Blue Max: Over in the blink of an eye...

[Lufbery]

Hi all,

I posted this session report at the Board Game Geek web site, but I thought I'd post it here too:

Tonight (11-02-08), my brother Nate came over to my house for a game of Blue Max. We've played one another several times, so the setup went quickly. Nate chose a Bristol F.2b Fighter (often called "Biffs" by their crews) British two-seater, and I chose a Fokker D.VII. Two of the best planes in the war were facing off for a one-on-one duel.

In the past, I've had a lot of success with Biffs, so I had a healthy respect for my brother's plane. The rear gunner with his twin Lewis guns can be especially deadly.

We started out somewhat offset from one another, so my first move was to bank slightly to the right to be more head on with my attacker. We both flew nearly straight for the next game turn, but I turned slightly to the left -- again to orient on the Biff.

The next game turn, I slowed down a little and simply flew straight. I did not want to commit to a turn or any drastic change until I had a sense of Nate's intentions. Each player plots and moves simultaneously, so it's difficult to know with certainty where to move for a sure kill. In this case, my choice was darned lucky. My brother turned hard right, away from me, to bring his rear guns to bear. But I ended up 90 degrees from him and outside the rear firing arc. He was one hex away from me.

A medium burst from my guns and a good die roll resulted in Nate pulling three red damage chits (the bad ones). He got wing and tail damage. Damage is generally secret, but he told me he had to roll for a spin, which happens after wing or tail damage. He rolled and ended up having to spin.

He spun the next game turn and I moved straight -- going over the hex occupied by the Biff and into the next hex faxing away from it. My plan was to do an Immelmann (a stall turn with a reverse of direction) so I would be facing the Biff on the following turn. At the end of this game turn, my brother successfully recovered from the spin and rolled to see which direction he would come out.

Knowing the direction he would come out, and knowing that he would have to be going at his top speed after recovering from the spin, I narrowed down his possible next position to three most likely hexes. So I chose a modified Immelmann where I turned at the end. I would then be in line to fire at two of his three possible ending positions.

As it happened, he chose the worst position for him and the best for me. I was again 90 degrees to his position; I could fire at him, but he couldn't fire at me.

Another medium burst from my guns and the results were initially less devastating. Because of his spin, Nate's plane was one altitude level lower than mine. This coupled with a pure deflection shot lowered the damage column on the damage results table. A lower die roll game just one red damage chit -- not as bad as last time.

Except that the red damage chit my brother drew was a fuel tank hit followed by an explosion!

I've never had a clean victory before where I received no damage. Nor one where my opponent was not even able to fire a shot!

The whole game lasted about half an hour and five game turns. We had to pack up and get ready for work tomorrow, so there was no immediate rematch. Nate was a very good sport, but he's looking to take me on again.

[Kirk]

That reminds me of a Dawn Patrol game I played a number of years ago. I was teaching the game to a newcomer and on the first turn I took a long (400') shot and scored a lucky engine hit. He then rolled to see if it was a critical hit (5% chance) and it was. Then he rolled for the crit and it turned out his engine quit and he had to glide to the ground. I think the whole game lasted ten minutes - and that includes the time to explain how to play. Granted it was only a "demo" game because it didn't have the required four players to make it official, but it was still over in a flash.

[Lufbery]

Originally Posted by Kirk

That reminds me of a Dawn Patrol game I played a number of years ago. I was teaching the game to a newcomer and on the first turn I took a long (400') shot and scored a lucky engine hit. He then rolled to see if it was a critical hit (5% chance) and it was. Then he rolled for the crit and it turned out his engine quit and he had to glide to the ground. I think the whole game lasted ten minutes - and that includes the time to explain how to play. Granted it was only a "demo" game because it didn't have the required four players to make it official, but it was still over in a flash.

I've read a lot about Dawn Patrol. It looks like a lot of fun.

Sometimes it's nice when everything goes perfectly in a game -- it happens so rarely for me!

Regards,

[cubsfan4life]

Originally Posted by Lufbery

I've read a lot about Dawn Patrol. It looks like a lot of fun.

Sometimes it's nice when everything goes perfectly in a game -- it happens so rarely for me!

Regards,

Drew,
If you are interested in playing, we have a group that plays online using the VASSAL engine, and I also know of a few players that we play with that are in PA, that may be intereted in a live game! drop me a line if you are interested!

[Albert Ball]

Seems like a fun game, anyone know the cost?

[Lufbery]

Originally Posted by cubsfan4life

Drew,
If you are interested in playing, we have a group that plays online using the VASSAL engine, and I also know of a few players that we play with that are in PA, that may be interested in a live game! drop me a line if you are interested!

Thanks for the offer, but I'm not ready to try a new game right now. I'll keep you in mind, though!

Regards,

[Kirk]

Albert - Dawn Patrol can be had on Ebay pretty cheaply. It's been out of print for 30+ years now but it's still pretty easy to find. I think I got my copy about eight or nine years ago and it cost me something like $10-$15.