Gunbus

This lunchtime I played a quick game of Spandau & Lewis so I could give one of my Vickers FB5 'Gunbus' an outing.

I used the random threat setup system from THIS POST (which itself uses stuff from a post HERE). I decided to run a single Gunbus and kept the threat list small; just six cards. They were:

1 - 1 x Aviatic C1
2 - 1 x Aviatic C1
3 - 2 x Aviatic C1
4 - 1 x Albatros B
5 - 2 - Albatros B
6 - 1 x Fokker EII

There would be one or two encounters, with the most likely being one or two Aviatik two-seaters, mounting a rear-firing machine-gun. The other encounters would be unarmed Albatros two-seaters, with the observer using a rifle. And finally, as a nasty surprise, the Gunbus could encounter a patrolling Fokker Eindekker.

I set up the Gunbus in the middle of the board and scattered three areas of cloud. I assumed that the Gunbus was alert, but the targets wouldn't be. I can't remember if I did this in previous runs of this setup. The Gunbus had an experienced crew; the German opponents would dice for quality.

Here's the Gunbus in the centre of the board.

The first card drawn was an opponent - an Aviatik C, heading away from the Gunbus.

The German rolled a veteran crew though, and quickly spotted the British plane. I have set missions for each aircraft - as a two-seater this one would turn until it was facing the edge it started furthest from and then try and exit by that edge. This would bring it past the Gunbus, but the German had the option of seeking cover in some cloud.

The Gunbus turned tightly on the German and got in a shot, damaging the enemy plane.

The German ducked into the safety of a cloud.

Two more Aviatiks appeared, one experienced and one with a green crew. The latter seemed like a possible target, but the two planes would be flying together and their guns would provide cover for each other even with their limited arcs. In addition, whilst the first Aviatik had an excellent crew it was already damaged. So I decided to ignore the newcomers.

The Aviatik came out of the cloud and, taking a risk, turned to bring its gun to bear. The Aviatik's gun only fires into the rear arc in my rules. This gave the Gunbus a great shot, albeit with a risk of being damaged back.

The Aviatik took more hits, whilst its observer failed to score any damage on the British plane.

The problem with chasing the Aviatik was that it tended to get the initiative, making it hard to line up good shots, despite the flexible gun-mount on the Gunbus. As it ran for safety it ducked into another cloud. I was beginning to regret not chasing the other plane.

The Aviatik cleared the cloud and made the final sprint for safety. We exchanged fire at long range. The Aviatik missed, whilst I scored another hit, but couldn't finish off the enemy plane. 

So the Aviatik escaped, albeit on its last hit. It certainly knew it had been in a fight. The other two German planes also escaped; I had no time to turn the Gunbus and chase after them before they fled the field.

I'd forgotten how much fun the threat system is, and will try this one again, maybe with a slightly different mix of German aircraft. I'll keep the Fokker surprise in there, though ...