Wing Leader: Air Combat Over China, 1942

I have owned a copy of the  aerial combat board game Wing Leader : Victories 1940-1942 for several years (pre-pandemic, at least) without really finding the time to give it a proper go. It's a very interesting game, so I've been glad to finally devote some time to it, and at least play the first couple of scenarios.

Among the aspects that I found interesting were (i) the counters represent 'units' of aircraft, specifically Flights (about 5-6 planes)  and Squadrons  (about 10-12 planes) rather than single aircraft - this seems appropriate as it was generally how air battles were run in the period concerned -   and most interesting, (ii)  the portrayal of  altitude.  

It has always seemed to me that the absolutely most important factor in portraying  air combat must be the height that the aircraft are at. Read any eyewitness account of aerial combat - having height advantage (which translates into speed advantage, for attack or escape ) is crucial. You might argue that in 1914-1918, combat once joined tended to be mainly turning fights ('dogfight' is the perfect word!),  but 1939-45 saw the triumph of height and speed against manoeuverability, as the pilots of nimble but lightly-armed and armoured Japanese and Italian fighters, for example, found to their ultimate cost against American and British aircraft built to prioritise height, speed and heavy weaponry. 

All the game systems that show aircraft moving over a map of the land, with markers denoting  altitude,  just don't look right to me: the aircraft seem to move more like ships in a sea battle game, or tanks on the land.  Things can be improved by putting the models on stands with adjustable heights, but that always seems a bit awkward too, and quite difficult to put together.  A solution was suggested 45 years ago (ulp!) by Mike Spick in his book Air Battles in Miniature - he dispensed with 'depth' on the table, and having its two dimensions represent (i) distance along the ground and (ii) distance above the ground. The model aircraft were  shown in profile, the altitude and attitude (nose up or down)  of the aircraft were perfectly represented - it looked like an air combat!  As I've mentioned before, as a youngster I was enthralled by Mike Spick's book, and a few of us fought some exciting (if completely unhistorical) mass air battles at our club using 1:72 scale models 'cut down the middle' - I can tell you that a B-17 in that scale looks pretty impressive! Happy days, indeed. 

 Therefore it was fascinating to see that the Wing Leader designer Lee Brimmicombe-Wood has taken Mike Spick's concept and used if for his game - the unit  counters show their aircraft in profile, and the board represents distance along the ground and height over the ground in the same way.  As an example, here is the intial setup for Scenario 2 'Birthday Present' which I have played through:   

And a close-up of the Japanese raiders, stalked by American P40s:

 

With apologies for variable quality of photos in this post, I hope you can see how the format works. The scenario is set in April 1942 near  the Chinese city of Lashio.  A Japanese raid is launched, with two squadrons of Japanese Ki 21 'Sally' bombers ( 12 aircraft each) escorted by 1 Squadron (12 aircraft) and 1 Flight (6 aircraft) of Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters.  American forces of 1 Squadron (8 planes) and 1 Flight (4 planes) of P-40B Warhawks, plus a Flight (4) of the improved model  P-40E  are sent to intercept, with the P-40Bs climbing from below a layer of wispy cloud toward the Japanese formations, and the P-40Es  approaching from behind.  On the counters, Squadrons are  denoted rather neatly by showing two aircraft profiles on the counter, Flights by only one. 

Movement rules are very simple - it's basically 2 movement points (MPs)  for bombers and escorts which have not yet been alerted to the presence of the enemy,  3 MPs for  fighters operating independently as interceptors or a 'sweep', and usually 1MP per square in level flight, and 1MP if changing facing by  more than 90 degrees.  If they dive, add 1 MP/square  - and climbing one level requires more MPs, depending on the aircraft type and current altiude (for example P-40Bs take 2MPs to climb 1 level starting from levels 4 to 9,  3MPs if starting from level 10 or higher).  This is quite a contrast form the old Mike Spick system, which I seem to remember involved calculating each aircraft's speed to the nearest 1mph, and moving correspondingly precise distances in mm, then re-calculating according to changes in height and throttle setting - it was all admittedly a bit like airborne Bruce Quarrie or WRG rules..! 

The game introduces the concepts of  'Vectors' and 'Tallies', markers for which can be seen on the board. Each interceptor unit starts with a 'Vector' which is the target square their ground controller has directed them to aim for,  but they can then attempt to spot enemy units, taking a die roll check which is modified for distance, weather conditions (those clouds)  etc. If successful,  the Vector counter is flipped to 'Tally' and placed on the enemy unit that was spotted, and the interceptor unit can then move to attack the enemy unit.  The sequence of movement means that the target  unit has to move first - thus if you spot ( Tally )  an enemy unit, you can follow it and move to attack.  All fighter units can Tally, and the result can be a 'chain of Tallies' which deternines the order of movement -  quite a neat system for representing the importance of spotting and tailing enemy aircraft. The poor old bombers have to just lumber along in straight lines, I'm afraid, and always move first.. 

Turn 1 : 'Tallies' obtained, action will follow..

 

In our game,  early on several Tallies were gained and had interesting effects - the P-40E ( labelled 'P') unit spotted the rearmost bombers (unit 'Y') and climbed, ready to swoop, but in turn were Tallied by the Flight of Ki-43s ( unit 'D' ),  who in their turn were spotted by P-40B Flight 'B'. So a 'chain of tallies' occurred, and that determined move order - first bombers 'Y', then P-40Es 'P', then Ki-43s 'D' and finally P-40Bs 'B' - several levels of 'cat and mouse' being played! Meanwhile the remaining P-40B squadrom 'A' had seen the leading bombers 'X' and climbed to engage, but the Ki-43 Squadron 'A' remained blissfully unaware ( and in this scenario have no common radio 'net', so can't be alerted by their comrades ) and just beetled along with the bombers, having a lovely day..

However, that squadron 'A' of Oscars woke up in the end,  spotted P-40B squadron 'A' below them, and dived to attack through the wispy clouds, while the other units were all still closing in on each other in their chain of Tallies.  Combat commendes in the bottom left of this picture, from Turn 3 : 

Turn 3 : first combat, and 'chain of tallies'

 

Once two or more opposing units reach the same square, combat ensues, and this is a bit more involved. The basic mechanism is to compare combat values for each aircraft type, work out the differential between them, then roll dice for 'hits' against a combat table where the differential denotes which column to use - so if your combat value is better, you should get more hits. The attacking unit can choose whether to use 'Turning Fight' tactics or 'Hit and Run' - different aircraft types can better at one or the other (the Oscars are better at Turning, P-40s are better at 'Hit and Run'),  and there are modifiers for 'Veteran' or 'Green' units, whether climbing (hence slower) or diving, or formation has been distrupted, etc. 

aircraft stats cards are rather nice

 

Each 'hit' then triggers another die roll, modified by 'Firepower' of the attacker  and 'Protection' of the victim - this can result in no effect, a  damaged  ( 'Straggler' ) aircraft or a 'Loss'  representing one plane destroyed - remember your unit may be a Flight of say 6, or Squadron of 12.  Obviously if all 4 or 6 in your flight become Losses, the unit is eliminated - but usually formations  will break up long before that - which leads us to unit cohesion. 

After hits and losses, there's a Cohesion check for every unit in the combat, which is rather akin to morale - after a bout  of combat,  your formation may be disrupted and therefore less effective, or it may simply break up altogether.  I quite like this idea, as it reflects the common experience of pilots reporting going into a combat where the air seems full of machines of both sides, only to suddenly find themselves seemingly  alone in the sky  as all formation has been lost, and they might as well head for home.  This has some interesting implications,  in that a unit could attack an enemy unit from a good position, roll well in the combat, score  several hits and convert them to 'kills', but then roll low in the 'cohesion ' check and become 'broken' because the pilots have lost touch with each other, and are  obliged to head for home. Flights are more likely to suffer this than Squadrons, and Fighters more than Bombers, who after all depend on keeping close together.   This mechanism can mean that combats can be rather short, and highly unpredictable!  

In my opening fight between Ki-43 Oscars and P-40Bs, the attacking Oscars chose 'Turning fight' which gave them an advantage, and gained for being 'Veteran', so rolled on the '+2' differential column - rolling 7 on 2 dice gave 1 hit on on the P-40s. In turn the Americans, at a '-2' differential , rolled '10' and also got 1 hit.  Then in the determination of losses, the Oscars rolled poorly and suffered from their poor armament ( low 'Firepower' ) - so the 'hit' had no effect, but the P-40s rolled higher and had better Firepower, and claimed the first kill of the game, as one Ki-43 went down, presumably in flames..  In the cohesion checks, both squadrons suffered one point of disruption, but remained unbroken - it takes 2 disruptions to break a squadron.  So the combat continued in the next turn  - an actual 'dogfight'.. In Turn 4, neither side could score any hits, but the unfortunate P-40 squadron 'A' rolled low in the Cohesion check, took another Disruption level and was thus 'Broken' - and out of the fight, with the small consolation of having claimed one Ki-43 'Kill'. Units are brittle in this game!

Turn 5 : Oscars, Sallys and P-40Es get stuck in

 

The other units on both sides continued stalking each other, and on Turn 4 the Flight of P-40Es ('P')  caught up with the rearmost squadron of  'Sally' bombers , shooting down one bomber , only to be caught up with on Turn 5 by  Flight 'D' of 'Oscars'.  The fighters battled it out, each Flight scoring one 'kill' on the other - but crucially the P-40 Flight failed its Cohesion roll and took one Disruption point - enough to break a Flight. So by turn 5,  two of the three US units had been Broken and forced out of the fight - actual losses standing at 1 P-40E from the US force, and 1 Ki-21 'Sally' and 2 Ki-43 'Oscar's from the Japanese. Interesting - despite more  casualties, the Japanese  formations had held together better and were gaining the upper hand. The remaining  P-40B Flight comprised 4 aircraft ( and were 'Green' pilots ) now up against about 40 Japanese planes!

Perhaps any sensible US pilots would have dived for home at this point, but I decided these guys were keen to fight - they had a Tally on Ki-43 Flight 'D', though were by now also being stalked by Ki-43 Squadron 'A'. So inevitably on Turn 6, all three units met in a climactic combat.. 

final mass brawl: 4 P-40s vs 16 Ki-43s..

 With the Ki-43 Squadron 'A' moving last they were the attackers and chose a Turning fight, which gave them the advantage, plus being Veterans against Green, and having two units agianst one - the Japanese player then rolled 11 on 2 D6, scoring 4 hits! The P-40s scored none, unsurprisingly. Those 4 hits could wipe them out - in the event, they suffered one Loss and one Straggler (damaged), thanks to the Oscars' light armament.   In the Cohesion check, the P-40 flight took one disruption point and was Broken - no suprise there! But it didn't go all the Japanese way, as the ki-43 Squadron 'A' also took one Disruption point, which added to one from the previous combat, left them Broken too.  Broken units must make for home, so with all 3 of its units now Broken, in effect the US force was finished.  

Turn 7 : P-40s dive away, but are pursued

 

Broken units can simply drop out of the game by mutual player agreement, and I had done that with all previous examples, but it's not automatic, and they may be forced to try to escape, pursued by the enemy - so I thought I would try that with my plucky 'Green' P-40 Flight. Accordingly on Turn 7, the P-40Bs dived away towards their baseline - but were pursued by the remaining Ki-43 Flight, who continued the combat with some advantage.  The 'Oscars'  scored 2 hits , which resulted in 1 more Loss to the P-40s - now reduced to just two planes, one of them damaged. They were saved finally by the Cohesion check - after several rounds of combat ( depletion of 'ammo' is tracked and this reduces cohesion ), the Ki-43 Flight failed its check, and was also required to make for home. With that, all fighter formations  on both sides had broken up and retired to base, leaving the two Japanese  bomber squadrons to continue on their mission - this being to simply reach the American baseline and release their bomb loads. With no opposition remaining this was a done deal, and the game ended.  A tot-up of Victory Points (basically 1 VP per fighter Loss, 2 VPs per bomber, and 6VPs per unbroken Bomber Squadron reaching 'target') followed.  Losses were 2 P-40Bs and 1 P-40E  (3VP) versus 1 Ki-21 and 2 Ki-43s  (4VP), but with 12VP for the unbroken bombers, the Japanese had scored enough to claim a victory - as was pretty much apparent. 

So there we are - I have strapped in, started up, taken off and flown my first  missions, and returned to terra firma relatively unscathed and with a little more confidence to face further sorties. I must admit I rather like this game system, not least because of its use of  Mike Spick's clever concept of portraying the all-important third dimension  ( I have never understood quite why other rule-writers have not followed his lead in all these years! ).  The movement rules are simple but effective, and I like the 'Tally' system.  Combat rules with their three stages of calculating advantage and hits, incurring losses, and checking cohesion took a little getting used to, but quite soon seemed to flow quite naturally. The 'Cohesion' rules did give me pause slightly, as they make fighter units (especially smaller ones)  very fragile once committed to combat - they can seem like a one-shot weapon, and combat can be pretty brief.  I did wonder if that was a bit too impactful  -  I suppose a possible 'tinker' with the rules might be to increase the number of Disruptions that cause a unit to become 'Broken'? But would that then mean long,  drawn-out combats and unrealistically high casualties?   If the Cohesion rules are giving a good version of what happened in reality - and I think they might well be - then I should be satisifed with that, perhaps. One is not playing the role of a single heroic ace fighter pilot doing battle at 'Angels One-Five',  but more likely the Wing Leader, or even the  Ground Controller watching plots moving on his radar screens and plotting tables,  committing squadrons to battle and hoping for the best as you listen to them excitedly reporting ( or not ) the outcomes over the radio..       

Now so far, of course I have only used the basic rules - there are 'Advanced' rules still to come, covering among other things Drop Tanks and fuel limits, special tactics, special weapons, Jets and Rocket Planes, Surface Units and Flak Units, Barrage Balloons,  and last but by no means least,  Bombing.  I'll try to take it slowly!   I like that the game covers 1940-1942 only - the 'early war' period is just as interesting in the air as on the ground, as the combatants are on a learning curve and pre-war concepts  and designs are tried and sometimes found wanting. Me-262s and Mustangs can wait, I want to try Gladiators and Fiat G.50s first!  There are 23 scenarios in this edition, covering China,  the Eastern Front, the Battle of Britain (of course!), Malta, Greece 1941, the Pacific, France 1940, the Western Desert, and France 1941-1942. There's a huge Dieppe 1942 scenario with about 15 units each of RAF and Luftwaffe, and a Midway scenario where 5 units of Japanese 'Zeros' have to try to deal with 3 times their number of American Fighters, Torpedo- and Dive-bombers in multiple waves - challenging stuff indeed.   On a much more modest scale the third one in the scenario book is 'Stalingrad Airlift' , whereby 2 units of He-111s acting as supply carriers have to fly very low, escorted by a single Flight of Me-109Fs  (4 machines),  and are intercepted by 2 squadrons (18 planes!) of Russian Yak-1s. The Me-109s have 'Experte' ( i.e. an Ace ) status and the Russians are 'Green', but it will be a hard one for the Germans, I suspect - they'd better do well on the Cohesion checks! 

I hope this has been interesting for anyone thinking about  WW2 aerial combat games  and looking for  a different and interesting approach -  I think you can see this fits that bill.  I am quite pleased with the game, and will try to work my way through the scenarios.   Hmmm... do you think it could work on a 'bigger scale' ?  I mean , a board with  larger  squares, and actual models for the units - perhaps 1/144 kits could be used? It could look really good at a show(!)..  Does the spirit of Mike Spick look over our shoulders..?

Now I really need to crank up the painting production line - there are 7YW, WW2, and Pike and Shot waiting for attention, and some gaming with such figures should also be lined up.  A planning session is required, and then some execution, to be shown in future posts. Until then, keep well, everyone ( that means YOU, Ray..hope you're on the mend! ).