The premise of this game was that in the last few days of WW2 a number of senior Nazi officers (the 'Golden Pheasants' of the title) have gathered in Northern Italy with the intention of escaping over the Alps to Switzerland with a hoard of Reichsbank gold and works of art. The allies get wind of the plan and inform the Swiss, suggesting they may wish to stop the attempt, otherwise the Allies might just keep rolling across the Swiss border. The Swiss comply.
The German side must fly a selection of bombers and transports (Ju52s, Condors and Heinkel 177s) loaded with a cargo worth a varying number of points over the Alps to the Swiss side, the Swiss must stop them getting there. If the Swiss shoot down a transport they get the cargo points value; if the Germans make it and they get the points. The winner is the side with the most cargo points value at the end of the game. See here for the cargo cards.
Behold the magnificent Alps, the peaks poking above 10/10 cloud. The Swiss side (Andy (Hawkhurst) and Daniel (Dan-Sam)) discuss tactics
Their German opposite numbers (Marian (Deadly M) and David (Naharat) prepare to fly
Both Germans kick off with a Heinkel 177 apiece, escorted by a FW 190D and a Ta152.
The Swiss respond with a mixed bag of Me109s, Mustangs and Moranes.
Deadly M was off to a good start, crashing into two mountain peaks in two cards, copping a C damage for each. Having straightened up she is now heading for the Swiss border with an FW190 running interference.
Dagga,dagga - the Swiss and Germans swap damage cards
Meanwhile Naharat and Dan-Sam fire at each other, with the 177 coming off worst
The Swiss come back for another go at Deadly M
and within smelling distance of the fondue Marian hits another mountain!
Coming in for the kill....
Naharat claims a Mustang
and the Swiss get Deadly M's 177 and claim a randomly picked cargo card - some gold courtesy of the Reichsbank.
On t'other side of the Alps, Naharat's 152 takes on Dan-Sam's Mustang
and wins the argument while his 177 limps towards the border.....
…..only to be picked off by one of Andy's Mustangs. He could almost taste the Toblerone
Second time round, both Germans choose to fly Condors and a Junkers 52 which, owing to a misunderstanding of the movement rules for slow transports, moved a helluva lot faster than it should have done and hit the back of the Condor a couple of times. More collision damage
A 152 takes on a Mustang and comes off second best
The Swiss claim one of the Condors
Near the end of the game the desperate Germans try their luck with a Condor, Ju52 and a 177 at the same time. Crossfire takes down a Morane
But the Germans are up against it. Does that Ju52 look a little close to a mountain?
Yep! Another No Claims bites the dust
Airspace is getting a bit crowded, and time is called on the game at that point.
Another 15 minutes and at least one of these three may have made Switzerland. The end result was a win for the Swiss who managed some cargo points, whereas the Germans couldn't claim any. And somewhere in the Alps lies a transport with a valuable work of art (American Gothic by Grant Woodent) awaiting someone to find it.
By popular demand (there was a table spare and Hedeby wanted a go) we had a re-run. This time the Germans managed to get over the border with a couple of planes, but still lost because the Swiss built up a greater value of cargo points.
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