Looking for a new Korea

 After the hoplites, we had a quick go at "MiG Alley", which Chris A has been working on for a while.  The rules are written by Chris Russell. They're published by Tumbling Dice, and you get them in a starter set with some planes.


Chris has done something clever with little magnets and nails in wooden bases to mount the planes. The dice represent the plane's "energy". You need this to do manoeuvres, but you have to manage it to stop your plane breaking up or going in to a spin. This is one of the two sections of F36 Sabres that I was flying.

This is quite different to the WW1 aerial we've been playing, which is simultaneous movement as well. This is IGO/UGO. I realised quickly you need to practice and get to know the aircraft capabilities to be any good at this.


That's the Yalu River. The thin strip is China. The board edge where Phil stands is the sea.


I opened with a bombing run on a hydro electric plant. I put out smoke for the photo, but I actually missed everything.


On the other side of the board, one of Phil's MiGs shot one of my other section's aircraft down. Luckily I didn't crash in China, which is apparently quite bad.


Phil messed up with his energy, so one of his MiGs went into a spin.


I found at at this point that the MiGs have way better armament than the Sabres. Ooo-er. The lone survivor of section two headed for the open sea board edge to escape. My other section dropped a height level to pick up energy.


I got a 2:1 on one of Phil's aircraft, but everyone missed. The plane with the black dice also used up most of its ammunition.


I then put the hammer down and headed off the board with these, having misread the victory conditions. Phil's spinning plane crashed.

That was short and sweet.

Thoughts. It is odd doing an aerial game that isn't simultaneous movement. You really need to understand the movement rules properly, and work out how to use your energy best. I'd missed that the Sabres are really good at tight turns, so are better at getting behind the MiGs than vice versa, which sort of offsets the crappy guns. It's a really interesting system, that will clearly reward close attention and practice.


Comments

  1. Archduke Piccolo20 November 2022 at 20:05

    Interesting! I heard or read somewhere that the MiG17s the North Koreans favoured were harder hitting on account of their cannon, but the slowish rate of fire vs the speed of the target made it hard to hit much of anything. The MG's much higher rate of fire gave a significantly greater chance of hitting something other than air. That is why (according to this source) the US aircraft did rather better than their opponents in the air war.

    I have a feeling, though, that if you stuck Erich Hartmann in the cockpit of either, the opposing aircraft would begin dropping like flies. Hartmann didn't 'do' dogfighting.
    Intriguing topic - especially if you're doing a campaign that includes the war in the air. Those Sabres look pretty!
    Cheers,
    Ion

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    Replies
    1. Trebian21 November 2022 at 09:53

      I don't know much about the period or the air war, but the rules imply that the Russian cannons are a game changer. I can't argue, however, that it you get on the tail of an aircraft and stick with it you're more likely to shoot it down than by doing a fly by. And I agree the planes look really nice.

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  2. Jim Jackaman20 November 2022 at 23:30

    It's a great little game. There's a Facebook group for Wings at War that I set up, where you'll find a lot of useful stuff, including how to make those flight stands.

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  3. Jim Jackaman20 November 2022 at 23:32

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/wingsatwar1600/?ref=share

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  4. Jim Jackaman20 November 2022 at 23:34

    And more MiG Alley stuff on my blog:

    http://jimswargamesworkbench.blogspot.com/search/label/MiG%20Alley?m=0

    ReplyDelete

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