Syrda Beach Rescue Part 1 - AirWar C21 6mm

We recently tried out a highly customised wargame scenario to continue the Syrda vs. the West narrative thread and provide an opportunity for my gaming friend to try out his new 6mm USMC armour (which I painted for him last year). To match our collections, we have now set the confrontation as occurring in the mid-late 1980s. This monster of Frankenstein game involved:

• a modernised Hit the Beach scenario from Flames of War Version 3.
• the main ground combat scenario using my own heavily modified Team Yankee rules including dice-draw unit activation, overwatch fire, and off-board artillery.
• customised force lists including Syrdans based on East Germans and Iranians and US Marine Recon special forces based partly on the Kampfgruppe Pieper Grief Kommandos from Flames of War Version 3.
• a two-part rescue/sabotage mission including unique special forces units (US Marine Force Recon).
• all conducted over some newly made terrain and with awesome custom-built USMC Landing Craft.
• and prior to the main game, an initial 2-v-2 AirWar C21 dogfight to determine who has localised air superiority and the ability to launch air strikes during the beach assault.

As a result, the game report is split into several parts. The game (two games really) took a little while, probably 1 hour for AirWar C21, 2.5 hours for the ground combat, and about 2 hours either side and between for setup, discussion etc.

The game highlighted the future possibilities for comprehensive multi-level fun with 'layered' scale gaming, or 'games-within-games' where players can 'zoom in' on one part of the action and play that bit through before continuing with the rest of the scenario/campaign. For example, a Battlefleet Gothic campaign, and during the space battle, 'zooming in' to resolve a dogfight with Aeronautica Imperialis, or covering a boarding action with 40K, a teleport raid with Killzone and a planetary assault with Epic 40K or Legions Imperialis. This warrants further discussion in its own article at a later time.

2,000 Feet Above - Syrdan Air Force MiGs versus USMC Harriers

MAJ "Shooter" Dunkin and his wingman LT "Wildcard" Powel of Marine Attack Wing VMA-231 'Ace of Spades' piloted their AV-8 Harrier IIs low over the water as they approached the town of Dyrnah on the Syrdan coast. In just about 30 minutes, the Marines of 26th MEU would be landing there, and "Shooter" and "Wildcard" were to provide the air cover.

MAJ Dunkin and LT Powel approach the Syrdan coast, as bogeys approach.

At that very same moment, two MiG-21s of the Syrdan Air Force's 80th Fighter Squadron, the elite 'Dust Falcons' were sweeping in to intercept, tipped off to the American incursion by long-range search radar. CAPT Samy and his wingman LT Akhmed, callsigns Saqr 1 and 2, were among the most experienced pilots Syrda had to offer (though that wasn't saying much to be honest).

The Marines and Syrdans spotted each other and immediately began manoeuvring to try to get the initial advantage in the head-on engagement. Saqr 2 accelerated straight at his opposite number while Saqr 1 attempted to gain space to the left to set up to flank the Harriers. Both launched or attempted to launch radar-guided AA-2 missiles (which all either missed or failed to lock on: unsurprising, given their poor technical qualities). "Shooter" and "Wildcard" decided to close the distance and one launched a single AIM-9 Sidewinder at Saqr 1 (Samy) who narrowly managed to dodge it.

Syrdan MiG-21 (Scotia Grendel miniatures) and USMC AV-8 Harrier (GHQ miniatures).

MAJ Samy drops flares and break-turns to dodge a Sidewinder missile.

Next, "Shooter" and "Wildcard" both lined up on Samy and "Wildcard" opened fire with his 20mm cannon, severely damaging the Syrdan flight leader's engine and airframe. Akhmed, remembering the Western air combat films he had seen as a boy, attempted (and miraculously pulled off) an Immelmann manoeuvre, which put him on the tail of "Shooter" Dunkin's Harrier. He launched a pair of IR-guided AA-2s (which of course missed) but followed up with a long burst with his 23mm gun as MAJ Dunkin attempted and failed an evasive manoeuvre.

LT Akhmed saw hits, flashes, and pieces falling off the American jet, then all of a sudden a huge explosion engulfed the Harrier. No chute was seen. MAJ "Shooter" Dunkin received a sombre toast in the galley that evening.

The remains of MAJ Dunkin's Harrier plummet toward the sea, wreathed in smoke.

The remaining Harrier pilot, "Wildcard" Powel elected to split and head for the carrier, while CAPT Samy's attempted to nurse his severely damaged MiG back to base. LT Akhmed attempted a sharp turn to pursue the remaining American but failed to properly manage his energy and stalled, flat-spinning toward the deck. Working furiously through his procedures, he just managed to regain control and ease the MiG back to level flight under 200 ft from the sea. However, he had missed his opportunity for a second go at the enemy.

Result

The result for the Syrda Beach scenario is that Syrdans have achieved short-term local air superiority and 80th Fighter Squadron will be able to launch air strikes on the Marines as they land at Dyrnah.

Syrdan propaganda will be loudly announcing and no-doubt exaggerating the extent of their aerial victory, and LT Akhmed will gain the title (if not the skills) of a heroic 'ace' (his near-fatal stall will not be discussed!)

Notes on the rules and scenario

AirWar C21 is quite fast to play, easy and intuitive. Energy management is crucial (if you're manoeuvring, you really should be accelerating whenever possible). If you have a good shot lined up on the enemy go all-in (long bursts with guns, ripple-firing missiles) so as to not miss the opportunity.

Re. the scenario I attempted to balance the Marines and Syrdans by giving the Marines higher-skilled pilots and better (though fewer) missiles and the Syrdans more missiles (AA-2s are pretty poor). However, in the random skill allocation the Marines rolled sub-optimally. Considering US forces would realistically put much more resources into achieving air superiority over an amphibious operation, and also that it was my opponent's first ever game of AirWar C21, the Marines should have had more advantage (more missiles, and more guarantee of better skilled pilots).

AirWar C21 - Suez Canal Raid

This one's going to be a very short and to the point post as I've forgotten most of the battle details (I played this game in September and am only just now getting to posting it).

I solo-gamed an Israeli Air Force raid on two Egyptian bridgeheads over the Suez Canal, testing out SAMs. Let me tell you - SAMs can be deadly, especially volley-fired SA-6 Gainfuls. The Israeli aircraft clearly need more decoy dispensers if they're going to survive more of these bombing raids!

The set-up.

Following on from my last AirwWar C21 post, Major Pushkin, a Russian ace sent to assist the Egyptians, did in fact get a new wingman, the skilled but ill-fated Lt. Hosni Samy. The Israelis again had a pair of Mirage IIIs and a pair of A-4 Skyhawks loaded up with Mk 82s and hoping to smash the pontoon bridges and maybe any tanks or other vehicles moving across.

Close-in dogfight right over the northern bridge.

Shahak 1 flown by Capt Weiss shoots down Maj Pushkin.

Captain Weiss shot down Major Pushkin's MiG-21 with a Shafrir 2 heat-seeking missile after he failed yet another complex manoeuvre. He did not manage to eject. That's right - Major Yevgeni Pushkin, Soviet ace, connoisseur of vodka, dead at the age of 50-something.

Pushkin's wingman, Lt Samy, messed up a very tight low-altitude turn and hit the ground. KIA.

Mirages overfly the bridges, past a wrecked MiG.

Casualties for the Israelis were high too. While Capt Weiss got away with his kill his wingman

Lt Shmuel Zahav was hit by an SA-6 SAM. Lt Zahav was seen to safely eject but landed close to the Egyptian-held target area. He is now listed as Missing.

SAM! Dead ahead!

 The leader of the bomber flight Captain Sharbal Golan was killed instantly in a huge explosion when his loaded plane was hit by three SA-6s (total damage 12, and the Skyhawk only had 5 to begin with!)

Lt Moshe escapes a SAM after destroying the north bridge.

Hero of the day though was the wingman of the Skyhawk flight, Lt. Elias Moshe, who dodged MiG-21s, SAMs and ZSU gunfire to deliver his bombs right on target, destroying the northern bridge. and an SA-6 battery as well.

The results were pretty much a tie - Egyptian forces lost two fighters, two pilots, an SA-6 batter and one of the vital bridges. Israeli forces lost two planes, two pilots and failed to destroy the other bridge. Their enemy's advance into the Sinai will continue, but at a slower pace.

Lessons learned - SAMs are deadly and make it hard to line up for a bomb-run (you really want to be break-turning as well as dumping countermeasures).

Next time Israelis will take more precautions, and the Egyptians need some more planes (I have some MiG-17s and a Tu-16 Badger...)

SAMs floating past harmlessly, like clouds...

AirWar C21 – the First Foray

 Okays its been a long time but here's a new blog post on a whole new game...

Background
In my quest to find a favourite aerial wargame for1/300 scale aircraft I’m giving AirWar C21 a go. Again, as I did with Check Your Six! I decided to try out the rules solo first to learn the system before introducing it to others in my gaming group.

AirWar C21 depicts post-1945 aerial combat, but I’m hoping, once I’ve learned the modern rules inside-an-out, to develop a version suitable for the Big One.

So I painted up some Egyptian and Israeli aircraft, put together some home-made accessories and had a game. Apologies in advance for the fairly poor photos - new and more ‘advanced’ phone and bad lighting


The scenario
I adapted the ‘Brave Sons of the Pharaoh’ scenario from the Check Your 6! Jet Age book to the AirWar C21 rules and my available miniatures – pairs of MiG-21s, Mirage IIIs and A-4 Skyhawks (one of each from Heroics & Ros and I-94/Raiden) and a handful of Heroics & Ros T-54s and BTR-152s, some GHQ Warsaw Pact infantry

Yom Kippur War, 1973: Israeli Skyhawks are attempting to interdict an Egyptian armoured/mechanised column moving through a pass in the Sinai. Two Mirage IIICJs are conducting a fighter sweep across the area. A pair of Egyptian Air Force MiG-21MF Fishbeds (one flown by an old Soviet ace on secondment) are also moving to intercept the Skyhawks.

The Lineup - Heroics & Ros and I-94 Raiden miniatures (one from each manufacturer for each plane type). The stands are Games Workshop and the plane cards are downloadable from Boardgames Geek (more on that later)

The local terrain

The target - advancing column of Egyptian T-55s and BTR-152s (Heroics & Ros)

The fight
Egyptian Air Force Pilot Officer (PltOff) Ali Adib spotted the Israeli A-4 Skyhawks first on his radar display and called it out to his flight leader, the Russian Major Yevgeni Pushkin. Maj Pushkin initiated the combat by unleashing both his R-3R (AA-2C Atoll) Semi-Active Radar-Homing missiles at the nearest Skyhawk (PltOff Adib’s MiG was only equipped with two IR-homing Atolls). A momentary lapse of concentration caused Pushkin to fail his manoeuvre and he promptly flew off the board. (Literally ace pilot, Turn 1… Switch on, Pushkin). The radar-homing Atolls, with no illuminated target, flew away harmlessly and Adib looked around in mild panic for his flight leader.

Maj Pushkin's opening salvo

Maj Pushkin departs the board while his wingman continues on

PltOff Adib continued on the fight by himself against one then the other of the Skyhawks as they attempted to manoeuvre as well as possible despite their bombload-induced high stall speed. The Mirages eventually figured out what was going on and joined in a swirling dogfight with the outnumbered Adib. Poor stick work and energy management all round resulted in numerous failed manoeuvres, overshoots and stalls, with the Mirages in particular failing to get missile lock, IR-homing Atolls flying wide and the MiG and Skyhawks trading a few cannon rounds to little effect.

Radar-homing AA-2s pass by a Skyhawk

 
Suddenly, back into the fight rushed Maj Pushkin (I decided a 6 on a d6 at the start of each turn would let the Russian return). Darting past at high speed Pushkin launched an IR-homing missile and fired his guns at a Skyhawk flown by Lieutenant Gabriel Natan. Twisting to avoid the missile, Lt Natan was able to get in a shot at Pushkin’s MiG as it passed close by, damaging its gun. However Natan stalled his heavily-laden aircraft and was only just able to eject before it pancaked. Pushkin decided he would claim that one as a kill.

Maj Pushkin takes a shot with an IR-homing Attol

... gets hit by Skyhawk cannon after an overshoot

Natan loses control of his Skyhawk and stalls it

The Skyhawk crashes, Natan manages to eject

 PltOff Adib chased the remaining Skyhawk but was intercepted by a Mirage IIICJ flown by Captain Avraham Weiss. Weiss shredded Adib’s plane with cannon shells in a violent head-on gun pass. The burning MiG-21 plummeted to the ground. No ‘chute was seen.

PltOff Adib is shot down by a Mirage

 
Meanwhile, the inexperienced Lt Shmuel Zahav, overflew the Egyptian armoured column in his Mirage IIICJ as he tried to set up for an intercept on the enemy MiGs, attracting an SA-7 Grail Surface to Air Missile (SAM) which he avoided easily.

Egyptian air defence takes an opportunity shot at a Mirage flyover

 The aforementioned remaining Skyhawk, piloted by Captain Gilad Alon, was now within sight of the enemy armoured column and lined up for a bomb-run. Immediately behind Alon was Maj Pushkin, who launched his last remaining IR-homing Atoll and forced Alon to break off his bomb run. Having used his last weapon, the Soviet pilot accelerated for home, leaving the Mirages in the dust.

Maj Pushkin foils the bomb run

Maj Pushkin's last missile misses, but Capt Alon has to break off his attack

 Capt Alon’s quick break-turn had allowed him to survive the AA-2 missile, but seconds later the Egyptians volley-fired three SA-7 SAMs at him. Alon skimmed over the mountains dumping flares but failed to pull off a sharp evasive manoeuvre. Two of the missiles struck, setting off a catastrophic ordnance explosion that obliterated plane and pilot.

SA-7s chase Capt Alon's Skyhawk, while Maj Pushkin passes by, making his escape

 
Capt. Weiss and Lt Zahav in the Mirages used the last of their cannon ammunition shooting up a pair of BTR-152s in the Egyptian column before turning for home.
Lt Natan, who had safely ejected from his stalling Skyhawk, landed on the road. With nowhere to run he was captured by Egyptian troops.

The Mirages strafe the Egyptian column

... destroying some BTR-152s

Conclusion
I thoroughly enjoyed this game and after a few turns things started to flow easily. The rules are fairly intuitive despite the degree of technical detail included for planes, missiles, bombs and the like. AirWar C21 represents altitude abstractly which greatly simplifies matters. Quick reference charts for each aircraft, where you note all relevant details including speed, weapons, countermeasures and damage, are a really good idea and are downloadable from here, as Boardgames Geek: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/34413/airwar-c21-2nd-edition.

The only things that slowed down gameplay for me were remembering to check each aircraft’s reference sheet for its current speed when performing a manoeuvre and needing to note down the circumstances under which a missile was launched (e.g. with or without a lock, shorter than minimum range etc.) as the resolution of the attack is conducted in the Phase following the one in which the missile is launched.

Coming next
* Some random surprise mission maybe including a MiG-15 out of storage…
* Trolling SAM batteries
* Major Pushkin needs a new wingman.