"Don't Cross The Streams"
Egon Spengler
Except when you should. As in this case.
Having been playing both Wings of Glory and Bolt Action for some time, I had wanted to set up a scenario in the air, and fight it out on the ground. Having also been a long time student of American airborne operations in WWII, specifically the Glider Infantry, how many of my interests could I pack into the same sausage, as it were?
Back in pre-COVID days, I had developed a set of homegrown rules and collaterals to allow the use of transport planes and combat gliders in Wings of Glory (check here for more information - it was in pre-blog days, a situation I may have to correct with a separate update here). The main challenge was in providing maneuver decks for aircraft that were, in WOG terms, so very slow, and reflect their use in battle. I had already found and built a tidy little C-47 kit in 1/200 scale, seen here on a borrowed bomber base and pegs.
These are mounted on a couple of homemade acrylic bases.
The scenario I had devised, loosely based on Operation MARKET-GARDEN was as follows:
Phase I: Wings of Glory
The Axis player defends, starting with 4 troop concentrations, 3 anti-aircraft batteries, and a lone FW-190D or ME-109K for air defense.
The Allied player had 3 C-47 / Glider combinations, and 1 pair of either P-47s or Mustangs for air defense / flak suppression.
Setup was as follows: Axis places AA cards on the West mat and troop concentrations on the East Mat. Allied player places 3 LZ cards in areas with no buildings, railroads, waterways, or large stands of trees, anywhere on the playing surface but more than a ruler from the West edge.
The Allied player places their transports and escorting fighters anywhere along the west edge, the Axis places its fighter on the east edge. The game then proceeds as normal for WGS.
The Allied goal is to safely land their gliders on the LZ (Base of a glider covers the center dot of the LZ). Each glider can deliver a max of 20 Supply Points to an LZ. The more damage they take, the less Supply they deliver; the more inaccurate their landing, the less they deliver, per a table in the above referenced rules. Even an otherwise safe landing requires drawing a "A" damage counter and subtracting that many points from your total, due to the hazardous nature of gliders in combat!
Phase II: The 60 possible supply points would translate into a 1000 point Glider platoon drawn from the Bolt Action Generic reinforced platoon, but restricted to units that could be delivered by glider: no tanks, trucks, half tracks, armored cars; no guns larger than the 37mm AT or 75mm howitzer. The Axis force would be 1000 points drawn from the German generic reinforced platoon, no restrictions.
Any losses taken in terms of supply points would be proportionately removed from the Allied force, rounding down, in whole units wherever possible. The Axis would start with one non-vehicle unit on the table, anywhere. All remaining units would have to enter as detailed below. All Allied units would start along one edge selected at random, with initial positioning of Allied troops limited by the accuracy of the landing in the prior Phase, after the German unit was placed. Their goal - take and hold the bridge at table center as shown on the map:
Each turn the German player can attempt to activate their off-board units via a two-step process. Roll 2D6 and consult the German Entry table. Each turn the likelihood that the relief column will arrive increases. If allowed, they must still pass an order test like a normal reserve unit. The edge of their entry will also be random for the first unit arriving, all subsequent units arriving from the same point. In order to allow use of flanks and not force everything through the center, I include a ford and a ferry on the ends of the bisecting river, to allow infantry units to move across without needing to cross the bridge.
We allotted 6 hours to play this out. With a late start and a lunch break, it was not enough ;-)
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The Game, Phase I: WGS
The table was set with two mats aligned on their long edge as spelled out in the scenario. My brother Bill, "Big Bro", the German commander, had his AA spaced around the populated area in an Arc that would cover any approach the Allies could make, his troops held back near likely LZ locations. The LZs were placed in clear areas to remove some landing risks, but 2 of three would require a much longer flight in around German AA.
"I had some intel of a possible invading force but since June I considered all reports with skepticism. The positioning of my forces were to protect as much territory from occupation as possible."
The Allies split the Glider serials into two groups, planning on a nearly straight in approach, again to simplify accurate landing. The southern pair would fly in nose-to-tail in column. (I was somewhat limited as I had only printed one set of C-47 and CG4a maneuver cards. Don't do this. Print out one each. :-) ) It wasn't too bad until all were on the board; worse as gliders released. NOTE: We were playing without using Altitude rules, again for simplicity. For more experienced players, or those with more time or patience, use altitude.
Initial moves were straightforward, with glider serials plodding straight ahead, and fighters speeding toward each other. The Allies had chosen a pair of P-47s, feeling that they would be a good enough threat for the defenders while making them good ground attack / flak suppression tools. The Luftwaffe responded with a wicked FW-190D with its high speed and big cannon.
As the Transports moved ahead, the fighters tangled near the center while flak started going off.
while to the North, the first glider cut loose and began its descent to the LZ, continuing to frustrate the flak by its lack of speed.
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