The play test of the first scenario for the Khalkhin Gol project turned out to be great fun. The scenario set up has a shotai of three Japanese Ki-27’s deployed as four bogey markers, with a pair of I-16’s and a lone R-5 as their target. The Japanese have the advantage of altitude and the sun, as well as being bogeys, so should be in a good position for a bounce, if it all goes according to plan. The Russian fighter pilots are also sprogs, so they are at a distinct disadvantage.

In Turn 1 the Japanese commander, Lt Col Matsumura, decided to split the bogeys into two pairs, with his wingman being the dummy. The Japanese began by flying one pair to the north and the other pair, led by Matsumura, to the south of the Soviets, intending to circle round and bounce the R-5 and I-16’s from behind. However, straight away Matsumura over cooked it and was spotted by one of the I-16 pilots, Lt Sharapov, forcing him to reveal his aircraft and remove the dummy wingman marker.

In Turn 2, both of the I-16’s moved to intercept Matsumura’s fighter, while the remaining Japanese bogeys descended to ALT 2 and began to swing in behind the unsuspecting R-5. Lt Col Matsumura now dropped down to ALT 2 and pulled round in a tight turn to get behind the I-16’s, only to receive a long range burst of fire from the rear gunner in the R-5, which he easily avoided. The I-16’s also turned to try to get on Matsumura’s tail but he managed to out manoeuvre them on his character card, which had been added to the deck after he was spotted in the previous turn.

In Turn 3, Lt Col Matsumura used his character card again to zoom away from the 1-16’s and behind the R-5, although he failed to get on its tail. The two Japanese bogeys now moved to intercept the I-16’s, so that they couldn’t interfere with their commander’s attack on the R-5, both managing to get on the tail of the 1-16’s without being spotted. The I-16’s were by now in hot pursuit of Lt Col Matsumura and were closing in, oblivious to the two Japanese bogeys behind them. 

The R-5 rear gunner now had a perfect zero deflection shot at close range, so fired away at Matsumura’s Ki-27, scoring one critical hit and inflicting wing damage. The Lt Col now took a second ‚getting on the tail‘ test and managed to pass this time, but too late to open fire as his character card and shotai fire card had already been played. Instead, the 1-16 of Sgt Lebedev opened fire and scored one hit, which by the luck of the dice ended up as a pilot hit. A bad D6 roll on the pilot hit table of only 1 (+ 1 for his armoured seat) meant that Lt Col Matsumura was instantly killed, his plane diving straight down to explode on the steppe below!

In Turn 4, the two Japanese bogeys now moved in behind the I-16’s and passed a ‚getting on the tail‘ test, ready to avenge their commander. The R-5 moved again and was approaching the table edge, so it was now or never for the Japanese fighter pilots. The I-16’s now moved ahead and passed the R-5, which forced the Japanese to move with them, although they could have just broken off, leading to one of the bogeys almost colliding with the R-5. A quick bit of avoiding action led to the Ki-27 of Lt Suzuki breaking through the Soviet formation and popping out right in front of the R-5’s guns. The Japanese formation was broken, so both pilots decided it was time to call it a day and they zoomed away, leaving the Soviets to fly off the table to a well deserved, vodka fuelled party back at the airstrip!

It was a really good game but all credit to the sprog Soviet pilots, who managed to shoot down the veteran commander of the 24th Sentai, for no loss and also with the R-5 safely escorted from the table. I’m going to run a re-play but this time keep the Japanese bogeys together in one formation, to see if they can do any better. The Japanese did have some terrible dice rolls and some bad luck, but their cunning plan backfired when Lt Col Matsumura was spotted early in the game and when he was killed by a lucky shot from Sgt Lebedev’s tailing I-16. He really should have known better than to split his formation and not keep a sharp look out on his six!