Battle of Britain Wargame

Rules

By Mike Crane

I. PURPOSE

    A. To create a game with the Battle of Britain as the theme.
    To create rules that can be adapted for solo wargamers or multiple players.

II. EQUIPMENT

    A. A large board (a ping-pong table or floor)
    Small model planes (metal 1/285, or paper)
      1. British: 6 Spitfires, 6 Hurricanes
      2. German: 8 Me-109’s, 8 He-111’s (or 6 He-111’s and 4 Ju-87 Stukas)
    2 D6 dice (different colors); 12” ruler; small flat washers (#6 or #8) for marking measurements; black pipe cleaners. (The pipe cleaners should be cut into lengths of 2” or less. Use pliers to pull 1/2” of bristles off one end and bend it back. Place pipe cleaners around the wings or rudders of damaged planes. A bomber with two damage points would have two pipe cleaner pieces attached to represent smoke trailing from each damaged engine.)
    A paper rectangle 7 inches wide and 4 inches deep representing a factory and AA emplacement.

III. ORGANIZATION

    German fighters are placed on the board in two schwarms of four, and bombers are placed in groups of four (or six) before the game begins.
    British fighters enter the board in vics of three on the turn they roll an even number.

IV. OBJECTIVES

    The German bombers must score three bomb hits on the factory to win the game.
    The British must attempt to destroy all of the German bombers to prevent the bomb run.

Figure 1. German Fly-In Entry Area and Figure 2. Points of Entry for British Fighters

V. PLACEMENTS

    A. Placing the factory on the board
      The factory should be placed on the end opposite to the German entry.
      The factory should be centered on the edge of the board (see Figure 1).
    B. Placing German units on the board
      All German bombers and fighters should be placed on the board in an area no farther than 12” or nearer than 6” from the edge of entry.
      German bombers and fighters should be no closer than 6” to the flank edges of the board (see Figure 1).
      Schwarms may be placed in any order within the entry area.
    Placing British fighters on the board
      The British move first by rolling for each of the four vics available to intercept.
      A British vic of three fighters will enter the board on the turn that it rolls an even number on 1 D6.
      Roll 2 D6 for each arriving vic to determine the point of entry on the board.
      Direction of entry is determined by matching the dice roll with the corresponding numbers on a clock face (see Figure 2).
      Each British vic travels one complete move upon entry.
    D. Determine the altitude of fighters at the beginning of the game.
      When attacking or defending fighters (schwarms or vics) are placed on the board, roll a die to see if the section is above, below, or level with the bombers.
      Roll 1 D6: 1, 2= below; 3, 4= even; 5, 6= above.
      Place a coin beside each schwarm or vic to show its entry altitude: heads = above, tails = below.
      The distance of the first move by the fighters will be determined by their altitude.
        a. If the section is above the bombers, add 6” to the regular move to indicate a dive.
        b. If the section is below the bombers, subtract 6” from the regular move for a climb.
        c. If a plane is level with the bombers, move a regular move.
        d. All subsequent moves are the regular distances.

VI. ENGAGEMENT

    A. German fighters automatically move to intercept the closest British fighters.
    B. The primary objective of the British fighters is to attack the German bombers, but they may break away for dogfights when German fighters come closer than the bombers.
    C. Movement
      1. Spitfire, Me-109 = 14”
      2. Hurricane = 12”
      3. He-111 = 10”
      4. Stuka = 8”
    D. Maneuvering
      1. Fighters
        a. Fighters must move straight ahead for 6" before turning.
        b. Fighters may turn any direction to fly the remainder of their movement.
        c. A damage point reduces the final movement of fighters by 2".
      2. Bombers
        a. Bombers must move straight ahead 3” and then may change direction up to 90 degrees for the remainder of their movement.
        b. Movement for a bomber is reduced 2" for each damage point
      3. An airplane must travel the entire movement distance before the end of the move.
        a. A fighter may stop to fire at a target, but it must continue its movement afterwards.
        b. Before stopping to fire, measure the complete distance of movement and place a marker (a flat washer) at the projected end of the move.

    E. Combat

      1. Offensive values
        a. fighters = 3
        b. bombers = 1
      2. Defensive values
        a. Spitfire, Hurricane, Me-109 = 2
        b. He-111 = 3
        c. Stuka = 1
      3. Attacks
        a. The attack range for planes is 4” or less.
        b. A fighter may attack one time during its movement turn.
      4. Resolving attacks
        a. Roll 1 D6 for the attacker and 1 D6 for the defender.
        b. Add the attacker's offensive value to the number rolled and the defender's defensive value to die number rolled.
        c. If the defender's score is equal to or more than the attacker's, there is no damage.
        d. If the defender's score is less than the attacker's score, but not doubled, an engine is damaged-or, if all the engines are already damaged, the plane is destroyed.
        e. If the defender's score is less and doubled or more by the attacker's score, the plane is destroyed.
      5. Defensive fire
        a. If a fighter stops within attack range of one or more bombers while firing or at the end of a move, it may be fired upon by any gunner within range.
        b. Even if a bomber is destroyed by a fighter’s attack, its gunners may respond to the attacker with defensive fire before being removed.
        c. Nose gunners may fire forward 45 degrees to the left and right of the nose.
        d. Rear gunners may fire backward 45 degrees to the left and right of the center of the fuselage.
        e. If a fighter attacks another fighter head-on, the target may respond with defensive fire even if destroyed by the attack. If the target is not destroyed, it may fire as normal on the next move.

VII. THE BOMB RUN

    The target is protected by AA fire, which has an offensive value of 1 and a range of 12”.
      1. The range of the AA fire is measured from the edge of the target.
      2. To determine if the bomber is hit by flak before it can drop its bombs, the target rolls 1 D6 adding its AA offensive value of 1 against the die roll and defensive value of the bomber.
      3. Damage to the bomber is determined in the same manner as combat hits (see Section VI. 4.). 4. If the bomber is not destroyed, it continues the bomb run.
    B. The entire fuselage of the bomber must be over the factory rectangle in order to drop bombs.
    C. Bombers receive 1 D6 roll per engine whether damaged or not. (Stukas roll once and He-111's roll twice.)
    D. Bombing hits are determined in the same manner as combat hits but without modifiers.
      1. The bomber and the target each roll 1 D6.
      2. If the defender's score is more than the attacker's, there is no damage.
      3. If the defender's score is less than the attacker's score, but not doubled, 1 bomb hits.
      4. If the defender's score is less than the attacker's score and is doubled or more, 2 bombs hit.
    E. Three bomb hits are required to destroy the factory and win the game for the Germans, anything less is a victory for the British.

Battle of Britain Wargame by Mike Crane

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