Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Other Adventures => Topic started by: cyagen on January 23, 2014, 07:35:13 PM
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After a long search, I managed to find a Crimson Skies player! My opponent does not have much experience with the game, so I tried to keep it simple.
The scenario was simple, the Steel Eagles, a mercenary group based in the ISA, must escort a bomber across the board. The Sky Rangers (also a band of hired guns) had to shoot it down.
I had a Bloodhawk, a Firebrand (with a DE 7 pilot), a Me-108 (BTN7 SP4, G3, AC3, 3 x 50) and the bomber was a Festung IV
My opponent had a Devastator, a Valliant, an Avenger and a Brigand.
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/571/x777.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/fvx777j)
We were using the open sky map.
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/10/q255.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/0aq255j)
The Firebrand draws first blood! (He only got hit by a 50 MG and the Brigand suffered heavy damage)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/28/zuuz.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/0szuuzj)
Here is the mistake that cost me the game, I did not stick to my plan and keep the bomber straight.
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/22/w0yy.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/0mw0yyj)
The Valiant scores a MG hit that will go BOUM in 4 turns.
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/34/ea43.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/0yea43j)
After some prep work from the Firebrand the Me-108 blew up the Brigand with a MG tank hit. There was no 'chute
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/69/qevu.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/1xqevuj)
After 2 rocket hits from the Bloodhawk, the Firebrand destroyed the Devastator's engine. The pilot bailout out, lost 2 Con when he hit the rotor, but survived.
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/585/0pf7.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/g90pf7j)
The Bomber goes BOOOOOOM! The Rangers now need to exit the board as they fulfilled their objective.
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/824/ae3a.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/mwae3aj)
But the Valiant is not fast enough, the Firebrand gets his second kill! The pilot (the leader of the Rangers) did not survive.
After that, both sides call it a day and returned to base.
Some quick conclusions:
1- Bombers according to the Zeppelins and Bombers rules are very vulnerable. In that case if was a BTN 4 to target any location. My opponent logically targeted the wing to get a tank hit. They can hurt you with their turrets especially the rear turret that took out 2 of the Valliant’s guns, but even if I had played it perfectly, the bomber would probably not have survived. It was just too easy to hit it.
2- The Firebrand is still the king. I remembered it as one of the most dangerous plane in the game and it lived up to its reputation. With a DE 7 pilot, it was a deadly combination
3- I made the mistake of trying to be fancy with the bomber. I should have stick to the plan, straight ahead! But again, I am pretty sure that the bomber would not have made it even if I had not made this mistake. If we replay the scenario, we will do it on the small side of the map.
4- Although I lost the game, my opponent paid a very high price. By concentrating on the bomber, he allowed me to get some good shots at his fighters. The only substantial damage that I suffered was an elevator hit on the Firebrand. The Me-108 paint got scratched and the Bloodhawk got stress fractures from random movement.
5- I never liked the Bloodhawk. I always played it when introducing players to the game because it did not fit my style. However, I think that I am starting to “get it”. It will never be my favorite plane but I think I figured out the loadout and the tactic to use it correctly.
6- The Me-108 (my creation) had a good game. I am eager to test it more. The pilot had only 2 in Quickdraw so it made it a challenge. I got the feeling that I am going to like this plane a lot.
Thank you for your attention
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Awesome! I always considered Crimson Skies to be the best game FASA ever made. Unfortunately, I made the mistake to lend out the core rules to a gaming "buddy" of mine and they've been AWOL for some 10 years now. :-[
Well, I guess I'll have to be on the lookout and buy another set if I come across one for a reasonable price - still got a bunch of planes, would be stupid to let go of those. Lovely kits, at least for the first few waves.
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Thanks.
It is indeed a very nicely designed game. One of my favorite, so simple but full of possibilities.
I am sooo glad to have found someone to play with.
Next game I think I'll make him escort the bomber....
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It has been a looong time since I posted. Missed it here. I am very happy to.see someone else still plays.my (hands down) favorite table top game. CS and Star Frontiers are my obsessions. Pleased to.meet you. Stormin wolf, check PM's please.
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It took a long time to find someone that live at the reasonable distance from my house but I am really happy that he likes it.
I tried Check your six and even if the mechanic of the game is similar, it is not the same. CS is not a simulation, it is a pulp "knights of the sky" game that as a little something that make it so much fun.
Checked my PM...but there is nothing...
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Pm check was for stormmin wolf sorry for confusion. I agree there is No substitute for cs!
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It's good to see someone playing the original ,and best. version of CRIMSON SKIES .
I might dust mine off and play again after seeing your inspiring game.
Back when i played the delta winged Firebrand always got shot out of the sky no matter who played it ,perhaps it was too tempting a target as it seemed so big.
In my memory i recall the Bloodhawk being a beast of a plane. I still remember when a single Bloodhawk tied up four other aircraft for the entire game. No matter how hard they tried they couldnt take it out it kept slipping through their fingers,and all the players were equally experienced in the game.
happy days
Dex
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I really liked the aesthetics of the game but the minis were so darn expensive at the time I didn't really get into it... and I have to say I didn't really like the rules. I don't like hexes and the grid armor thing may suit tanks in Centurion but I found it odd in a game of warplanes.
I wonder if you can still get the minis somewhere...
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I always preferred the setting of CS to the game itself - I'd have lapped up a skirmish game in that world!
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I always preferred the setting of CS to the game itself - I'd have lapped up a skirmish game in that world!
Absolutely. It's on the 'one day' list ::)
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I wonder if you can still get the minis somewhere...
the clix versions of the planes are still available and most places ive seen them have them pretty cheap
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Iron Winds will sell them to you new.
http://ironwindmetals.com/store/index.php?cPath=14&osCsid=9lbh8bjmjnf92jb45ugcrltld6
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But not cheaply :'( :'( :'(
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the clix versions of the planes are still available and most places ive seen them have them pretty cheap
Are the clix versions the same scale as the metal ones?
Yeah, I noticed Iron Wind and RP Europre still sell them. Just the transparent prop discs are gone, but I can make those myself...
...but maybe I should start with digging out the couple of models I already have somewhere and painting them first...
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Congrats for finding an opponent near you. It was about time! Thanks for the nice AAR, this gets me in the mood to start some engines too and pump lead into some pirate planes... :D
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Are the clix versions the same scale as the metal ones?
Ignoring the reference to 'scale' which never applied to CS planes (they were made to a size, not a scale, like the old matchbox etc), the clix planes are quite literally just a retool of the metal ones. Very little difference between them at all, when I discovered that I bought a whole bunch of them :)
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They come off their clix stands very easily and are indistinguishable from the metal ones. Theyre nicely painted too.
Last year i picked up three packs of them for £10. I wasn't looking for them they were an impulse buy.
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Indeed, the Clix planes are a cheap and good source of CS stuff.
The Firebrand and the Bloodhawk on the pictures are both repainted Clixs
The scults are almost identicals, the Firebrand looked better in metal but I payed less than 1 € for this one...
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Back when i played the delta winged Firebrand always got shot out of the sky no matter who played it ,perhaps it was too tempting a target as it seemed so big.
In my memory i recall the Bloodhawk being a beast of a plane. I still remember when a single Bloodhawk tied up four other aircraft for the entire game. No matter how hard they tried they couldnt take it out it kept slipping through their fingers,and all the players were equally experienced in the game.
The Firebrand has a nice combination of armor and firepower. I've never seen it been a no factor in a game. Flown correctly it is THE plane that you got to consider first when planning your move.
The Bloodhawk can indeed be impossible to corner, but it has the firepower of an asmatic mouse. It is also one of the two plane that is not optimize (play with the stats in Aeronaut and you'll that you get better stats with BTN 7). I like firepower, the Avenger is a favorite of mine, so this is not the plane for me.
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I always preferred the setting of CS to the game itself - I'd have lapped up a skirmish game in that world!
The background has sooooo much potential.
For me is, originaly from Québec, the war between Québec and the Maritime Provinces war a god send to come up with scenarios.
Have a look there....
http://www.montanaraiders.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=19 (http://www.montanaraiders.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=19)
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The background has sooooo much potential.
For me is, originaly from Québec, the war between Québec and the Maritime Provinces war a god send to come up with scenarios.
Have a look there....
http://www.montanaraiders.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=19 (http://www.montanaraiders.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=19)
I've dabbled in a CS land battles project in the past (in fact, some of the artwork I've done for it has popped in the stalled 1933 kickstarter)
The thing I found funny with your West Quebec write-up is that Hull is so hilly that you can hide hundreds of artillery batteries just within the old city limits. And you can still see Parliament Hill from the Northern-most tip. The terrain also wears you out quickly while cycling...
I also have lots of WWI to WWII minis on hand, and even scratch-built some vehicles for that purpose: http://www.dminis.com/jakarnilson/gallery/2670/ (http://www.dminis.com/jakarnilson/gallery/2670/)
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I had some ideas for a tank combat game in the CS universe "Crimson Steel" but it never took off.
Yeah, I've lived there for a year so I know about the hills. However, I wanted to put the emphasis on the boom town status and the dependency between Ottawa and Hull (a little bit like today's situation).
Also, Québec can't afford to fight on 2 fronts, so no batteries around Hull.
However, a lot of air shuttles to bring cheap labor to work in Ontario.
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I had some ideas for a tank combat game in the CS universe "Crimson Steel" but it never took off.
Yeah, I've lived there for a year so I know about the hills. However, I wanted to put the emphasis on the boom town status and the dependency between Ottawa and Hull (a little bit like today's situation).
Also, Québec can't afford to fight on 2 fronts, so no batteries around Hull.
However, a lot of air shuttles to bring cheap labor to work in Ontario.
Given how Aviation is king and land borders all throughout the Disunited States are supposed to be fortified (or at least with some shoddy trenches and a no-man's land between) in the core rules, I had gone with the natural extension to that. I honestly don't understand why FASA decided that Ottawa become the capital of the Protectorate of Ontario. A similar, but better thought out case is how Philadelphia becomes the de facto capital of the USA in Harry Turtledove's Timeline 191 books.
Although I never did go into a detailed history, I also put Dupleissis in power. But I had him march on Quebec City with the UN after the disastrous results of the RdQ-MP war just like Mussolini did in 1922. And he swapped the flag, of course.
Canada, I realized, would fall apart quickly without the East pulling together, and so it's logical that the People's Collective would expand North, as would Pacifica. And if the oil fields are exploited a few decades earlier in history, there's a bunch of Social-Credit loonies that suddenly become way more powerful...
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I used an election in my version since I did not think that the Québecois are that kind of a people. I did not write it but I see more the Church using its power to push the vote for Duplessis.
As for the flag, stay tuned, I got my own take on this.
I do not have the CS map in front of me but I think that the western oil is in the Disputed territories and the Lakota nation, not in the PC. And also oil sand technologie is not available in the 1930s. But there are surely a couple of usable wells that can make for nice scenarios.
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I used an election in my version since I did not think that the Québecois are that kind of a people. I did not write it but I see more the Church using its power to push the vote for Duplessis.
As for the flag, stay tuned, I got my own take on this.
I do not have the CS map in front of me but I think that the western oil is in the Disputed territories and the Lakota nation, not in the PC. And also oil sand technologie is not available in the 1930s. But there are surely a couple of usable wells that can make for nice scenarios.
The People's Collective aren't Social-Creditists. Nope, I'm talking about my province of birth. And I'm not talking about the tar sands (which took off around the time I was born, in the early 80s), but about the Leduc oil field https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_petroleum_industry_in_Canada#Leduc (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_petroleum_industry_in_Canada#Leduc)