FIRE IN THE SKY - BOMBERS OVER GERMANY

One of the few advantages of being 'of a certain age' lies in having a reasonable collection of wargames figures to call upon. Whilst my own collection is modest, by many gamer's standards, a lifetime's collecting does add up. Hence, when a new set of rules comes along it's nice to have suitable pre-existing figures ready to go. This proved to be the case with a new set of aerial rules 'Fire in the Sky', by Mark's Game Room. 

We've played, and enjoyed, quite a few 'grand tactical' rules recently: Blucher (each base is a Napoleonic brigade), Rommel (each base is a WW2 company), Square Bashing (each unit is a WW1 battalion) and Rolling Thunder (each base is a number of 17th century ships). However, this is the first time I've seen the principle applied to WW2 aircraft. In 'Fire in the Sky' the tactical unit is the squadron and the smallest sub unit is the section of 3 or 4 aircraft. It is noticeable that several of the above games are played on a grid, and so is Fire in the Sky.

We've played many aerial games over the years, mainly using 'Bag the Hun' with the occasional detour into 'Check Your Six!'. Both fine games but definitely pitched at a lower level than 'Fire in the Sky'. It must be something in the region of 20 years ago now that the Captain pitched the idea that he wanted to play a B17 bomber formation, using Bag the Hun (the original version 1). It sounded like a cool idea but the suggestion that it should be done in 1/144th scale seemed to me, at the time, to be rather barmy!

Well after 20 years of collecting 1/144th scale pre-painted diecasts, the Captain achieved his ambition at this year's WorLard event. However, whilst the game was great fun (I played in the playtesting) and looked awesome, I think the combination of model size and game scope was a bit of a stretch for 'Bag the Hun'. Fortuitously, 'Fire in the Sky' came out at about the same time, which meant we just left the toys set up, after WorLard, and played 'Fire in the Sky' for a couple of weeks. And it has to be said that we had a blast. We used a single aircraft model to represent a section, of 3 or 4 aircraft, which meant that we had a bomber box of 27 B17s. Three 'squadrons' of American fighters escorted the formation, whilst 3 'squadrons' of  German interceptors attempted to shoot them down.

A box of B17s with Thunderbolts and Lightnings as top cover.

A squadron of Mustangs brings up the rear.

The Memphis Belle is shot down but so is the German Squadron leader's section 

Rocket bearing Me 410s break into the formation but are shot down by escorting Lightnings.

Another bomber section is brought down but the last
Fockewulf 190 section succumbs to defensive fire

The rules come in at a mere 28 pages but only 12 of these are the rules. In fact, subtract the glossary, introduction and examples of play and the actual rules proper are covered in only half a dozen pages. The mechanisms are really simple but still pack in the important aspects expected of any air combat rules; the importance of an altitude advantage, for instance.

There are some really nice mechanisms that reflect the grand tactical nature of the game. For example, the bombers are assumed to be much slower than the fighters and do not move in the game; their relative position does not change whilst the faster fighter escorts and interceptors whirl around them. A really clever mechanism is the scatter test. After any attack, all fighter sections must test to see where they end up after the dog fight. They usually lose altitude and the squadron is scattered into several different grid squares. However, there is also a strong possibility that individual sections break off and head for home (minor damage or low fuel / ammo levels being neatly abstracted into the result of the scatter roll).

The game plays quick. We had a late start while we had the obligatory gossip and generally faffed about, as is our wont, but still had time for two games and made it to the pub earlier than normal.

The remaining 16 pages, of the rules, consist of five historically based scenarios and a neat campaign system. The standard campaign consists of only 5 games, so is easily feasible for a couple of club nights. I'm eagerly looking forward to giving the campaign a bash.

The rules are subtitled Volume 1: Grand Tactical Battles in the skies over Germany 1944. I believe the Battle of Britain is proposed for a follow up volume. This will suit my own collection and is eagerly awaited. However, I won't be doing it in 1/144th scale! My own toys are 1/300th and I will be using a single model to represent a section. That said, I was very tempted by the idea of 1/600th. The authors use sections of three or four 1/600th model planes, on a single flight stand. These look great and means that the aircraft are represented on a one to one basis. However, sanity prevailed and I shall be sticking to my current collection (at least for the Battle of Britain).