Cangames - Report #3 - Blood Red Skies Mig Alley

Hello everyone,

I hope all is well on your side of the internets. Hot on the heels of my recent painting and interest in Blood Red Skies, both Blood Red Skies MiG Alley and Beyond, I had the chance to jump in on a game of BRS MiG Alley at Cangames. My buddy Duncan did an excellent job of GM’ing and had a great scenario for everyone to try their hand at. I have to say, I’ve been enjoying the air combat games lately, as well as the painting. Duncan’s game also gave me the chance to help him out with models and I got some of my recent works on the table.

The scenario for our game was inspired by some experiences of United States Air Force (USAF) Korean War bomber operations. In this case, we had a flight of 3 x B29s that had to get across the length of the table and exit on the other side. For this op, the US forces had 6 fighters as escort; the North Koreans had 6 x MiG 15s as the main attack force.

Looking at the far edge you can see the three B29 bombers in-line with escort fighters on their left (two separate 2 ship formations) and right (single 2 ship element). The North Koreans are at the lower portion of the picture…3 separate elements of 2 aircraft each). While the B29s were not completely helpfulness, they had turret and tail gunners, the kicker was that they would shoot at any aircraft that were within a few inches of their stand…without worrying about the friend or foe quandry…everyone was a bandit.

The view from the US end of the table…there are a few clouds over the area, and all aircraft start in the ‘advantaged’ position…i.e. nose up position.

B29s moving forward. The MiGs moving in hard to get shots on the big birds. The US fighters are working hard to get re-established on the tails of the MiGs after flying through their formations. If I remember correctly, there were some head-on shots, but nothing of consequence. Any aircraft that flies through cloud loses advantage and/or disadvantage and is instead neutral.

The bombers are starting to feel the heat…MiGs are on their tails and getting some shots on them.

The MiGs are hot on the ‘29s tails…the US fighters are turned around to push through the bomber line and engage the North Koreans.

Not a great moment for the US crew…bombers shooting everything up, escorts unable to get any hits on the MiGs, and the MiGs taking station behind the bomber line.

By this time, we have 1 dead B29…the other two have damage, and the NK’s are throwing out excellent dice.

The escorts finally take a couple of MiGs…but the NK’s are doing a great job…a second B29 falls out of the sky.

The NK’s spin in another 2 ship element into the fight.They make short work getting within range of the bombers and keep up the pressure. The final shot of the game as the last bomber takes 1 more point of damage…and succumbs to the relentless MiGs.

Beyond Mig Alley - BRS - North Vietnam Rumble

Howdy folks,

Here's to the first battle report of the year! I was able to get together with Duncan and Mike and we had the chance to give a try to Blood Red Skies/ Beyond Mig Alley. We have each been painting up fabulous aircraft that Duncan picked up from Lead Pursuit Podcast and this was a great chance to get them on the table.

The setup for the game was Vietnam War, US aircraft are pre/post strike (actual timing was irrelevant) and they get 'bounced' or ambushed by North Vietnamese aircraft (Vietnam People's Air Force - VPAF). So force composition was:

• US - 4 or 5 x F105 Thud's - strike aircraft, self-defense machinegun; 1 x F4 Phantom - air superiority on top cover, no gun, armed with AIM-7 and 9 air-to-air missiles; and
• VPAF - 5 x Mig 19's - air superiority aircraft, air-to-air missiles and guns.

A few quick thoughts: it was a pretty fast paced affair, the missiles were a little frustrating (so maybe they lived up to their historical references), and the gun shots were epic. The jet age is extremely fast, even with the movement distance capped, several aircraft end up moving at the cap of 16” which is about 3-4 times the average speed of WW2 BRS.

The game was a lot of fun…Mike was on fire with his gun rolls…and definitely looking forward to next iterations.

And now the pics…enjoy.

The Setup & Start: the Thuds blend in pretty good with the mat…but they’re heading South when a bunch of MiGs jump on their 6.

Mike was able to bounce in and be in advantage. If I remember correctly, Duncan’s Thuds were pushed to neutral. Mike lined up a few shots and is able to splash his first Thud. I think the MiG gets a heavy hitter rating and that ends up being pretty devastating. You can see the token where the Thud falls to the earth.

I was able to jump into the fight from my ‘high cover’ position on the edge of the table. I was able to take my full 16” move and get in behind the MiGs and reduce the advantage of one of Mike’s aircraft. Unfortunately the shot didn’t take, but it put him on the defensive a little.

Mike fended off my F4 attack, but was able to splash another Thud (second token on the table)

The furball move inch by inch on the table, Duncan was able to get into a tail chase situation as well, so Mike had to drive one of his MiGs into the clouds for cover. At this point we had taken enough boom chits that the Thuds would’ve left the field. Mike elected to keep the fight going…so we did.

Again, I try to line up a shot with my Phantom…no gun onboard really sucks, but I let loose another missile with no effect…or maybe I scored a damage, I can’t remember.

I try doing a maneuver in order to change my facing back northwards…given the characteristics of the F4,  this meant that the high G combined with the ‘complex’ layout kept me at neutral for the turn while the crew sorted out their bearings…

This gave Mike the chance jump in behind and put me at disadvantage which gave him the chance to hit me with a gun shot…which he did quite nicely…and down I went with a ticket to that fancy hotel in the North’s capital.

Latest Distraction - Blood Red Skies MiG Alley

Howdy folks,

I hope all is well on your respective sides of the internets. So yeah, another squirrel moment…I’ve played a game or two of Blood Red kids with Mike and Duncanover the last year or so. Most recently we gave it another go to give Duncan some prep for a tournament that he had signed up for. Well, we got talking about the game and the modern spin with BRS MiG Alley and the expansion from Lead Pursuit Podcast, Beyond MiG Alley for Vietnam and 1960s/70s Cold War.

Anywho, long story short…I’m now getting into MiG Alley…sigh/lol. I recently picked up a box from Amazon and finished up the 4 aircraft that came with it, a couple of F86 Sabre’s and MiG-15’s. The box comes with the cards, models, and decals to complete the models, USAF for the Sabre’s and Soviet Air Forces or North Korean Air Force for the MiG’s.

Hope you enjoy the pics…it was a bit tricky getting the silver finish of the aircraft paintjob without just hitting them with silver…you know what I mean, an OCD sort of thing.

Enjoy.

Journey up Lead/Plastic Mountain

Painted

1/200          4, +4

15mm         134

28mm+       44

Fabricated

Terrain        2

Bought        12, +4 (mig alley box) 

Progress   +172

Cangames Report - Bandits 2 Modern Air Combat

Howdy folks,

One of my Cangames traditions is to try to sit in on at least one of David Redpath's excellent modern air combat games...the scenarios are always dynamic and one of the highlights comes from their historical context and David's research into the history of the scenario.

This year, the scenario was a recreation of an air raid during the Iran-Iraq war that had taken place almost 30 years to the date of our game.  The Iranians were tasked with hitting an Iraqi airfield that was a base for attack helicopters.  The base was set in a valley with mountains to the north, hills to the south and a fairly clear east-west axis.

Pictured below is the enemy airfield.  Targets included 3 x helicopter flightlines (large, easy targets), 2 x fuel depot (medium target), and 1 x ammo depot (small, difficult target).

Clouds roll in...weather deck a little south of the field, and just to the north-west...SA-2 SAM batteries deployed to the north and south of the airfield.

Strike package elects to ingress via the south...unaware that the southern route has extra radar coverage...they are quickly picked up by air defence operators...

Who waste no time at all locking on and firing the first of many telephone poles...inbound strike aircraft are broken up in 3 packages...the Iranians rolled poorly and could only bring on minimal aircraft.  In this case, a 2 ship of F4 Phantoms coming from the south, a 2 ship of Phantoms that come in from the east to south-east, and a 2 ship of F5 Freedom Fighters from the west.

I had actually taken a bunch of pics by this time, but they turned out like total crap and were hangover blurry...so I trashed them...sorry folk.  After the first SA-2 launch, the southern 2 ship were targeted at least 4 more times by the SAM battery...the 2 ship that I was part of came in from the east and were loaded out to strike the field with ASM's and defensive AA missiles.

Fairly quickly we were bounced upon by a 4 ship of Mig-23 coming from the northern ridgeline...my flight lead kept focused on the field to get the ASM's off and I broke right to engage and block the Iraqi aircraft...this was fairly successful as Serge was able to loose off all 4 ASM's...

...and raise some hell on the airfield...one flightline of attack helo's taken out...and 1 fuel farm reduced to smoking ruble...well done.

At this point I really didn't get any discernable shots...the game ended in partial victory for Iranians as we had destroyed 2 fuel bunkers and 2 1/2 flightlines...the ammo bunker survived...as well, we were able to splash about 4-5 aircraft, however the cost was fairly high as most of the strike aircraft and a couple of late comers were downed or damaged.

As you can see by the furball below, the resistance was heavy with little 23's buzzy about the much larger Phantoms...

Take care.

Cangames 2015 - Bandits 2 Battle Report

Howdy folks,

In may haste this weekend to post my Force on Force battle reports, I accidentally stated that those would be my last post from Cangames...I was lying...at times like this I often conjure up my best Arnie accent and paraphrase Commando...

"Remember when I said I'd post you last...I lied"

 

-------------------------------------So...here we go----------------------

 

Once again this past Cangames I took the opportunity to try my hand at David Redpath's Bandits 2 ruleset.  I met David some time ago at Cangames...funny enough, when I signed up to play one of his games (at that time Bandits).  Since then, I have immensely enjoyed every game I've played whether it be Bandits, Bandits 2, or Shipwreck.

David tries very hard to have a modern or ultra-modern scenario for the game...and not just that, the scenario has some feasibility for occurring...maybe not so good when you think of it, but it makes it very tangible and certainly gets folks involved in the scenarios.

The scenario was this...China was encroaching on international interests in the South Pacific...they had established an artificial island that housed a Chinese Air Force base and the US was preparing to strike with air power.  The year was 2018 and the attack was at approx. 0400 hrs.  Both forces were equipped with stealth fighters...the US with the F35 and Chinese with the J20(?)...

The objective...US to strike, China for the defense...



There were 2 of us on the US side and 2 on the Chinese side.  Unfortunately, it was the evening slot so we did not have a full compliment of players...this meant we were limited to 4 aircraft per side.  Each team had to make their plan, present it to the GM, and then weather was set and we began.

South Pacific cloud decks...within 20 nautical miles of the Chinese island...SAM ring around the island approx. 15-20nm.  The clouds are (moving clockwise from top left) at 7 O'clock, 11 O'clock, and 1 O'clock from the island...

 

The US plan was fairly straight forward...deploy at table edge at approx. 3 O'clock position from the top of the island...roughly the point of view from the picture above.  We would push with two 2ship formations configed for air superiority...we wanted to maximize stealth so we would be going with no radar emissions...our second wave of aircraft would have 2 configed for ground attack (internal and external stores) and 2 configed for air superiority.

 

My Gorilla flight pushes from our edge...a little north and due east of the 1 O'clock cloud deck...as it turned out one of the Chinese players deployed near our corner, the other in the opposite corner (essentially as far away as possible)...

 

Overview of the US push...Gorilla's on the right, 'Cost Overruns' on the left...Chinese straight ahead...IR searches picking them up...we remain invisible... 

 

My wingman, Cost, fires off IR missile in hopes of bagging one...this would be the first missile shot of many many for my teammate.  His shooting was very consistent...I continue moving forward, #1 veering left, #2 straight ahead both looking for side or rear aspect shots.

Unfortunately Cost Overrun was consistent in a not so good way for us...as this shot shows, the missile sails by off the side of the Chinese aircraft...

I bank in tight with both my aircraft as the Chinese now have my partner painted on their systems...the Chinese player has his missile shot sail past Cost Overrun as well...I launch with #2 when I can, holding with #1 until the last minute...

#2 scores a hit and damages the Chinese aircraft...my #1 scores a dramatic kill at very close range with an IR shot...not a bad start...the Chinese player elects to display his mood dice...

The following time sequence, my #1 brings the power back, the damaged Chinese plane goes past the nose, and I hit him with a gun attack destroying his aircraft...very lucky rolling... 

 

The Chinese are able to launch a 2 ship from the islands airbase in response...they get airborne and immediately head towards our position...the Chinese aircraft furthest from the fight elect to light up the skies with their radar trying to paint us...IIRC they lock onto my cohort, but still haven't found me...aircraft elements start playing javelin with each other...the missiles fly...

 

Our luck finally runs out...Cost Overrun evades IR shot, but cannot shake 2 radar homers...F35 down...

At this time we switch aircraft so that we can launch the second wave...I push with the bombers from due north of the island and Cost Overrun continues his push westward...unfortunately the Chinese are able to splash 2 more F35s...this allows us to push 2 more air superiority to escort the bombers...

 

Action happens fast, the bombers don't have benefit of stealth with external stores and are pushing hard for the island...I light up the sky and act as radar picket for my escort as they push behind me...the escorts engage and I try to launch radar shots...

 

A flurry of chaff, flares, and jinks...missile shots defeated...we continue our push, the Chinese continue their pressure...

I launch JDAMs strike at range...targeting airfield and fuel farm...flurry of missile shots continue as Chinese and Cost Overrun trade shots...my cohort is now at missile shot 18...and no kills or damage yet...

 

 

 A very dramatic furball occurs as I'm trying to launch my bombs...my cohort launches radar shots behind me...my first bomber is damaged...his missile races in...AND...AND...

A very dramatic fireball as his missile HITS and destroys a Chinese stealth fighter!!!

 

We did not win the fight...the end result was four US F35 splashed...3-4 Chinese aircraft destroyed with one making a successful recovery on the island.  Fun game nonetheless.

 

CanGames Ottawa 2014 - Air to Air Combat: Bandits 2

Howdy folks,

I wanted to continue on from our last post.  As mentioned, CanGames 2014 in Ottawa was an absolute blast...my first game of the con was a great success.  The GM did a great job of keeping the game moving and the table and terrain were outstanding.  My second game was from a GM that I had the pleasure of gaming with before...in fact, I consider him the reason/blame/introducer of tabletop air to air combat (Bandits and Bandits 2) and ship combat (Shipwreck). 

As with previous con's the GM was running a modern what-if scenario.  This time it was the Crimea with a Russian strike package (3 x Su-25 Frogfoots) with escorts (IIRC 4 x Su27 and 2 x Mig29) hitting a Ukrainian port.  The main objective of the Russians was sink a troop transport that was unloading an infantry combat group.  In defense the Ukrainians had a couple of old frigates as point defense and a couple of Ukraine Mig-29s...as support, NATO was represented by an offboard AWACS bird with a 2-ship of CF-18s callsigns 'Moose' and 'Poutine'.

The mechanics of Bandits breaks down each turn into a series of tactical movements.  Each pilot is assigned a certain number of manoeuvres that allow movement and turns.  At the same time, depending on the skill of the pilot there are a number of combat moves allowed as well as search or ECM (electronic counter-measures).  The combat is simply that...finger to trigger.  The search allows the pilot to roll for a visual or radar search or refill the ECM pool.  The ECM pool is where the pilot employs countermeasures in reaction to other pilots combat moves...these are rather conceptual and in realworld would be chaff/flare and jink/altitude/break manoeuvres  (this pool is never allowed to go above a set cap).

The scenario and report:

The Russians deployed along a table edge with each player controlling a 2-ship formation of fighters, opposing them, the allies elected to hold off their deployment until the Russians passed a 'line of death'.  Because of AWACS support the allies were able to be 'vectored' into position.  The Russians did not know about the AWACS and ended up dispersed along a wide front with their best pilot on the opposite end, the furthest point away from the pending fight.

Russian Su25 Frogfoots inbound...

Once the Russian Frogfoots passed a geographical reference the Canucks pounced and were deployed, when the remaining escorts crossed the 'line' the Ukraine Migs finished their vectors.  Almost immediately searches and shots were taken.  Very quickly a Russian Su27 was damaged (radar shot) and another was destroyed (guns pass) with the CF18s taking the brunt of search attention from the Russians for the next several turns.

 Russian aircraft passing the 'line'...no turning back...

Moose and Poutine from the Alouette's vector in a little off target...and promptly get pings in the RAW gear... 

The top Russian pilots...as far from the action as you can get...

Lead Ukraine Mig 'Lydia' fires a radar missile, Moose does the same...

A flurry of countermeasures...chaff chaff chaff

Moose's missile is turned away by 'chaff chaff chaff'...Lydia's is on target...

Lydia damages a Russian Flanker...both sides trading shots...

 ...and misses...

the furball happens with flight elements mixing back and forth...Lydia goes hot on guns...splash one Flanker 

The Frogfoots start to pull away and it is with some urgency that the allies try to engage them before they can sink the transport ship... 

Poutine tries to down the Frogfoot...tough bird, takes a missile hit but keeps on ticking...Boris and Lydia evade a long range missile shot from the Russian Ace who's finally in the fight...Poutine very quickly takes some damage and eventually elects to punch out (in game terms, this allowed the player to regenerate another aircraft)

Nearing the end of the game...in our haste we forgot to look at the clock...the action is coming to a close with more missile shots and gobs of chaff...

The end of the fight...the Frogfoots proved near impossible to down...the Russians suffered 3 Flankers lost and the Allies had both CF18s shot down.  The transport was not hit and one of the outdated Ukrainian frigates was sent to the depths...all in all a good game and a points win by the Allies, though I don't think it was a morale victory...