Darwin - A Pair of Scenarios

A few weeks ago I hosted a pair of games from my forthcoming scenario booklet on the American involvement at Darwin. These scenarios featured the rather green pilots of the 33rd Pursuit Group against Pearl Harbor veterans from the Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force. In both scenarios, as was historically, the Americans are placed in an impossible position. I was called out for this by a member of the Check Your 6! discussion group, complaining about play balance. War is not play balanced, but the premise behind these two scenarios is to have the players change sides and keep track of victory points by player and by team. And in this aspect, the scenarios now become balanced as players vie to obtain points.

I was, however, hesitant to spring these two scenarios on my gaming buddies as now I was worried about how they might react to the impossible American setup. 

The First Game (Zeros, Zeros, Zeros!)

In the first game I flew the single P-40 flight leader and I played it rather historically as I dove through the oncoming A6M2s and fled the table, securing a few victory points for myself. The other two American players took on the Japanese headfirst, which did not bode well.

The American setup...

...and the Japanese.

Nice formation there, eh?

Off to the races I go, leaving my fellow players to take on the swarm of A6M2s.

Not looking good, eh Yank?

The game ended with nearly all P-40s shot down. I grabbed two victory points with my rapid exit, which did pull some of the A6M2s away from the remaining Americans.

The Second Game (The Death of A Flight)

This game was more of a bounce, with the Japanese coming in from the northwest, turning to take on A Flight, which had landed, and now was scrambling to get airborne after hearing the radio calls that Darwin was under attack. The goal for the Americans? Survive and get off the board to obtain VPs. Bear in mind the American players for this scenario were the Japanese players in the first game, so they now felt the frustration of the historical event. I hope they banked enough points from Game One!

The American flight leader was able to get off a friendly edge, earning victory points. He was the overall winner of the two games, with a few others coming close. The feedback from my experience band of CY6! brothers was actually favorable - they appreciated being with the advantage and the disadvantage, and thought the tracking of points was a motivator to do well as the Japanese and to survive as the Americans. Guess that dude on the discussion group doesn't know what he is talking about.

Mat - Deep Cut Studio

Planes - Flight Deck Decals

The American conga line, taking off at Speed 1, TAL 1.

Three shotai (or one chutai if you prefer) in actual shotai formation.

Some of the Americans decided to move towards the Japanese. Why, oh why?

Which simply made it easier for the Japanese to close in. The American flight leader, watching my epic performance in the first game, is trying to get offboard.

A P-40 sandwich. IIRC he survived via robustness rolls and poor Japanese shooting.