27 Attachment(s)
Tripods Scenario 4a - The Hunters and the Hunted (using variants and later tripods)
A standard rulebook scenario (using plane variants and later model tripods) using the T&T rules supplemented by Flash’s House rules caller ‘TnT with Altitude’ and Dave’s solo charts for the plane AI. Random peg height (2-12) was used for the plane starting position and I managed both Tripods.
Due to uneasy alliance I used a Hanriot HD.1 (yellow) piloted by Tenente Mario Fucini, a Hanriot HD1 (blue) piloted by Mayor Willy Coppens, and a Phonix D.1 piloted by Fregattenleutnant Friedrich Lang (an Italian, a Belgian and an Austrian). Facing them were a MkII ‘Scarab’ tripod and a MkIII ‘Squid’ tripod, there were 4 objective templates.
Winning conditions: Earthling wins if both tripods destroyed. Martian wins if 3 airplanes are destroyed.
The prospect of meeting the Martian fighting machines on the battlefield of Alsace was initially met with optimism by pilots of all nationalities. The tripods were reported to be ‘slow-moving’, and the airmen could not wait to open fire with their machine guns upon such ‘sitting-ducks’. Unfortunately for them, the tripods rapidly demonstrated that they were neither slow-moving, nor ‘sitting’, and the skies of Europe were soon lit by the deadly beams of the Martian’s heat-rays and by the burning arcs of airplanes spiralling towards the ground. But the spirit of the knights of the air was not to be broken easily.
Lang is centre of the patrol with Coppens on the left and Fucini on the right.
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The Tripods approach from the opposite side, with the squid at the bottom.
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All the scouts dive to get to closing contact distance with the tripods. The Phonix concentrates on the Squid whilst the Hanriots look to take care of the Scarab.
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The Scarab gets off the first shot with it’s heavy heat-ray at long range on Fucini’s Hanriot, causing major damage, with the plane starting to smoke, first blood to the Martians.
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Coppens is unable to get a shot as he is too high, but Fucini returns fire on the Scarab’s shielded side taking off energy. The Squid fires it’s medium heat-ray at Coppens at long range and causes 3 damage and again, the plane starts to smoke. In addition, the Scarab fires it’s black gas canister in Coppen’s direction causing 5 damage and also hitting Lang for two damage.
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Coppens takes a long shot at the Scarab who has collided with Fucini but scores 0 damage. The collision causes no damage to Fucini or the Scarab’s shields.
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The Scarab fires a black smoke canister at the Hanriots, but Fucini has immelmanned so is too high. Coppens takes 5 damage from the acrid black smoke.
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Lang’s Phonix has not been forgotten, and the squid fires the heat-ray again taking major damage and setting the plane on fire.
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The flames do not spread quickly.
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Coppens performs an Immelmann and gains height, whilst Lang tries to get behind the squid. Fucini collides with the Scarab’s shields taking 4 damage and the energy causing the plane to catch fire. The shields take no damage.
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The Squid sees the Phonix coming round and fires black smoke which engulfs the plane doing 2 damage.
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Coppens fires on the Scarab shielded side drawing energy, but gets caught in black smoke in return, which is too much for the vehicle which spirals down on the edge of the gas cloud.
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The Squid fires it’s heat-ray again but misses.
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The two remaining planes are both on fire but the Phonix seems negligible……..
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…..not so for Fucini, who takes 5 damage which finishes off the plane
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The Scarab prepares to reverse to get back to the Phonix.
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…but it is not needed. Despite a short range burst at the Squid from Lang which does no damage to the shields, a short range heat-ray in return explodes the remaining plane.
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The Tripods leave the battlefield with no damage, a decisive victory.
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