Balloons

General

A balloon model will need a base of some sort. This base is used when measuring distance traveled and range to target

Movement

Balloons cannot move by themselves other than up and down or via wind currents. If the Balloon is not tethered to something it moves slowly via the wind currents. Each turn the balloon will drift slowly across the table.

At the beginning of the game test from which direction the wind is blowing. Roll 1d8 and consult the chart below.

However the wind direction is not permanent and can change as the game progresses. Check wind direction at the beginning of each turn. Role 2d6 on 9 or less the wind direction stays the same. If the roles indicates a change in direction, re-role the wind direction and apply the results for the turn.

Wind strength is all so determined at the beginning of the game and again at each turn during the game. Role 4d6 and compare on the table below and apply the results.

Die Roll	Wind speed	Description
4	0 mph	Dead Calm
5-8	2mph	-
9-11	5mph	-
12-16	8mph	Lovely day
17-18	12mph	-
19-20	15mph	Bit stiff
21	20mph	-
22	25mph	Hold your hat
23	28mph	-
24	35mph	It’s a twister!

The movement of the balloon is determined by the wind speed. Each mph equals 1 inch of table movement. There is no variation allowed due to the nature of Balloons as they are completely at the mercy of the weather.

During the movement phase of the Balloon it can change altitude by using the gas heater, dumping ballast or losing hot air via control valves. The player controlling the balloon can change altitude by 2d6 each turn until a maximum altitude of 50 inches. Any higher and the crew will need special breathing devices. The simplest method is to note the altitude of the balloon on a scrap of paper.

Balloons can be tethered to a wagon and dragged along. A wagon that is towing a balloon will be slowed by 4”. For each mph of wind speed over 8mph will slow the wagon by an extra 1”. If the wind speed is over 15mph the wagon will not be able to tow the balloon and is in danger of itself being dragged along by the balloon. If the wind speed is over 15mph roll 2d6, this is the distance that the balloon in the same direction of the wind will drag the wagon. A balloon that has been tethered to a wagon can change its altitude by 2d6 up and 3d6 down due to the winch.

Bomb attacks

Each Balloon can carry a crew of 4 including ammunition for small arms OR a small amount of Grenades and bombs. If the Balloon is carrying bombs each crewman counts as 3 figures when firing, use the standard TSATF artillery charts when determining the casualties. The maximum height that bombs can be dropped from is 20”, any higher and the accuracy of the weapon deteriorates and due to the expensive nature of such munitions the balloonists would be reluctant to drop them. The arc of fire for dropping of bombs is a point directly under the balloon basket.

From this point any figures within a 2” radius can be targeted. Figures firing small arms have a 360-degree arc of fire and can fire on targets directly below. If bombs are carried all the crew will be armed with pistols and the normal TSATF rules apply. There are some changes to the chart due to the height advantage. Count all target classes as one class better, thus class 4 is class 3 and class 3 is class 2. Bomb attacks against Class 1 targets get a +1 to the dice roll. The altitude of the balloon is the same as the range when determining the attack odds. However each balloon is only capable of carrying a limited amount of bombs and such. Use the table below to determine the number of bomb attacks that can be made during a single game

Crew	Bomb attacks
4	4
3	5
2	7
1	15

Cover and visibility

Due to the altitude of the balloon there will be no restrictions upon visibility as they can see clearly over the battlefield, there are however the following restrictions on sighting and visibility

• Any units that are in buildings are considered hidden
• Forests provide cover and hiding places for natives
• Any unit hiding behind a hill can be seen
• Any unit hiding in a gully can be seen
• Rocky ground provides no cover or hiding places

Trees and hills

The height of trees and hills will cause problems for balloons. For the purpose of the game we will assume that the height of the tree canopy will be an arbitrary 10” high. Each hill contour will be 6” a balloon must rise over the top such obstacles during its movement or risk being either snagged on the trees or involuntary land of the hill.

A tree snag or involuntary landing will inflict 2d6-4 of damage to the gondola. If a double is rolled and the gondola is not destroyed or damaged the balloon is stuck on a tree branch or wedged in some rocks and cannot move. The occupants of the balloons will need to spend 1 turn chopping themselves free

Attacking a Balloon

Balloons are very vulnerable to attack from missile weapons. However because the balloon contains hot air rather then hydrogen they will not explode when exposed to flame. An attack on a balloon can be targeted on either the balloon or the gondola and must be nominated before the attack dice are rolled.

The balloon itself can handle 12 hits before the bladder ruptures and the whole thing plummets to the ground. Balloons count as a Class 1 target at all times, as they are an obvious and rather large target and cannot hide behind things like walls. The following restrictions apply when targeting a balloon.

• If artillery or machine guns are firing at a balloon the maximum elevation of the gun must be taken into account. To be able to fire at a balloon the gun must be further away from the balloon then the altitude of the balloon. E.g. if a balloon is at an altitude of 20” a gun would not be able to fire at the balloon if it’s base was closer then 20” but would be able to if the balloon’s base was at 30”
• Any single artillery attack that inflicts 7 or more hits will burst the balloon with the obvious results. Treat the result the same as a broken gondola.
• Any figure armed with a firearm can shoot at a balloon even if the balloon is directly over the shooter.
• The Range to a balloon is determined by adding the altitude and 1/3 of the horizontal distance to the target round down. E.g. if a balloon was at an altitude of 25” and the distance to the balloons base from the firing figure was 9” the real range would be 28”. This same rule is to be used when determining the range for shooters in a balloon basket.

When a balloon takes hits note them down. For every 3 hits that a balloon takes it will sink 1d6 per turn. So if a balloon takes 9 hits it will sink 3d6 per turn. However the controller of the balloon can use his climbing dice to try and slow down the decent. E.g. if a balloon has taken 7 hits it will roll 2d6, say the roll was 5. The controlling player doesn’t want the balloon sinking and then rolls the 2d6 climbing dice and rolls a 7, the balloon will only climb 2” during movement.

If a balloon ever descends more then 15” in a single turn and lands it is considered a crash and all occupants are killed by the impact

Any attacks on the occupants of the gondola are considered a Class 3 target and will be resolved as such. If any attack dice miss by one it is considered a hit on the gondola and if the gondola takes 8 points of damage it is destroyed and dumps its occupants on the ground. Any fall of over 8” will automatically kill the falling figure. If the fall is less then 8” roll 1d20 for each figure, the distance fallen in inches is equal to the chance of death. For example the contents of a gondola are dumped onto the dusty ground, the distance fallen is 5” that means that the chance of death is 1-5 on 1d20. If the distance was 3” then the chance of death is 1-3 and so on.

Steampunk Variants for The Sword and the Flame Or, Poop Poop, It’s the Only Thing

Balloons
Airships