Barth and I agreed to another round of Wing Leader. This time, we're off to the Pacific for the Battle of the Coral Sea. US carrier based aircraft try to defend the Yorktown and Lexington from an incoming Japanese raid.
First things first, we have to decide who will play as the Americans and who will be the Japanese and we agreed to let chance decide so here it goes.
Roll 1D6. On 1-3, Bart will play as the USN, on a 4-6, I will.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgrogheads.com%2Fforums%2FThemes%2Fdefault%2Fimages%2Fdice_warn.gif&hash=09b04beb3d0b7357d8a221f953a58436bc798bbc) This dice roll has been tampered with!
Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6
Looks like I'm playing as the USN while Barth will don his leather flying cap and headband and play as the IJN.
Here's the scenario briefing.
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And the aircraft cards.
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Note that the Wildcats in question are F4F-3s so their firepower is 1, not 2 as depicted on the front of the Wildcat card.
Gah! I realized that I had misspelled Barth's name in the topic title and went back to edit it and now I have the big red tampered dice roll message as a reminder.
Oh well.
Here's the initial map. Bart has yet to position his two Zero squadrons so they're just place holders for now.
Bad guys again eh? Well this should be interesting. I'll need to read up on torpedo bombing.....
Banzai! :D
And I'm the plucky underdog again. Let's see, 63 veteran Japanese pilots vs. my 20 innocent farmboys. Should go well.
Why do I get the feeling that this is going to be more like the Battle of Hoth than the Death Star trench run?
Here's the final map set up now that Barth's placed his escort fighters. You'll note that one of my Wildcat squadrons (grid W1) has cleverly positioned itself facing the wrong direction, is below the cloud deck, and is vectored in the wrong direction (vectored to grid Z1). I'm expecting big things from him.
Note how the dastardly Barth immediately hides in the clouds.
Here's one of my guys searching the skies for him. I hesitate to use the word "hero", but...
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Really not much to report. Bart's torpedo bombers begin dropping altitude to make their runs and are currently in the cloud layer. His dive bombers continue on straight and level. My three flights on CAP circle in place. The one group with a tally on the trailing Val dive bomber climbs towards them while my final group continues on towards its poorly assigned vector.
I tried and failed to get the GCI on the carriers to change the vector so I guess that flight's out of the fight for now. They might be in position to intercept after the fact. We'll see.
We think the US "hero" looks more like this:
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Since I have to fly straight and level for 2 squares before I can release my torpedoes and there's a pile of flak on all those ships.... I think it will feel exactly like the Death Star trench run... :buck2:
My dive bombers will have an easier time making their attack but these Vals don't carry much in the way of bombs so it will take a lot to do any damage...
Oh yeah... scenario special rule #1 states that I can only attack the CVs... so I have to fly through the other ships' flak and just smile and wave.... :tickedoff:
Turn 2 and it's already going to get hot for my Kates. :( But SBDs don't pack much punch so there's that.....
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Just enough of a punch. Got lucky and did a head on pass against the Kates with my SBDs. I managed to damage one of the Kates. Not looking forward to Barth's counter-punch though.
Don't underestimate the forward firepower of an SBD. Two 50-cals firing forward is nothing to sneeze at- IIRC, the Dauntless is the only WW2 bomber with a positive air-to-air kill ratio. They were occasionally used as CAP in times of need.
Yeah, I just finished a really interesting book about SBD pilots and was surprised to learn just how often they were called on to do CAP patrols.
Unfortunately the game doesn't really reflect this. They have the same firepower rating as the D3A Val dive bomber with its two 7.7mm MGs.
Hey this game looks awesome! Thanks for the AAR guys. I'm going to have to log into my Amazon account now and see if they carry the game. O0
Quote from: W8taminute on January 03, 2016, 11:19:10 PM
Hey this game looks awesome! Thanks for the AAR guys. I'm going to have to log into my Amazon account now and see if they carry the game. O0
The game is really good. Gives a really good new perspective on air combat at eh squadron level. Plays vey well solo too.
Bah, Kates totally wiff the return fire.... too busy concentrating on the juicy carrier target up ahead....
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O0
No! Don't touch it, it's not paid off.
Here's the situation at the end of turn 2. My SBD's got lucky and managed to ding a Kate in a a head-on pass and then slip under the clouds. As Barth's fighters don't have radios, the Kate's escorting Zeroes are still unaware of the lurking SBD menace.
The fighter controller on the carriers managed to vector Wildcat flights C and D towards intercept points but flight F is still taking a leisurely flight off to the edge of the map. Flight E pilots are pedaling as fast as they can to climb up to the Vals but they aren't making any headway.
Quote from: Barthheart on January 04, 2016, 07:25:18 AM
Quote from: W8taminute on January 03, 2016, 11:19:10 PM
Hey this game looks awesome! Thanks for the AAR guys. I'm going to have to log into my Amazon account now and see if they carry the game. O0
The game is really good. Gives a really good new perspective on air combat at eh squadron level. Plays very well solo too.
Does this game have solo rules, or do you basically just play both sides to the best of their abilities?
No solo rules at this point.
Quote from: smittyohio on January 07, 2016, 10:37:58 AM
Quote from: Barthheart on January 04, 2016, 07:25:18 AM
Quote from: W8taminute on January 03, 2016, 11:19:10 PM
Hey this game looks awesome! Thanks for the AAR guys. I'm going to have to log into my Amazon account now and see if they carry the game. O0
The game is really good. Gives a really good new perspective on air combat at eh squadron level. Plays very well solo too.
Does this game have solo rules, or do you basically just play both sides to the best of their abilities?
You have to play both sides yourself. But the command and control rules means this is fairly simple to do.
Kates line up for the torpedo run.... watch out for those laser turrets... err... flak guns!
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I love the rounded counters on that Vassal mod. Have you guys tried to cut the real counters? If so I'm curious as to what size tool you used, i.e. 2.0, 2.5, etc. I'm thinking of purchasing a cutting tool but don't know what size to get only because the airplane counters in this game are not standard sized counters.
Quote from: W8taminute on January 13, 2016, 02:59:30 PM
I love the rounded counters on that Vassal mod. Have you guys tried to cut the real counters? If so I'm curious as to what size tool you used, i.e. 2.0, 2.5, etc. I'm thinking of purchasing a cutting tool but don't know what size to get only because the airplane counters in this game are not standard sized counters.
:o OMG! There are NO rounded corners in the VASSAL module. What you are seeing is the "Moved" tag that's applied when you move a counter.
None of my games have, or will ever have, rounded corners. :tickedoff:
The airplane data cards are rounded.....just sayin'......
Don't blow up my carrier!
Quote from: Barthheart on January 13, 2016, 04:55:12 PM
Quote from: W8taminute on January 13, 2016, 02:59:30 PM
I love the rounded counters on that Vassal mod. Have you guys tried to cut the real counters? If so I'm curious as to what size tool you used, i.e. 2.0, 2.5, etc. I'm thinking of purchasing a cutting tool but don't know what size to get only because the airplane counters in this game are not standard sized counters.
:o OMG! There are NO rounded corners in the VASSAL module. What you are seeing is the "Moved" tag that's applied when you move a counter.
None of my games have, or will ever have, rounded corners. :tickedoff:
<takes two steps backwards and ducks>I understand that to round or not to round is a subject of controversy in the wargaming community akin to discussing religion and politics. None of my games have rounded corners unless they were shipped that way from the manufacturer. To round or not is a decision I've been toying with but have not carried out yet. 8)
Quote from: W8taminute on January 13, 2016, 02:59:30 PM
I love the rounded counters on that Vassal mod. Have you guys tried to cut the real counters? If so I'm curious as to what size tool you used, i.e. 2.0, 2.5, etc. I'm thinking of purchasing a cutting tool but don't know what size to get only because the airplane counters in this game are not standard sized counters.
The 2.5mm gives more pronounced rounded corners, from what I gather. Closer to what you're seeing on this, but still viable for the smaller counters.
Been waffling about picking up a Deluxe one but dropping $50 on it has been a difficult affirmation to finalize, especially during the post-holiday & property tax season.
Meanwhile, I have around six or seven GMT games desperately crying out for counter mutilation. Been putting some of it off in the belief I may get a corner clipper in the next few months. But if the desire to get one to the table arises, it'll be getting the $5 toe nail clipper treatment.
Unlike a large number of you other old & palsied wargamers, I handle my counters solely with my fingers. Not tweezers or some such. Never had a problem doing so, other than those damned fuzzy corners which can get caught on other nearby fuzzy cornered stacks, when lifting 'em. So corner clipping it has been, for me. >:D
Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on January 13, 2016, 05:27:04 PM
The airplane data cards are rounded.....just sayin'......
Those aren't counters.... and they came that way....
Quote
Don't blow up my carrier!
Trying my damnedest! Not looking forward to all that flak.... :buck2:
Quote from: W8taminute on January 13, 2016, 05:40:49 PM
Quote from: Barthheart on January 13, 2016, 04:55:12 PM
Quote from: W8taminute on January 13, 2016, 02:59:30 PM
I love the rounded counters on that Vassal mod. Have you guys tried to cut the real counters? If so I'm curious as to what size tool you used, i.e. 2.0, 2.5, etc. I'm thinking of purchasing a cutting tool but don't know what size to get only because the airplane counters in this game are not standard sized counters.
:o OMG! There are NO rounded corners in the VASSAL module. What you are seeing is the "Moved" tag that's applied when you move a counter.
None of my games have, or will ever have, rounded corners. :tickedoff:
<takes two steps backwards and ducks>
I understand that to round or not to round is a subject of controversy in the wargaming community akin to discussing religion and politics. None of my games have rounded corners unless they were shipped that way from the manufacturer. To round or not is a decision I've been toying with but have not carried out yet. 8)
Back away from the clippers and no one gets hurt.... :knuppel2:
Quote from: Nefaro on January 13, 2016, 05:45:45 PM
Quote from: W8taminute on January 13, 2016, 02:59:30 PM
I love the rounded counters on that Vassal mod. Have you guys tried to cut the real counters? If so I'm curious as to what size tool you used, i.e. 2.0, 2.5, etc. I'm thinking of purchasing a cutting tool but don't know what size to get only because the airplane counters in this game are not standard sized counters.
The 2.5mm gives more pronounced rounded corners, from what I gather. Closer to what you're seeing on this, but still viable for the smaller counters.
Been waffling about picking up a Deluxe one but dropping $50 on it has been a difficult affirmation to finalize, especially during the post-holiday & property tax season.
Meanwhile, I have around six or seven GMT games desperately crying out for counter mutilation. Been putting some of it off in the belief I may get a corner clipper in the next few months. But if the desire to get one to the table arises, it'll be getting the $5 toe nail clipper treatment.
Unlike a large number of you other old & palsied wargamers, I handle my counters solely with my fingers. Not tweezers or some such. Never had a problem doing so, other than those damned fuzzy corners which can get caught on other nearby fuzzy cornered stacks, when lifting 'em. So corner clipping it has been, for me. >:D
Heathen! >:(
Back to the show....
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Quote from: Nefaro on January 13, 2016, 05:45:45 PM
Quote from: W8taminute on January 13, 2016, 02:59:30 PM
I love the rounded counters on that Vassal mod. Have you guys tried to cut the real counters? If so I'm curious as to what size tool you used, i.e. 2.0, 2.5, etc. I'm thinking of purchasing a cutting tool but don't know what size to get only because the airplane counters in this game are not standard sized counters.
The 2.5mm gives more pronounced rounded corners, from what I gather. Closer to what you're seeing on this, but still viable for the smaller counters.
Been waffling about picking up a Deluxe one but dropping $50 on it has been a difficult affirmation to finalize, especially during the post-holiday & property tax season.
Meanwhile, I have around six or seven GMT games desperately crying out for counter mutilation. Been putting some of it off in the belief I may get a corner clipper in the next few months. But if the desire to get one to the table arises, it'll be getting the $5 toe nail clipper treatment.
Unlike a large number of you other old & palsied wargamers, I handle my counters solely with my fingers. Not tweezers or some such. Never had a problem doing so, other than those damned fuzzy corners which can get caught on other nearby fuzzy cornered stacks, when lifting 'em. So corner clipping it has been, for me. >:D
Can't you clip just the fuzzy part?
Quote from: Staggerwing on January 17, 2016, 11:19:53 AM
Quote from: Nefaro on January 13, 2016, 05:45:45 PM
Quote from: W8taminute on January 13, 2016, 02:59:30 PM
I love the rounded counters on that Vassal mod. Have you guys tried to cut the real counters? If so I'm curious as to what size tool you used, i.e. 2.0, 2.5, etc. I'm thinking of purchasing a cutting tool but don't know what size to get only because the airplane counters in this game are not standard sized counters.
The 2.5mm gives more pronounced rounded corners, from what I gather. Closer to what you're seeing on this, but still viable for the smaller counters.
Been waffling about picking up a Deluxe one but dropping $50 on it has been a difficult affirmation to finalize, especially during the post-holiday & property tax season.
Meanwhile, I have around six or seven GMT games desperately crying out for counter mutilation. Been putting some of it off in the belief I may get a corner clipper in the next few months. But if the desire to get one to the table arises, it'll be getting the $5 toe nail clipper treatment.
Unlike a large number of you other old & palsied wargamers, I handle my counters solely with my fingers. Not tweezers or some such. Never had a problem doing so, other than those damned fuzzy corners which can get caught on other nearby fuzzy cornered stacks, when lifting 'em. So corner clipping it has been, for me. >:D
Can't you clip just the fuzzy part?
Don't try to talk sense to these degenerates.... it'll only drive you mad..... :crazy2:
So I've played the first scenario and am part way through the second and I must say this game is great. Well worth the money. I'm really liking how the combat differential system works followed by the damage table followed by the cohesion check. Brilliant game! O0
First batch of torpedoes did all of one hit on the Lexington...and cost me 3 planes.. :buck2:
Second wave inbound but now there's a pile of flak clouds...
Huge collection of Vals still have some dive bombing to do... if I can get rid of these damn Wildcats..... :knuppel2:
Pin point flak from SDR throws off the torpedo bombers and they totally wiff the shot. Nothing. Nada. :o >:(
Luckily his Wildcats are shooting with the same accuracy as my Kates......
Now we'll have to do some real damage with the Val squadrons... 4 of them.
^I assume you're using Vassal to roll the dice.
I haven't conducted any experiments between real dice and Vassal's RNG but my experience with dice rolls in Vassal makes me believe that it's algorithm needs tweaking. Too many poor die rolls just like what you reported on for your last turn.
I found that there's actually nothing wrong with the dice roller in VASSAL. It's human nature to mistrust a computer with random things.
It's just annoying when the damn thing doesn't roll as well as I know I could! :idiot2:
Understood. There is something to be said for manipulating a pair of die in your hands and rolling compared to computing a random number using algorithms. One includes physics in the random number generation, one does not.
Overall though I'm ok with Vassal's RNG. I've played three scenarios now of Wing Leader and the combat results, hits, and cohesion rolls seem to work out fine.
I'm 99% Barth's using his shady engineering connections to manipulate my dice rolls behind the scenes. I'm busy turning my computer room into a Farraday cage to stop his evil mind beams in an effort to save my Wildcat pilots. Man I've rolled nothing but garbage every single time the Wildcats need to make a check.
You and LB should compare notes!
So this game is only on the vertical plane? Does not having the horizontal plane make the game feel strange.
Nope. You always have to fudge something when trying to represent 3D on a 2D map. I don't feel like the game's missing anything by not having a horizontal plane.
Remember kids, when you're chasing down a bunch of Val dive bombers in your Wildcats, don't follow them into your own side's flak barrages.
Yer flak guys seem to be on the ball and only hit my Vals... :'(
Good bombing runs... but the Vals don't carry enough ordinance... only light damage to the Lexington. :tickedoff:
Looks the the flak gunners on the Lex were finally overwhelmed. They scored a good hit on one of the last two Val squadrons as they made their attack run, but the other got through pretty much unscathed. The gunners on the Sara were too distracted by the fireworks over the Lex and failed to score a single hit on the Kates that lumbered straight overhead of them.
Scored a couple of hits in a soon to be dogfight.
Vals manage to startle the Captain on the bridge of the Lexington with scary faces and knocked some landing lights off the deck. :P
This has not been a Pearl Harbour grade attack that's fer sure.......
Well that "assault" is finally over.
We, that Japs, managed to heavily damage the Lexington and shoot down 8 enemy planes in the process. That gives us all of 20 VPs
The Yanks managed to savage my bombers and shot down 18 planes. That gives him 18 VPs.
A +2 spread only yields me a draw.... and an expensive one at that.... unless the Lex blows up and sinks later as per real life.....
Great fun. Attacking carriers protected by other ships with flak is not a sport for the timid. Torpedo bombing is an exceptionally dangerous endeavor.... :idiot2:
I think we'll take a break from Wing Leader and we're going to try our hands at Plan Orange, the US plan to stop the Japanese if they had attack the Pacific in the early 30's instead of '41.
Should be interesting as neither of us has played the game before... so of course will display our flailing about here for you all to see.... :D
Hopefully it'll be a little more screenshot friendly. Wing Leader doesn't really lend itself to action packed screenshots once the action starts. The counters seem to stop moving once the furballs start to fly.
Quote from: W8taminute on January 13, 2016, 05:40:49 PM
Quote from: Barthheart on January 13, 2016, 04:55:12 PM
Quote from: W8taminute on January 13, 2016, 02:59:30 PM
I love the rounded counters on that Vassal mod. Have you guys tried to cut the real counters? If so I'm curious as to what size tool you used, i.e. 2.0, 2.5, etc. I'm thinking of purchasing a cutting tool but don't know what size to get only because the airplane counters in this game are not standard sized counters.
:o OMG! There are NO rounded corners in the VASSAL module. What you are seeing is the "Moved" tag that's applied when you move a counter.
None of my games have, or will ever have, rounded corners. :tickedoff:
<takes two steps backwards and ducks>
I understand that to round or not to round is a subject of controversy in the wargaming community akin to discussing religion and politics. None of my games have rounded corners unless they were shipped that way from the manufacturer. To round or not is a decision I've been toying with but have not carried out yet. 8)
Just don't do it. While its nice to get used games that have been rounded -- its a horrific waste of time!