Balloon Busting In 'Spandau & Lewis'

I have been asked a couple of times to write up my ideas for balloon busting in Spandau & Lewis. It's only taken me two years to do it.

 
They are inspired by THIS THREAD on the Wings Of Glory Aerodrome, which whilst set up for a specific set of rules has some great bits and pieces for WW1 air gamers. Anyway, fire up your engines, put on your goggles and check that the rockets are strapped to your wings. We're going balloon busting!

Setup

Position 2-3 balloons within 12” or so of the opposite baseline. There should be about 12” between each balloon.

If the attackers are Allied and will be using Le Prieur rockets then you need to determine the facing of the balloons which is dictated by the wind. The balloons start the game facing the Allied baseline (the west, from which the prevailing wind blows). Then roll 4D6. Each roll of 1 or 2 rotates the balloons 45 degrees anticlockwise. Each 5 or 6 rotates them 45 degrees clockwise. Obviously each roll of 1 or 2 negates a roll of 5 or 6 (and vice versa).

(If the Germans are attacking and you need to know the facing of the Allied balloons then they should start facing the Allied baseline. But the Germans didn’t use rockets.)

Place 4 altitude markers next to each balloon.

Attacking Balloons

Balloons are static and can take 24 hits. They generally have two crew and count as a large target. Test for criticals as normal. Crew hits will affect the observers in the basket. Engine hits will automatically cause the balloon to catch fire.

In addition, after any attack on a balloon roll 2D6. If the hits came from a machine gun firing regular bullets take the highest score. If the hits came from Le Prieur rockets or from a machine gun firing incendiary ammunition take the lowest score. If the score of the selected dice is equal to or lower than the number of hits inflicted by the attack then the balloon catches fire.

As soon as a balloon catches fire and at the start of each subsequent firing phase roll a D6 for each balloon that is on fire. On a 4+ it explodes and is destroyed. Any plane within 2” of an exploding balloon takes a 3D6 attack, with a 6 scoring a hit.

Lowering Balloons

At the end of any turn in which a balloon has an enemy aircraft within 6", the ground-crew will try and pull it down. Roll a D6 on the table below; if the score for the year is achieved then one altitude marker is removed. When all four markers are removed then the balloon has reached the ground and can no longer be attacked. The rolls are:

1914-15 - 6
1916 - 5+
1917 - 4+
1918 - 3+

(The technology for lowering balloons progressed throughout the war, with the balloons being pulled down by hand at first, then teams of horses, then steam-engines and finally by petrol-driven winches. By the end of the war the balloon could be pulled down in minutes)

Anti-Aircraft Fire

If a plane (regardless of nationality) is within 6" of a balloon it is subject to AA fire, which takes place before regular shooting. This consists of a 2 dice attack on the aircraft, with a 6 scoring a hit. Criticals are tested as normal, but structural hits score an additional 1D6 damage. The attack is reduced to a 1 dice shot if the target is within 2” of the balloon or is a friendly aircraft.

Le Prieur Rockets

Certain Allied aircraft carry these weapons on their outer wing struts.

Rockets fire at close range only (up to 3"). They are treated as normal gunnery, and get the regular deflection modifiers for shooting into the balloon's front or rear arc. A plane has two volleys of rockets; you can fire one of them or both. The red dice for a single volley hits on a 5+, whilst that for a double volley hits on a 4+. White dice shoot with a -1. 

Scenario Ideas 

If you just want a simple solo game then you can fly one or two planes against balloons. Make it more challenging by having one or two enemy planes turn up at random. I'd limit their willingness to chase the attackers home though. If the attackers break off from attacking balloons (or shoot them all down) and are flying for home, end the scenario once they have got a certain ditance away from the scene of the action.

The First Kill

On 5th October 1914 French Corporal Louis Quenault and Sergeant Joseph Frantz became the first aircrew to shoot down an enemy aircraft.

The pair were returning from a mission to bomb the German lines in a Voisin III. As they were returning home and heading towards Chemin De Dames they encountered a German Aviatik B  piloted by Sergeant Wilhelm Schlichting, accompanied by his observer, lieutenant Fritz von Zangen.

Quenault and Frantz had a Hotchkiss machine-gun fitted to their plane. The Voison III was a pusher, and the gun was fitted on a tripod firing forward over the head of the pilot (the observer sat behind the pilot in this type). Frantz engaged the German plane, which tried to escape, being armed only with a carbine carried by the observer. The action lasted around 15 minutes and, as the Hotchkiss jammed, the French crew saw the German aircraft flip over and crash. Both occupants died.

For this feat of arms, Louis Quenault received the Military Medal and Joseph Frantz was made a knight of the Legion of Honour.

This first certified victory confirmed the usefulness of arming aircraft and rekindled the interest of the French general staff in developing machine gun systems.

I thought that it would be fun to play this action through as a quick lunchtime game using Spandau & Lewis.

The Voisin was rated as 3C5 with an observer fired pivot gun shooting into the 12 arc. 

The Aviatik was rated 3C+6, with the observer having a rifle.

I tasked the Aviatik with observing a village across the board. The Germans would win if they could scout the village and then return home. The French plane appeared randomly along one of the side edges. The French win by shooting down the German aircraft. I just used a 16" board for this game as the planes are so slow. 

The German plane headed straight for the target. With nothing to do until they got there the observer fired a couple of shots at the French aircraft to no effect. The French fired a burst from their machine-gun, also with no effect.

The Germans scouted the village, whilst the French, unlucky with their movement rolls, struggled to turn into their rear (which had been the plan).

The only chance the French now had was to latch on to the German as it flew for home. However the wily Germans managed to slip past the French plane and left it behind. 

So a quick game, and possibly one that's a little too easy for the Germans. I may make them roll to spot the target, meaning that they might have to make multiple passes and spend more time vulnerable to the French aircraft. Still, it passed the time, and it was good to get my aircraft out again, even if just for a short game.

Spandau & Lewis v1.3

Thanks to the posts I did last year I have noticed some interest in my free 'Spandau & Lewis' WW1 air rules. I had a look and realised that the version that was currently online is a much older one than the one I'm currently playing, and doesn't include a couple of important changes. So I have now uploaded the most recent version.

One of my goals for this year is to write up a few basic scenario set-up, including the special rules. I have tried to explain how the games work in various blog posts, so you should be able to put things together from them, but really it should be in the actual rules.

Anyway, here's the link (which has been updated on the Free Stuff section of this blog as well)*:

Spandau & Lewis v1.3

*If it opens an older version of the rules try clearing your cache or opening it in an incognito or private browser.

Fokker Patrol

A few years ago I started playing solo games of 'Spandau & Lewis' using a threat system. Here's the original post in which I tried it.

Anyway, in one post I ran a Fokker EIII and noted that I didn't have much in the way of opponents for it as up until recently Tumbling Dice hadn't made any suitable planes. I came across this observation the other day, and realised that I now had a nice range of suitable options to challenge an Eindecker. So yesterday I set up some games.

I took the opportunity to fiddle with the way the threat deck was created.

You will have a deck which is a mix of threat and dummy cards. Use standard playing cards.

Draw up a list of threats, with each one assigned to a card. I use red cards for threats. Ten is good if you have the models to cover it; mine is drawn up in such a way that I could theoretically field all ten threats.

For each plane in your patrol draw two threat cards. Draw an equal number of dummy cards (obviously I use black cards as dummies). Shuffle them, then discard half of them without looking at them. Then add two card to the deck for each plane you are using - the first should be a threat card, and the others dummies.

e.g. You are running two planes. Draw four threat cards and four dummies, shuffle them and discard four cards. Then add one threat and three dummies (four cards total). Your deck will contain eight cards and may have anywhere between one and five threats in it.

I drew up the following threat list, representing Entente aircraft in the Summer of 1915:

A - 1 x BE2 (1-3  Unarmed, 4-6 MG armed)
2 - 2 x BE2 (1-3 Unarmed, 4-6 MG armed)
3 - 1 x FB5*
4 - 2 x FB5*
5 - 1 x Bristol Scout (1-3 MG armed*, 4-6 Unarmed)
6 - 2 x Bristol Scouts (1-3 MG armed*, 4-6 Unarmed)
7 - Morane L* (Single-seater with front MG)
8 - 2 x Morane L (1-3 Unarmed, 4-6 MG armed)
9 - 1 x Farman MF11
10 - 2 x Farman MF11

Planes with an * will actively hunt and engage the Fokkers. Other planes are on reconnaissance missions and will attempt to escape (although will fight if forced to it).

Only one Bristol scout in the game will ever have the MG mount.

Unarmed planes are assumed to have small-arms.

Roll for crew quality as normal. You can decide on the crew quality of your own plane, allowing you to set the challenge as you see fit. In both of the games reported here I went for experienced pilots.

I drew a card at the start of each turn. If it was a threat then I positioned this direction rose over the Fokker that was closest to the enemy edge:

I rolled 2D6 and the threat appeared in that direction relative to the Fokker. It appeared 3d6" away. I turned the threat towards the nearest Fokker and then rolled on the rose again to see what direction it was actually facing (so if you rolled a 3,7 or 11 it would stay facing towards it, for example).

Threats are considered to be unaware of the Fokkers and must spot them. Until they do they behave as follows:

Reconnaissance planes would determine which board edge was the furthest from their current position. They would turn until they were facing that edge and then attempt to leave the board via it.

Other planes are on patrol. They will turn until they were facing the centre of the board, fly towards it and then circle it.

As per the rules, planes that have not spotted an enemy will move at a speed of 3 and can make a single 45 degree turn without checking for it.

That's a lot of setup information, and much of it is for a future me to read. But it may be useful to others.

In my first game I set up one Fokker. This meant a deck of four cards. 

The first card gave a pair of BE2s, unarmed except for small arms. They appeared about 10" away in direction 9 facing towards the Fokker. Both crews were experienced.

They spotted the Fokker straight away, and attempted to run for the furthest edge whilst banging away with rifles. One actually hit the Fokker but did no damage (it was a scary moment though).

They turned for the safety of a cloud. The Fokker pursued, firing as it did so. But the German's rolls were abysmal.

One BE2 ducked into the cloud whilst the other failed to make the turn and carried on. The Fokker pursued that one.

The threat deck had produced a single unarmed Morane L, but it wasn't worth going after it. It plodded across the board towards the opposite edge, aware of the fight but unwilling to take part.

The Fokker continued its pursuit and continued to miss with every shot it made.

The BE2 found a cloud to hide in. The Fokker chased it through. It would have one clear shot on the other side.

It was the best shot it had had all game. Every dice missed. The BE2 escaped. The Fokker had fired off half of its ammo for no effect. With no other threats in play it went home.

I set up a second game, this time with two Fokkers. Since they tended to hunt alone I split them up on opposite sides of the board. The one closest to the enemy edge would be the threat magnet, though.

The first threat were two oblivious Farman MF11s. These are armed but very, very slow,

One of the Fokkers worked into their rear.

The other waited to ambush them when they came out of the cloud they'd hidden in.

Another threat - a Morane L with new-fangled Garros wedges. And it was hunting the Fokkers. It also rolled an ace pilot.

One Fokker moved to engage this new threat whilst the other tried to get into the rear of the Farmans.

An unarmed Bristol Scout also appeared out of nowhere. This was just looking to head home and with plenty of targets in play the Fokker pilots were inclined to let it.

The lead Fokker swooped in on the Morane L, and inflicted hits on it.

The Farmans were now making their escape as the other Fokker somehow lost contact with them. The Scout is heading off to the right.

The Farmans escaped, undamaged but slightly rattled.

The action would now be the two Fokkers against the Morane L. This is slower than the German planes, but more maneuverable and, of course, with a much better pilot.

The second Fokker closed up on it

They exchanged shots as they passed, bot scoring damage.

But the more nimble Morane got onto the tail of the Fokker.

The Fokker went down with its engine on fire.

The other Fokker had been trying to get back into the fight but was too late to save his companion. However the Morane was fairly shot up and could maybe be finished off.

However it was obvious that the Morane was too tough an opponent for a single Fokker to risk engaging, and the Fokker fled. A straight run for home wasn't a sensible move as, although the Morane was slower, it would still get in a few tail shots before being left behind. So the Fokker attempted to lose it in a cloud.

This gave it enough of a lead that it could pile on the speed and escape.

But with one Fokker shot down for no French or British planes downed it was a bad day for the Germans.

In future games I may tweak how the cards work a little; one idea I have had is to simply add dummy cards after discarding the first half deck. But then draw a threat from those not dealt into the deck on the first turn. It makes sense to have some enemy aircraft on the board from the start. It's possible that this could be the only threat the player faces; the deck may contain nothing but dummies. But you can never be sure. I might also deal dummy cards out so that the minimum size of a deck is six cards; this will spread out the threats a little if you are using a single plane.

Gothas In The Gong

Last night Caesar and I played a game of Spandau & Lewis. This was his first game in maybe ten years (has it really been that long since I started writing these rules), and for me it was a chance to get a feel for one or two changes to the rules I made earlier this year.

We played the Goths scenario I wrote up HERE. As suggested in that post we both made a bid for how many planes would attack the bombers. We both put in a bid of 4, so ended up dicing for who got them. 

I got the bombers. Actually this wasn't a bad thing; the attacking planes are much more fun to run, and running the big slow planes made it easier for me to help Caesar with the rules.

Here are the Gothas. They have to traverse around 5' of play area.

Caesar's first attacker appeared early on; an FE8 flown by an experience pilot. It closed up quickly.

In fact Caesar was very lucky. On the next turn another defender appeared; a BE12. This was flown by a novie pilot.

And the turn after he got a Sopwith Pup! I'd barely got the bomber's a quarter of the way to their destination and I was up against three enemy aircraft.

Not only were there three of them, but they were appearing in my rear. I swung the bombers around to try and prevent tail shots, as well as close up for mutual protection.

The defenders sat behind the bombers and steadily chipped away at them. The bombers shot back. We scored lots of hits, but neither Caesar nor I could convert them to criticals. Indeed we had exactly one critical hit all night (and that just did a few more hits).

Anyway, as I got about halfway to my destination (and halfway to being shot to bits) the fourth British plane appeared; an Armstrong Whitworth FK8 with a novice crew.

It was all getting very lively now. The bombers were running out of ammo on their rear guns, whilst some of the attackers were on their last couple of shots too. A couple of attacking planes were badly shot up as well.

The Sopwith Pup was the first to fall.

The red-tailed Gotha flew on; the other Gotha was now getting all of the attention.

Lots of attention.

The wrong kind of attention.

The British switched their attentions to the red-tailed bomber. But the FE8 was now firing it's last burst of ammo.

It headed home. The BE12 did as well; it had also run out of ammo, but was also on its last hit.

However the FK8 was still relatively fresh and kept up the attack. The Gotha was getting very low on ammo and struggling to fight back, but was close to safety. Indeed it was a move away when the FK8 finally downed it.

So both bombers were shot down for the loss of only one plane. All of the planes were badly shot up; with no criticals appearing everything was just being slowly whittled down.

Caesar was lucky to get three of his four planes on early as well as being mostly behind the bombers and not too far from them. This meant that the bombers couldn't pick off the attackers one by one.

Whilst I generally track ammunition by gun, for simplicity's sake, I may consider switching big bombers and similar planes to having a pool of ammunition that the draw on (since they are using drum-fed guns). This seems to be how they operated and would allow them a better defence if they are constantly attacked from one direction; you can just keep feeding drums to the rear-gunner. 

Thanks to Caesar for a great game that went to the wire.

More Balloon Busting

I did some more balloon busting over the weekend. For this scenario I moved into 1917, with the French attacking the balloons with Farman F40s and the Germans defending with Fokker DIIs. Two of the Farmans carried rockets; for this game I gave them the same firing effect as pivot guns with a 5+ for a single volley and a 4+ if you fired both, but dice other than the red dice shooting at -1. Short range only, obviously.

The Farmans approach the balloons. The one at the back has no rockets and is there to cover the others.

Almost within range ...

One Farman sets a balloon on fire with its first half-volley. The other missed.

An Albatros swooped into the attack.

The other Farman started to turn for a second pass.

The Albatros was hit by anti-aircraft fire. A direct hit. Amazingly the plane survived but with one hit left.

A Farman was also hit by anti-aircraft fire. The pilot was seriously injured as was forced to land.

On the right a Farman - the 'fighter cover' - was heading further over the German lines and out of the play area. It would not return and counted as lost. In the distance the damaged Albatros was also heading for home

This left two aircraft in play; A Farman with one volley of rockets remaining and the second Albatros. The Farman made a run for the intact balloon; this was 1917 and the rate at which they were pulled down was pretty impressive.

The balloon that was on fire exploded.

My notes fail me at this point! I just have this one last photo showing an Albatros closing in for an attack. I can't remember if the Farman got the second balloon or not, or even if it made it home. Sorry.

(Actually the record sheet shows little damage of shots fired for either plane. I suspect that the other balloon was hauled to the ground)

Anyway, the French got at least one balloon, but lost two planes doing it. 

And further disappointment. I tried a game set in 1918 afterwards with two Fokker DVIIs after the balloons. The Germans had incendiary ammunition. It was over very quickly; the Fokkers took out both balloons before the defending Sopwith Camels even turned up. It was a quick and unsatisfying game but probably not unrealistic.