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DIR Return to: IGNORE: Wing Leader Playtest Archive
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#Post#: 58--------------------------------------------------
E12 Meridian Counterattack
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 12, 2018, 8:51 am
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Date: 8 Feb
Playtester: Elias Nordling
I played two games of Meridian Counterattack. It should be rated
solitaire as there is no real decision making for the Japanese
with regards to maneuvering or changing altitude. I found it a
nice little kamikaze scenario different enough from the other
two Kamikaze scenarios to justify the scenario.
Unlike the other scenarios, the Japanese here are so coordinated
that you can't trust flak. What it effectively comes down to
then is the British tally and cohesion rolls.
I put the veteran experte into the closest Seafire, and the
first game had it kill 6 of the Kamikazes in historical fashion.
Two more were killed by the other Seafire flight, and the final
bomber was downed by Flak on its final run.
The fighters had a rather easy time getting at the bombers, with
the tally modifier for GCI and the ability to throw vectors in
front of the bombers. To make the game a bit more tense, I tried
the second game without GCI. It could be justified as a special
rule simulating the short response time available.
That made the game a bit more tense, and the Seafires also had
bad luck with their cohesion rolls. 2 bombers got to the final
run, of which 1 were downed by Flak. The final bomber got to
roll at +1, and scored a 10% hit for one point (a 25% hit would
still have been one point for scoring).
Suggestions:
1) Label it as solitaire, saying the bomber fly straight until
the final turn when they dive into the nearest carrier.
2) Take out the GCI and justify it with a special rule.
3) Put the victory level at 1 for the British. This is so that a
lucky shot by a bomber taking out a fighter doesn't immediately
ruin the score. But only one, or the player will stop caring
about friendly fire from Flak.
4) Speaking of, I assumed the Japanese losses didn't count for
points! There should be a special rule for it.
The scenario still has the problem of being a solitaire scenario
which is easy to win. I think solitaire scenarios should be a
challenge for the player to keep their attention. You could add
an ahistorical gamer's option as a special rule increasing the
number of bombers in each flight to 4 or even 5. That ought to
be a greater challenge for the player to deal with.
#Post#: 59--------------------------------------------------
Re: E12 Meridian Counterattack
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 12, 2018, 8:53 am
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Date: 9 Feb
Playtester: Elias Nordling
Played a third game with 4 aircraft per bomber flight just to
test how much it raised the challenge level. In the end, the
Japanese hit the carrier with two bombers and rolled 9, just
enough for a British loss. The Flak was very lucky in taking out
4 bombers. So it does work as a "player's option" to increase
difficulty.
In addition to the below, it should be noted that if you play
this non-solitaire and the bombers hit the destroyer screen
instead of the carrier, it will be a very short game indeed.
#Post#: 126--------------------------------------------------
Re: E12 Meridian Counterattack
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 15, 2018, 11:12 am
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Let's increase the flight size to 4 and see where future tests
take us.
#Post#: 423--------------------------------------------------
Re: E12 Meridian Counterattack
By: Gordon Christie Date: October 28, 2018, 7:19 am
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Andrew and I have played this once, and think it works pretty
well with the Japanese lost threshold set at 4. It clearly will
work best as a solitaire scenario but we had a great time with 2
flights of bombers making attacks on the carriers with 1
(straggler) and 2 (one straggler) remaining bombers and being
shot down by the flak before attacking. Good narrative and
pretty balanced scenario. I would agree with Elias that the SSR
forcing the Japanese to attack the carriers is probably
necessary as an attack on the destroyers probably breaks the
scenario allowing the Japanese to grab enough VP before the
fighters get in amongst them.
I would perhaps suggest putting the Hellcat flight on CAP rather
than intercept to make things ever so slightly harder for the
British.
Cheers
Gordon
#Post#: 425--------------------------------------------------
Re: E12 Meridian Counterattack
By: pilotofficerprune Date: October 28, 2018, 8:09 am
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Cool. Are you ready to sign off on this one?
#Post#: 426--------------------------------------------------
Re: E12 Meridian Counterattack
By: Gordon Christie Date: October 28, 2018, 10:47 am
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Yes. Works very well as written
Cheers
Gordon
#Post#: 498--------------------------------------------------
Re: E12 Meridian Counterattack
By: pilotofficerprune Date: November 7, 2018, 4:07 am
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Even though it's marked as done, I did a quick solo run through
of this at the weekend, just to check the change suggested by
Gordon/Andrew regarding the Hellcat CAP. It certainly makes it
hard for the defenders, making for a big scramble very close to
the carriers. Two flights made Kamikaze attacks, though with
barely any aircraft left after the flak, grabbing just enough VP
from a lucky hit for a Japanese win. It was close, though, and
relied on the dice. I might want to narrow the draw window a
little.
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