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I'm going to do a TAL AAR. I'll do it in the "style" of the game rather than a personal style - meaning it'll be more about the mechanics than making it sound like a real scenario.

So it's more about showing the contents, how they work and the gameplay.

Please remember I just got this game, so I'll be learning as I write - so I will correct any errors I spot/are pointed out as I go by editing the relevant post.

The first thing I have to do is choose my campaign - and for this I go with the manual suggestion - Iraq 1991 which is specified as Introductory level. There are 4 campaign cards all double sided giving 8 possible campaigns to play.

The campaigns are
Iraq 1991
Libya 1984
WWIII North Atlantic
Libya 2011
North Korea 2011
Pakistan 2013
Israel Defence 2001
Iran 2014

On the card you will see :
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1. the Country
2. the Year - limits the aircraft you can select from
3. the Campaign Level
4. the Evaluation - your score will fall into one of these categories
5. the Battalion points - you randomly pick Battalions (which have a number of points associated to them) up to this value
6. the Terrain - these numbers coincide with the terrain hexes
7. the Special Notes section - informing you of any special instructions related to the campaign


The next thing to select is the Situation card. There are 3 double sided cards giving 6 possible selections. Again, I go with the manual and select Surge.

The Situation cards are:
Surge
Cut-Off
Show of Force
Holding Action
Rapid Deployment
General War

The Situation card specifies the following information:
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1. Name
2. SO Points - these are you special option points at the start of the campaign. You use SO points to buy your aircraft, special weapons, promote pilots or other optional items
3. Days - the number of days the campaign will last for
4. Daily SO Points - the number of SO points replenished to your unit at the end of each day
5. Tactical Situation - special instructions you need to adhere to regarding the campaign
6. Description - a general description of the overall situation

Next will be determining Battalions present on the battlefield, selecting aircraft and pilots and some other setup stuff and then onto the campaign...more to follow

Hey JD,

Thanks for doing this. I'm very interested in this game.

Question: for the "Situation" card, you said you went with the manuals suggestion, is this normally a random draw or is it always player choice? Does it last for the entire campaign?

np Barthheart

It's your choice. It's a different method to selecting your campaign parameters. For example, in Phantom/Hornet Leader you choose the campaign length and that determined your campaign makeup - this is similar but you have it in card form.

And yes - it is your campaign status and lasts the entire campaign. It basically tells you how the campaign will play - length, initial SO points, gained SO points per day

Thanks Judge...

Oh by the way.... you should really refinish yer table top....  ;D

Yeah - 2nd hand tables for my modelling...I doubt they're condition will ever get any better!

Thanks for doing this, Judge 8)

...can you please put a well known item that not distract from the cool game stuff (like a common match) as a ruler for the size next to the object when you take a picture. 

Will do...part 2 coming up

Being smart - I thought I'd use a dice because it's in the game theme - but then I thought some people not know what the size of that dice is.

So after the few photos I've taken, I'll find something else (like a match!)

The next stage of the setup is selecting the battalions you will face on the battlefield.

This is a Battalion card
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1. Battalion Type
2. Enemy Units - the units you place for this battalion
3. Battalion Designation - this relates to a small counter used on the tactical board
4. VP - Victory Points gained for destroying the battalion
5. Half/Destroyed Values - each unit in a battalion has a value and those values determine it's strength. If the value of the units on the tactical display falls below the first number, then the battalion is flipped to it's half strength side and if it falls equal to or below the second value, then the battalion is destroyed and you get the VPs for the destruction
6. Special Notes - notes relating to (but sometimes not solely to) the battalion

There are 3 types:
Assault Battalions
Support Battalions
Command Battalions

You pick battalions based on their value (as seen above no.4) and you pick them like so...
Pick 2 Assault Battalions
Pick 1 Support Battalion
Pick 1 Command Battalion
...and continue to do this until the sum of the Battalion values you have picked equals or exceeds the Battalion Points (5) on the Campaign card.

As you can see, on the Iraq 91 Campaign, I had to pick battalions to the sum of 26...and these are the battalions I ended up with - they total 26 VPs
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The next stage is to place the battalion counters on the Tactical Map along with your various decks of cards.

This is my Tactical Map as it will be at the start of my campaign. As you can see, I used 2 SO points to purchase 2 scouts and I've placed them on my airfields on right of the Tactical Map. Scouts increase your loiter time on the battlefield (and possibly reducing stress of the pilot)

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I've placed my hexes that I selected, but you are meant to place them on the Target Bound part of the setup. When placing hexes you suffle them first and place them one at a time from top left to bottom right with their arrows facing up.

Assault battalions go in the Front Line section at te top right of the map, Support battalions go in the Enemy Transit and Command battalions go in the Enemy Rear section at the beginning of the campaign. These positions can be changed depending on the Special Instructions on the battalion card (as you can see on my battalion cards 11A was ordered to start in the Friendly Transit area and 7A was ordered to move back into the Enemy Transit area).

You can see the track of numbers above the hex area...that is the day/SO track. As you can see I have 4 SOs left, having spent 26 on aircraft and scouts.

Next to aircraft and pilot selection.

So - to aircraft selection.

This is a typical aircraft card
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The info on the card is as follows:
1. Aircraft Number
2. Aircraft Type
3. Cannon Rating - a welcome change from the standard 10 in Phantom/Hornet Leader which made using guns in those games all but useless
4. Special Option Points - how much it costs you in SOs to have this aircraft in your inventory
5. Year of Service - determines weather you can use this aircraft in your campaign
6. Structure Hits - the number of structural hits your aircraft can take before it crashes
7. Weapons - the type of weapons your aircraft can carry
8. Weight Points - each weapon has a weight value and this number determines how many weapon weight points you may carry

As specified by my Campaign card - I can only select aircraft with a Year of Service prior to 1991...so I choose 2xA-10A and 2xApache AH-64A
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And pilot selection.

Having selected your aircraft, you can now select your pilots. You are allowed one pilot for each aircraft and 1 extra pilot for each type of aircraft. So I get to choose 3 A-10 pilots and 3 AH-64 pilots.

This is a typical pilot card
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and the values on the card relate to:
1. Pilot Callsign
2. Pilots Experience (Newbie, Green, Average, Skilled, Veteran and Ace)
3. Experience Points - the number of XPs required to promote the pilot
4. The type of aircraft the pilot can fly
5. The aircraft name
6. The pilots speed - I haven't read too much into this, but I guess it's the same as Phantom/Hornet Leader where Fast pilots get to act before enemies
7. Cannon/Strike - this is a modifier when attacking enemies in the same hex
8. Stand Off - this is the modifier when attacking enemies not in the same hex
9. Cool - the number of points you can reduce your pilots stress by at the end of each turn
10. Stress - the number of stress points the pilot can handle before going into Shaken and Unfit status
There is also another value that is not on this pilot - Evasive. It comes with a value and you use that value to adjust the effectiveness of attacks adjust ridge evasion rolls

And these are my pilots for the campaign
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When you choose pilots, they all start as Average. You can then promote and demote as you see fit. So if you promote one pilot from Average to Skilled, then you demote a pilot from Average to Green. If you promote one pilot from Average to Veteran, then you would have to demote another pilot to Newbie.

You can also use Pilot Promotion Priority and pay SOs to promote your pilots.

That's all for tonight because the light is bad and the light in the room is unsuitable to take decent pictures with.

These are the weapons available in game. To be honest, I'm not sure there's enough. I found out in Phantom Leader that the game was limited on the counters available and you ended up not being able to equip a plane with the weapons you wanted. This could be the same.

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Notes on weapons....
1. Weight Cost - all weapons have a weight cost - and this is the number in the top left. It's the sum of these weight points that determine how many weapons your aircraft can carry. For example an A-10 has 14 weight points and can carry 7xAGM-65s or 14xAGM-114s
2. SO Cost - the number to the right of the Weight Point Cost is the SO cost. For every 10 SOs (or part thereof) in weapons carried, you would pay 1 SO. So if the A-10 was carrying 14xAGM-114s, then that would be 2 SOs you would have to pay
3. Attack Value - the number to the far right on the AGM-65 is the attack value. Roll a dice equal to or higher than this to hit the target
4. Retain Value - The number to the far right in brackets on the LAU-61 is the retain value. If you fire one of these and the roll is above the figure in brackets, then the target is destroyed AND you retain the weapon to use again.
5. Max Range - the number below the Attack/Retain Value in the black circle is maximum range of the weapon
6. Min Range - the number to the right of the Max Range in a red circle is the minimum range - you cannot use the weapon if the hex is within this number
7. Altitude - the H and L inform you of whether a weapon can be fired from high altitude only, Low altitude only or both
8. VB - if VB is present on the weapon, it can only be fired against vehicles or buildings (AGM-65 and AGM-114)
9. Anti-Air - weapons with a yellow stripe on the corners indicates they can only be used against aircraft
10. ECM - ECM pods are used to abort enemy attacks. Roll a 7 or higher if being attacked and the attack is aborted. ECM pods stay on your aircraft.

So to the start of my campaign - and the first day.

First thing is to select a Special Condition card - and it's not great. I am only allowed to pay 1 SO for each mission - which means (given the information in the previous post) that I can only equip my aircraft in each mission on the first day with 10 weapons with an SO value of 1.

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I then select the missions I'm going to fly that day. The only limit to this is the number of battalions you have available to attack and the number of pilots/aircraft.

I opt to attack 2 battalions - 12A and 11A. As 12A is in the Enemy Front Line section and 11A was in the Friendly Transit, there are no weight point penalties - so I can use all available weight points on my aircraft.

I decide to attack 12A with an A-10A flown by Viper and an AH64A flown by Montana and I'm going to attack 11A with an A-10A flown by Gumby and an AH-64A flown by Daddy-O.

These are my targets, aircraft and pilots for the day
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My first mission is against 12A Battalion and I arm my aircraft.

I have to keep in mind that I cannot use more than 10 SOs worth of weapons.

These are my armed aircraft for the first mission
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Although there an no enemy helicopters over the target, they can turn up with the Pop-Up cards you pull...so I've loaded an AIM-9 AA missile.

Also, because of the "SO" limit imposed by the Special Condition card, I've had to load mostly Mk-83s on my A-10A. I would've liked to have used some more AGM-65s as they are an almost guaranteed hit.

As survivability is crucial (I only have 4 airframes for my whole campaign) I've loaded each with an ECM pod.

MK-20s are a nice weapon to carry because you get to roll  an attack against each target in the hex for each MK-20 dropped!

Next I pull a Mission Event and look at the Target Bound section (the top part of the card - the bottom part is the Home Bound Event).

I pick an F-15 Air Cover card - I can pay 1 SO and remove all helicopter counters and ignore any helicopter popups. I decide to pay the SO - even though I am carrying AA weapons, I am only carrying two...so I'd rather eliminate the problem altogether.

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And this is my Campaign Sheet

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Next stage is to shuffle the hexes and place them one at a time, from top left, through the middle to bottom right...with arrows pointing up. This is an excellent feature as it gives a tactical edge to manouvering.

I then draw the targets and randomly roll a dice for each one to determine what hex they are placed in (from 1 top left to 10 bottom right).

Next is to determine where I will start my aircraft and at what altitude. I start my A-10 in hex 7. He is a fast pilot so he can quickly remove the threat of the SAM which has a dangerous range of 3 and causes two heavy hits.

I then roll for my scout and gain 2 more loiter turns over the target. When you start a mission, you start with 5 loiter turns. You can incresae this by 2 by paying SOs and taking fuel tanks or having a scout and rolling to give you more time over the target. I rolled a 4 giving me 2 extra loiter turns and giving me a total of 7 loiter turns.

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Notes on target chits:
1. VP Cost - the number on the top left is the value of that unit. The accumulation of these when destroyed during a mission determines whether a battalion is at full strength, half stregnth or destroyed.
2. Damage - the number on the top right is the number of damage chits you have to pull when being attacked by the enemy unit. A yellow background means you pull a light chit and a red background means you pull a heavy hit.
3. Range - the number in the black circle below the Damage number is the range the unit can attack - if there is no number, then it can only attack within it's hex
4. Type - the letter on the bottom left tells you whether it's a vehicle or a building...the abscence of the letter means it's neither.
5. Modifier - some units will have a modifier next to the V or B. You will use this to modify the roll for your weapon attack. For example a building may have a modifier of -4 meaning you are to reduce your attack roll by 4 and a truck will have a modifier of +2 meaning you increase your attack roll by 2


A word on the hexes. Some hexes have ridges. These block LoS from you to other hexes and from enemies in other hexes to you - IF you are at low altitude. If you are at high altitude, you can see the entire battlefield - with a minor limitation to field of view.

If you are at low altitude and want to move over a ridge, you roll for ridge evasion. Depending on the result (with modifiers) determines whether you crash, suffer stress or damage. At high altitude, you are not at risk so do not roll for ridge evasion.

I've started both my pilots low to protect them from the SAMs with a range of 3.

More tomorrow

Or just now.

Start of Battlefield Resolution
Draw Popup Counter
The first stage is to draw popup counters. You do this if you have any aircraft at High Altitude. The counter stays for the duration of that turn and is removed at the end of the turn.
I do not have any aircraft at High Altitude, so I do not draw any

Enemy Cover Roll
First, I roll to check for any targets taking cover. I roll a 7, which means I roll a dice to determine what hex to move units into cover...and I roll 3 and there are no units in there.
If enemies are to go into cover then they move to a ridge scetion of their hex. If no ridges are present, then the units cannot go into cover.

It's now that I think I've placed my A-10 in the wrong position. I thought the A-10 would be able to attack each move...but it can't...it can only attack once each loiter. So I'm going to attack the SAM site in it's hex and then have to move it...meaning it'll be in full view of the AAA in hex 6 and the SAM and AAA site in it's destination hex 10

Fast Pilots - Altitude/Move/Attack
During this phase, you change the altitude of your fast pilot and then move/attack or attack/move. If you have a pilot in hover, then they can remain in hover.
Anyway...to battle. So Viper is a fast pilot, so he gets to attack/move first. So he drops a MK83 on the SAM and need to roll a 4 or higher. I roll a 6 + 1 modifier for Vipers Cannon/Strike makes 7...so it's a hit and the SAM is destroyed.

I then move Viper into hex 6 and to the south east edge and as the A-10 has a speed of 2 I then move him into hex 10 facing west...hoping he sruvives the next round to be able to move west then north east to attack the 3 units there with his MK-20s.

Enemy Attacks
The next part is the Enemy Helicopter Movement...there are none so it's on to Enemy Attacks.

Montana cannot be engaged by any enemy units - there are none in range and whilst I guess the SAM site in hex 10 has line of sight to him, the SAM is required to attack the closest enemy - and that's Viper.

Viper will be attacked by the AAA unit in hex 6 and the AAA and SAM site in hex 10.

The AAA site hex 6 opens up...but first I check to see if my ECM works. I roll an 8 for the ECM Pod and therefore the attack is thwarted.

The AAA site in hex 10 now attacks. Again I fire my ECM pod and a roll of 2 means it failed so I pull 2 hit chits - an A-10 Wounded and an AH-64 Structure hit. Strangely according to the manual you disregard a hit chit if the aircraft on the hit chit is the same as the aircraft being attacked. I'd have thought it would be the other way...anyway...my A-10 has suffered a Structure hit. That's a big one because it's one towards crashing and I will need to pay SOs to repair it.

The SAM in hex 1 now attacks and I fire my ECM - rolling a 7 so the attack is again avoided.

Slow Pilots - Altitude/Move/Attack
Now it's slow pilots turn and I move Montana into hex 1 and leave him in the centre indicating he will be hovering in that hex.

Next I advance the loiter counter (reduce it) by 1.

This is the situation at the end of the first turn.
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And Viper has a structural hit.

Right - still Day one and on Loiter turn 2. I have 5 Loiters remaining after this one.

Popup Check
First thing is check for popups - and as I have no aircraft at High Altitude, it means I do not have to pull a chit.

Enemy Cover Check
Next step is to roll for enemy cover. I roll a 3 - meaning any units in a hex with my aircraft go into cover. Well, there are none in Montana's hex but there are two in Vipers. However, there are no ridge hexsides on hex 10, so they do not go into cover.

Fast Pilots Attack
Viper rolls in for the kill. He drops 2xMK-83s - one each on the SAM and AAA. With Vipers Cannon/Strike modifier he needs to roll a 3 or more. A roll of 9 against the SAM and 4 against the AAA - they are both destroyed.
Viper then moves west into hex 9 and sits on the north east edge ready to move into hex 7

Enemy Attacks
Viper (A-10) can be attacked by the AAA site in hex 6 and Montana (AH-64) can be attacked by both AAAs in hex 2.

Viper switches on his ECM pod and rolsl a 9 - avoiding the attack from the AAA site in hex 6.

Montana is engaged by the AAA sites in hex 2 and rolls of 2 and 3 mean the attacks are successful. I pull 4!! damage chits and they are 2xEngine, 1 Stress and an Altitude hit. The Altitude damage means I have to change the airframes altitude...so I move Montana to High...not great because I will incur a Popup next turn. The 2xEngine means I check twice for a crash at the beginning of each turn...a roll of 2 or less = a crash!

Slow Pilot - Altitude/Move/Attack
Well, I can't adjust his altitude because of the damage chit. However given the damage to him, I'm going to have him exit the battlefield next turn so I move him to the edge of the hex he is in (hex 1) ready to exit.

He can attack though, so he attacks 1xAAA with 2 LAU-61s and the other AAA with his remaining LAU-61. He rolls a 7 for the first one meaning the AAA site is destroyed AND he gets to retain the LAU-61. His next roll against the remaining AAA is a 10...so both AAA sites are left as wrecks.

The final part of the loiter turn is to advance the Loiter Counter to 5

This is the situation after 2 loiter turns over the battlefield. Unfortunately because Montana (AH-64) is set to high altitude, I will pulla  popup chit next turn. Also with his two Engine damage chits, I'll have to roll twice for a crash check. Montana has also suffered a stress hit.

NB - in the pic below I am not showing any LAU-61s on the AH-64 - they should be there really because the AH-64 rolls were above 7 - but because I was exiting the AH-64 from the battlefield the next turn, I just put them back in the counter box...my bad. Also, I guess I should've rolled for the second LAU-61 attack on the first AAA site I destroyed to see whether I retained it or not.
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For the record, the Battalion is officially at half strength because there are only 4 unit points remaining. If you remember my battalion card it had numbers 10/2. If the sum of the unit values goes below 10 but above 2 then the battalion is at half strength. If the sum of the unit values remaining go to 2 or below, then the battalion is destroyed...so Viper in the A-10 will be required to destroy both APCs or the AAA site in hex 6 to destroy the battalion. Also - the campaign card suggested I destroy 2 battalions in the first day - so I need to destroy it.

great stuff Judge, almost makes me want to get the game

It's a great quality game. Cards, art, process...all very detailed. The hexes and ridges give a good tactical edge. Weapon chits are a little on the low side. I'd like to see other hexes come out as additions...just to give a different flavour of theatre because they are all desert based.

I love the fact you don't roll for hits now...it's an automatic hit from enemies but the type of enemy determines whether it's a hard or soft hit. Also, the hit points have lots of different types - HUD, 1 Stress, 3 Stress, Altitude, Wounded, Killed, Engine, Display, Structure, Pylon...lots and lots of types with differing effects on your airframe. For example, Engine you already know you have to roll foor a crash test. Then Pylon you reduce the number of available weight points by 2 - and if that means you have to drop ordinance, then you drop ordinance. Altitude you know forces you to another altitude. Structure - an aircraft can suffer a set number of structure hits before it crashes. HUD means you subtract 2 from the weapons strike (same hex) attack rolls (meaning for a MK-83 to hit you would need to roll a 6 instead of a 4). Also, some of these effects need repairing at the cost of SOs.

Overall a great game so far.

To what I hope will be the final stage of this attack. This is my 3rd Loiter over the battlefield and I will have 4 left if needed

Looking at the manual I note that I don't roll for a crash for engine damage during the Battlefield Resolution phase...which I find quite strange. It's performed at the beginning of each Target Bound Stage. That doesn't really feel right...but that's what it says!

Popup Roll
Because Montana in the AH-64 is at High Altitude I have to pull a popup chit. The chit I pull is No Enemy.

Cover Check
I roll to see if any units take cover. I roll a 9 - and one hex with the most active units takes cover. DAMN! That means hex 6 - and therefore no attack for me this time! I move all active units in hex 6 to the ridge edges to signify they are in cover.

[Fast Pilots - Altitude/Move/Attack[/i]
I keep Viper in the A-10 at low level but because all the pilots in hex 6 are in hiding, I have nothing to attack...so I move Viper in his A-10 into hex 6 and move to edge south east heading into hex 10. I then move him (he has a sped of 2) into hex 10 facing west ready for his next attack run into hex 6
NB - I didn't read the rules right here - Viper COULD have attacked the units in cover - he would just need to do so by entering the hex because you cannot use Stand Off weapons to attack units in cover.

Enemy Attacks
Because the enemy is in hiding, they do not attack.

Slow Pilot - Altitude/Move/Attack
Well - because I thought Engine damage would be checked every turn, I decided to move Montana in the AH-64 to a hex edge to exit the battlefield...so off he comes and I move his counter to the side ready for the homebound event check.

I advance the Loiter counter and go to the next turn. This is the situation:
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1160.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fq499%2Fwmar1967%2FTAL%2520AAR%2FP7290013.jpg&hash=190a384991783701730c08981c13cc20700bcc53)

Well - turn 4 (loiter 4) over the area.

Popup Check
The A-10 isn't at high altitude so no popups occur.

Cover Check
All units are in cover...but I still roll because a roll of 10 moves units out of cover...and I roll a 9. So one hex with the most active units has all units go to cover. However all enemy units are in cover anyway.

Fast Pilot - Altitude/Move/Attack
Viper in the A-10 stays low and moves west into hex 9 and heads north east and moves again into hex 6. He drops a MK-83 on the AAA site and drops his 2 MK-20s - both of which I can roll against all the vehicles in the hex. A roll of 1 (even with Vipers +1 modifier) doesn't cut it for the MK-83. A roll of 5 is enough to destroy the AAA site, a roll of 8 is enough to destroy one of the APCs and rolls of 3 then 10 are enough to destroy the last APC.

The battalion is destroyed and I head home...moving the loiter counter, then moving Viper 2 hexes and off the battlefield through hex 7.

This is the situation at the end of the first mission for the first day.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1160.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fq499%2Fwmar1967%2FTAL%2520AAR%2FP7290015.jpg&hash=8d05c464e7dcb5af39a278f65098594769a1956e)

I'm sure I read somewhere in the manual that a unit in cover can attack and it moves out of cover...but I can't see where I read that now...but I'm pretty sure that's the case

To end this mission I have the following steps to perform

Adjust Battalion Strength
Draw a Homebound Mission Event Card
Bingo Fuel Checks
SAR Check for Crashed Pilots
Record Pilot Stress
Record Pilot Experience
Record VPs

The battalion has been destroyed and is removed from the list of battalions

The Home Bound Event card I draw is Aggressive Enemy. It has no effect as the batalion was destroyed

I do not have to perform Bingo Fuel Checks because my aircraft exited with Loiter points remaining

I have no need to check for search and rescue

I record Pilot Stress...Viper suffers 1 stress and Montana had a stress point allocated when he was attacked in mission - so he suffers 2 stress but he has a Cool value of 1 - so his overall stress level is 1 too.

Each pilot gains 3 XPs...1 for flying the mission, 1 for destroying the battalion and one for destroying every unit in the battalion. I have to record persistant damage to the airframes. So I log 3 XPs each to Viper and Montana and I record 2xEngine hits for the AH-64 and 1xStructure for the A-10.

I record 4 VPs  for the destruction of the battalion and move onto the next mission for the day - an attack on 11A in the Friendly Transit Area

I was going to stop now...having given an insight into the game, but I'll continue with the second mission for the day. No pictures.

So - Mission 2 for the day is an attack against battalion 11A which is in the friendly transit area (too close for comfort!)

Battalion Makeup:
2xAAA
2xCommand
2xHelicopters
4xTanks

My pilots for the day are:
Gumby in an A-10A and Daddy-O in an Apache AH-64A.

Target Bound
Arm Aircraft
If you remember back to the start, I pulled a Special Condition card - and that card stated for the missions that day I could only spend 1 SO on weapons...with this in mind, I arm my aircraft thus...
A-10A
2xAIM-92 AA missles - not as not reliable as the AIM-9 but doesn't have an SO cost
2xMK-20 - love em. Require a 6 for a hit, but each one dropped is rolled against each vehicle in the area
2xMK-83 - powerful...heavy at 2WPs but almost guaranteed a hit
2xAGM-65 - a very powerful guaranteed hit (almost!)
1xECM Pod - always carry one of these. They helped Viper considerably in the earlier mission for the day
1xMK-82 - not very powerful but has 0 SO value

AH-64A
3xLAU-61 - With a fair chance of retaining the weapon for reuse - it's worth it
1xAIM-9 - just in case
1xECM Pod - again - survivability

Fueling Priority
I have no need for this as the battle is in a zone with no WP penalty

Mission Bound Event Card
The card I draw is
MLRS Bombardment - pay 1xSO and roll for an attack on each enemy unit at the start of the first turn. A roll of 8-10 will destroy the unit...NICE!

Engine Damage Checks
Neither of my aircraft have engine damage (yet) so no need to check this

Place Terrain
I shuffle and place terrain hexes, with their arrows pointing up. I use the same hexes as in the previous mission because those are the hexes drawn for this campaign. the great thing about this feature is it changes the tactical battlefield each time!

Place Enemy Units
Enemy counters are drawn and a die rolled for each to determine it's hex placement
Hex 3 - 1xCommand
Hex 5 - 1xHelicopter, 1xTank
Hex 6 - 1xAAA, 1xTank
Hex 7 - 1xHelicopter, 1xCommand
Hex 8 - 1xAAA, 1xTank
Hex 9 - 1xTank

Place Friendly Aircraft
I determine what hexes to place my aircraft in
A-10 - I start Gumby in low altitude in Hex 1 heading south east into Hex 5
AH-64 - I start Daddy-O in low altitude in Hex 10 heading north east into Hex 7
I've placed both at the hex edge to indicate both are moving

Scout Success Check
I have a scout placed on this battalion so I roll to see if I gain any further loiter phases...and I roll a 4 giving me two extra turns...so I put the Loiter Counter on 7

Next to follow is Battlefield Resolution

Sorry for no images...but it really does drag out an AAR - and I think most of what you need to see is in the previous posts. If you have any questions about the pictures or play - just ask...I'll be more than willing to answer.

Battlefield Resolution (1)
Repeat until out of weapons/aircraft or targets

Mission Event Card Resolution
The first turn sees me roll against each enemy unit on the battlefield because of the MLRS Bombardment Mission Event card. The results are:
Hex 6 - 1xAAA and 1xTank destroyed
Hex 7 - 1xCommand destroyed
Hex 8 - 1xTank destroyed
Don't you just love MLRS!!?
This destruction leaves this battalion at half strength immediately...with only 16 points of units on the battlefield and the battalion is at half strength at 16 and destroyed at 4 or less.

Popup Counters
Popup counters give a chance of an unexpected enemy unit entering the battlefield. They are their for the duration of the loiter turn and are returned to the pool at the end.
If any of my aircraft are in High Altitude, then I draw a popup counter...but being a wiley old fox, neither of them are...so no need to draw a counter

Enemy Cover
I roll to see if any enemy units go into cover. A unit in cover may not be attacked by Stand Off weapons but can still be attacked by an aircraft in the same hex with a weapon or cannon.

I roll a 6 - All Infantry Enter Cover. There are no infantry units present, so there's no effect here.

Fast Pilots - Altitude/Move/Attack
Fast pilots peform these moves before enemy attacks. In this step a pilot must change altitude first and he will stay at that altitude for the duration of the turn. But for the attack/move step he can attack then move, move then attack or if his speed is greater than 1 he can move, attack, move.

I have no fast pilots - so it's to the next phase.

Enemy Attacks
Enemy Helicopter Movement is the first part of this phase. Because each of the helicopters has one of my airframes in range, they do not move. If one of my airframes wasn't in range, then the helicopters would move towards one of my airframes IF they were in LOS. If they were not in LOS, then the enemy helicopters stay put.

ENemy Attacks
So - it's to the enemy attacks

First up is Daddy-O being attacked by the helicopter in Hex 7. He fires up his ECM and I roll for a 4 - failing. The helicopter inflicts two Heavy Hits...I draw two heavy chit counters and they are...
HUD and DISPLAY - both persistent.
HUD means I subtract 2 from the aircrafts Strike value for the remainder of the mission!(attacking in the same hex - I find it weird that this doesn't affect Stand Off which I would've thought it would affect more!)
DISPLAY means I suffer -2 to rolls for Standoff Attacks
These are both considerable hits!

Next is Gumby being attacked by the helicopter in Hex 5. He fires up his ECM and rolls a 4 - failing. The two damage chits he draws are...
Both are Pylon hits - meaning he loses 4 WPs on his aircraft - which means he has to have no more than 10 WPs for weapons...and therefore has to drop some weapons. He drops a MK-83, a MK-82 and a MK-20.

I put the relevant markers on the airframes and drop the weapons (gutted!)

Slow Pilots - Altitude/Move/Attack
It's my turn :-)

First is Daddy-O in the AH-64. He has a +2 Cannon/Strike modifier but -1 on Stand Off. So he closes with the enemy helicopter in Hex 7. Remember he is suffering from a -2 on Stand Off and Cannon/Strikes - but with his +2 on Cannon/Strikes, that negates the -2. He closes with the Hind moving into Hex 7 and placing himself at the edge north west indicating he is moving into Hex 3 to attack the command unit there. He fires his AIM-9 at the Hind in Hex 7...rolling an 8 - needing a 3 for a hit - he downs the Hind.

Next is Gumby. He's going to attack the Hind in Hex 5 with both AIM-92s. He rolls a 9 and 2 - but with his Stand Off modifier of +2 that makes 11 and 2...destroying the Hind.
As he is an A-10, he has to move at least 1 hex and a maximum of 2 - so he moves into Hex 5 and positions himself at the south west hex edge - ready to move into Hex 8 and loiters.
So both helicopters are out the picture. Good.

I advance the Loiter Counter to 6 and restart the Battlefield Resolution phase

The enemy Battalion value is down to 10. Still a way to go.

Battlefield Resolution (2)

So to the next loiter phase.

Popup Counters
No need...both aircraft are at low altitude.

Enemy Cover
I roll a 2 for Enemy Cover - which means any enemy unit in the same hex as my airframes can go into hiding if there is a ridge present. This is only apparent in Hex 5 with the Tank unit...so it goes into cover.

Fast Pilots - Altitude/Move/Attacl
Again - I have no fast pilots, so I move to the next phase

Enemy Attacks
Both my airframes are in range of enemy targets. The AH-64 in Hex 7 is in range of the Command unit in Hex 3 and my A-10m is in range of both the Tank in Hex 5 and the AAA unit in Hex 8.

The first to attack is the Command unit in Hex 3 against my AH-64 in hex 7. Daddy-O fires up his ECM and rolls...a 10 - ECM is successful!

The next attack is against my A-10. The first is from the tank in Hex 5. It comes out of hiding and fires. Gumby fires up his ECM and rolls a 6 - and fails. I draw a light hit chit and it's an Altitude...forcing Gumby High! Next is the AAA unit in Hex 8. Again Gumby fires his ECM pod and rolls a 5...it fails again. He suffers two heavy hits from the AAA unit and they are:
Pylons - again - another -2WPs...Luckily he is only carrying 8 WPs of weapons now...so doesn't have to remove anymore (he's suffered a total of 3 Pylon hits equaling -6 in WPs...and he can carry 14 WPs...but he has 8 left, so doesn't have to discard any weapons)
Controls - Controls is -2 on rolls for Ridge Evasion. Luckily avoiding ridges is totally down to him and his altitude - so an avoidable hit. It's also non persistent so can be removed the next loiter.

Slow Pilots - Altitude/Move/Attack
Next it's my boys.
First up is Daddy-O. He moves into Hex 3 and positions himself on the ridge to Hex 2 ready to move there next turn. He attacks the Command target. He fires 2xLAU-61s and rolls 7 for the first and 7 for the second. Now...he has -2 for Strike/Cannon hits becuase of the hit he suffered...but has a +2 Strike/Cannon modifier...negating the hit. So the hit of 7 for both LAU-61s means the unit is destroyed and BOTH LAU-61s are retained.

Next is Gumby. He fires an AGM-65 at the AAA target in Hex 8. The AGM-65 hits on a 1 or above...and he has a stand off modifier of +2 so there's no need to roll. The unit is destroyed.. He then moves into Hex 8 and goes to the eastern hex edge waiting until the next turn to attack the tank in Hex 9.

I move the Loiter counter to 5 and continue.

The battalion is now destroyed with only 4 battalion points remaining...but I WANT that extra VP for destroying all units.

I actually want to go to bed - but I want to tidy up Day 1 of the campaign....

Battlefield Resolution (3)

Draw Popup Counters
Because Gumby was forced High with an Altitude hit last turn, then I draw a popup. I draw an APC and roll a 4 to place it in Hex 4. It has a range of 2 but it's contained by ridges on all sides but can still hit Gumby in his high altitude A-10.

Enemy Cover Roll
I roll for enemy cover... and roll 9 meaning the hex with the most active units. Becuase Hex 4, 5 and 9 have the same number of active units (it's not clear if  popup units are included, but I guess so), I get to choose...and choose Hex 5.

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

Enemy Attacks
The only enemy unit that can attack is the popup enemy in Hex 4. It has LoS to Gumby. Gumby fires up his ECM and rolls an 8 - avoiding the attack.

Slow Pilot - Altitude/Move/Attack
Next it's my slow pilots.
First up is Gumby. He immediately moves to low altitude to prevent anymore popups. He then attacks the Tank in Hex 9 with an AGM-65. It requires a roll of 1 and because he has a Stand Off modifier of 2, there is not need to roll...it's a hit. He then moves into Hex 9 and heads to the North West edge and then moves into Hex 5 moving towards the north east hex edge.

I then move Daddy-O into Hex 2 facing south west and keep him at low altitude.

I remove the popup counter.

I move the Loiter counter to 4 and begin a new Battelfield Resolution phase.

Battlefield Resolution (4)

Draw Popup Counters
I have no aircraft at high altitude, so no need to pull a chit

Enemy Cove Roll
I roll a 2 which means any units in the same hex as one of my aircraft. This is Hex 5...the tank unit goes into cover.

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

Enemy Attacks
There is only one enemy unit left - the Tank in Hex 5. He is in cover, but might as well come out and attack Gumby (the A-10) as he will be attacked anyway. Gumby fires up his ECM pod and rolls a 7 - avoiding the attack.

Slow Pilots - Altitude/Move/Attacks
I attack the Tank in Hex 5 with Gumby in the A-10. He drops his MK-83 and MK-20 on the unit. He rolls a 2 for the MK-83 (a miss) and a 10 for the MK-20...a hit and the Tank is destroyed.

I then move him into Hex 2 and to the north west edge and then off the battlefield.

I move Daddy-O into Hex 2 and to the north west edge ready to head out of the battlefield next turn.

I have destroyed the battalion and destroyed all targets giving me an extra VP.

I move the Loiter counter to 3 start a new turn.

The next Battlefield Resolution doesn't demand a new post...I'm only removing Daddy-O from the battlefield.

The battalion has been destroyed and is removed from the list of battalions

The Home Bound Event card I draw is Reporting For Duty - I keep the card and use it to reduce a pilots stress at the beginning of any day by 5!
I do not have to perform Bingo Fuel Checks because my aircraft exited with Loiter points remaining

I have no need to check for search and rescue

I record Pilot Stress...Gumby and Daddy-O suffer 2 stress because the mission was located in the Friendly Transit. Daddy-O has 1 Cool so his stress is reduced to 1.

Each pilot gains 3 XPs...1 for flying the mission, 1 for destroying the battalion and one for destroying every unit in the battalion. I have to record persistant damage to the airframes. So I log 3 XPs each to Gumby and Daddy-O.

I record 4 VPs  for the destruction of the battalion and move onto the next day

Double post

End of Day
No Fly Stress Recovery
Any pilots that have not flown in todays mission recover 2 stress points. As this is the first day, I have no pilots ins such a position.

Gain SO Points
I replenish my SO points with what was displayed on the Situation Card...in this case +6 which leaves me with 8 SOs (I had 2 left from the previous day...I had 3 left at the start of the second mission, but then I paid 1 SO to destroy units at the start of the turn)

Move Enemy Battalions
I then roll for each surviving enemy battalion...I roll:
6 for 9A meaning it advances to Friendly Transit
7 for 10A meaning it advances to Friendly Transit
4 for 5S meaning hold
3 for 6S meaning hold
7 for 7A meaning advance to Front Line
7 for 5C meaning hold
3 for 4C meaning hold
The above is incorrect - for my campaign. You would normally do the Battalion Movement, but my campaign card states no battalions are to move on the first day

Lose SO Points
Lose points for enemies being in Friendly Rear (-1) or Air Base (-3) range. I have no such worries so do not lose any SOs.

Replacements
You can use 2 VPs to replace aircraft with heavy damage. Now I have an A-10 with 3 Pylon hits...so I can either pay 2 SOs to replace that airframe or I can pay 3 SOs to fix it. Clearly I'm going to replace it. I wonder if this works out over a campaign....
Anyway - I replace airframe 232 with airframe 233 at a cost of 2 SOs.
The bit in italics is incorrect. You have to pay 2VPs - not 2 SOs to replace an airframe.

I also choose to repair the HUD on AH-64A 455 and the 2xEngine Damage on AH-64A 453 for a cost of 3 SOs

Having used 5 SOs to replace/repair aircraft, it leaves me with 3 SOs for the next days missions...not great really

I then Advance the Day Counter by one. I have completed the required tasks mentioned in the Situation Card - Surge Mission by destroying 2 Battalions in the first day. So the campaign will continue into Day 2

And I start Day 2

I thought I should sum up - after my initial day and two missions.

Obviously it's too early to tell whether the balance of stress/damage hits and SO's is right - but it looks pretty good - leaving me with a tough decision at the end of day one.

The package itself is excellent and very good quality. Big thick counters and the cards are nice and thick. The only thing I'm not too keen on is the pilot cards...but I'm being a bit picky there. Everything in the box is qaulity made.

The hexes are a nice touch and give a nice tactical edge to play with their ridge edges and vehicles being able to go into cover where a ridge is present and making that randomised is a nice idea.

I love the new hit system. When I first read the rules I thought "WHAT? Every hit by an enemy is successful?"...but with the damage your aircraft can take and with the various system failures and damage cards (of which there are a plethora) it's actually worked out to be a very neat system.

The rules looked complicated and the play moreso - but actually getting to play, the system is pretty easy to pick up.

There are alot of Special Condition and Mission Event cards - enough to make every mission a new experience.

The number of Battalions is on the low side I think. Especially with Supply and Command battalions.

The SO system is refined even further - by paying for weapons in a different way. In Phantom/Hornet Leader either a weapon was free or it has a SO cost (1/2 or 1 point normally). In this one, although some weapons have an SO cost of 1, you only pay 1 SO point for every 10 (or part thereof) weapons with an SO cost. I like this too.

Gameplay wise it's great. It flows well and the rules seem amazingly clear.

It is early doors having only played 2 missions on one day - and yes - I could find an imbalance in SO assignments and weapons/aircraft/repair etc, etc...but I have to say the rules and gameplay make you feel like it's faultless - even this early on.

For what it's worth - this is a close one to Phantom Leader. Whilst I love Hornet Leader - which is a fantastic game and very, very complete with alot of content - I think I always preferred Phantom Leader because of the basic weapons available and the grittyness of the Vietnam Conflict. This is a close fav with Phantom Leader because although it brings modern equipment to the fore there is a more detailed tactical game built in to this. It's like a strategy wargame with a tactical playout.

Love it - 9/10.

This has been an awesome review/AAR, JD. Thanks so much for sharing.

Thanks mirth.

I kind of like doing them when I first get a game becuase it helps me learn the game...unfortunately, I don't ever go into doing a "campaign" one (someone did ask me once to do one) but after writing one up (especially with pictures) you kind of want to get torn into a campaign of your own without the break of writing and taking photos.

Damn you, Judge! You just added another game to my wishlist with this.  ;D

Quote from: Arctic Blast on July 31, 2012, 10:25:14 PM
Damn you, Judge! You just added another game to my wishlist with this.  ;D

+1

Judge i think you should get a 50% off discount from Dan on you next DVG purchase for that outstanding AAR !

i am tempted like hell to get such a solitary game ...  checking YT videos of Hornet Leader:CAO, Phantom Leader and TAL around the clock  ;)
while already browsing through the rule books which are available at DVG's side http://www.dvg.com/ in form of pdf-files !

(...i already checked the obvious NWS store  http://yhst-12000246778232.stores.yahoo.net/dvggase.html   who has always a good prices but the 55$ airfreight for the 4+ ibs package from Florida killing it ... now i am locking for a source in Europe ... i found i a store in Moers (the guy was on the Spiel2011 in Essen for sure, iirc i bought that ASL Expansion kit at his stable last Oct ... lets see how i can hook up with him with the lowest hazzle... years ago i would have simply jumped in the guzzling ol Landcruiser and driven the 90km back and for, but with those actual diesel prices and clogged Autobahn that wouldnt be all to wise, ..its better to let DHL do the drivigng for 4€ )

Thanks MikeGER

And this would be nice :-)

Quote from: MikeGER on August 01, 2012, 02:36:09 AM
Judge i think you should get a 50% off discount from Dan on you next DVG purchase for that outstanding AAR !

^^its all your fault Judge ;)

...new proud owner of TAL reporting in  :)  ...now its waiting for the postman to deliver  8)
(i bought at Headquarter Comics & Spiele in Moers after negotiating over phone and email with the owner to get the transaction done. nice guy, fast email response, now let's see when the package arrives... )  

I don't feel too bad.  ;)
From what I've seen you've bought yourself a gem of a solitaire board game and I do believe something you most likely will not regret buying - if solitaire and boardgames and the theme is your thing, of course!

I'm really looking forward to playing this on holiday when I I've got some long lazy days (before my charity bike ride) in the Lake District!!

Second day of my Campaign - and it went horribly wrong.

2 A-10As have considerable damage but destroyed their target Battalion
2 Apache AH-64As have considerable damage and only manage to reduce their target battalion to 1/2 strength.

Also, both Apache pilots are in a bad way. One is Unfit and the other is Shaken.

I also lost one of my "paid for" scouts!

It leaves me with a pickle of a third day. I'd like to keep an SO or two for weapons - but 2 A-10As are really badly damaged as are both AH-64s - though one of the Apache's is so badly damaged I will have to pay 2VPs to replace it - or not fly it. I suppose I could just go on the third day with 1 A-10 going to one target and the other and an Apache going to the other target....having said that, the SOs required for the 3 remaining airframes are much more than I have. Hard to believe this is an introductory campaign!


A further note on the game itself
I mentioned there being a lack of counters - that is indeed the case. As an example, I had no SOs remaining for my 4th mission - so I loaded my AH-64s with the only weapon available to me (the only weapon that did not have a SO cost) - and there are only 6 counters - I needed 8 counters to load my AH-64s with these weapons. So there are indeed a lack of counters released with the game. I noticed the same with the MK-83s - there were not enough to load my A-10s with them solely - I'd need 14 counters.

Also - and this isn't a criticism - I'm just letting this be known because it's become apparent on day 2 of my campaign - the Loiter times go very quickly. Especially with airframes with a speed rating of 1 (helicopters). So planning your moves and the position of your aircraft after moving to maximise your time on the battlefield is crucial. You only ever start with 5 loiter sessions over the battlefield - this can be increased by fuel tanks or buying scouts - but I had 7 last night and bad initial positioning followed by bad route management over the battlefield means I moved rather quickly and with very little damage done to the target into the Bingo 6+ area - meaning I had to roll for stress on both pilots.

So that's a word of warning to you.

So if you have a battalion with quite a few units all bunched together over a couple or 3 hexes - a couple of AH-64s will see you good. Otherwise, a fast mover is essential.

One particular thing I don't like is the rating of the cannon on the Apache. I don't know specifications of the real equipment, but my understanding was that, whilst not as powerful as the bad boy on the A-10, it was a fairly accurate and powerful cannon. I haven't checked it with the AH-1 or the Ah-64D - so I don't know if it's just the AH-64A...it's only rated 7 (the A-10 is 4 - and works lovely!)

Sorry to derail this great AAR: did you play U-Boat leader? I am a total noob when it comes to modern planes/helos. ww2 would better fit my knowledge. is this title as good as TA Leader?

I did play U-Boat Leader. It's a decent enough game, but my love for modern air war keeps me away from it.

Also it's considerably slower paced than Phantom, Hornet, TA. So a good game but it wasn't my genre.

I did an AAR over at Wargamer - this is the link
http://www.wargamer.com/forums/posts.asp?t=582646&h=BOAT+LEADER&pg=1#609497

Unfortunately the links to the pics on Flickr appear to be long gone.

I did say I liked it and I would definitely give it more outings - and whilst that was true, it wasn't long dropped in favour of the faster paced jet action of Phantom/Hornet Leader.

THX Judge :)

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi46.tinypic.com%2F2hfhqqd.jpg&hash=18258adadf514ba75aa1b1edb98c999c0df0eb7f)
i am having a blast 8) ... even before i actually fired one shot in anger yet!   ;)

well, i didn't seriously resolved a wargames with dices since... hmm... maybe two decades or so, i got real lazy with all those cosy Computer Aided Wargaming of all tastes. :-[

studying the rulebook (on the smartphone while offside) and printed copy now, setting up my first introducery game... now the situation is set up .... i know what i am against, sitting here with 30 SO points, and the immersing puzzle-solving, the planing starts.... I have to kill two battalions on first 2 day and 2 more on second day... and i know how crippling each one of them would influence the capabilities of the enemy starting to roll on day two (day one they are fixed by scenario card rules) ... waging all those opportunities in my head when  i am actually doing something else and the playtable is out of view... its little like PBEM, but the opponent is not waiting for me, and when i play i will get an immediate result from him ... hell, late eve i watched some Olympics in the background but was actually thinking about my future plane purchases and which strategy i will accomplish with them... great!

-question on the TAL rules - (you have many hours of DVG leader-games under your belt, so maybe you can tell)
is it correct, i can only use a plane and its pilot once in a day, and i have to declare my target battalions for the whole day and the flight team i send out against upfront for mission 2 (and 3, 4, 5 ) also?
So i cant wait for the outcome of mission one, and even if all worked very well, i would not be allowed to send a member of the used team against another very week target battalion?
  Maybe its a silly question, because even on a normal mission, a pilot will return sooo stressed and his machine so damaged, that even sending him against some trucks will get him unfit and his plane lost in zero-time, if there is only one tiny little disturbance (like a bad 'on route' card drawn or a super nasty pop-up, or a bad roll, etc) 

-on the weapons counter numbers
IIRC: correctly i ve read somewhere that this is simulating shortage in storage or logistics-chain for the day... and you have to operate with what you got (a full set of counters for every single  mission, but that's it   ...at least cannons don't run dry  ;))                       

-on a side note
the box arrived on Mo. very well wraped (i arrived on Tu and started unboxing yesterday)
... so the shop in Moers is a good source, i would order there again :)   
   

Glad you got it and even more glad you're thinking what I first thought when I got it...WOW.  ;)

Great little tactical solitaire boardgame.

On the question of pilots - iirc - yes, all pilots/airframes have to be assigned at the start of the day and no - they cannot take part in another mission

As for counters - I just thought he was being a bit of cheapskate ;) Clearly the more counters to make, the more the cost. Maybe the "second edition" will have more counters.

Judge, i ve got another one  ???
... which came up while i finally made my choices of planes and pilots  8)

There might be a little gamy exploit in the pilot-adjust-skill-levels rule of TAL.
I can upgrade one pilot for downgrading one other one skill level in the setup-phase,
...but this should be limited to the airframe-class of pilots, IMHO.

Because here is the trick:
in addition to my finished planing (without Cobras), i can spend 2 SO points for a cheap Cobra, which came with two average rated pilots of course.
Now i downgrade both to Newbie-level and gain 4 'promotions levels' to spend on my other real pilots in the squadron... for the price of 2 SO-Points, and never let them fly .... or...
in addition, later on in the days to come...  i just take out the surplus Cobra with me on the easier mission of the day, (let it hover-low in a safe spot of the map, maybe even take out some lonesome weak targets, help with SAR, etc ...)  and let the Cobra pilot earn the XP points ...to hopefully battlefield-promote in a few days... and get even a more and more useful addon to my flock in a longer campaign...

what you think?   

You know what MikeGer - you and your devious little mind!! If you look at my AAR on page 1 for Pilot selection, you'll see I employed that very same house rule - except it wasn't a house rule...I just took the rule and it never occurred to me that I could make my A-10 pilots the doggies nuts and my Apache pilots as noobs!

What a devious mind some people have!

Anywya - I agree (as you can see from my AAR) that the promotion thing should be in the same airframe and not cross airframes.

Shame on you for thinking it up!  ;)

Quote from: JudgeDredd on August 09, 2012, 04:31:55 PM
Shame on you for thinking it up!  ;)

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... i have to live up to the image of the Evil German Physicist ;) ;) ;)

That cap looks very familiar....

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This was my units dress cap - Royal Corps of Transport

 ....found the solitude and leisure to jump into my first real mission last eve  :)
 
here is a femto-AAR:
i chose to attack the 11 A battalion, which is to close for comfort to my airstrip with 'overkill' to play it save (heh, i am a TAL newbee ;-) ) with a flight of:  a fast-piloted F16, a fast-piloted A10 and a slow A10 against: 2 Helis, 2 AAA, 4 Tanks, 2 Mobile Command  ... i had a Scout on the mission which nicely compensated for the bad in-bound Event-Card of -2 loiter-turns...  so i was back at 5 loiter-turns and i also had given one A10 a fuel-tank (so he has 7 turns to maneuver)  ...and ECM-pods for all,  plus a good mixture of range 0-hex, 1-hex and 2-3-hex weapons, like AGM65s, some rocket pods, MK 20 (with that nice roll against all target in the hex bonus) anti-Air and some MK82. i've limited myself to 20 weapon points = 2 SO points for the whole outfit. 

(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi45.tinypic.com%2F1z5meew.jpg&hash=22959b7516fc9ac6ffd784144af876870c399535)
... in-bound situation (in the meantime i got me card-sleeves, a game tray,  and bended tweezer seen in the unsharp picture  'to handle the pylons payload')

when i had to chose the start positions, i ordered the F16 to go in high and the two A10 low ... cause i didnt memorized the rules deeply enuf, i suddenly realized that i had to chose to only attack one single target-hex (and all units in it, if possible) but spreading over several hexes would have needed weapons with that "I" indicator... so i had to live through the situation, i had choosen ... my F16 took out one Heli and a AAA (in Hex #1)  but later was target by a hole buch of light (yellow marker) hitting units, lucky now the ECM pod worked two times ...and i barely came away with only 1 Structure-Hit... and let him withdraw to safey...
on other parts of the battlefield i draw a dangerous Heli as PoUp for letting that F16 start high... Arrgh tough luck ...  and i had to rearrange my planing (no battleplan survives first shot ...as usual;-) ) which include to let one A10 to do some ridges ....and he left the map later-on with 5 stress accumulated in zero-time...

the whole fight was way more tense then expected... well, i destroyed that 11A Battalion completely     
getting away with my F16 structure-damaged and slow A10 Pilot "HALO" sitting with 6 stress strees in the chow-hall now  ...and still consider myself lucky after that TAL baptism o fire 8) 

now i start planing on a deep-strike with a lonesome but fast-piloted Apache against a convoy of 4 APCs and 8 truck  (2S Battalion)     
   Lets see how this will  play out ;D
 
still having a blast :)                 

Nice one.

Yep - Independent weapons required to target outside of your hex as well as dropping ordinance in the hex you are in.

I seldom go high - there are advantages and disadvantages
Advantages:
attacking units in other hexes with long range weapons
better chance of employment of independent weapons
easy movement across battlefield maximising your loiter time on the battlefield
no ridge evasion rolls

Disadvantages:
popups can be dangerous and costly
exposure to other weapons in other hexes on the battlefield

Careful observation of the battlefield at the start along with good initial placement with a clear plan of route for the airframe can mean you don't have to go high...but not always

I'm on holiday from Saturday and looking forward to taking this with me. I've had so little time to play it - or anything on my computer!

Man - this game is tough.

I'm stuck on a rule. I know how to and when to move enemy units into cover. But I'm unsure if they can attack once they are in cover.

My initial thought was they can attack, but that they'd come out of cover to do so. But then I thought they wouldn't because they're trying to stay alive...so I left them in cover.

But now I'm stuck as to whether they are allowed to attack or not, and if they do, do they come out of cover...I thought I had read somewhere n the manual that an attacking unit must come out of cover - but I can't seem to find it after scouring the manual again (looking in the expected relevant places!)

So anyone with any clarification?

Have you tried the DVG page on CSW? Dan is usually pretty good about answering questions there.

Also hhave you tried the campaign rules that combine TAL with Hornet Leader?
Looks like a cool idea.... just need to get both games.... or either one to start... :P

Quote from: JudgeDredd on August 22, 2012, 09:37:56 AM
....So anyone with any clarification?

you may mixing up Enemy Helicopters and the Enemy ground units rules ?

from my understanding:

IMHO ground units can attack when in cover and don't move out of the cover ...(the only way to get them out of cover is rolling a "10" in the Roll for cover phase,  which would lead to "Any one hex emerges"  (#Select any 1 Hex. Move all the Units in that Hex out of Cover.) (page 13)

helicopters can move into cover (and then are save from standoff attacks)
but they have to move sometimes, which brings them out of cover again, see below:


#Enemy Helicopters move to Cover like a normal ground Unit.
If you later move a Helicopter that is in Cover, it automatically
emerges from Cover. (page 13)

Use the following rules to determine if and where a Helicopter moves:

#If there are one or more Aircraft within the Helicopter's Attack
range and Line of Sight, the Helicopter does not move.

#If no Aircraft are within the Helicopter's Attack range, but they are within the Helicopter's Line of Sight, move the Helicopter one Hex closer to the closest Aircraft. If there is more than 1 Aircraft equally close, randomly determine which Aircraft it moves toward.

#If there are no Aircraft in the Helicopter's Line of Sight, do not move the Helicopter.

Once you move all Enemy Helicopters, conduct Enemy
Attacks. (page 16)   

-edit-
from an abstract simulation point of view, i think thats ok too.
a AAA unit will fire upon the nearest air target in LOS
(it doesn't has to drive out of the hills into the plains to do so, just a few meters out of a depression onto a local hilltop may be enuf)
if the AAA is in cover (a hilly landscape) the airtarget cant shoot back with stand-off weapons and has to close in to that same hex which is something between 500m and 1500m in diameter (cause the AAA unit may detect the stand-off weapon release and roll into cover, release counter-measurements, or the stand-off weapon sensors simply cant pick it up in the 'noisy background' to lock-on,...)     

-edit- 2
for those on the fence ...and like to see how a string of missions of TAL realy playes out
i found the following videos AARs by "callasmar" on YT instructive:

starts with: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QbD3SP10kQ&feature=plcp   

No Barthheart - when I get a mo, I'll post on BGG or where you mentioned...though I haven't heard of that place before.

As for combining - NO! I'm still finding this game has quite alot to do - I'm not sure about mixing it up with Hornet Leader too!


MikGer

I got those rules - but the reason I posed the question was because there's no definitive mention of it in the rules - therefore unclear - at least to me.

The reason it's unclear is I don't think units should remain hidden if they are attacking. Also, being the atacking player with the missin to destroy as many units as possible, I don't see it should be down to me to decide if a unit can attack and be forced out of cover or not.

Now the Enemy Attack rule does say "After Fast Aircraft attack, all surviving Enemy Units attack". I guess that's my answer. But there are two reasons I don't like it and don't think it suits -
1) As I said, I don't think a unit can attack and remain in cover
2) There is 1 chance (just 1 chance mind you) to get units out of cover - and that's on a roll of 10 - and I do NOT think that's enough. Especially with so many chances to move units into cover. A roll of between 2 and 9 inclusive puts units in cover. I haven't once had a roll of 0 (no units go to cover), not one turn has resulted in me not moving a unit into cover and I have only twice rolled a 10!

imo it makes stand off weapons almost useless. So I'm almost at the point of introducing a house rule that if a unit is going to attack from cover, then it should come out of cover. Perhaps I need to roll to determine if a unit in range and LOS can attack - and if I roll and it can, then it comes out of cover.

It's just my opinion I think this mechanic is pretty one sided.

Quote from: JudgeDredd on August 22, 2012, 11:24:30 AM
No Barthheart - when I get a mo, I'll post on BGG or where you mentioned...though I haven't heard of that place before.
....

CSW = ConsimWorld.com

Their forum page for DVG games is here:
http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX/?8@@.1dd08621

Ta muchly  :D

Quotethough I haven't heard of that place before.

A wargamer who has not heard of CSW? You kidding, hm? ;)

Quote from: JudgeDredd on August 22, 2012, 11:24:30 AM
imo it makes stand off weapons almost useless.

Judge, i see your point !
...but isn't just that urgency part of the 'simulation'?  ;)

usually you have 5 turns over the battlefield,
and all units start in the open, randomly spread out over 10 hexes

some don't have ridges to flee to
some units get not effected by a dice roll
(well, if the first roll just brings the most dangerous SAM or the Heli i planed to kill first from a distance , into cover... well, C'est la guerre!"  >:( )   

...so there should be still a target rich environment for stand-offs in the first 2 or 3 loiter turns
i think that its natural, that the longer a battalion is exposed to an actual air-threat in the area, more and more of its components seek cover any stay

IMHO: 'cover' in TAL is more abstract like 'a cover rich environment' its not 'real cover' or 'hidden' = out of touch (the unit would have no LOS itself, not even inside its hex)  ...the units are just harder to 'lock-on' and their reaction time has to get shortened to score a hit

...a Maverick flies approx 300m/sec, so a TAL stand-off attack from 3hex = 4.5km away would give 15 sec reaction time to the unit 'in a cover rich environment' to pop smoke and move out of harms way into 'real cover' behind a ridge-top, around a bend of a wadi, etc.
let say a Marder drives 8m/sec off road (approx30 km/h) and has about only 10sec of the time left, he could still sprint away 80m behind 'some high rocks'  ...while from 1.5 km its just the initial 5 sec i subtracted ...so no way    

i guess this is the place for rule discussion?                 
http://boardgamegeek.com/forums/thing/123955/thunderbolt-apache-leader

Thanks for putting my rant into perspective MG

I guess those two bad missions I had (I mean - REALLY bad!) were just the straw needed to get me to post here  :)

The more I'm playing the game, the more it seems unbalanced.

I guess it's just my opinion because if there were any hardcore players finding issues, I'm sure they would've noticed something by now.

These little things obviously only come to light if you experience them...so for someone who hasn't come across my particular situation, then it clearly isn't something they'd agree with - but I have come across a campaign which is tough beyond measure. That's partly down to the rules and partly down to bad luck.

My example is this.

I choose Iran 2014. I wanted to use the new kit and I wanted a longish campaign, so I choose Holding Action. The others weren't too different given the length of campaign I wanted to do.

So - for Iran 2014 you pick 36 points of Enemy Battalions. I ended up with (count them) 6 Assault Battalions, 3 Support Battalions and 3 Command Battalions. 12 Battalions!

So - the makeup of Holding Action is I get +5 SO points at each days end - ahhh...BUT it also states that I lose 1 SO for each Full Strength Command Battalion. So - at the end of day 1 - if I have 3 Full Strength Command Battalions the most I get is 2 SOs.

Right - so I either attack 3 Command Battalions (not likely given a. the WP penalty of -4!) or leave em. I decide to leave them - and why? Well, because 2 of the Battalions choose state "Lose 1 SO Point at the start of each day"....wow. So - if I don't take out the 3 Command Battalions AND the two Support Battalions, then I'm going to lose 5 SOs. Meaning if those 5 Battalions are intact each day, I gain NO SOs!

But wait - there's another twist. I have to attack an Assault Battalion. Because one of them is in the Friendly Transit area and will be on my doorstep soon and the campaign will end. So I have to attack that right?

Then there's the other Assault Battalion where I get to add 2 to it's movement rolls and another Battalion that states I have to add 2 to ALL battalion moves - almost guaranteeing one battalion a move forward and almost making sure all battalions move forward (and at the end of day one they did!)

So - I have some really tough choices on the battalions to attack.

But back to the SO issue. At the end of day one, I now have two unfit pilots with 10+ stress, one is wounded too. 2 pilots who are almost unfit. I have an A-10C with Bullet Holes and damage to Pylons, Controls, Hud and Structure and and F-16 with Bullet Holes and damage to Hud(x2), Engine, Cannon and Display.

Neither of those aircraft are repairable - why? Because I have 2 SOs left at the end of day 1.

Now - bear in mind with 3 Command Battalions on the battlefield (-3 SOs) and 2 Support Battalions (-3 SOs) - I stand to LOSE (not gain) 1 SO at the start of day 2. I have only two left. Meaning at the start of day 2 I have 1 SO.

This all comes about - as I said - through rules and luck (vast majority here being pretty bad luck) but the game seems to start you with way too few SOs. Aicraft are extremely expensive. An A-10C, AH-64D, F-16, RQ-1 and AH-1 cost me 26 SOs. I only had 30 to start with! Weapons cost 1 SO for every 10 points of weapons with an SO cost. Sure - you don't have to use SO weapons - and can destroy a battalion without them - but only if you have serviceable aircraft. Which I don't.

This is my third game - and both games before this one have been outstanding. Not because I won - in fact I failed at my second only scraping a poor result. Everything that can go wrong has done on this campaign.

This is in part to the hit chits - as mentioned before almost every chit guarantees a hit on your aircraft and in part to SOs and their lack thereof...made only worse by the campaign and battalion cards...and I've not even factoed in the Mission Event and Special Event cards which can seriously dent your campaign.

As it stands - now, in Day 2 of this campaign I have lost the campaign. I will be out of SOs and there's nothing I can do about it...I will just be out of SO's at the end of Day 2. There's absolutely nothing I can do to remedy that - and it's because I now (after day one) have unserviceable aircraft and I cannot gain any SOs because of the Battalion cards present and the rules on the Campaign card.

Bear in mind I am MASSIVELY frustrated with this campaign - I just wanted to point out how difficult this is.

WHat would've been the solution? Well, taking out the 3 Command Battalions on Day 1 - but how would that even be possible with 1xA-10C, 1xAH-64D, 1xF-16 and 1xAH-1? At the very most I could've taken two out (I've tried single aircraft attacks and they've never gone good). With that done, I was wtill going to lose 1 SO - and the other 3 SOs the Battalion cards dealt me - so I was still going to lose 4 SOs at the end of day one! (granted I would've collected 2 for the two battalions destroyed going by the Campaign card). But I'd never have taken out those 2 Command Battalions anyway - losing 4 weight points would've crippled my aircraft.

I'm going to do some reading about rather than playing because I am seriously stressed out with this one.

It's a rant - nothing more. Tough campaign followed by really bad Battalion selection and extremely bad results over the battlefield have ended this campaign on day one.

now that is a tough call of a campaign puzzle to solve  :o

mmh... let me think...
helpful things that come to mind which ive learned from watching all those 'lonesome gamer playing TAL' AAR Videos
(btw. ...he play Iran 2014 too but a different situation ...i also 'learned' i could dare to play (and survive) without any fast pilots on a mission... i am still feeling uncomfortable in my game without getting the first shot ;)) 

# if you manage to 'half' a Battalion, its 'nasty effect' printed on the card doesn't apply any more. (and a -3 modifier on its movement rolls too) ...but i don't found that written in the rule-book yet ? (-edit- its on page4) 
and you get 1/2 (rounded down) VP ... now these VPs from day one can 'save the day' 

# if you gained some VP you can replace an aircraft for 2VPs (and salvage undamaged parts) and replace a Pilot (same skill  level) for 1 VP

well, so you don't manage a glorious campaign victory, but at least can stay in the game a little bit longer and maybe score later in the last days of the campaign when killing off all those 'halved Battalions' to cash in the remaining VPs   
and walk away with an "Adequate"

also this guy plays with that 'concentrate rule' (from his Phantom Leader days,  i guess)

# if you pay 1Stress you can add +1 to the next dice roll 

while the correct TAL-rule is:
# if you want this Optional Rule enabled you pay 2SO at the beginning of the campaign first
#  then you can pay 1 Stress to add a +1 to ALL ! attack-rolls of this pilot in this turn
(so an MK20 in a populated hex and an I-rated bomb into another, ...or a volley of several 4(7) Pods into a hex with several targets attacking each with a pod   ... maybe the +1 can become handy in critical situations)


     

Damn you MikeGer for taking away my unhappy!  ;)

Sure - I get all the "fixes"...my bitch was mainly about me (cleverly disguised as a bitch about the game) because I hadn't spotted the flaw in my plan which was I should've attacked at least one Command Battalion. But honestly - the mix of stuff that happened that game was just a HUGE downer!

My F-16 and A-10C were totally screwed.

The F-16 had -2 on Strikes, -2 on Stand off, -2 on Cannon AND I was placing my aircraft just right ready to go in for a kill (before all this damage). For example I placed my aircraft just right ready to jump over a ridge and press a strike on 4 units in a hex with my MK-20s and I would get a light hit saying "No Strike" - a turn or two later I positioned myself just right to volley 3 GBUs into a hex and I pulled a light chit that said "No Standoff"! Honestly - the bad luck and rolls were unbearable.

I remember one turn where my A-10C came under attack from no less than 5 units (possibly bad placement? But I had to put him in the hex he was in for an attack)...anyway...5 times I rolled for ECM and 5 times it failed...resulting in 5 hits!

Weapons - MK-20s are so cool when there's a few units in a hex.

Anyway - I was just venting at some really, really bad luck.

Maybe its best fitting in here, caus its about TAL   
(no spoiling of JD's younger AARs with chatter and i also didn't want to put it in the latest DVG Huey thread also )

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here is a screenshot of TAL Vassal module play (max zoomed out, just to show whats all in  there, of course i play in more zoomed)
i am after the first loiter-turn and now planing my actions for the next loiter-turn  (see finger)

...and got a rule question too:
The Falcon (green-frame) pilot is in low, and he is fast and has 2-3 moves available.
I plan to change to high, let the Falcon  devaste hex#6 with  a a stand off ( if they don't hide into cover with the cover roll) and then move to hex #8  facing loutside... but that are only 2 moves and i have 3 because its the falcon... so i would like to leave the map with that 3rd move now.
but then the enemy would get no chance to pop up a counter and maybe return fire? ,
or can i only move to hex# 8 'have to wait at the border until next loiter-turn,  sit-out the possible fire from pop up counter' and then leave the map ?                       

That looks amazing! Thanks MikeGer

I like the feel and book keeping of a board game - but I've been playing some Band of Heroes Vassal whilst I was on holiday and it was really enjoyable

So I think I'll be getting these and others

Thanks

Quote from: MikeGER on April 13, 2013, 11:45:54 AM
...and got a rule question too:
The Falcon (green-frame) pilot is in low, and he is fast and has 2-3 moves available.
I plan to change to high, let the Falcon  devaste hex#6 with  a a stand off ( if they don't hide into cover with the cover roll) and then move to hex #8  facing loutside... but that are only 2 moves and i have 3 because its the falcon... so i would like to leave the map with that 3rd move now.
but then the enemy would get no chance to pop up a counter and maybe return fire? ,
or can i only move to hex# 8 'have to wait at the border until next loiter-turn,  sit-out the possible fire from pop up counter' and then leave the map ?                     

Yes, you can immediately leave the map and not get hit by enemy fire. One of the big bonuses of being a fast pilot.