The following is an excerpt from the Red Storm examples of play. This one covers air-to-air combat and is intended to help players learn the system by walking through a beyond visual range (BVR) and dogfight combat between a US F-4E Phantom II and a Soviet MiG-29A Fulcrum.

In this first scenario the Warsaw Pact player controls one flight of four MiG-29As. The NATO player controls one flight of two F-4Es. After reading through the example of play, you should then try the scenario on your own and play three or four turns.

You can jump right into this scenario after reading only some of the rules. Read section 2 to familiarize yourself with the map, playing pieces, markers, and charts. Read sections 4-6 to learn how to move aircraft. Read section 10 to understand the detection process and sections 11-13 on air combat (in particular 11.2 and 11.3 on engagement and combat). Finally, read section 20 on fuel usage.

Setup

● This scenario takes place in clear weather conditions, in daylight. Detection level is C for both sides.
● Pull out one US flight of F-4Es (we’ll use “Coors” flight, which has a diamond). It starts in 4013, at High altitude, undetected, and headed due east. Fill out the F-4E’s flight log, using the USAF ADC. Instead of rolling for aggression, set it at +2. The flight has two aircraft in it.
● Pull out one USSR flight of MiG-29As (“Stepanov,” with a spade). It starts in 5112, at Medium altitude, undetected, and headed due west. Fill out the MiG-29’s flight log, using the USSR ADC. Instead of rolling for aggression, set it at +1. The flight has four aircraft in it.

Turn 1

Use the “Sequence of Play During Scenario” chart on Player Aid Card 4 to follow along. This is the first turn, so the Random Event Phase is skipped. We have no standoff or escort jamming aircraft, so the Jamming Phase is also skipped.

In the Detection Phase, the WP player notes that his detection level for the scenario is C. Attempting to detect Coors flight, he rolls on the Detection Table, rolling a 15. Looking at the modifiers for “Normal Detection,” he notes that there are none since the NATO flight is at High altitude. He then looks at the C column and reads down to see a final 15 is a D result. Coors flight is detected and flipped over to its Detected side, showing the green diamond.

The NATO player checks on the C column as well, but rolls a 6, which fails to detect the WP flight. However, the F-4E has a search radar with a range of fourteen hexes. The WP flight is within range (eleven hexes away) and in his flight’s forward arc, so the NATO player is allowed to make another detection attempt against the WP flight using Radar Search.

The NATO flight is at High altitude, one level above the WP flight at Medium. The F-4E, with its APQ-120 radar, is immune to the limitations of Lookdown [10.23] against targets at Medium or higher (as noted by the “LD (LTD)” entry in the Radar column for the F-4E on the USAF ADC), so he can still perform the Radar Search. He rolls a 13. There is a -1 modifier due to the altitude band difference between the flights, resulting in a final roll of 12. Looking again at the Detection Table (this time on the radar search column showing “F4”), he sees that a final roll of 12 suffices for a D result. The WP flight is detected and the WP player flips it to its Detected side.

In the Movement Phase, the NATO player rolls for initiative to determine who draws the first chit, rolling a 2. A roll of 6 or less allows the NATO player to choose who draws first. The NATO player decides to go first and he reaches into the cup and draws a chit from the Chit Pool. The NATO side has one flight, so he looks at the Small side of the chit, showing a 1. That allows him to move one flight before the WP side draws a chit.

The NATO player wants to engage the WP MiG-29 flight in BVR combat. His AIM-7F missiles have a range of nine hexes when firing into a target’s front arc, but the F-4 starts eleven hexes from the MiG-29 flight. He declares Dash throttle for the F-4, which gives him a speed of 7 at High altitude. He then moves directly ahead to the east for two hexes, pausing in 4213, where he announces a BVR engagement attempt.

He consults the BVR Air-to-Air Combat Sequence on Player Aid Card 1. The engagement table shows he needs a final roll of 9 or more to engage in BVR combat. The only modifiers are aggression (+2 for Coors flight) and -1 for different altitude bands, for a net modifier of +1. He rolls a 4, for a final 5, well short of success. He moves the flight ahead one more hex to 4313/4314, also descending to Medium altitude, and rolls again for BVR engagement, rolling a 3 this time. Even with the net modifier now at +2 (since the different altitudes modifier no longer applies), a final roll of 5 fails again. Determined to take the BVR shot, he moves one more hex east into 4413. Trying a third time for BVR engagement, he rolls a 16, for a final 18, more than enough for a successful BVR engagement attempt.

The range is now seven hexes to the MiG. With the successful engagement, the NATO player rolls on the Maneuver Table. His flight has two aircraft. The applicable modifiers are +2 for Attacking flight’s Aggression Value and +2 for Defender attacked from forward arc. He rolls a 9, for a final 13. Looking at the 2 column and cross referencing with the 13-16 row of the BVR column on the right of the Maneuver Table, he is entitled to two BVR shot attempts with his AIM-7F missiles.

In the Shot Resolution step, the NATO player makes a roll for each shot attempted. He rolls a 5 and a 16. Looking at the Air-to-Air Weapon Chart on the USAF ADC reveals that AIM-7Fs have a +1 value for BVR combat, which he adds to his rolls, resulting in a 6 and a 17. Checking the Shot Resolution Table on Player Aid Card 1, he notes that the 6 is a miss but that the 17 is a Shot Down result.

The next step in the BVR Air-to-Air Combat Sequence is Depletion, so the NATO player now checks for possible depletion of the AIM-7Fs. He took two shots, so there is a -1 modifier. A roll of 4 yields a final result of 3. The AIM-7F depletion number for the F-4E is 3, so Coors flight depletes its AIM-7Fs.

Moving on to Damage Allocation, the NATO player must determine which individual aircraft in the MiG-29 flight suffers the Shot Down result by rolling on the Damage Allocation table. A roll of 2, checked against the 4 Aircraft column, yields a C1 result. There are no Crippled aircraft in the flight, so aircraft #1 is Shot Down. The WP player updates his flight log to reflect the loss.

Morale must now be checked. In BVR combat, only the defender rolls on the Morale Check Table. The WP player rolls a 12 and applies two modifiers: +1 for the MiG-29’s Aggression Value and -1 for one aircraft having been shot down. On the BVR combat column of the table, a final roll of 12 results in a Jettison Check and a -1 change to the flight’s Aggression Value. Since Jettison Check can only affect flights carrying air-to-ground ordnance, that part of the result is ignored. He updates the flight’s Aggression Value on the MiG’s log sheet, noting a reduction from +1 to 0. The next to last step in combat is applying markers. Here, the only marker placed on the MiG flight is a BVR Avoid marker since a BVR shot was resolved.

The final step is Bailout, which applies here since an aircraft was shot down. The WP player goes to Player Aid Card 3 and rolls on the Bailout Table. A roll of 6 indicates the MiG-29 pilot makes it out of his aircraft, so the WP player places a parachute marker in the hex. If the aircraft had two crew members, a separate roll would be made for each.

With the entire BVR Air-to-Air Sequence complete, the NATO player’s F-4 flight may continue to move. It has spent 4 movement points and has 3 movement points left. He makes a max 90-degree turn to the left for the 5th movement point, staying at Medium altitude to stay above the Light AAA from Kassel airfield. (Even though Kassel is a NATO airbase, its AAA would still affect NATO flights.) He moves one hex north to 4412 for the 6th movement point and drops down to Low altitude. For his final movement point, Coors flight moves one hex forward to the 4312/4411 hexspine, diving to Deck altitude as part of the move.

The WP player now draws a chit, revealing a 2 on the Small side. The MiG-29 flight is down to three aircraft and wants revenge. The WP player declares Dash throttle, giving the MiG-29 a speed of 7 at Medium altitude. Before he can do anything else, he has to burn off the BVR Avoid maker, spending 1 movement point to do so. He then uses the remaining 6 movement points to move due west to 4512, while diving to Deck using free dives.

In 4512 he rolls to engage in Standard air-to-air combat with the F-4, the first step in the Standard Air-to-Air Combat Sequence. The initial engagement roll is a 13. The only modifier that applies for the Attacker in this case is Aggression Value, which is now +0 after the prior BVR combat. A final 13 is more than the final 10 needed to engage a Detected enemy flight in daylight. The F-4 flight must also roll for engagement, and the NATO player rolls a 15. He adds +2 Aggression Value and -1 for Target in rear hemisphere for a final 16. The F-4 also engages. Since both flights passed their engagement rolls, there is no Surprise or Disadvantage condition for either side.

Because the F-4 flight was attacked via Standard air-to-air combat while on a hexspine, it must be moved to a full hex. The WP player moves the F-4 flight into the combat hex (4411) and does the same with his MiG-29, being careful to maintain each flight’s heading.

The players now jointly work through the Standard Air-to-Air Combat Sequence, with the next step being Maneuver. The MiG-29 rolls a 9, adding the following modifiers: +1 Maneuver differential (7 to 6 in the MiGs advantage, determined by comparing the Maneuver rating at Deck altitude for each flight, found on their respective ADCs), -2 Aggression differential (+0 to +2), and +1 Geometry (attack from target’s rear arc providing +1). The final roll of 9 is cross referenced with the 3 Aircraft column of the Maneuver Table, which shows a result of 0. So, no shots for the MiGs!

The defending F-4 now rolls for maneuver, rolling an 11 with the following modifiers: -1 Maneuver differential, +2 Aggression differential, -1 Geometry (enemy in rear arc). The final roll of 11 is cross referenced with the 2 Aircraft column of the Maneuver Table, showing a result of 1, which gives the F-4E flight one shot at the Fulcrums. The F-4 still carries a 20mm gun (rating 2) and AIM-9L missiles (rating 3); the AIM-7F missiles were depleted in the prior combat. For Shot Resolution, the NATO player chooses the AIM-9L for the shot, rolling a 10. To this roll he adds +3 for the AIM-9Ls rating and another +1 for having another undepleted weapon (in this case, the 20mm gun) for a final result of 14 result. One aircraft in the MiG-29 flight is damaged.

Moving on to Depletion, the NATO player rolls to see if the AIM-9Ls deplete. A roll of 2 depletes the missiles, as the AIM-9Ls have a depletion number of 3 when carried by the F-4E. Damage Allocation is conducted by the the WP player, who rolls a 1, which on the 3 Aircraft column of the Damage Allocation Table would normally damage aircraft #1 in the flight. Since aircraft #1 was shot down earlier in the turn the damage result is applied to aircraft #2 instead, as the lowest numbered aircraft remaining in the flight.

Both the attacking and defending flights take Morale Checks in Standard air-to-air combat. The rolls see the F-4 receive a -3/Abort result while the MiG-29 gets a -1/Disorder result. The players update their Flight Logs to show the new Aggression Values of -1 for the F-4 and -1 for the MiG-29.

Both players then roll to Scatter, with the F-4 rolling a 2 and the MiG-29 rolling an 8, leaving the flights in 4312 and 4311, respectively, using the Scatter Diagram to move the flights. Finally, the players apply the appropriate markers and flip the flights to their undetected sides. The F-4 is marked Abort and Maneuver while the MiG-29 is marked Disordered and Maneuver. For the final step of the Standard Air-to-Air Combat sequence, both players mark of a box of fuel for each flight.

Author: Doug Bush

I have been a gamer since the mid-1980s, when I started with Squad Leader, which of course led to a long obsession with Advanced Squad Leader. In college I was also a Harpoon fanatic, including gaming basically every naval combat from the Tom Clancy book Red Storm Rising. However, my true gaming passion has always been modern ground combat games such as the GDW Assault and Third World War series, and detailed modern air simulations like GMT's Downtown and Elusive Victory. As a former US Army armor officer, I love games that model operational level maneuver and logistics.