Solo Game: Programmed Opponent
Prepare the opponent and chance cards below before you play. Turn them face down and shuffle them a bit. Designate the north edge of the playing area. Position your F-86 in the center of the playing area flying on a heading of your choice at an altitude of 20,000 feet. Write your orders for your first move. Then select the card for your opponent. After that move, write your orders for your next move; then roll a die (D-6) for chance cards.
Opponent Cards
Write these opponent options on a note card and select a card at random.
- 1. Mig-15 diving from behind. Unless chance card changes things, it will make one pass, dive past, and turn north toward Yalu.
2. Mig-15 diving from behind. Unless chance changes things, it will make a pass from above then zoom up to a lufberry circle.
3. Mig-15 in level flight at 20,000 feet ahead of you. No sign it sees you. After each turn, roll a single (D-6) die. 1,2 = there is now a Mig-15 diving to close on your tail. 5,6 = there is now a Mig-15 zooming up from below to get on your tail.
Chance Cards
If you get a 6 in your roll after you have written your orders, select one of these chance cards.
- 1. You are "Bingo" fuel. You must break off and turn toward home. The Mig may still be attacking.
2. You are out of ammo. You cannot shoot. Good luck!
3. The Mig pilot ejects.
4. The Mig pilot just freezes and flies straight and level.
5. The Mig pilot is very capable and uses his plane very effectively. Depending on the situation you decide what is best or simply follow the selected opponent option above.
6. You find you have strayed across the Yalu. Turn south at your next move.
7. The Mig does a random move next turn but only for one turn. You decide your move first; then roll a die for turns. 1,2 = left turn; 3,4 = straight ahead; 5,6 = right turn. Then roll a die for altitude changes. 1,2 = climb, 3,4 = level; 5,6 = dive. After this turn return to the regular program.
Solo Game: Random Opponent (mostly)
Designate the north edge of the playing area, the Yalu. Position your F-86 in the center of the playing area flying on a heading of your choice at an altitude of 20,000 feet. Write your orders for your first move; then roll for you opponent.
Step one: Roll for location. Roll two dice
(2xD-6) and locate your opponent on a clock face as
illustrated
Step two: Roll for heading. If the opponent is at 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 he will be coming toward you on your level one move away. If he is at 10, 11, 12, 1, or 2, roll a die (D-6). If you roll a 4 or 5, he is headed away from you but is aware of you and will begin to maneuver. If you roll a 6, he will fly straight and level unaware. Roll a die (D-6) each turn. If you roll an odd number, he will begin random movement.
Step three: Roll for maneuvers. First you write your movement order; then determine your opponent's move by dice. The first roll of a die decides turn. A 1 or 2 = a left turn, a 3 or 4 = straight ahead, and 5 or 6 = a right turn. The second die roll decides altitude changes. A 1 or 2 = climb, a 3 or 4 = level flight, a 5 or 6 = dive
Step four: Roll for complications (optional). After dicing for your opponent's maneuver, roll a single die (D-6). If you roll a 2 or 4 there is a Mig on your tail just one move away from shooting range. It will try to follow all your future moves. Alternative complications: Use the chance cards from the programmed opponent.
The Postal Game
The postal game does not require a game master. Two players can play just by sending a couple of sheets of paper back and forth. Assume each player has the models, rules and templates needed for the basic game. The two players start the game with their planes two moves apart at 20,000 feet. Player A takes a regular sheet of paper and makes a dot where each plane would be and draws an arrow showing their heading. He notes "20,000 ft" beside each plane. Then he writes his first order using the basic game system and folds it or puts it in a small envelope. Then he notes his order on his log. He then mails the sheet of paper with the plane locations and the envelope with his first order to player B
Player B looks at the paper and the plane locations and writes his first order. He logs his first order; then opens A's first order and using his models, he moves the first move. If there are any shots, he dices for these perhaps witnessed by a third party. He traces the track of each plane on the paper using some method of marking which track belongs to each plane. The Mig-15 could follow a dotted track and the F-86 have a solid line. Or the Mig-15 could leave a red colored pencil track and the F-86 leave a blue track. He should note altitude changes and mark the end of move 1 with dots. He also should record move 1 move orders on his log and a second log to be mailed to player A. Then he writes his second move folding it or putting it in a small envelope and pops it in the mail along with the log of all move orders and the sheet with the plane tracks on it.
If the planes fly off the edge of the paper sheet, the players just add another sheet taped on. I have played this game in 1/300 scale and it works fine. Of course we were using WWII planes and the moves were shorter. One postal game came to a quick end. We squared off and both flew straight ahead. You guessed it. Collision! End of game. We didn't even dice to see if the pilots survived.
I played the Biff Baxter air ace dogfight against a random opponent. Twice I drew chance cards, when the Mig pilot froze and when he had crossed the Yalu. I used cardboard models of about 1/120 scale. They were made from the back of a legal pad and colored using colored pencils. For altitude I used lego blocks. My move templates were for 1/300 scale. I have read a number of reports of actual dogfights over Korea and, and Biff's dogfight seems similar. So build your models, cut out the templates and get the dice. May you have smooth take offs and happy landings!
More Korea MiG Alley
Related
- WWII Flying Tigers
MiG Pilot Korean War Solo Game [LW # 145]
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