First off, the first round of the Pewter to Poppies fundraiser the club is doing for the Wounded Warrior fund is up and running. Auctions can be found here, and in addition to my napoleonic piece, there are several others as well - do please take the time to check them out.
If any readers are willing, I'd very much appreciate help promoting the fund-raiser. The links above can be used to provide info on the project, and link to the related auctions.
Things have been a tad hectic of late, so Wednesday's post-game had to be delayed until I got a bit of time this morning. On the plus side, the game itself was Check Your 6!, a club multi-player favorite. Minis and whatnots were provided by marke again, and many thanks to him. You can see his version of events here.
The scenario was a bomber escort, with the Japanese pilots (including your's truly) escorting a flight of bombers, and US planes intercepting. Out of what was, in retrospect, sheer laziness, we decided to set up out escort flights on our side of the table, and the Americans set up on theirs. The net result, of course, was that on one side, the Japanese bombers were left completely defenseless.
This would result in a fairly predictable win for the Americans, but we'd at least extract a bit of revenge for the emperor!
My planes took up a close support position behind the flight of bombers. My thinking was based on past games. Actually getting a hit on the approach is fairly difficult, and the bombers are fairly robust (at least in comparison to a Zero!). Most kills seem to happen when you get in behind your target. I figured I'd let the attacking fighters pass through, and then pounce on them as they turned to attack again.
The early stages actually went fairly well. As the americans closed in, the zeros moved out to intercept. While the Amis were going to get shots on the bombers, they'd take some as well.
What I hadn't counted on what just how hot the American dice would be. A couple of well placed shots, and a dismal inability on the part of the Japanese to roll saves, meant in the initaial pass, the Americans splashed one bomber, and tore up a couple more.
On the plus side, it was time to spring my trap. I threw one Zero into a split-s, banked the second hard, and ended up in perfect firing position behind several American planes.
The flight mechanics in CY6! are really what sell the game for me. Players commit to a specific manouvre, on paper, and then reveal them simultaneously. Movement is resolved in reverse experience order; better pilot ratings get to move after the rookies, and can slightly modify their choices in response to what other pilots have done. Being able to anticipate and out-think the opposition is key.
Dice, however, are a factor as well, and mine were dead as Ozymandius. I had as close to a perfect shot as I was likely to get all game on more targets than I had bullets, and the best I came up with was some air-frame damage on a wildcat, and I took some in return. *sigh*
On the other hand, my compatriots were doing better. Two Wildcats were down for the price of one zero. We lost another bomber shortly afterwards however, so things were not looking good as far as the scenario went.
In what proved to be the final turn of the game, I tried a risky manouvre, counting on my pilot's skill (i.e., a die roll) to hold my damaged plane together. If I pulled it off, I'd line up a second perfect shot. Instead, I painted my plane across the ocean when the wings tore off. My remaining plane got off a shot, but missed. This was not to be my turn to bring the emperor glory.
By the end of the game, the Americans were well ahead on points, but I still claim a moral victory. Two of their planes were splashed, two more were out of the flight (either couldn't manoeuvre or out of ammo), and some rather annoyed Japanese were in close pursuit. We'd lost a few bombers, but there will still plenty left to make their bombing run.
A moral victory. Really ;)
FMB
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