear Skies, which means no adjustments. No news is good news in this case.
Before we get into the turn-by-turn fracas, now is the time to fire our Phoenix missiles (AGM-54s), I loaded two onto Ogre's F-14, and I'm going to use them both.
"Bandits are turning in patrol," said Merlin, Ogre's RIO. "They still haven't made us."
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"Lightning Flight," said Ogre, "let's light them up. I'm going to cook the -29 and -25 with the Phoenix missiles, then we're heading in. Tallyho!"
Each of the other pilots made a similar "Tally-ho!" declaration. Merlin noted the Phoenix missiles were ready for launch.
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Ogre keys his mic. "FOX THREE! FOX THREE!"
Two AGM-54 Phoenix missiles leap off their rails in quick succession, targeting the MiG-25 and MiG-29, the two biggest threats on the board right now.
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Both Phoenix missiles home in unerringly on their targets, both proximity fuses exploding the 135-pound warheads within 10 feet of both targets, turning each aircraft into hundreds of fragments.
"Two more for Mr. Ace," said Wolf. "Let's get the rest of 'em, Grogs."
Day Two (continued)
Part Two: Over Target II
In a turn over the target, Fast Pilots go first, followed by enemy Sites and Bandits, and finally, Slow Pilots go last. Situational Awareness can be spent to give Fast pilots the ability to attack in both the Fast and Slow phases; Slow pilots can do the same thing. The E-2C, as I mentioned previously, can spend SA on any pilot. The Flight Leader can do the same. In this case, on the first Turn, Eyes spends one Situational Awareness point and gives Wolf (a Slow pilot) the ability to attack this phase. Moon also has SA, so he spends one as well so he can attack now, too.
Wolf targets the MiG-21 with an AIM-7, while Moon locks on to the SA-6 site that is on the strike's approach path to the Target card.
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Wolf needs a 6 or higher and rolls a 10. His AIM-7 Sparrow nails the old MiG-21, disintegrating it in mid-air seconds after the other two MiGs were splashed.
The SA-6 that Moon targeted barely lit up its radar in response to the frantic calls from the MiGs overhead. When they went silent, the SA-6 commander assumed the worst, and went live to find the enemy aircraft. As soon as it lit up, Moon's AGM-88 HARM missile was ridiculously accurate, its microprocessor brain homing in unerringly. The SA-6 commander noticed the incoming missile, and shut his radar down, but it was too late. The missile noted the last location and struck the vehicle seconds later, sending an orange fireball into the coastal sky. The southern approach to the target was clear.
Moon rolled a 9, easily scoring a hit on the SA-6.
Now, it was the Soviet's turn to react. Unfortunately for them, confusion reigned. With their primary CAP down, the remaining MiG-23 pilot screamed at ground control to give him an intercept vector. Once the SA-6 went offline, the Soviet colonel in charge of coordinating the defense of the naval port tried to get everything south, knowing it would be too late. He was still in a state of shock, never expecting a NATO strike against their port, this far north. The MiG-23 knew enemy aircraft were coming in from the south, but they were out of range, so he frustratingly had to play the waiting game. None of the surviving sites had anything on their radar either, so nobody could fire. Most of them prayed that was all the NATO fighters were after, but none were that naive.
In the Slow Pilot Attack Phase, Moon acts again and fires another AGM-88 at the westernmost SA-13, while Wash launches one of his AGM-88s at an SA-15 protecting the Target card. Moon's missile strikes true, obliterating the SA-13 (which had a range of 1 and could attack them when their strike moved closer to the Target card). However, Wash's missile misses, having rolled a 1.
Everyone moves one space closer to the Target card, except for Eyes, who remains in the approach area. There's no reason to bring him in closer, especially considering the Hawkeye has no armaments to defend itself with.
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Who you calling slow! >:( ;D
Are you sure you brought enough ground ord to do 16 hits?!? Looks a little thin to me..... ???
Quote from: Barthheart on July 03, 2015, 12:42:03 PM
Who you calling slow! >:( ;D
Are you sure you brought enough ground ord to do 16 hits?!? Looks a little thin to me..... ???
Indeed, it does. In hindsight I didn't bring nearly enough; I tend to overestimate ATA ordinance needed. In this case though, you'll see how well I did. It shall all play out. I've already done both missions and know the outcome of both. O0
"Slow" is not indicative of the pilot's lack of ability. It just denotes when they are able to attack. I think this goes up to "Fast" as the pilot gets more skilled, though.
Quote from: Banzai_Cat on July 03, 2015, 12:43:25 PM
...
"Slow" is not indicative of the pilot's lack of ability. It just denotes when they are able to attack. I think this goes up to "Fast" as the pilot gets more skilled, though.
Yeah, I play the Leader games, not this this one though, as well. And, yes, if you give me.. errr... Wolf enough fly time we'll eventually "level up" and might become Fast. O0
Day Two (continued)
Part Two: Over Target III
In the second Turn over target (of six total), Eyes spends his last Situational Awareness, giving it to Moon so the latter can attack with another AGM-88 in the Fast Pilot Attack phase. Moon rolls a 9, scoring a hit on an SA-15 site. One less thing to worry about.
At this point, I realized I screwed up earlier; the SA-10 in the center area has a range of 3, and could have attacked in the last Turn. So, I decide to roll twice for him, to make up for it.
The SA-10 ("Grumble"), a very potent long-range anti-air missile platform, attacks Moon (determined randomly among the five pilots in that space). Since Moon has his own intrinsic defense, I decide to not Evade, and nobody Suppresses.
Now, a sidebar on Suppression. In the game, any Pilot can choose to Suppress a site if it targets someone. This means expending an AtG munition of any type (as long as it is in range); a successful attack means the enemy site's attack is negated. I have an issue with that in general. If a munition hits, it should destroy the target, not just cancel an attack. From a gameplay standpoint, though, it makes perfect sense. In real life, it's kind of weird. As a general principle, I do not Suppress. I might regret that, but we shall see.
So, Moon does not Evade. The SA-10's missile is launched at him, and the enemy's roll is 7. However, there's a -1 for targeting the area that the EA-6B is in, and another -1 for targeting the Prowler itself, so their roll is a 5. This results in +1 Stress for Moon.
The second (make-up) roll is a 3, a miss, thankfully.
The MiG-23 finally gets a vector, finding the enemy aircraft closing fast on the naval base. He chooses one aircraft at random (which happens to be Ogre) and fires.
Now, while I don't like Suppressing, I have no problem with Evading. Since Ogre has an ECM Pod, this means he only incurs +1 Stress instead of the +2 Stress he'd get without an ECM Pod. What really sucks here, though, is I COMPLETELY forget to roll for the ECM Pod to negate the enemy's attack. You see, on a roll of 6 or higher, the ECM Pod jams up the enemy's attack, negating it completely. I can kick myself now, but Evading means the enemy rolls two dice instead of one, and I can choose which one is the Attack roll. The rolls are 1 and 10. Gee, which one do I choose? One, of course. It's a miss, and a big miss at that.
The MiG-23 pilot's attack came too quickly, and the Soviet pilot cursed - he pulled the trigger before he even got a missile lock, a complete rookie move, and probably his last.
Next, the Slow pilots attack. Wolf fires an AIM-9 on the remaining MiG, rolling a 6. He gets a +1 for his AtA rating, and another +1 for the MiG being bad at its job of staying in one piece. This results in an 8, higher than the 6 needed, so it's a hit. The MiG fireballs and comes apart before the Soviet pilot can think too much further on the error of his ways.
Moon fires one of his two remaining AGM-88s against the SA-10 site that tried to take him out. This time he rolls a 2, and with a +0 AtG rating, nothing is going to help that one. He misses.
Wash fires one of his AGM-88s against the same SA-10 site, rolling a 10. The SA-10 was apparently so preoccupied with avoiding Moon's missile strike that he totally missed Wash's, and pays for it dearly.
All aircraft move in a little closer, now.
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They're down to three sites and no MiGs. The SA-8A to the north will never be a factor unless I fly into its space, which I won't do - it can only attack targets in the same space. The remaining two sites aren't too dangerous, but I'm running out of time...there's 16 hits to inflict on this Target card and I still have to fly one more Turn before we're over it...
Day Two (continued)
Mission One
Part Two: Over Target IV
The third Turn (of six) is relatively quiet. Only Wash can attack, and that's in the Slow Pilot phase by spending one of his Situational Awareness points. He then unleashes his AGM-88 against the SA-6 site in the center area.
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Wash rolls a 6. With +0 AtG and +1 for the SA-6, he gets a 7, resulting in a hit. The SA-6 site goes up in a blaze of glory.
No Sites can attack, and there's no Bandits left, so nothing happens there. None of the Slow pilots have munitions in range, so nothing happens there, either. All aircraft swoop in over the target, now.
"Lightning Flight," said Ogre. "Pick your targets carefully. Let's take out these bastards."
Each pilot had a small sector assigned to them, with several primary and a few secondary targets. As long as their munitions landed on those areas, and all of them were successful, the Naval Base would be devastated and unusable, but a LOT of munitions had to find their targets and in a short window of time.
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On Turn 4, we have this turn and two more to take out the Naval Base. Let's get to work.
Both Wash and Shifty spend one Situational Awareness point so they can attack in the Slow Pilot phase.
Wash finds a fat juicy tank farm, dropping a Mk84 on it.
The Mk84 bomb is just over 2,000 pounds of high explosives of destruction. It is capable of forming a crater 50 feet wide and 36 feet deep. It can penetrate up to 15 inches of metal or 11 feet of concrete, depending on the height from which it is dropped, and causes lethal fragmentation to a radius of 400 yards. Wash's Corsair becomes one ton lighter as the Mk84 drops and falls onto the Naval Base.
I roll a 6. Wash has +0 AtG, but this is a decent roll, as two hits are made. First blood has been drawn.
Shifty joins in, dropping a Mk83. This one is smaller than its Mk84 brother, but still packing about 1,000 pounds of weight and is an all-around excellent General Purpose (GP) weapon. Shifty's roll is a 3, though, and even with his +1 AtG rating, the bomb misses, blowing up some Soviet general's ZIL limousine instead of the facility it's parked next to.
The S-60 site - a 57mm AA gun - which is the only remaining site on the Target card's space, targets Shifty. I have Shifty evade, causing him +1 Stress. (Again, I forget to roll for the ECM Pod to negate the attack, though again I didn't forget that ECM Pods only cause +1 Stress instead of +2.) The site rolls two dice, getting a 3 and a 9. It's a no-brainer which one I choose - the 3, so the gun misses.
Now, the Slow pilots have a go.
Shifty drops a Mk82, rolls a 3. With his +1 AtG he gets a 4, but it's still a miss. I can't afford too many of these on this mission!
Ogre comes in, dropping a GBU-16 on the target. This is the Paveway II, a version of the 1,000 pound Mk83 but with laser guidance and fins to help it guide itself to its target. I roll a 9. However, Ogre, being a Tomcat driver, is not an air-to-ground expert and has a -2 AtG penalty. Still, the resulting 7 is good enough to hit the target THREE times, giving us a total of five. Only 11 more to go.
Next, Wolf swoops in, releasing his own GBU-16. He rolls a 9, and has an AtG penalty of -1, resulting in an 8. That's good enough for three more hits, upping our total to eight.
The Naval Base has taken a pounding, but it is only halfway gone. We have two more turns after this to deal the killing blow.
Day Two (continued)
Mission One
Part Two: Over Target V
Turn 5 (of 6) dawns. We're getting down to the wire. Ogre spends one of his Situational Awareness points to attack in both phases and drops his GBU-16 on the target here in the Fast Pilot Attack phase. I roll a 9 for him, but his -2 AtG reduces that to a 7. Still, that's three hits! That's one big reason why the GBU-16 is well worth the one SO point it costs.
The Naval Base now has 11 hits total.
The S-60 site, largely ignored in favor of the Naval Base's facilities, swings left and right to find a low-flying target. It finally zeroes in on Wash's Corsair. I have Wash evade, giving him +1 Stress (and again, no ECM Pod roll, dammit). The SA-60 rolls a 9 and a 4. I choose the 4, making it a miss. Whew.
Unfortunately, I realize at this point that the Infra (Infrastructure) track on the Campaign Card indicates there is +1 Hits to any Target cards. Great. So, we need six more hits, not five. :(
Of the remaining Slow pilots, only Shifty has AtG munitions. We need 6 more hits to eliminate it. No point in sweating it now, we're balls deep into this mission. Shifty drops a Mk83 on the target, rolling a 9. With his +1 AtG rating, that's a 10 - and THREE HITS!
That leaves three hits left. But that's it, no more attacks this turn.
There's no Bandits and everyone stays in the Target card's space, so the Turn marker moves to the last space. This is it.
In the Fast Pilot Attack phase, nobody can attack. No Situational Awareness points remain, so I have to let this slip by. It all comes down to our 'Slow' pilots. 8)
The S-60 site now targets Wash, whom I have evade, giving him +1 Stress. (And yes, I forget once again.) I roll two dice, getting a 5 and a 10. The 5 causes an additional +1 Stress to Wash, but that's better than a 10, which would have destroyed him.
Now it comes down to this. Shifty, or Dammit Carl!, in his A-6 Intruder, spots a large repair facility that had been missed earlier on the other side of the base. He gets down to rooftop level, heading out into the bay and swinging back in from the sea.
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His last Mk83 hangs from the wing, and targets the Naval Base.
I roll a 9. That's three hits. The Mk83 hits precisely where it needs to and the Naval Base is in the throes of destruction as secondary explosions and fires race through the few undamaged parts. Soviet fire teams, those few that survived anyway, try to fight the blazes but fail to contain the destruction. Before long, the Naval Base is completely obliterated - though it was a very near-run thing, and resulted from a LOT of very lucky rolls (and in spite of me forgetting to roll for ECM Pod attack negations).
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The strike returns to base, this being the last Turn. They leave utter destruction in their wake, so this mission was a HUGE success.
Next: Mission 2 of Day 2.
Writing this up took a lot longer than I thought, so I'll have to wait until this weekend to write up the remaining mission.
Also, I have to go out of town for a few days next week, so I'll be unable to write up or play further Missions until next weekend. I'll get this last secondary mission posted by Sunday, though, and yes Brant I will have the review to you by then. :)
Good stuff B_C! Can't get much closer to a blown mission than that... O0
The stress is getting to me.
i really like the AAR and the style it is done, the story told O0
That I'm called "Shifty," is amusing; my wife is more than happy to call me that, as well as "Shady," when I stray a wee bit into the grayer side of things. She says that I get that from my Dad, and while admitting to that, I do have to remind her that (supposedly) Clyde Barrow is a relative of some sort. Stuff comes naturally to me ;)
I'm in Dallas for a few days and won't be home until Thursday evening this week, so I won't be able to update with the second mission of Day 2 until Friday or so. Sorry for the delay, but thanks for reading.
We've been very, very, very lucky thus far with the die rolls, ESPECIALLY considering I completely forgot to roll for ECM Pod attack evasions. Mission 2 was a little more of a close call...that's all I'll say for now on it. :)