Airborne!

Airborne!
Scenario 3 for Gators! Copyright 2002 by Mike Fischer Last modified: 10/15/2004

"After the demise of the best Airborne plan, a most terrifying effect occurs on the battlefield. This effect is known as the rule of the LGOPs (Little Groups of Paratroopers). This is, in its purest form, small groups of PO'ed 19-year-old American Paratroopers. They are well-trained, armed to the teeth, and lack serious adult supervision. They collectively remember the Commander's intent as "March to the sound of the guns and kill anyone who is not dressed like you" ...or something like that. Happily they go about the day's work..."

I. Introduction

Player 1: Colonel, we got trouble. The nation of Hyrax has been invaded and overrun by forces from the neighboring nation of Koni. The United Nations has condemned the invasion and authorized the use of force, and your 82nd-Airborne ready battalion will be that force. You must make an immediate drop before the invaders can dig in, and reinforce yourself as needed later. Your goals are to free the capital of Hyrax and at least one other city from the invaders, and to capture at least one airfield so other UN forces can land there and finish what you've started. Those forces will start arriving in three days, which is also the amount of time your men can fight without resupply. Take 'em down! Airborne all the way!

Player 2: A dog's curse be on the United Nations and their resolutions! This territory belonged to our ancestors before the colonial imperialists divided it up, and it is ours again, and we will never leave it. The initial attacks were successful beyond our wildest dreams, and the whole country fell like dominoes. Now we must prepare for the counterattack that the UN and their lackeys will certainly launch. Most of our navy is at sea, searching for enemy ships that might bring invaders, and all the land approaches to our nation are well-guarded. But an attack could come from anywhere at any time, so you must be vigilant. Long live Koni!

Airborne! is a 2-player wargame depicting a modern US airborne operation. It uses the same basic rules as Gators!, and the same opposing force. You will need the scenario-1 rules and the Player-2 counters from Gators!, and the maps from Scenario 2, to play this game. All you provide is a six-sided die, and a cup for mixing up Player 1's counters.

Rules that are unchanged from Gators! are not repeated here.

II. The Units

II-a. Reading the Counters

In addition to the basic Gators!counter symbols, Player 1 will find some infantry counters with a "J" or "S" in the lower-left corner of the symbol box. This means a unit that can fire a Javelin or Stinger missile. A unit like this can fire one such missile after landing, and can fire unlimited missiles if it can get to a pallet of such missiles.

II-b. The 82nd Airborne

Player 1 gets almost all the combat units found in an actual 82nd airdrop operation. My source is the book Airborne by Tom Clancy (Berkley Books, 1997).

LGOP is the heart of the paratroops. LGOP stands for Little Group of Paratroopers, which reflects the fact that the men in an airdrop never land in any organized fashion, but that individual troopers will team up with whoever is close by. An LGOP is made of 3-5 paratroopers with M16 rifles, grenade launchers, SAW machine guns, and night-vision goggles (NVG's). Some of them will also be carrying AT-4 light antitank rockets, and a few will be equipped to launch Javelin antitank missiles or Stinger antiair missiles.
Hmmwv is an unarmed Humvee that can carry an LGOP around the battlefield.
Hmmwv/Auto carries a .50 machine gun or a 40mm grenade launcher, but no personnel.
Hmmwv/TOW is a heavy antitank missile mounted on a HMMWV. Its speed and firepower give a strong anti-armor punch. It cannot carry any personnel.
105mm Howitzer is a towed artillery piece that gives the troops some serious kick in the supporting-fire department. It has a long range and a strong attack, but it can't move by itself.
M551 Sheridan is a light tank that gives your troopers some heavy fire support. The drawback to using them in an airborne operation is that they take up great amounts of space and weight in a transport plane, limiting how much other equipment the plane can carry. The M551 has been decommissioned for several years now, but its replacement was cancelled, and the paratroops need something bulletproof.
5-ton Truck's main purpose is towing artillery. It can also carry two LGOPs.
OH-58D Helicopter is the Kiowa Warrior, the 82nd's gunship. Armed with a mix of Hellfire antitank missiles, 2.75" rocket pods, Stinger anti-air missiles, and .50 machine guns, these little birds pack quite a wallop. They are also portable; two can fit inside a C-130. But they can't be air-dropped.
UH-60L Helicopter is the Blackhawk, which the 82nd Airborne uses for troop transport and cargo lifting. It can move three LGOPs, or carry a Humvee, howitzer, or pallet as a sling load. For the purposes of this game, we'll say one of them fits in a C-130. Like the OH-58D, they cannot be air-dropped.
Cargo Pallet is an air-droppable load of either Javelin antitank missiles or Stinger antiair missiles. An LGOP with a "J" or "S" in its counter can stack with such a pallet and get multiple shots for its missiles; without a cargo pallet, they can shoot only once.
C-130 Hercules is your medium-lift cargo plane. It can carry 16 LGOPs or an equivalent amount of vehicles or cargo. There are a lot more C-130's in the world than C-17's, so most of your air-dropping and airlifting will be via your "Herky-birds."
C-17 Globemaster is the biggest plane the 82nd Airborne uses. It can drop 26 LGOPs or an equivalent weight of vehicles and cargo. You get to use these only on your first drop, so use them wisely.

II-c. The Defenders

Player 2 gets units based on older American technology. They are outclassed by the Airborne's equipment in most areas, but that doesn't make them harmless. These units are all the same as those used in Gators!, but the following units are not used:

Guerrillas
Militia
A-4 Skyhawk
Missile Boat
Colonel
Major
Hostage
Anthrax

III. Map Terrain

This game uses the following M8 maps, in the following pattern (which is identical to the map for Gators! scenario 2). All maps are rotated with points up-and-down and flat sides to the left and right.

Top row: four of #063 (not needed for Airborne!)
Second row: 057, 058 (town in 0404), 060 (towns in 0203 & 0303, navy base in 0402), with water sides to the north
Third row: 048 (airfield in 0302) with road joined to the next map, 046, 033 with road joined, 032 with river joined (bridge in hex 0404)
Fourth row: 002, 047 (0600 to the north; seven-hex town in the center covering the road junctions, airfield in 0702), 005
Fifth row: 009, 041 (0003 to the north, towns in 0703, 0704), 043 (airfield in 0503), 040 (0206 to the north; towns in 0301, 0302, 0401, 0402)

Terrain rules work as with the original Gators!

IV. Setting Up the Game

Set up the maps. Player 2, set up your counters on the land map. Your job at this point is to guess where the invasion will happen, and deploy to defend against it. You have 18 "?" (camouflage) markers that you can stack on top of any unit you wish, to keep Player 1 from knowing what they are. All air units must be stacked in one of the Airstrip hexes, with at least 2 air units in each airstrip. The M48 tanks must all be next to (but not in) the town in map 040. Patrol Boats must be in water next to land. No units can be in jungle. All towns must have at least one town hex empty for every unit in that town. You may also place Debris markers on the land map at this time.

Also, you need to find out which of your advanced weapons systems will work, and which ones are crippled by a lack of spare parts. Roll a die (Player 1 must not see this). If it comes up 4-6, both your Hawk SAM batteries are working; if 1-3, battery 2 is not functional. You can still place it on the map, and it can exert its ZOC and defend itself normally, but it cannot attack in any way.

While Player 2 is setting up, Player 1 must figure out his combat loadings. Your first airdrop will consist of two C-17 Globemasters. You can fill them with any mix of men, cargo, and vehicles, as long as the cargo and vehicles go out the door first. There is no point in choosing individual LGOPs, because they're going to get scrambled during the jump anyway.

Player 1 must also choose a drop route for his transport planes. Drop routes must be straight lines, cannot pass directly over a town or airstrip hex, and must be long enough to drop all the units you intend to drop. They can be in any direction at any point on the map, but must never be closer than 2 hexes from the edge. Both C-17's will fly this initial route at the start of the game, side by side, for the first air drop. Later drops can use other routes.

Once Player 2 has finished placing his counters, Player 1 puts his two C-17's on the map at the start of their drop run. Roll a die and consult the Wind Direction Table to see which way the wind is blowing. Orient the wind directions so that 1 is north, toward the sea. Roll again for the wind speed; 1 means no wind, 2-4 means a wind strength of 1, and 5-6 means a wind strength of 2. Set the Turn counter on the Combat Loading Sheet to 1.

V. Playing the Game

Each turn represents 3 hours, and includes the following phases:

Player-1 Air-Drop Phase: Player 1's transport planes fly their drop routes. Also in this phase, any transport planes in an airstrip can unload some or all of their cargo (see the rules for "Capturing an Airstrip"). On turn 1, Player-1's planes can ignore the ZOC's of enemy anti-air units, and those units cannot attack the transport planes. Also on turn 1, the planes appear like magic at the start of their route, instead of entering the map at an edge hex.
Player-2 On-Landing Combat Phase: if Player 1 dropped any units on or next to Player 2's units, Player 2 resolves all combat. See the rules for "On-Landing Combat" in the Combat section.
Player-1 Movement Phase: Player 1 moves his units, according to their movement limits and the terrain involved.
Player-1 Combat Phase: resolve all combat by Player 1's units.
Player 2 Movement Phase: Player 2 moves his units, according to their movement limits and the terrain involved, in any order.
Player-2 Combat Phase: resolve all combat by Player 2's units.
Wind Adjustment Phase: roll 2 dice and consult the Wind Adjustment Table.
Turn Phase: advance the turn counter on the Combat Loading Sheet. Determine if the game is over and, if so, who won.

VI. Movement

VI-d. Stacking

An LGOP or Infantry Platoon can stack with a special-weapons unit. This means Heavy-Weapons Teams (Player 1) and Dragon or Stinger Teams (Player 2). Such units can move together and attack normally, and can stack and unstack at will. Only one Infantry Platoon and one weapons unit can be together in a hex. Alternately, two LGOPs can stack together if no other units are in the hex. Such stacked units attack with their combined strength, defend with the greater of the units' defend ratings, and suffer any "retreat" or "destroyed" combat odds together.

While airdropping, multiple units can be stacked together before scattering. If a unit's scatter roll would land it in a hex it cannot occupy (such as a hex already occupied by a unit the current unit cannot stack with), do the scatter roll again. Player-1 units can drop onto a Player-2 unit, but if two Player-1 units are already in the hex with the Player-2 unit, and a third is about to land there, reroll that third unit's scatter.

A cargo pallet does not count as a unit for stacking purposes. If an LGOP equipped to use that cargo enters the hex, the cargo counter stays with that LGOP for the rest of the game, to show that they have ammunition for their special weapons.

Personnel units can enter a hex with a vehicle that can carry them, or vice-versa, and ride with that vehicle.

VI-e. Air Drops

Transport planes flying a drop route can move as many hexes in a turn as they need in order to drop their entire contents, even if that many hexes is more than the plane's speed. Except for the first drop in turn 1, planes must enter the map at any edge hex, move to the start of their drop route at their normal speed, then stop. On the following turn, they move along their drop route, stopping when all carried units have dropped. If more than one plane is involved, they must fly the same route side-by-side. On the turn after that, they revert to their normal speed, and exit the map at any edge hex.

Each time a plane moves along a drop route, it drops one vehicle or cargo pallet into the hex it just left, or 1 personnel unit into each of the two hexes behind and beside itself (not directly behind). Dropped units are scattered after the planes have finished their drop routes.

When units drop from an airplane, they never land where you want them to. Wind, variations in how the unit jumped or was dropped, and random chance all play a factor. Each time a unit drops from a plane, roll a die for that unit and consult the Wind Direction Table. Move the unit in the direction you rolled; the number of hexes it moves is the same as the current wind speed. If the direction you rolled is the same as the current wind direction, move that unit one hex more than the wind speed; and if you rolled a direction exactly opposite the current wind direction, move one hex less than the wind speed (this can mean zero). If units wind up stacked together at the end of a drop, that's okay, as long as they are normally allowed to stack with each other. If not, reroll the scatter. If the wind speed is zero, units land where they drop unless the scatter roll equals the current wind direction, in which case they drift 1 hex. If you wind up with such a clot of units that you can't land them all without violating the stacking rules, then stack them wherever they land, and unstack them during the movement phase.

When you are dropping paratroopers, you have no way of knowing how they will form into LGOPs once on the ground. To simulate this, take all the LGOP counters and place them in a cup. When they drop, draw them from the cup without looking, and place them on the map. Destroyed LGOP counters cannot be reused.

Dropped units are placed face-down. Player 1 can peek at them to see what they are at any time; Player 2 cannot. Turn them right-side-up at the start of the Player-1 movement phase. If such an LGOP has a "J" for Javelin missile or "S" for Stinger missile, stack a "Javelin 1" or "Stinger 1" marker with that unit. Discard the marker when the unit uses its missile once. Air-dropped vehicles are assumed to land with their crews nearby, and can begin moving immediately.

A unit that drifts off the edge of the map is lost. Cargo pallets that land in a town hex are lost unless they are adjacent to a Player-1 combat unit. If a Player-2 land unit moves into a cargo pallet's hex or attacks it, the pallet is automatically destroyed.

A vehicle or cargo pallet that lands in a deep-water or shallow-water hex is lost. During the next Player-1 movement phase, for each LGOP or other personnel unit that lands in such a hex, roll a die and consult the Wind Direction Table. If moving one hex in the direction you rolled would bring the unit onto land of any kind, and if the unit can enter that hex, the unit must move there. If the direction you rolled would move the unit into another water hex, or if the indicated hex is occupied by a hostile unit, the men are drowned.

If a personnel unit lands on a Patrol Boat, roll a die. If 1-3, the men drown. If 4-6, they capture the Patrol Boat, and it operates as a Player-1 unit, moving with the unit that captured it. That unit cannot attack while moving with the boat. If they choose to leave the boat and fight as ground troops again, they can do so next to any land hex. The boat is destroyed as they leave it. The Patrol Boat can carry four LGOPs.

A unit that air-drops into a Jungle hex may become caught in the trees. Any personnel unit that lands in Jungle cannot move or attack unless it first rolls a 4-6 at the start of the Player-1 movement phase. Once it has made a 4-6, it can move freely without having to roll again. If Player 2 attacks a unit that is still caught in the trees, he adds 2 to his combat die roll. If a cargo pallet gets caught in trees, an LGOP must enter that hex and roll a 4-6 in order to use it; failing this roll has no impact on the LGOP itself. Vehicles must roll a 5-6 to get out of the trees.

Airdrops can happen only at night, once per night (four consecutive night turns are one night), using 1-2 C-130's flying side-by-side. The same limits apply to airlift missions into captured airstrips, except you can bring in up to four C-130's. You can't do airlifts and airdrops on the same night.

VI-p. Capturing an Airstrip

If Player 1 captures an airstrip (a Player-1 land unit ends a turn in it, with no Player-2 land units next to it), then he can use it to refuel his air units immediately, and as soon as he brings a C-130 to it, he can rearm air units there as well. The land unit does not have to stay in the airstrip once it has been captured. Rules for stacking air units in an airstrip are the same for Player 1 as for Player 2.

Once Player 1 captures an airstrip, he can fly airlift missions, bringing transport planes there to unload their cargoes with no risk of scattering. Some units, like helicopters, are not air-droppable and can enter the battle only by airlift. A transport plane can enter the map at any edge hex, but must enter the airstrip hex flying upwind (in the opposite direction from the current wind direction). Each plane can unload up to 10 LGOP-equivalent units each turn, starting on the turn when they land. Such units are unloaded during the Player-1 Air-Drop phase, stacked in the airstrip hex, and can begin moving immediately in the next movement phase. If you bring in LGOP units by airlift, you can pick and choose them, unlike the randomness of an airdrop.

A transport plane that lands at an airstrip can take off on the next turn during the movement phase, flying upwind; it can leave the map from any edge hex. If it makes it off the map, it has returned to base, and can be reloaded for another mission on another night.

Player 2 can recapture an airstrip by bringing a land unit to it, with no Player-1 land units next to it. Now the airstrip belongs to Player 2 again, working like it always did. If Player 1 recaptures it, he has to repeat the whole process.

VII. Combat

VII-o. Night Combat

Half of the turns on the turn track sheet are yellow, representing daylight, and half are gray, representing night. Normal rules are in effect during the day. At night, the 82nd Airborne has a distinct advantage, because of their night-vision goggles, low-light gunsights, and illumination rounds (flares) from their mortars. When Player 1's units attack at night, they add 1 to all combat rolls, and when Player 2 attacks at night, he subtracts 1 from his attack rolls.

Player 2's air units cannot attack at night.

VII-p. Shooting Down Transport Planes

On turn 1, Player 1 has surprise and his planes are safe from attack. But on any turn after that, Player 2's air and anti-air units can try to shoot down Player 1's planes as they move, using normal combat rules; do not subtract 1 from the combat roll at night if the attacking unit is a Hawk SAM. If a plane is shot down, any vehicles or cargo on board are lost. Roll a die for each personnel unit still on board. If the roll comes up 1-4, that unit went down with the plane; if 5-6, they got out the door and scatter (from the plane's location) like any other dropped unit.

VII-q. On-Landing Combat

A unit that lands on or next to a Player-2 unit that can attack it can be attacked immediately, before it can move. This is called an on-landing attack. Player 2 must wait until all units are scattered before he makes any on-landing attacks. Note that the Player-1 counter(s) will be upside-down, so Player 2 won't know what he's attacking until he's committed to making the attack. If a Player-1 unit lands on a Player-2 unit, the Player-2 unit attacks, and they are still stacked at the end of combat, the Player-1 unit must do an immediate "Retreat 1." If a Player-1 unit lands on a Player-2 unit, and the Player-2 unit does not attack, the Player-2 unit must do an immediate "Retreat 1." All of these attacks and retreats are part of the on-landing combat phase, and don't prevent the units in question from moving and attacking normally in their respective movement and combat phases.

VIII. Victory

On Turn 24, Player 1 must have secured the capital city (the seven-hex town in the middle of the map), one other town of his choice, and one airstrip of his choice. This means no land units from Player 2 are in or adjacent to those cities and airstrip. If he achieves this earlier than 24 turns, it doesn't help, because the UN reinforcements can't arrive before the end of turn 24. If Player 1 meets these conditions at the end of turn 24, he wins; if not, Player 2 wins.

IX. Game Tables

Player 1 Units
Unit	Qty	Type	Attack	Atk Range	Defend	Move	Trans Space	Air-Droppable
LGOP	48	Land	varies	1	varies	1	1	Y
Weapons Team	3	Land	2/1/0	1	1	1	2	Y
Engineers	1	Land	1/0/0	1	1	1	2	Y
81mm Mortar Team	2	Land	2/0/0	2	1	1	1	Y
Hmmwv	4	Land	0/0/0	1	1	4	5	Y
Hmmwv/Auto	4	Land	1/0/0	1	1	4	5	Y
Hmmwv/TOW	4	Land	0/2/0	2	1	4	5	Y
Avenger	2	Land	0/0/2	1	1	4	5	Y
105mm Howitzer	6	Land	3/0/0	3	1	0	4	Y
M551	4	Land	1/2/0	1	1A	3	10	Y
5-ton Truck	6	Land	0/0/0	1	1	3	6	Y
OH-58D Helicopter	4	Air	varies	1	1	6	8	n
UH-60L Helicopter	4	Air	0/0/0	1	1	6	15	n
Javelin Pallet	6	Land	0/2/0	2	0	0	2	Y
Stinger Pallet	6	Land	0/0/1	1	0	0	2	Y
C-130 Hercules	4	Air	0/0/0	1	1	8	(16)	n
C-17 Globemaster	2	Air	0/0/0	1	1	9	(26)	n

Player 2 Units

Unit Qty Type Attack Atk Range Defend Move

Infantry Platoon 9 Land 2/0/0 1 1 1

Heavy Weapons Platoon 3 Land 2/1/0 1 1 1

Dragon Team 4 Land 0/2/0 1 1 1

Mortar Team 4 Land 2/0/0 2 1 1

Stinger Team 6 Land 0/0/1 1 1 1

Jeep/auto 4 Land 1/0/0 1 1 4

Jeep/RCR 4 Land 1/2/0 1 1 4

Jeep/TOW 4 Land 0/2/0 2 1 4

M113 APC 4 Land 1/0/0 1 2A 3

M48 Tank 4 Land 1/2/0 1 2A 2

75mm Howitzer 4 Land 2/0/0 3 1 1

Hawk SAM 2 Land 0/0/2 2 1 0

5-ton Truck 6 Land 0/0/0 1 1 3

UH-1B Helicopter 4 Air varies 1 1 6

F-5A Jet 4 Air varies 1 1 10

Patrol Boat 2 Water 1/0/0 1 1 3

Player 2 Units
Unit	Qty	Type	Attack	Atk Range	Defend	Move
Infantry Platoon	9	Land	2/0/0	1	1	1
Heavy Weapons Platoon	3	Land	2/1/0	1	1	1
Dragon Team	4	Land	0/2/0	1	1	1
Mortar Team	4	Land	2/0/0	2	1	1
Stinger Team	6	Land	0/0/1	1	1	1
Jeep/auto	4	Land	1/0/0	1	1	4
Jeep/RCR	4	Land	1/2/0	1	1	4
Jeep/TOW	4	Land	0/2/0	2	1	4
M113 APC	4	Land	1/0/0	1	2A	3
M48 Tank	4	Land	1/2/0	1	2A	2
75mm Howitzer	4	Land	2/0/0	3	1	1
Hawk SAM	2	Land	0/0/2	2	1	0
5-ton Truck	6	Land	0/0/0	1	1	3
UH-1B Helicopter	4	Air	varies	1	1	6
F-5A Jet	4	Air	varies	1	1	10
Patrol Boat	2	Water	1/0/0	1	1	3

The three numbers for "Attack" are anti-soft targets, anti-hard targets, and anti-air.
In "Defend," an "A" means an armored target.
If two numbers are given in "Move," the first is for land movement and the second is for water movement. All other move limits are for the unit's normal medium of movement (land for land units, air for air units, water for ships).

Air-Attack Table
Air Unit	Air-Attack Markers
OH-54D	4 any (see below)
UH-1B	1 Ground, 1 Ground or Armor
F-5A	1 Air, 1 Air or Ground

The OH-54D can carry four markers, which must be in pairs. A ground-type marker counts as one pair. Four ground-type markers are marked with a "P" for Permanent. These markers represent a .50 machine-gun pod, and are not discarded when used, but can fire indefinitely.

Combat Results Table

Combat Odds < -3 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5 > 5

Die
Roll -1- A X A X A X A X A X A R2 A R1 n/r D R1 D R2

-2- A X A X A X A X A R2 A R1 n/r D R1 D R2 D X

-3- A X A X A X A R2 A R1 n/r D R1 D R2 D X D X

-4- A X A X A R2 A R1 n/r D R1 D R2 D X D X D X

-5- A X A R2 A R1 n/r D R1 D R2 D X D X D X D X

-6- A R2 A R1 n/r D R1 D R2 D X D X D X D X D X

Combat Results Table
Combat Odds	< -3	-3	-2	-1	1	2	3	4	5	> 5
Die Roll	-1-	A X	A X	A X	A X	A X	A R2	A R1	n/r	D R1	D R2
-2-	A X	A X	A X	A X	A R2	A R1	n/r	D R1	D R2	D X
-3-	A X	A X	A X	A R2	A R1	n/r	D R1	D R2	D X	D X
-4-	A X	A X	A R2	A R1	n/r	D R1	D R2	D X	D X	D X
-5-	A X	A R2	A R1	n/r	D R1	D R2	D X	D X	D X	D X
-6-	A R2	A R1	n/r	D R1	D R2	D X	D X	D X	D X	D X

Wind Direction Table:

        >---<
       /     \
  >---<   1   >---<
 /     \     /     \
<   6   >---<   2   >
 \     / \ / \     /
  >---< --O-- >---<
 /     \ / \ /     \
<   5   >---<   3   >
 \     /     \     /
  >---<   4   >---<
       \     /
        >---<

Wind Adjustment Table

Dice Roll Result

-2- Combine the results of 5 and 10

-3- Combine the results of 5 and 4

-4- Add 1 to wind strength (no higher than 2)

-5- Subtract 1 from wind direction (if 0, make it 6)

-6- Wind becomes 1 if it is 0

-7- No change

-8- Wind becomes 1 if it is 2

-9- Add 1 to wind direction (if 7, make it 1)

-10- Subtract 1 from wind strength (no less than 0)

-11- Combine the results of 9 and 4

-12- Combine the results of 9 and 10

Wind Adjustment Table
Dice Roll	Result
-2-	Combine the results of 5 and 10
-3-	Combine the results of 5 and 4
-4-	Add 1 to wind strength (no higher than 2)
-5-	Subtract 1 from wind direction (if 0, make it 6)
-6-	Wind becomes 1 if it is 0
-7-	No change
-8-	Wind becomes 1 if it is 2
-9-	Add 1 to wind direction (if 7, make it 1)
-10-	Subtract 1 from wind strength (no less than 0)
-11-	Combine the results of 9 and 4
-12-	Combine the results of 9 and 10

X. Designer's Notes

This scenario was suggested by one Gunther Bellows, whom I've never met, but who was among the first to playtest Gators! and who encouraged me to indulge his love of airborne ops. The game engine I've settled on is flexible enough to make such extra scenarios fairly easy to make, and when I started thinking about small groups of men with parachutes and deadly weapons, scattered all over the battlefield and looking for something to shoot at, the ideas started flying.

Being lazy by nature, I wanted to avoid as much work as possible, so I based everything on Gators! The opposing force and the maps are recycled untouched, and Player 1's counters are slightly modified from the Marines' counters. The time scale is much shorter than in the Marine games, though. This probably affects the map scale, but I haven't spent much time worrying about that.

Player 1 has to choose between conquering an airstrip quickly (which may not be possible) or going with a predominantly airdrop strategy (which limits his strength). Player 2 has to decide whether he will prepare a strong defense (and give Player 1 time to concentrate his forces) or go on the offensive (and possibly spread himself too thin). But, just as in real life, everyone's plans will probably go out the hopper as soon as the first LGOPs start drifting into the battlefield.

Mike Fischer
mfischer@naisp.net