There seem to be a lot of Arms Race games springing up again. Anyone interested in an Arms Race Arms Race?Battle Report, Early Spring 1915Both sides decide to upgrade their new planes this turn with newer engines. On the Kolechian side, they’ve replaced the Equilibrium’s 7-cylinder rotary engine with a 9-cylinder one, improving its speed. The newer version is designated the
R9 model, while the older variant is the R7 model. Meanwhile, the Sky Crusaders unveil their new
Barnett 1915 V12 Engine, which is installed in a variant of the Emu that they’re calling the
VRAC A.1b “Great Emu” (the ‘b’ stands for “bomber”, “Barnett” or is just the second letter of the alphabet, depending on who you’re asking). The Great Emu goes slightly faster than a regular Emu and more importantly, carries a much larger bombload. However, due to some issues with the heavier engine it’s less manoeuvrable than the regular version. The Verusans have also upgraded their Feathers in a simpler, but still significant way.
The Northern MountainsThe winter weather still continues on this front, but there’s a definite rise in temperatures. Troops on both sides move up to forward positions on the mountain ridges, braving the occasional blizzard. In the highlands, combat resumes, albeit at a slowed pace.
This month, the KPAF has deployed two squadrons of Feathers north, with both tasked to gain air superiority over the front. Against this, the Verusan Sky Crusaders have brought a single squadron of Rhino biplanes that have been ordered on defensive patrols over Verusan lines, and one of Sky Eyes for artillery spotting. On paper, it seems like this month’s battles should go in favour of the Kolechians.
In practice, the Sky Crusaders have a few things going for them that aren’t immediately obvious. The squadron here might be one of the slightly outdated Rhinos, but these Rhinos have been upgraded with Project Crossguard, the Verusans’ synchronisation gear. Such Rhino-F biplanes have the advantage of easy sighting with their mounted machineguns, but more importantly they still have their original Bolt Machine Guns on the Rhino Horn mount. With two machineguns per plane, they have a significant firepower advantage over their Feather foes, and often a few seconds of accurate fire can immediately disable a Feather. This is, of course, balanced out by the fact that the Kolechians outnumber the Verusans on this front, and acting as wingmen for each other, can exploit their coordination advantage to the fullest. Still, the Verusan squadron puts up an admirable fight for being outnumbered two-to-one. In addition, most fights occur over Verusan territory as the Sky Crusader pilots are ordered to stick to defensive patrols and let the Kolechians come to them, giving them a very minor advantage insofar as shot down pilots have a chance of re-joining the fight. This advantage remains minor as the Sky Crusaders don’t yet have parachutes, meaning that pilot survivability is still rather low (not that the Kolechian Feathers have them either).
Besides the planes, the Verusan squadron of Sky Eyes carries on the less flashy, but equally important task of artillery spotting. Some balloons are shot down by intruding Feathers, but enough of them do their job to hold the Kolechian advance back with precise artillery fire. The KPAF is behind in this regard, as they haven’t dedicated any squadrons to actually supporting the advance of ground troops, in one way or another. As a result, the lines here remain unchanged this season.
The Central PlainsThe skies here are crowded with planes, and a lot of them are the Kolechians’ Equilibrium Fighter Monoplanes, perhaps looking to make up for the KPAF’s shaming here last season. They have fully three squadrons of the EFMs here this month split between the lines outside Estwice and northwest of Dreidansk, two of the older R7 model and one of the newer R9 model, which also happens to be the squadron that the Kolechian Ace Piotr is flying for. All EFM squadrons are equipped with the Tactical Escape Parachute, to hopefully save experienced pilots who need to bail out. Rather sportingly, the Verusan Sky Crusaders have instituted a policy of not killing the vulnerable bailed-out pilots, although a few designers are ardently pushing for an exception to be made in the case of using swords. Other than the EFMs, the KPAF has a single squadron of Feathers flying photoreconnaissance missions with the Oracle camera, and two squadrons of Hykib balloons, again split between the different axis of advance (from Zydinah to Estwice and Kemilov to Dreidansk).
In stark contrast, the Sky Crusaders have deployed the same amount of force here as in the north – one squadron of Sky Eyes and one of the ‘double-gunned’ Rhinos. Needless to say, the battle of the skies goes poorly for them this month. Many experienced pilots are lost, and morale is rather low in the Rhino squadron for going up against opponents while horribly outnumbered and outgunned. It’s worth mentioning that the Kolechian Equilibrium still enjoys a general accuracy advantage, from the KPAF’s introduction of tracer ammunition to all their planes.
Backed by accurate photoreconnaissance and artillery spotting, the Kolechian infantry do what their counterparts in the north cannot, and break through the Verusan lines in several places. They advance up to the outskirts of Estwice, and in a surprise victory, retake the previously fallen city of Dreidansk this month. This will hamper Verusan logistics in the central plains greatly, but the Verusan troops still in Estwice will hold out to the bitter end.
The Southern IslandsOn Okinso, the numbers advantage goes firmly to the Sky Crusaders. At Basselton, the KPAF has one squadron of EFMs (the newer R9 model) for air superiority and one squadron of Hykibs for artillery spotting, while offshore, the navy’s squadron of Hykibs continues to assist in the occasional raid behind Verusan lines on the northern coast. Meanwhile, the Verusans have a rather wide variety of aircraft. These include two squadrons of Rhinos (one of the -P variant for photographic duties, and one of the ‘double-gunned’ -F variant for general air superiority), two squadrons of Emus (one for air superiority, and one equipped with the Bar’s Shelf-AABR as a bomber), a single squadron of the newer Great Emu (carrying the reliable “Bottled Fury” bombs) and finally two squadrons of Sky Eyes (in their erstwhile role as artillery spotters).
Here, the strengths and weaknesses of the new variants of aircraft come into play. The R9 Equilibrium model, with its greater speed, now comfortably outspeeds the Emu in almost every condition except climbing. Still, it can’t match the Emu in other aspects such as firepower, where the Emu’s free-firing guns have a definite advantage.
In terms of general air superiority, this front sees the squadron of Equilibrium R9 models facing off against one squadron of regular Emus and one of Rhino-Fs. The numbers are now in favour of the Verusans, and it should be noted that while they aren’t as effective as Kolechian pilots in exploiting this disparity to the fullest, the increased firepower of a supporting Rhino-F, as compared to a Feather, more than makes up for it. However, the Kolechians still shoot more accurately thanks to their tracer ammunition and have a slight experience advantage over their opponents (although the Verusan pilots in Rhinos can roughly be considered their equals). Overall, the fight for air superiority here is stalemated.
In this situation, some enemy planes are free to engage aircraft that aren’t specifically dedicated to fighter duty. Balloons on both sides are shot down, but the losses remain roughly equal (Kolechian tracer ammunition doesn’t set Sky Eyes ablaze with any regularity, and the Verusans are engaging Hykibs with regular bullets). However, the occasional raid by a few enemy Equilibriums isn’t a problem at all for the Verusan bombers. The Emus have a rather large field of fire from their swivel-mounted machineguns, and can turn quickly enough that they’re not vulnerable from the sides, where the observers have difficulty aiming. In fact, they’re usually only vulnerable from the rear or below, which is a dangerous proposition as the Equilibrium R9 still has a lacklustre rate of climb for its increased speed.
Facing a minimal amount of resistance from the EFMs, the Great Emu’s advantages as a bomber can come to the fore. It carries a 450-pound bombload, or 6 Mk. 1 “Bottled Fury” bombs, 50% more than a regular Emu. Several bombs rain down on the Kolechian positions in Basselton, whose defences have been mapped by the Verusan Rhino-P squadron assigned to photographic reconnaissance. This combination of accurate photomapping and bombing efforts outweighs the effects of Kolechian naval artillery raids, and the Verusan army retakes Basselton.
Far to the south, a lone Kolechian squadron equipped with the relatively advanced Oracle camera is deployed to assist the defenders of Mizogorod. With their help, the defenders push the Verusan lines back up the isthmus between Lake Mizogorod and the coast, although the western side of the lake is still mostly under the control of Verusan troops.
Behind the FrontlinesThe Sky Crusaders have taken a leaf out of the Kolechian book and sent one of their Rhino squadrons on a public relations tour, which also doubles as a means to sell war bonds. For the most part, this consists less of actual flight demonstrations, and more of a touring exhibition which shows off the planes and pilots of Squire 2. Special emphasis is taken to market their Ace Alderic as
“the Winged Savior of Dreidansk”, a title which is quickly truncated to just
“the Winged Savior” once news of the recapture of Dreidansk hits the papers. Nevertheless, Alderic takes to the role like a fish to water, and the audiences seem to lap up his outlandish stories about fighting off five Kolechian planes alone. As a result, the Sky Crusaders become better known to the Verusan public. The tour also results in 1 PP’s worth of war bonds being sold, although this income has been commandeered by the council of generals, instead of going to the air force.
On the other side of the lines, the Crimson Eagles continue their airshows. Attendance is still on the uptick, but the organisers think that bigger audiences might be drawn in by something new.
The Outside WorldA joint German-Austro-Hungarian force attempts a second invasion of Serbia, aided by the Bulgarian army in return for the promise of Serbian land after the war. The invasion is a success, and Belgrade is captured along with the rest of Serbia, but some of the Serbian army is evacuated by Allied ships to Greece. On the Gallipoli peninsula, the Allies retreat in disorder, hampered both by the weather and by Ottoman aviators flying the Equilibrium Fighter Monoplane. RAF pilot John Slessor is the first to intercept a German Zeppelin over England, but the bombing raid is still an overall success, killing 71. The Loos-Artois Offensive in France fails, resulting in heavier casualties for the Allied forces as compared to the Central Powers. “Snowball marches” take place in Australia: these are recruitment drives across Australia to attract recruits for the war effort. In naval news, the Russian Navy bombs Varna, Bulgaria with seaplanes operating from seaplane tenders, and the USS North Carolina becomes the first warship to launch an aircraft by catapult.
Event – Foreign Purchase: The Principality of Midako forms its own air division, the Midako
Kokudaitai. To set up their fledgling air force, they are looking to
purchase both Feather and Rhino blueprints from Kolechia and Verusa, at a price of 1 PP for the next two turns. The consequences of selling them these blueprints is still unknown at this time.
Event – Test Pilots: The development of new aircraft is an impossible task without undertaking a few test flights to determine the flight characteristics of a prototype plane. As the planes designed by both sides grow in complexity, there is a need to run more test flights – unfortunately, actual pilots are reluctant to do this possibly dangerous job, when there are perfectly working planes to be flown.
The side which can come up with a better advertisement to attract test pilots will have a lowered developmental cost for the next two turns. This consists of -1 PP from each die’s cost spent to progress a project, and also includes the initial cost of starting a new project.
It is now the Design Phase, Late Spring 1915.
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13 (33.3%)
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Topic: Knights of the Skies: an Arms Race Game - Early Summer 1916 (Read 14350 times)