Gaming – Page 13 – Fortune And Glory

July 9, 2017July 10, 2017

Hyperlanes

This is a quick rundown of our first session with this new system.

There are 5 of us plus a GM. We all created characters, and not one of us created a human/humanoid player character.

GM: Nels
Bruce: droid
Dave: droid
Ray: lizard
Glenn: turtle
Me: koala

We got through a ‘training’ session with our characters’ new employer, who hired us to do a thing.

We got a ship, which was a piece of crap, so we flew to where Bruce’s character’s ship was located, and that’s about where we stopped. I think.

We may have ended on the planet where we have to do the thing.

So far, it’s much more straight forward than our experience with Mutants and Masterminds, which makes sense since Hyperlanes in basically Space D&D 5E.

Oh, and Grok (my koala character) is armed with a pistol and an axe. The choppy kind, not a guitar.

July 8, 2017

Star Trek Adventures

I went through the character creation section of the latest Star Trek RPG system (PDF), and the result was my obligatory Vulcan science officer.

The system seems solid, I just don’t know if my group will ever get around to this game.

We all like Star Trek, but we all like super heroes, too, and couldn’t get our heads around Mutants and Masterminds.

Also, we’re starting up Hyperlanes, which is a cinematic space opera RPG using the D&D 5th Edition rules.

So, for the time being, Lt. Commander Seevok, science officer of the starship [to be determined], will sit in another file folder until needed.

July 3, 2017

Phone Update

Picked up an OtterBox case for the new phone, because the other one didn’t really protect the bottom of the phone.

Never had an OtterBox case before.

July 3, 2017

Target for Today: Mission #1 AAR

After Action Report: August, 1942

Target for Today: Amiens (Airfield)

Bomber: Super-X (Mission #1)
Group position: Low
Bomber #: 15

Good fighter cover to and from target zone.

Outbound:
Zone 1: Good weather, no complications during take off.
Zone 2: 50% cloud cover, no German fighter resistance.
Zone 3: Clear skies, moderate German fighter resistance, mostly driven off by fighter cover, until 2 fighters got through. Both were shot down, 1xME 109 by Sgts Hayes and Stewart, 1xME 109 by Sgt. Martin.
Zone 4: Clear skies, no German fighter resistance.
Zone 5: TARGET ZONE – Clear skies, target slightly obscured, moderate German fighter resistance, driven off by fighter cover. Light Flak, no hits to bomber. Bomb run was on target, 50% of target damaged.

Inbound:
Zone 5: Clear skies, heavy German fighter resistance, driven off by fighter cover.
Zone 4: 50% cloud cover, no German fighter resistance.
Zone 3: 50% cloud cover, moderate German fighter resistance, driven off by fighter cover.
Zone 2: 50% cloud cover, no German fighter resistance.
Zone 1: Good weather, no complications during landing.

First mission under my belt, and I gotta say, I prefer this game to B-17 Flying Fortress Leader. I think both games play rather smoothly, once you figure out the mechanics of the rules.

I prefer to fly a single bomber in a group, instead of the entire group all at once. That’s probably due to my playing B-17 Queen of the Skies for so many years. TfT plays like an enhanced version of the original QotS game.

I’ll give the single bomber game in FFL a shot.

—

Zone 3

Long: “Fighter coming in, 1:30 high!”

Hayes: “There’s one on our 6, high!”

Stewart: “I see him!”

Stewart and Hayes opened fire, blasting the ME 109 to hell.

Stewart: “Ha! Got him!”

Hayes: “No, I got him!”

Stewart: “Call it a tie?”

Hayes: “Yeah, okay.”

Martin squeezes the trigger on his right waist gun, obliterating the remaining ME 109.

Mitchell: “Hey, the kid got one!”

Thompson: “Nice shooting there.”

Martin: “Thanks, Chief.”

Thompson: “Don’t call me ‘Chief’.”

July 2, 2017

Find a Crew

I found a random name/age/home state generator for Target for Today.

The crew of the B-17 Flying Fortress “Super-X”:

	Name	Rank	Age	Home State
Bomber	Super-X	–	–	–
Pilot	Wallace Thompson	Lt.	21	NY
Co-Pilot	Leon Mitchell	Lt.	28	OH
Navigator	Ronald Long	Lt.	22	TN
Bombardier	Chester Bryant	Lt.	25	CT
Engineer	Wayne Hill	Sgt.	21	IL
Radio Operator	David Stewart	Sgt.	22	MT
Ball Gunner	Billy Hughes	Sgt.	23	NJ
Left Waist Gunner	Edwin Bennett	Sgt.	23	GA
Right Waist Gunner	Philip Martin	Sgt.	20	CA
Tail Gunner	Joe Hayes	Sgt.	21	MA

This gives the game a bit more ‘character’, like it did in the older B-17 Queen of the Skies. By putting names to a fictional crew, you pull for them to survive.

Back in the day, I used names of people I knew. Still do, as the B-17 QotS campaign for the bomber “Facebook” will attest.

First mission is ready, raid on the airfields of Amiens, France.

Wheels up in the morning. I should be done with the rules by then.

July 1, 2017

Target for Today

This is what happens when I’m naming a B-17 Flying Fortress during a Godzilla marathon…

June 26, 2017June 29, 2017

B-17 Games: QotS vs. FFL

Comparison of the base games:

The main difference is, while Queen of the Skies focuses on 1 bomber, Flying Fortress Leader focuses on 1 or more bomber groups/squadrons, so the game play is more abstract.

There are rules for single-bomber play in FFL, but I haven’t gotten to those rules yet.

Each has it’s own mechanic for encounters on the way to the target, and somewhat similar procedures for fighters and flak, and bombing the target. Many of the game mechanics from the other DVG Leader-series games are present in FFL.

Each is fun, in it’s own way. It depends on what one wants out of the game experience, overall command of the mission/campaign, or the results of your own bomber crew during those missions/campaigns.

I’ll probably play a couple more practice missions before embarking on a full campaign.

And I’ll probably try Target for Today before I get to that full campaign.