Hard Vacuum

Some more Hard Vacuum as we got to play a number of scenarios and see some of Paul's new models.

Tanker Escort

Tried to keep my two craft flying symmetrical to make thinking about things just a bit easier. Tankers ended up flying backwards but were still accelerating enough to make attacks against them difficult. Think only one allied attack occurred on a Tanker all game.

Bombing Run

A German bombing run upon New York. Not a big success as the early war planes had very limited fuel and maneuverability. I had overshot the target trying to do a curved approach to the target re-entry point and didn't realise that the entry direction was also important when it came to getting the bomb on target. Add to that a critical hit had knocked out my re-entry gear and it was pretty much a one way trip.

Big Gun

A large American flying tank appears in space and a couple of German fighters are sent to try and deal with it. The tank was too tough for the fighters to cope with as it's forward guns could deal with almost anything in one shot.

¶

Street Formula

Craig wanted to do a big player game of Formula D, the new version of Formula Dé, so I decided to join in as it's been sometime since I've played a boardgame. Rolled for pole position and ended\started up in mid-field which I was happy with. Have never thought of pole as being much of an advantage in this game, it's often better to reach the corner at race speed, particularly if the next corner is within one turn\gear shift reach.

Was going to be a three lap race, but the decision was made to shorten the race to a single lap half way through the first lap, due to not wanting some late turn ups to sit out the game, so people started burning their tyres more. Some how I managed to take the lead by taking a risk out of the penultimate corner and burning all my tyres out of the final corner to be able to reach sixth gear and the finish line. Was surprised by the over cautious approach of the two lead cars in the penultimate corner as both had tyres and brakes left.

Next couple of races were one lappers on street circuits, a new feature with this version of the game. This was the first time for me in playing the street circuit rules. Chicago, the flip side of Sebring, was the first. Rather than hot rods the vehicles were more clown cars\keystone cops as ramming and excessive debris caused vehicles to fall apart quickly. The rain in the second street race, using the original race track with all the gimmicks, lead to even further devastation; with four cars being knocked out before the fourth corner and only three finished, including one who had to limp home in low gear to survive.

Turns out Craig's desire for a Championship season is taking a bit of a hammering given the lack of availability of different tracks, the new releases are few and far between and the old version maps are going for funny money on eBay. Shame as running a near full season can be great fun.
¶

Rushing Russians

More action from the Great War's Eastern front, as the Germans try and exploit a gap between two Russian divisions, as the Russians rush in to plug the gap. Matt and Mark play the perfidious Prussians, Paul and I the heroic Russian Imperials.

We were allowed a preliminary bombardment to try and weaken the Jägers who were holding the village. Unfortunately they managed to evade the shells by loitering around in the open and not taking covers in the ruins, which got ruined even more. But at least the shelling cleared away large sections of barbed wire.

From Furness Wargamers in Trenches

Vacuum Cleaned

A game of Hard Vacuum, the Sci Fi game of World War 2 fighters in space (now where have I seen that recently?), and one of the best vector movement systems around. Hadn't played this game for years, the last time being when Paul brought it in when the club was still upstairs at the Duke.

From Furness Wargamers in Space