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Sunday Night FITS is officially a wrap. We had ten players tonight! That’s a new record, at least since I’ve been playing. It was also about max capacity, I think. We did finish the ten player game in just about two hours, and we played about 8 turns. The second game was only a 4 player match.
Game 1 saw both sides with a mission in June 1918. A German DFW (TJ) was on artillery observation over the front with 4 scout escorts (John – Fokker D.VI, Mike – Pfalz D.IIIa, Carl and Graham both high compression Albatros D.Va). A British AWFK8 (Jim) was running a photo recon in the same sector with 4 Camels protecting him (Ken, Scott, Kevan and Jeff). Neither side could complete their mission, though!
Jim moved first on turn 1, diving down to give only top shots, or so he thought. TJ obliged him with a 100′ top shot, and Mike’s Pfalz used his 1550 dive to get below Jim. The rest of the machines piled up for the usual turn 1 scrum, and there were no really significant hits. That changed on turn 2, when Jeff put a bullet into TJ’s pilot, killing him outright and ending the German hope of completing the mission. TJ’s observer had a chute, and he bailed out safely. But he landed toward the allied side of the front, and was killed trying to evade capture.
The battle had spread out significantly, giving the Germans a chance to isolate some of the British, and effectively lock both Scott’s and Kevan’s Camels out of the fray. That was unfortunate for the Brits, as Kevan was their flight leader and an ace. On turn 3 John gave Jeff a critical, jamming him in a bank. He also jumped on Jeff’s tail. That would prove to be a fatal combination. John put a bullet in Jeff’s pilot on turn 4, but it was only a no effect hit. On turn 5, though, he sawed off Jeff’s wing. Others had been hammering away at the banking Camel too, but John dealt the fatal blow and scored the kill. It was Jeff’s 12th mission and he scored a kill, but it’s all for nothing if you end up dead!!
Jim further spread out the battle on turn 4, diving and heading for his own lines with 3 in his engine. Graham gave chase, and could easily keep up with the big two seater. Jim cut his engine on turn 5, and glided to a safe landing in a field just behind his own lines. Both of his crewmen were fine. Graham beat a path for home while keeping an eye on Jim. By turn 7 the three remaining Camels were starting to regroup, and with the British mission foiled and their own mission spoiled, the Germans broke off the engagement.
In summary: Jeff shot down TJ, killing both crewmen, before he was in turn shot down and killed by John. Graham forced down Jim’s machine, but his crew walked away from the landing just behind the lines. The others all returned safely to base.
Game 2 was very fast. Graham and Jeff had Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutters against TJ and Ken in Fokker D.IIs in February of 1917. The Strutters dove on turn 1, but the Fokkers didn’t care! Ken took Jeff head-on, and TJ took a 100′ tail shot on Graham, giving Graham’s observer a head-on shot in return. Despite all the close range head-on shots there wasn’t much for damage. Ken and Jeff avoided the collision on turn 2 (barely), and the Strutters sandwiched TJ. Ken, with a slow crate and a poor starting position, threw caution to the wind and moved in for a side shot on Jeff. Jeff took the head-on shot back, and promptly put a bullet in Ken’s pilot, critically wounding him. Ken dove for home, and being outnumbered, TJ beat a hasty retreat as well. Ken fell unconscious at 5,850 but woke up a turn later, recovered from a spin, and kept up his dive (surviving a 200′ overdive in the process). But that little bit of luck wouldn’t last, as he passed out again at 1,750 feet, and he augered into the earth, killing his pilot. Jeff got the victory over Ken, while Jeff, Graham and TJ all returned safely to base.
All things considered, I think the games tonight went pretty smoothly, especially with so many players in game 1. Everyone did a nice job paying attention and keeping things moving along … even Jim B!!
Next game is tomorrow night, Monday Night FITS. 7pm central time start. And remember, tomorrow is your last chance to warm up before the Ace of Aces competition starts on July 1.
Graham
Two questions, Graham.
1) Could you have split into simultaneous 6 and 4 player games?
2) What rules did you use for collisions?Thanks for the reply, Al! I’m glad a few people are reading the AARs.
In theory we could have played two games simultaneously but we haven’t tried that yet. My cutoff was 10 … If we had an 11th (and I thought we might) then I would have gone to two games. I’m not sure everyone has access to both boards yet, which had me worried. Will defintitely try that next time. What do others think is the best cutoff point (# of players) to go to a second board?
We used the d10 collision chart from Aerodrome 98. I also spoke with Mike C today and he agreed that is the best on to use at least for now.
I’d love to hear some suggestions from the other nine players. What did you think of the game last night? Suggestions to make it better?
Graham
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