Hello, everyone!
As you may have seen, we had a great stream today in Wessex Games’ AirWar C21 system. I thought I would post it here as well as other places just because some of the people we had in our chat were also Weekender Thread Alumni. 😀 I will also feedback on people hobby work this weekend, add some music, participate in the Q&A, and reply to people that posted questions in the chat but I couldn’t get to int he middle of the game.
For for now …
Thanks very much @stvitusdancern for the great game and thanks to everyone who stopped by our streams to support us. It really means a lot. So yeah, I hope we gave AirWar C21 a decent showing here. I kind of didn’t do my Immelmans correct (at least the ones that succeeded), so I that’s on me … and there are additional rules for TAILING that can make the “dice-iness” of the initiative phase a little less luck driven – IF you’ve planned ahead and get can begin an enemy (your from 180-degree arc, in enemy’s rear 60-degree arc, you go when he goes, NO MATTER WHAT THE initiative is). SO we’re still learning this system, but already having tons of fun with it, and it’s deliver great realistic results for our 1982 Falklands wargames.
Northeastern coast of East Falkland Island, 1 May, 1982. Two FRS1 Sea Harriers of HMS Hermes have been vectored to intercept two Argentine Mirage IIIEA interceptors launched toward the battlegroup. Each grid on the map = roughly 1km (scale in the game is actually logarithmic). Each inch of movement = 50 knots air speed. Virtual gameboard is set up to reflect a 72″ x 48″ (6×4) gaming table.
Mirages, pushing 950 knots, try to pull Immelmans to vector toward the sidestepping Harriers (both just executed successful barrel rolls + turn maneuvers). One Mirage fails the roll, but still manages a lock with SARH (semi-active radar homing) R.550 “Matra” medium range air-air missile. Shots fired! The Falklands War is on!
The Harriers respond. They fire American made AIM-9L Sidewinder IR-guided short-ranged air-air missiles. The key advantage here is that the Sidewinder “L” variants can acquire a lock from any target aspect. you do NOT have to behind the enemy plane to get a lock (although it helps when the missile has to hit). The Argentinian equivalent, much older French made R.530 “Magic” missiles, must be launched from behind the target aircraft. Easier said than done.
The first Sidewinder hits the lead Mirage, but explodes off my wing and only does 2 points of damage. Sea Harrier 01 is closing to guns range, however, and will score one more hit on a high-deflection, medium range extended burst from her cannon. It’s just enough to cripple the Mirage, who’s max safe speed drops from 1000 knots to 500 knots as a result. Too bad he’s currently at 650 knots (speed 13), so that’s +3 over safe speed, +3 MORE damage, so that’s 6 damage total. BOOM. Mirage is down, but the pilot punches clear with a clean ejection. Still, that’s SPLASH ONE!
Another hit on another Mirage! Not only does Gianna score the hit, but then gets a roll on the “Golden BB” table. Compression stall in the Mirage’s engine! Immediate stall and spin in a random direction, AND he’s down 5 out of 6 damage points. Man, is this pilot in trouble.
Final result at the end of Turn 3, Phase 2. British win by splashing all 3 Mirages, no loss to themselves. If this game seems unfair, it really isn’t. I kind of forgot how Immelmans really work, and if EVEN ONE HARRIER goes down, automatic Argentine victory. And these Harriers are not very sturdy AT ALL. Just one burst of Mirage cannon fire is enough to put one down, so the British player really has to play it to the wire, which Gianna totally did. Well done! And thanks again for the great game and support with the stream!
