Now lets play the game “Hunt for Bed Check Charlie.” You will need a deck of playing cards and a D-6. A model of your chosen interceptor would be nice but not necessary. A coin or any kind of moveable marker will do. The goal is to survive the mission and shoot down the PO-2. Depending on how high you fly, you will meet a number of peaks. It is possible to fly over the PO-2 and never see it. As you fly lower your chance of seeing the PO-2 increases, but so does your danger from the peaks.
GAME RULES
1. The deuces are PO-2s.
2. Face cards are mountains.
3. Sequence of play is deal 3 cards or stacks of cards, decide your plane’s course, roll for shots or evasion; then repeat.
4. Decide the altitude your plane will fly: low, medium, or high.
5. Each turn you deal three stacks of cards. If you are at low level, each stack will have one card. If at medium level, each stack will have 2 cards. If at high level, each stack will have 3 cards. The top card on the center stack will be face up. All others will be face down.
6. You may decide to fly straight ahead or turn. If you turn, you must flip the card you fly over and roll evasion or shots as appropriate.
7. If you fly over a mountain card you must roll to see if you evade the peak. If you turn away, you do not have to roll. If you turn and find you are flying over a mountain, you must roll to evade.
8. If you see a PO-2 ahead or if you turn into a PO-2, you may shoot.
9. Deal out another 3 stacks and repeat the cycle until the deck is used up. This completes the mission.
10. For a campaign, you can have a plane fly several missions and keep a log of the pilot’s record. Note: Although the game is designed to be a solo game, it can also be played with a game master dealing the cards and rolling dice.
SAMPLE GAME
See the diagram.
(1) Start. I am flying a Corsair at low level. Each square represents a card. Blank cards were left face down. For two moves no problem.
Then (2) a mountain (king of hearts) looms ahead, but I evade. This was a die roll which came up 3. I continued over the mountain and ahead.
(3) The next mountain (jack of hearts) I elected to turn. Flipping over the hidden card it was an open space (ten of clubs).
Flying straight for two moves I spot the PO-2 (deuce of diamonds) and miss my shot (dratted dice!) and fly past it, but decide to come around for another pass. (4) and (5) .
Yikes! There is a mountain (6) which I evade. Completing my circle I nail the PO-2. (Better die roll.)
You may object that the PO-2 would have moved in the time it took for me to circle, but relative to the speed of my plane it’s standing still. If you insist it must move, write your own rule. Then I fly on, evading another mountain and missing another PO-2. Soon after, I collide with a mountain. Did I survive? Make up your own rule to decide.
When I tried an early version of this game with a couple of play testers, one of them protested, “I don’t like the odds.” Since then I have developed the rule about evading mountains by die roll. The odds are still bad, as they were for those pilots who took off into the Korean night.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Angelucci, Enzo and Paolo Matricardi. Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft 1914-1980. (1980).
Angelucci, Enzo and Paolo Matricardi. World Aircraft 1945-1960. (1978).
Angelucci, Enzo and Paolo Matricardi. World War II Airplanes, Vol. II. (1977).
Davis, Larry. MIG Alley. (1978).
Futrell, Robert F. The United States Air Force in Korea 1950-1953. (1983).
Hallion, Richard. Naval Air War over Korea. (1986).
Isby, David C. Fighter Combat in the Jet Age. (1997).
Miller, Russell. The Soviet Air Force at War. (1983).
White, Kevin, “Tally-Ho”, Lone Warrior (North American Edition), 121. pp 17-20.
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