Phantom Leader for the iPad

[LordGek]

Originally Posted by the9quad

How many times have you guys forgot what phase it is and jettisoned perfectly good ordinance?

Not yet, but I'm sure I've had many games where I SHOULD have jettisoned some ordinace but was too stubborn to do so.

[Farmer Harv]

Originally Posted by the9quad

How many times have you guys forgot what phase it is and jettisoned perfectly good ordinance?

Not yet. But my brain fart quota is low for the month so far, so I'm sure it's gonna happen yet.

[Farmer Harv]

Not having played a "real" paper and cardboard war game since the Ambush series in the mid 80's, and being quite intrigued by how entertaining Phantom Leader is, I bit the bullet and ordered a physical copy of Thunderbolt Apache Leader today. The mechanics seem very similar with some new rules and it has more of a map than a tactical display. As much as the Vietnam era interests me the A10 and Apache have always held my attention and CAS looks to have all sorts of tactical challenges.

Now to find a nice quiet area in the house to be able to set everything up in, and hopefully discover some fortitude when it comes to accepting the rolls the Dice Gods send my way. Maybe sacrificing a chicken will help...KFC can be rather tasty on occasion.

[currymutton]

Originally Posted by Farmer Harv

Now to find a nice quiet area in the house to be able to set everything up in, and hopefully discover some fortitude when it comes to accepting the rolls the Dice Gods send my way. Maybe sacrificing a chicken will help...KFC can be rather tasty on occasion.

How is your sacrifice thing doing? If in case chicken does not work, I may look into mutton.

I think I am beginning to be absorbed into this game.

Even dice roll sends you to the edge of the seat, now that is already better than many TV shows and movies.

This is what I usually do (open to discussion):

Always pick the fast guys, if there is some slot left, get slow guys with very good rating (at least +2).

Make sure I get a least one guy, fast or slow, with at least a +1 in A2A.

Getting the EW plane is a must (USAF only). It takes up a valuable Average pilot slot, but in mission, this plane does not count and it has some proof against bad Events, which again, as good as any ECM can go..

If I can upgrade a slow pilot to a fast one, I will not hesitate to spend my SO on it.

Prefer small scale missions not more than 5 planes. Weight against the number of sites and bandits over the hits needed and the VP gained. Small ones are harder to screw up, large mission tends to fail when one of my boys loses all the ordinances.

On arming, get all the good fast AtG guys (+2 or above) with at least one rocket and play poor man's wild weasel, especially when there are pesky AAA with 0 or 2 with range 1 standing in my way. Use the wild weasel guys to get clear the path first.

Arm one plane with all AtA ordinances, depending on the number of bandits expected. On approach, get the MiG21 first, then the MiG19 if possible. Some time, there are too many bandits overwhelming your fighter escort, but I normally do not mix AtA with AtG on one plane.

On planning approach, get the path of least resistance, unless there are pesky sites mentioned out there, in this case I always move right onto them and make sure they get dealed with first.

I never split group -- they all always go in in one direction, and die in one direction only.

Seldom spend SO for special weapons. But always spend SO on Special R&R where necessary. Who doesn't like spa?

Forgetting to move the planes and cause mission failure is one of the most common stupid mistake I make.

Apart from all the pesky AAA sites with 2 or less, normally, I do not want to spend an ordinance on any sites or bandits. Just concentrate and dump all fire power onto the target.

Better skilled pilots do not get better chance of not getting hit, shame.

When I find that I cannot gain enough hit to kill the target whatsoever, I always end the mission early. Saving your guys from unnecessary fire helps you to play longer.

Some time I hear shouts like:

It is a hit!
Stay on target!
Eject! Eject! Eject!
There is a bandit on your tail!
I can't shake him!
Damn! Missed!
Wow, look at the firework!
SAM! SAM! SAM!
Fox 1!
Bombs away!
The Force is strong with this one...

[Farmer Harv]

Great list cm! Lots of good thinking material there, and I'll have to try some of your ideas on my next outing.

In other news my physical copy of Thunderbolt Apache Leader arrived today. I've only played a few missions but I already like it more than Phantom Leader, but it really (really!) cries out for Kevin to apply his programming magic and bring it to the iPad. I forgot how much time and space was required to set up, play, and take down a board game, not to mention how spoiled I've become with the computer doing all of the math and bookkeeping. I can only hope that Phantom Leader was successful enough that TAL can get some iPad love soon.