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#Post#: 3--------------------------------------------------
E01 Three Days of Greif
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 12, 2018, 3:55 am
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Date: 10 Feb
Playtester: Elias Nordling
Played Three Days of Greif, and it felt like it worked well
enough. Due to its small size and the abundance of clouds, it is
probably fairly swingy and dependent on the outcome of the tally
and cohesion rolls.
In my game, I put veterans in the bombers, which is probably a
good thing for the Germans, as they are able to fend for
themselves decently. But an unopposed attack that rolled 11 took
down two of them. Only one Greif survived, but it was unbroken
at least, so 4 points for exiting and 7 points for downed Soviet
fighters.
1 German fighter was lost, so in the end, the score was a draw.
Seemed fair enough given the heavy Soviet losses. 1 fewer
fighter loss would have been a Soviet victory, 1 more bomber
that survives a German victory, so it felt like it could go
either way.
Special rule 2 says the Bf 109s enter turn 3, which they don't.
Other than that, the confusion of rule 2 that we already
discussed and the spelling of the pun title, I see nothing to
change. I liked the scenario as is.
[LBW: Final VPs = +10]
#Post#: 98--------------------------------------------------
Re: E01 Three Days of Greif
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 14, 2018, 2:51 am
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Date: 31 Jan
Playtester: Peter Wagner
Played one game of Three Days if Grief. It was a draw and felt
pretty balanced for a first try.
#Post#: 99--------------------------------------------------
Re: E01 Three Days of Greif
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 14, 2018, 2:53 am
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Date: 12 Nov 17
Playtesters: Gordon Christie/Andrew Brazier
We have had 2 shots at Three Days of Grief. The first scenario
turned into a tidy Soviet win, considerably aided by the
vulnerability of the 2 aircraft German bomber flights. Based on
this we bumped up the German flights to 4 aircraft (although 3
would probably work equally well – 2 is a bit of a problem as
the single aircraft modifier for combat comes into play very
quickly and further disadvantages the German bombers who are
normally engaged at or close to +/-4 given the quality of the
late war soviet fighters).
A second running through resulted in a draw.
Thoughts:
2 aircraft flights make it pretty hard going for the Germans. As
soon as one aircraft is lost the single aircraft combat modifier
comes into play, and it is really straightforward for the
Soviets to completely eliminate bomber flights denying the
Germans any potential VP for exit.
The on map Bf 109s should probably be 2 rather than a single
flight. Having only a single flight makes it pretty much
inevitable that the leading German bomber flight will be
overwhelmed and destroyed before the later arriving German
fighters get involved.
I would be inclined to start all of the German flights 4 columns
further to the right (fighters in G 6 and F 6, and bombers in D
1), possibly bringing the other flights in a couple of turns
sooner. The current setup pretty much ensures that nothing can
happen (even including long-range tallies) in the first couple
of turns save for releasing the soviet fighters from CAP, and I
would be inclined to start everything closer to the action
commencing.
The German flights should be at least 3, and probably 4
aircraft.
I think this is going to be a pretty tough one for the Germans
to win, and I might be inclined to tweak the victory conditions
by shifting 2 in the Germans favour (Soviet victory -2 or less,
draw -1 to +2, German win +3 or more).
Overall though it is a good scenario. The mix of aircraft is
interesting, and it is striking to see how effective the late
war soviet fighters are at their designed (low) operating
altitude. It would be quite nice to see a high altitude He 177
scenario as a bit of a counterpoint, accepting that it would
have to be counterfactual (and could easily be released online
or even in C3i)
#Post#: 106--------------------------------------------------
Re: E01 Three Days of Greif
By: Elias Nordling Date: September 14, 2018, 3:01 pm
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Version: v0.3
Playtesters: Elias Nordling (solo)
The German fighters were able to get several combats to their
advantage as the Soviets maneuvred towards the bombers. The Yak
7:s especially were heavily battered, losing 7 aircraft in 3
combats.
It looked like the second pair of Griefs had the chance to make
it, but in the final combat of the fame, ome was lost and the
flight broken due to an unlucky cohesion roll. But at least it
was a good day for fighter attrition for the Germans.
Victory
German: bombers exited 1, Soviet fighters shot down 11, 12
total.
Soviets: 3 bombers, 2 fighters: 11
Total: +1 a draw
Seemed fair. A little less brutal fighter losses would have
given a Soviet win, while some luck in the last combat could
have shifted the result up to 6 points in vavour of the Germans.
I still see no reason to change anything. The action is
straightforward, but the desperation of the bombers gives it a
flavor of its own. Plays quick.
#Post#: 110--------------------------------------------------
Re: E01 Three Days of Greif
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 15, 2018, 1:28 am
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The thing that's struck me coming back to this again is that:
(a) Some of the cloud is not coming into play.
(b) There's too many turns before the first potential fighter v
fighter encounter.
No comment was made on this in the playtests, but I feel as if I
need to do the following:
(1) Take Gordon/Andrew's advice and push at least one of the Bf
109 sweep flights further right by a column. (Set up in columns
F and H.)
(2) Bring the Yak-7 squadron left by three columns to M to P.
This still allows them the flexibility of setting up further
back, near the old set-up point.
(3) Bring the Yak 3s in two columns left to S to V.
These adjustments should, in theory, escalate the fight a turn
earlier.
The only thing I'm not settled on is whether I should force the
use of German Veterans in fighters or leave it to the players.
#Post#: 111--------------------------------------------------
Re: E01 Three Days of Greif
By: Elias Nordling Date: September 15, 2018, 2:27 am
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I found the clouds important, but you are right that there are
two turns of movement before there is even a chance for a tally.
Rather than move the Soviets left, I would be inclined to move
the Germans right. Moving the Soviets left pretty much ensures
the battle will go on until all Soviets are broken or all German
bombers are shot down, while moving the Germans right increases
the potential of the Germans slipping off the map.
#Post#: 112--------------------------------------------------
Re: E01 Three Days of Greif
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 15, 2018, 2:44 am
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That seems reasonable. I'll sift the German starts two columns
right. However, I'll have to set up the second batch of Bf 109s
on the map and bring the second He 177s in one turn earlier.
There will be some small adjustments to the clouds to conform
with the set-up.
Basically, we reduce the Germans bombers' exposure by one turn.
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