Quick Campaigns: Wings of Glory + Bolt Action

 "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.

As no one makes a WACO CG-4a model in 1/200 (yet), I improvised, scaling down the Fiddler's Green cardstock model to scale. I had made one in BW during a household toner shortage, and two in color, although I clearly didn't print to exactly the same reduction ;-). 

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.

"I contacted our aerodrome to see if there was any possibility of support despite allied air superiority.  Only a single FW 190 was airworthy, but I ordered him up much to my later chagrin."

As the Transports moved ahead, the fighters tangled near the center while flak started going off.

The first flak burst underestimated how slowly the glider trains were moving, although the southern serial was so stretched out along their path it was hard to miss, the first volley split between the lead plane and its glider (a draw of 0 points, whew!). The fighters met head on, opening up as they came in range.

Unfortunately for the FW, one of the many B damage tokens was the dreaded BOOM...

It would be up to the FLAK batteries from here on. The P47s, freed of their interceptor role, reversed and went to harass the nearest battery, 

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.

Note on the above picture the blue counters. On release, the glider has up to 5 moves to land / reach altitude 0. If you land in fewer than 5 - if you force it down faster to avoid flak or fighters, a "blitz" landing, you will risk doing additional damage and lose yet more supply points. Choose wisely. The same is true if your last move is not a "straight".  The C-47, now faster and free of its cargo, makes a sweeping turn and races (relatively speaking) toward home. The AA gunners found the range and hit it for 10 damage and set it afire before it escaped.

Down south the gunners continued their lackluster performance.

 The P47s went on a strafing run, blasting a flak gun out of the game (8 "B" damage tokens will do that...). The remaining gun was still a risk the Allies didn't want to face, so both gliders in the southern serial headed towards the nearest LZ - however, you lose an additional supply point for each glider landing before you on the same LZ...

Here we see the lead CG4 descending and the second cutting loose, the C47s turning away to escape if they can.

They managed to all land on their LZ without any additional damage. Still, based on the "A" token draws on landing, and the "2 gliders in the same LZ" effect, the Allies were down 6 of a possible 60 supply points, successful in Glider terms, but it would mean they would be removing 10 percent of their Bolt Action list before the first shot was fired...

END PART ONE.

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Click HERE to read Part Two - Bolt Action Glider Infantry Assault

POST-MORTEM

As a Wings of Glory scenario, it will not please players eager for lot of air combat; it is not air-to-air focused, the glider landing mechanics more similar to slow motion bombing. The Axis needs luck, strategy, and a good eye for AA to be successful. And can afford to be reckless, as losses in this phase have no effect on the second. I may consider allowing Allied air to attrit the German forces by strafing the Troop concentrations. The Allies had a near flawless delivery to the LZ yet still landed with a point deficit and a lack of significant anti-armor capability. I may consider starting with a higher Allied point total to help compensate.