A "Snowy" Monday at The Family Game Store

[jbmacek]

First off, thanks to Todd for supplying the game. He always brings a great collection of planes, and that really makes for fun times.

Last night was a bit of a slow night compared to last month. With half the number of participants things seemed to go a little faster, but the number of cool minis gracing the board was also halved. The problem was "snow". Yes, here in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area a light dusting of the white stuff can play havoc with traffic, and I think most of the gamers who planned on showing bailed due to weather. And to their credit, traffic was a bit of a nightmare in places. Hopefully February's game will be snow-free.

Also, it was nice to finally meet BobP. Sadly he didn't hang around for a game, but we all hope to see him back next time.

The short version of the evening's sorties goes something like this. "CRAP! Why do I keep drawing the 5 damage cards?!?!"

The long version of the story... will have to wait for later.

[Oberst Hajj]

TEASE!

[Flying Officer Kyte]

With pictures please they all cried with one accord!
Rob.

[jbmacek]

I'm baking the pictures right now, but they won't be done for another hour or two.

(Which is my witty way of saying I need to go to Walmart to pick up some Pledge with Future Shine for the dipping of Shapeways minis.)

[Nightbomber]

Waiting! waiting!

[jbmacek]

The first shot... as you can plainly see I need to improve my aim.
From left to right - Flammenkopf, vacca rabite, and CaptWillard. Todd and I both escaped the camera's eye.




Sortie 1 was... a dogfight! I brought Udet's SSW D.III that I had been itching to play again. Todd took an unidentified D.VII. Ross (also not pictured and not a forumite) was also flying for the Kaiser, in the black and white striped Dr.I. For the Entente there was CaptWillard in a Snipe, and Mike and Zach flying either the Camel or the SE5.

Ross in the triplane was on our extreme right, and quickly found himself facing the fire of three British planes. Todd and I were coming to his rescue when his plane burst into flames.




The rescue plan didn't work out in my favor, as I drew the attention of two of their planes. Much to my chagrin, one of my damage cards was a 5. I knew I should have declared I was flying an SSW D.IV, just to get that one extra hit point!




Very quickly the battle became a three on one! Todd, believing the British planes to have considerable damage, pressed home the attack...



(close-up of Todd's D.VII)




But on their next card, the British fliers made a brilliant move!




The cards were in Todd's favor at first, then the sortie ended with a bang.



Sortie 2 to follow...

[vacca rabite]

Ahh, the first flight. Where I was slightly buzzed and played splendidly.
As opposed to the second flight where I was sobered up and flew like a drunk.

I also need to start taking pictures again. past two games I have been way lazy.

Zach

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Very neat little scenario there John. It was a good victory for the Allies, and as such will get a mention in dispatches.
Looking forward to your second sortie.
Rob.

[Oberst Hajj]

Well, that looked like a fun game for the Entente pilots!

That's another yummy repaint from Todd!

[jbmacek]

Ahh, the first flight. Where I was slightly buzzed and played splendidly.
As opposed to the second flight where I was sobered up and flew like a drunk.

I also need to start taking pictures again. past two games I have been way lazy.

Zach

Where you one of those who did the "oops! I turned the wrong way!" in sortie 2?

And yes, more pictures = good!

[Nightbomber]

Nice report, John. The final picture - like in the movies

[jbmacek]

Very neat little scenario there John. It was a good victory for the Allies, and as such will get a mention in dispatches.
Looking forward to your second sortie.
Rob.

Thanks Rob, it was fun, but something of a run-of-the-mill dogfight. I really would like to try some earlier planes, but whenever we do a dogfight it often becomes a battle of Snipes, Camels and SE5s versus D.VIIs and D.Vs. That is one of the reasons why my recent Shapeways purchase included many older machines. I would like to do some scenarios/dogfights with early birds.

[jbmacek]

Well, that looked like a fun game for the Entente pilots!

We sort of get our revenge in sortie 2, but as Entente pilots ourselves.

That's another yummy repaint from Todd!

And a great pic by me!
(These pics are scaled down 25%. In full size, you can practically see the brushstrokes.)

[jbmacek]

Sortie 2, in which the mission changes from dogfight to artillery spotting. The Allied objective is for two Breguets, escorted by a lone Nieuport, to fly across No-Man's Land and direct artillery fire on two targets, which were chosen at random and in secret from among five cards placed on the table at the start of the game. The German planes needed to prevent the Allies from accomplishing their mission. Points were awarded for targets destroyed and planes downed. Todd had a plan, and since the random draw of planes left me holding the escort, I'll admit I didn't pay attention to the scoring system, nor the method for spotting the artillery. My mission was simple, try to prevent the Germans from shooting down the Breguets, while trying to keep my 12 hit point plane alive.

Flying with me in this sortie were Todd and Mike/CaptWillard. I'm not sure whose arm that is... maybe Todd? (Todd, is that your arm? if so, congrats for making an appearance in this "film". )




Oooh! Shiny!
(If I'm going to be bait, it is best to look like a bait fish, right? Since I was Nungesser, maybe I should have asked for an ace ability...)




We were, however, flying against Udet and friends, so I suppose it is safe to assume the ace abilities were just canceled out.




We punch through their line, leaving one plane in flames and another smoking! Things are looking up for the bombers.




Our first target was way behind their lines - the Mug rootbeer can! Actually, it's that card with the jammed counter, which fortunately for us was destroyed by the very first salvo when Todd rolled a 10. This is also the point where Todd made a right instead of a left. Ooops. It would eventually lead to his plane's destruction. And if I'm not mistaken, it may have also been a double kill, since Flammenkopf was given a replacement plane not long after. CaptWillard is driving his plane for the opposite end of the German lines, where the other target lies. I'm half-heartedly following, my plane taking 9 points on the one volley aimed my way thus far.




Oh! I am mistaken! Todd is still in the fight at this point, and his plane is heading in the right direction. CaptWillard has made it to target 2 (it appears the objective was to destroy the German soda-pop manufacturing industry).




Wait, what's this? A yellow-tailed Pflaz enters the fray. And a camo D.V? Yes, we were allowing respawns, but only as Germans. I was shot down by Ross (my final cards? 5, 4, 3, 2, 0) who, as it turns out, and completely unbeknownst to him, had been conducting illegal Immelmans, using a Stall-Immelman-Stall. Why none of us ever noticed until now is hard to explain. Oh well, at least he had been doing them wrong consistently. It did, however, contribute to my demise (he Immelmanned on the turn he downed me, as I recall, but that's okay). Hence my respawn with Yellow-tail.




CaptWillard is still trying to nail that target. But now he is having troubled since he is covered with my new red fire markers - fluffy pipe cleaner! Also makes great mustaches!




And... that's it. Honestly, I can't remember exactly how CaptWillard's plane died, or even if it did. I must be getting old. It didn't really matter, with both targets eventually destroyed, no more soda made its way to the German troops on the front. Morale broke not long after, and the Allies won the war.

Fin!

[CaptWillard]

That final turn was a thing of beauty.

Dogfights with early planes soundgs good. I'm working (slowly) on a Bristol Scout.

[CaptWillard]

For the first sortie

[CaptWillard]

The second sortie ended up with me finally destroying the target. However I was shot down in the process. I was hit something like 14 times but drew all 1's & 0's. I think it was Mike who hit me last & I drew enough damage to be shot down & the explosion card for good measure! Ahh, good times.

[flash]

Thanks for the pics fellas - looks like there were some bullet magnets up there (know how that feels) - nice to put faces to names too !

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Brilliant work on the soda pop factories chaps. I just hope that we can do better when the Bosch retaliate by attacking our Tonic works.
Kyte.

[jbmacek]

The second sortie ended up with me finally destroying the target. However I was shot down in the process. I was hit something like 14 times but drew all 1's & 0's. I think it was Mike who hit me last & I drew enough damage to be shot down & the explosion card for good measure! Ahh, good times.

Whereas Todd and I had something of the opposite, drawing three of the 5 damage cards between the two of us. And I think the final tally for you was 18 cards, which is damn good.

[jbmacek]

Dogfights with early planes soundgs good. I'm working (slowly) on a Bristol Scout.

Cool! I look forward to seeing it.

I'm home sick today, so I'm spending the time trying to prep a bunch of early planes from Shapeways. Then I need to go back and thicken up the wings on my Taube and try having them print it out again.

[CaptWillard]

My Breguet sure was a tough old bird!

[jbmacek]

Nice report, John. The final picture - like in the movies

Thanks! I'm tempted to take movies, since my camera can do that (shoot, these days what can't take movies or pictures?!?!). Maybe next time.

[CaptWillard]

I'm thinking of modelling my Scout after Lanoe Hawker's. Do you have any sources for decals besides Dom's?

[jbmacek]

Thanks for the pics fellas - looks like there were some bullet magnets up there (know how that feels) - nice to put faces to names too !

Without a doubt. My planes were finished by four cards in both sorties, five if you want to count the one 0 each had.

[jbmacek]

Brilliant work on the soda pop factories chaps. I just hope that we can do better when the Bosch retaliate by attacking our Tonic works.
Kyte.

*gasp!*

NOT THE TONIC WORKS! Noooooooo!

[jbmacek]

I'm thinking of modelling my Scout after Lanoe Hawker's. Do you have any sources for decals besides Dom's?

Reviresco does decals. Though I seem to recall they need to be placed on a white background, since he doesn't print white, unlike Dom.

I've found some on ebay, mostly generic stuff. And I've printed plenty of my own. It's fairly easy.

[Pseudotheist]

Thanks Rob, it was fun, but something of a run-of-the-mill dogfight. I really would like to try some earlier planes, but whenever we do a dogfight it often becomes a battle of Snipes, Camels and SE5s versus D.VIIs and D.Vs.

[snark]Well, as soon as you can put a dozen Eindeckers and DH.2s on the table, we'll do an early war dogfight. [/snark]

One real down side of the minis is it does limit those sorts of options (thought it's looking like by summer maybe not so much...) And I always end up with the Snipes and D.VIIs because I basically try to put as many different maneuver decks on the table as possible (if there's any new players they have a chance to see how different decks behave), and count back from "best" to "worst" when pulling them. We can always mix that up, just put in a request before I pack up for the event, so I know which planes to bring.

[Pseudotheist]

Whereas Todd and I had something of the opposite, drawing three of the 5 damage cards between the two of us. And I think the final tally for you was 18 cards, which is damn good.

Yeah, when you take all the 5s, 4s, & 3s out of the deck it tends to do less damage...

I'm home sick today, so I'm spending the time trying to prep a bunch of early planes from Shapeways. Then I need to go back and thicken up the wings on my Taube and try having them print it out again.

I kinda skipped over the early planes on the theory that series 5 will be out soon enough, and no one's really gonna want to play them against anything else anyway (series 6 on the other hand I might have a full Shapeways set of by next meeting).

[vacca rabite]

During the second game I intended to do a serpentine maneuver to get a better angle on the bombers and sweep them. But. I played two right turns instead of a left and a right which put me broad side the bomber and nieuport at close range. Then took two more rounds of close range aimed fire. All of which were "0". My rudder damaged I could not turn fast enough to get back on the bombers. I got some shots at one but it popped its target. So I shifted to the other to stop the points hemmoraging the Germans were experiencing.

When I finally got lined up behind the second bomber, I got off one shot before exploding. I had only taken 7 points of damage and managed to draw the only B deck burster. I am ashamed to say I cursed loudly. It was unsportsmanlike, but I was quite frustrated with my bone headed play which may have cost us the game, as it put us one plane down for several turns while I acted the bullet sponge fool trying to recover.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

During the second game I intended to do a serpentine maneuver to get a better angle on the bombers and sweep them. But. I played two right turns instead of a left and a right which put me broad side the bomber and nieuport at close range. Then took two more rounds of close range aimed fire. All of which were "0". My rudder damaged I could not turn fast enough to get back on the bombers. I got some shots at one but it popped its target. So I shifted to the other to stop the points hemmoraging the Germans were experiencing.

When I finally got lined up behind the second bomber, I got off one shot before exploding. I had only taken 7 points of damage and managed to draw the only B deck burster. I am ashamed to say I cursed loudly. It was unsportsmanlike, but I was quite frustrated with my bone headed play which may have cost us the game, as it put us one plane down for several turns while I acted the bullet sponge fool trying to recover.

Never mind Zach. Even Manfred had his off days. Just take a look at my last KoTA AAR. for instance.
Rob.

[jbmacek]

[snark]Well, as soon as you can put a dozen Eindeckers and DH.2s on the table, we'll do an early war dogfight. [/snark]

Well... if everyone brought a plane or two of their own to dogfight with like I do...
(But having been gamemastering rpgs since the mid-to-late 1970s, I know it is unrealistic to expect anyone to bring anything extra to the table.)

One real down side of the minis is it does limit those sorts of options (thought it's looking like by summer maybe not so much...) And I always end up with the Snipes and D.VIIs because I basically try to put as many different maneuver decks on the table as possible (if there's any new players they have a chance to see how different decks behave), and count back from "best" to "worst" when pulling them. We can always mix that up, just put in a request before I pack up for the event, so I know which planes to bring.

See above.

[jbmacek]

Yeah, when you take all the 5s, 4s, & 3s out of the deck it tends to do less damage...

Yep, we got hammered, that's for sure.

I kinda skipped over the early planes on the theory that series 5 will be out soon enough, and no one's really gonna want to play them against anything else anyway (series 6 on the other hand I might have a full Shapeways set of by next meeting).

My last batch of printed minis included a DH.2, a Farman F.40, an F.E.2b, and a Fokker D.II. That's a start towards early/mid, but we'll need even more. I should draw up a Eindecker in Blender to see if I can get a WSF version down to an affordable ~$5. The most recent version of the Taube busted due to thin wings, but it would have printed out had I ordered it in FUD. I just didn't feel like spending $12 on a prototype miniature.

[jbmacek]

Never mind Zach. Even Manfred had his off days. Just take a look at my last KoTA AAR. for instance.
Rob.

Yep, what Rob said. So you can have a shot at redeeming yourself, I'll have try arranging something at my house before your missus has the kid and you disappear for six months or more.

[Oberst Hajj]

Serpentine! Serpentine!

[CaptWillard]

Reviresco does decals. Though I seem to recall they need to be placed on a white background, since he doesn't print white, unlike Dom.

I've found some on ebay, mostly generic stuff. And I've printed plenty of my own. It's fairly easy.

Thanks for the info. I checked out the Reviresco site & I see that they have an Eindecker model. Any experience with thier products? I might order a few so that we can fly some early dogfights.

[jbmacek]

I can't comment on the Reviresco version, but I have built some of their kits and they can be hit and miss. The Skytrex Eindecker was a breeze, so I expect the Reviresco would be about the same. Unless you do rigging on them, there's not much to the kit other than assembling the landing gear.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Take a look at this thread Michael it may help.
Rob.

http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sho...co-Fokker-EIII

[CaptWillard]

Thanks for the info. Think I'll give it try. Should be done with the Bristol Scout I'm building soon & will need a new challange. Maybe at some point we'll have enough early birds flying so we can do an early war mission at the Family Game Store.

[jbmacek]

Looks like my Skytrex went together so fast I never even bothered taking pictures of it under construction. It's an easy build, and I have at least 5 maneuver decks for it, so yeah! Go for it!

[Pseudotheist]

Thanks for the info. I checked out the Reviresco site & I see that they have an Eindecker model. Any experience with thier products?

Models or decals?
I built one of their Hanriots, but must say I'm not particularly pleased with the results. If you want to take a look I can bring it out next game.
I also used the Reviresco Lozenge decals to redo the wings on the Jasta 37 plans that needed them. They need to be done over white, and they're oddly stiff, but I've not printed any of my own decals yet, maybe self-printed are a similar stiffness...

[jbmacek]

White-backed homemade decals can be a real bear, trust me. Reviresco decals are like gossamer by comparison.
(Well, maybe not that nice, but I did get to use gossamer in a sentence.)