Game: Hornet Leader

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bryanwinter — 2008-06-18T05:07:16+00:00

Components

Thread: Hornet Leader actual combat use

wargamer55 — 2008-05-06T18:28:53+00:00

Most of the campaign cards in Hornet Leader represent what-ifs, and there's nothing wrong with that, as part of the game's interest is seeing how F/A-18 might fare in future conflicts. The F/A-18 has a few more years service in it, especially with the continuing delays in fielding the Joint Strike Fighter, so any contingency fighting involving the Navy or Marine Corps will see Hornets in action.

But at least some of the campaigns in the game have actually happened, most them after the game was published in 1991, so the game's predictive power was tested and it passed with flying colors.

The main historical scenario included in the Desert Storm module included in the game. Given the game's publication date and the usual lead time needed for a design, it seems likely the game was already being designed before the first Gulf War started. Besides Navy and Marine Corps Hornets, by the way, the Canadians also flew combat missions in Desert Storm with their CF-18 Hornets, which don't differ in game terms from the US versions except perhaps in some of the ordnance available. Two Hornets were shot down and they shot down two Iraqi MiG-21s in the course of 4,551 sorties.

There's also a regular Iraq campaign card, which could be used to depict the use of Navy and Marine Hornets in Operation Iraqi freedom. To be more historically accurate, the Iraqis should have no planes at all, but the player may want to leave them in for the challenge. One Hornet was lost to friendly fire and two were lost in a mid-air crash, but none were shot down by the Iraqis.

The Libya campaign card was meant to represent future action against that country, although there had already been an actual combat use of the Hornet against Libya before the game's publication date. Hornets from the USS Coral Sea (VFA-131) flew some Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses missions in support of Operation El Dorado Canyon in 1986. The Coral Sea and USS Midway operated F/A-18s only because they couldn't handle the larger F-14 Tomcats.

GMT games Insider No. 2 (Oct. 1991) included four new campaign "cards" (actually just black & white copies on the back cover) including one for "Yugoslavia." These could be used to represent missions flown over Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s. Again, for maximum historical accuracy the enemy aircraft should never appear, but a player could leave them in to increase the challenge. Besides U.S. aircraft, some Spanish and Canadian Hornets flew some missions during this contingency as well.

Of the remaining campaign cards, some of the most likely to actually occur are the China campaign that appeared in Insider No. 2 and the original game's Iran card. There's always, of course a chance for a new Korean war, but each passing year seems to make that less likely.

The World War III scenarios, Central America and Defense of Israel campaigns in the original game and the Southern Africa and Cuba campaigns from Insider No. 2 range from highly unlikely to impossible in likelihood.

From my blog: http://pawnderings.blogspots.com

Thread: Re: Central American Campaing - Mission 1 - Cutting their Teeth

mrambassador — 2008-01-28T14:35:16+00:00

Hi, Good session report, I liked how it read like a mission debreifing report. Just on a rules point, I think the enemy fighter presence is pairs of enemy fighters, not individual ones, so I think you were supposed to encounter 6 migs. Also, I don't think fighters on ground attack can enter CAP, enemy migs and friendly hornets can leave CAP but I don't think you can leave ground attack to enter CAP.

Good session report though.

Thread: rules needed

abendoso — 2007-12-10T12:19:19+00:00

After finding BGG I started to remember old games of my youth, and this one was of the first I remembered, but I thought it was long ago lost in one of my mother's frenzy cleanouts.

So I downloaded and printed the HLII which is not a bad game, but less... fancy as all my DIY games are.

But finally I have found this game again, except for one part... the rules!

Has anybody the rules for this game? were they the same as HLII? Can I use the rules in HLII to play HL? Can I use the parts in HL to play HLII?

Thank you in advance!

Thread: Re: New edition?

crusher100 — 2007-11-07T08:34:35+00:00

Owned already but I'm referring to the comment on the pledge section of Decision Games website.

Thread: Re: New edition?

Wulf Corbett — 2007-11-06T20:36:14+00:00

There's already a Hornet Leader II to download, print & play. So far, I've downloaded & printed, but I still have to assemble the bits into playable condition.

Here it is:
http://www.wargamedownloads.com/item.php?item=193&pics=2

Thread: New edition?

crusher100 — 2007-11-06T14:49:59+00:00

Hi all,

i've seen in decision games pledge page they will be releasing a new edition of HL. Does anyone know the current status of the new edition or what will change from the 1st one?

Thanks.

Thread: Re: HL PC VERSION

HGBlob — 2007-10-12T13:06:24+00:00

It's out now for download from the Matrix games website. $29.99

Thread: HL PC VERSION

crusher100 — 2007-09-22T14:14:34+00:00

p

Check this!!!!

http://www.matrixgames.com/games/game.asp?gid=347

Now need to know when it will be released and the price... There will be also a version for TAL???

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Xookliba — 2007-07-18T05:58:05+00:00

C3i errata replacement counters (back)

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Xookliba — 2007-07-18T05:57:48+00:00

C3i errata replacement counters (front)

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Xookliba — 2007-07-18T05:19:47+00:00

Hornet leader variant counters, back

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Xookliba — 2007-07-18T05:19:23+00:00

Hornet leader variant counters, front

Thread: Re: Hornet Leader 2

Nomad313 — 2007-05-22T02:44:46+00:00

I've been enjoying the Vassal version recently. In fact I just played one of the Lybia skirmish missions today and will finish it tomorrow. My guys got beat up pretty bad and 2 got captured so it was a learning experiance for me!! ;-)

Thread: Re: Hornet Leader 2

Harkonnen13 — 2007-05-13T20:38:26+00:00

Crusher Crancko's post is over 2 years old. Any news about a release date?

EDIT: I went to the website and there's a pdf available. Printed would have been better but I can live with a pdf.

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2007-03-26T23:37:09+00:00

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ronster0 — 2007-03-05T03:31:52+00:00

Finished Pilot Log.

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ronster0 — 2007-03-05T03:30:50+00:00

Completed Mission Log of Iran Campaign.

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ronster0 — 2007-02-28T02:04:27+00:00

Target layout: Short Daylight mission over Iran targeting Oil Fields with A6 Support

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MarkEA — 2007-02-26T23:10:16+00:00

Mission Log

Thread: Re: North Korea?

Harvester — 2006-07-24T20:32:33+00:00

Yes the manul does not list the correct values. Go here:

http://www.grognard.com/titleh.html

Look under hornet leader/official errata for the corrections.

Thread: Re: North Korea?

Invité — 2006-07-23T07:48:29+00:00

For the North Korea Module, here:

http://www.gmtgames.com/gmt0c3i.htm

you have two pdf from Vol.1 N.1 (module + inserts) to download who contains everything.

Thread: North Korea?

crusader4x — 2006-07-23T06:13:44+00:00

A few years ago I purchased Hornet Leader from somebody on eBay. The game is complete and appears to have a North Korea campaign. Would somebody please give me a complete manifest of what should have come with the North Korea expansion?

Also, the Rule Book states that I should have 15 Special Condition cards, I have 16 AND that I should have 18 Mission Event cards, I have 17. Was that a Typo?

Thread: Re: Central American Campaing - Mission 1 - Cutting their Te

ronster0 — 2006-04-21T21:15:57+00:00

Please note that this is the easy campaign with only three mission to complete. I will post the rest as I finsh them and write them up.

Thread: Central American Campaign - Mission 2 - Night Raid

ronster0 — 2006-04-21T18:39:57+00:00

Mission 2 – Night Raid

Brass was very happy with our last mission. Seems the strike hurt the local militia and now we are going to hit em a little harder.
Our second mission is against the Air Defense Battery surrounding their Main Compound. It would be a short range, night time ground strike. Since we are going to strike in the pre dawn hours no enemy fighter defenses will be in the area. They think the SAM batteries in the area should be enough. We could definetly expect SAM defenses (since these are our targets) and large AA but lack of any overall central military should downgrade the size of these AA defenses.

It was suggested that I take 4 hornets on this mission and that sounded about right. Without Migs to worry about we loaded up on Air to Ground Munitions.

I choose two attack groups for the mission.

The first would be the Target strike element. We would be charged wit the actual destruction of the target. It would consist of:

Hornet 300
Pilot Ronster0 (me, the squadron leader)
I would carry HARMS and MK 83s for the target SAMs
Hornet 301
Pilot Banzai (best air to ground skills in the group)

The second would provide SAM clearing duties up to the target

Hornet 309
Pilot Griffin
Would be loaded with HARMS and Mavericks
Hornet 310
Pilot Talon
Would be loaded with HARMS and Mavericks

After checking all the intel, again we decided to approach from the North. There seemed to be no SAM defenses in the approach.
We also learned that two F-14 would provide CAP during the night time raid. The flight to the target was uneventful and the intel was right on as we did not run into any SAM on the approach to the target.

Phase 1:
No enemy planes were over the target.
We encountered no enemy SAMs in the approach area and started our raid on the target itself from the approach area.
Hornet 309 fired 1 x HARM and the eastern approach SAM destroying it
Hornet 309 fired 1 x HARM and destroyed long SAM in target area

Hornet 310 fired 1 x HARM and hit the Medium SAM in target area
Hornet 310 fired 1 x HARM and hit the small SAM in target area destroying it

No enemy SAMs were able to lock on the Hornets in the northern approach.

Hornet 309 fires 1 x Maverick at target Heavy AAA missing
Hornet 309 fires 1 x Maverick at target Heavy AAA missing

Hornet 310 fires 1 x Maverick and hits the Heavy AAA in target area
Hornet 310 fires 1 x Maverick at target Heavy AAA missing

So far all SAMs have been destroyed but Moderate AAA still resides in target area.

Phase 2:
All friendly Hornets move into target hex.

Hornet 300 fires 1 x HARM at western approach Medium SAM and scores 1 hit
Hornet 300 fires 1 x HARM at southern approach small SAM destroying it

Moderate AAA in target hex fires on all four hornets. None are hit.

Hornet 309 strafes Moderate AAA in target area and misses
Hornet 310 strafes Moderate AAA in target area and misses

Hornet 300 drops 1 x Mk 83 on target Moderate AAA and scores 2 hits
Hornet 301 drops 2 x Mk 83 on target and scores 4 hits

Phase 3
All hornets stay in target area to finish the job.

Hornet 301 fires 2 x HARM at Small SAM in Western approach destroying it

Lt AAA fire in target hex fires on all four hornets. None are hit.

Hornet 300 drops 1 x Mk 83 on target and score 2 hits destroying the target

With the target destroyed all friendly hornet aircraft are order to return to Aircraft Carrier CV-61 Ranger.
After debriefing and all Hornets have been checked it appears that one Hornet will be unable to fly and all pilots are unshaken.

The mission in considered a complete success.
EZ Ace squadron has achieved another successful combat raid over enemy territory.

Thread: Central American Campaing - Mission 1 - Cutting their Teeth

ronster0 — 2006-04-20T22:41:50+00:00

Combat Report for Operation in Central America

Since becoming a Captain and given my own command just a few months back, I have been given my first assignment to quell a small insurgency in Central America. I have named my first combat squadron EZ Ace.
The targeted Central American country, {censored}, was experiencing a coup by the local militia which could lead to instability in the region.

Mission 1 – Cutting their Teeth

We deployed into the waters off Central America on CV-61 Ranger on or near 4/16/06.

I arrived with my F-18 squadron of 15 hornets and fighter pilots. Besides me, they are all pretty fresh out of the combat academy and this will be their first real taste of combat.

After an overall briefing our target was a supply depot. It would be a medium range, daylight ground strike. Migs were to be expected over the area and of sufficient quantity, but the pilots in the region were to be of poor training. We could expect SAM defenses but lack of any overall central military should downgrade the size of these AA defenses.

It was suggested that I take 6 hornets on this mission, but I choose to take 4 to keep possible casualties down to a minimum in case we ran into trouble. No need to break in too many new pilots.

I choose two attack groups for the mission.

The first would be the ground strike element. It would consist of:
Hornet 300
Pilot Ronster0 (me, the squadron leader)
I would carry HARMS and Mavericks for the SAM and AAA sites
Hornet 301
Pilot Banzai (best air to ground skills in the group)
Would carry some Mavericks but mostly MK 82 and MK 83 for the target

The second would provide CAP while we attacked the target

Hornet 310
Pilot Blackhawk
AA missiles and backup Mavericks and MK 82 for target
Hornet 311
Pilot Mustang
AA missiles and backup Mavericks and MK 82 for target

After checking all the intel, the ground element would come in from a Northern approach were there were no SAM defenses located while group 2 would provide CAP overhead.
As we took of our spirits were very high (Mission Event card: Great Day to be a Hornet) and we found that (special conditions card) two A-6 intrudes would meet us over the target. It seems we would have all the help we needed. The flight to the target was uneventful and the intel was right on as we did not run into any SAM sites on the approach to the target.

Moving into the target three Mig 21s showed up and engaged our CAP.

Phase 1:
Our CAP achieved surprise on the enemy was able to engage the enemy with sparrows from long range with no enemy retaliation.
Hornet 300 was unable to get a lock
Hornet 311 locked on and fired 2 x Sparrows, it was a near miss for the target Mig-21.

On the ground
Hornet 300 fired 1 x HARM and destroyed the small SAM at the target
Hornet 300 fired 1 x Maverick and destroyed the AAA at the target
(so far so good, as all target defenses were neutralized from one space away)

Phase 2:
With one Mig-21 evading the long range attack that left two enemy fighters to engage.
Hornet 310 jettisoned 2 x Mavericks to gain air speed. He fires 2 x Sidewinders but missed.
Hornet 311 fires 2 x Sidewinders and struck a Mig -21 and destroyed it. It would be Blackhawk’s first air-to-air kill.
The lone Mig-21 no evading failed to achieve lock on.

On the ground we moved into the target hex for our target run.
Hornet 300 fired 1 x HARM at a long range SAM to the south scoring another hit and destroying it. (three ground hits for the leader Ronster0)
Hornet 301 dropped 1 x MK 83 scoring three hits on the target
Hornet 301 dropped 2 x MK 82 scoring three hits on the target
In one pass Banzai in Hornet 301 scored six hits on the target.
One more hit by the friendly A-6 Intruders destroyed the target supply depot.

Phase 3:
It was still 2 on 2 in the airspace over the combat zone.
Hornet 310 jettisoned all ground munitions leaving only his Vulcan canon but was unable to achieve a firing position
Hornet 311 jettisoned all ground munitions leaving only his Vulcan canon he was able to get behind a Mig-21 but missed

On the ground:
Hornet 301 fired 1 x Maverick at small SAM south of target destroying it
Hornet 301 fired 1 x Maverick at small SAM west of target destroying it
(Banzai now has a total of 8 ground hits, impressive)

Ground attack element now moves to CAP area to help with final 2 Mig-21s

Phase 4
All four Hornets are now engaged in CAP
Hornet 300 fires 2 x Sidewinders and scores a hit on Mig-21 destroying it.
Hornet 301 fires 2 x Sidewinders and damages a Mig-21 which bugs out.

All Enemy threats have been eliminated and the target has been destroyed. All Hornets are ordered to return to the carrier.

Upon landing approach, the Aircraft Carrier CV-61 Ranger is in rough seas. Each Hornet passes their check and lands safely.
After debriefing and maintenance it appears that all Hornets will be able to fly in the next mission and all pilots are unshaken.

The mission in considered a complete success.
The EZ Ace squadron has finished its first combat mission with flying colors and no losses.

Thread: Re: Counter&Card Manifest?

crusher100 — 2005-07-10T20:23:44+00:00

1000s of thanks!

Thread: Re: Counter&Card Manifest?

Milhouse917 — 2005-07-10T09:51:26+00:00

Fortunately, I made a copy of the counter sheet before I played the game when I originally got it. Unfortunately, that was so long ago that only a dim, black & white copy remains. However, it is enough to give a general count (id's are only for one side of the counter):

12 x Hornet counters (300-311)
12 x Random Hornet counters (numbered 300-311)
4 x F-14
2 x EA-6
7 x +1 Air
2 x Mountain
1 x ECM Failure
6 x MiG-21
4 x MiG-25
6 x MiG-27
5 x SAM Small
5 x SAM Large
5 x SAM Long
1 x AAA Mi
1 x AAA Mo
6 x Hit markers
1 x Step marker
7 x +1 Ground
5 x Did Not Move
1 x Bad Day
1 x Hussein
1 x Target
1 x Arming
1 x Profile
1 x Day
48 x Sidewinder
20 x Mk 82
14 x Mav
12 x HARM
8 x Pod

In all, there are 200 counters.

Thread: Re: Counter&Card Manifest?

crusher100 — 2005-06-29T08:04:34+00:00

And what is the list of counters and quantity of each please?
I need the scans of the counters or the list of items? I have missing some counters but I don't know what of them.

Thread: Re:Counter

alcazar — 2004-11-13T01:12:41+00:00

From the back of the box -
Contents:
200 die cut counters
One 22 x 17 inch Combat Display
Pne 16-page Rules Booklet
110 Playing Cards
One 10-sided die

Thread: Scans of Main Board Layout?

crusher100 — 2004-11-07T14:34:39+00:00

Does anyone have scanned the main board layout for printing?

Thread: Counter&Card Manifest?

crusher100 — 2004-11-07T14:30:47+00:00

What is the box content for Hronet Leader?

Thread: Re:Hornet Leader 2

castiglione — 2004-11-06T15:19:53+00:00

I like the part about how targets that are destroyed will affect the strategic capabilities of the country they are in.

This is a good step IMHO towards more immersion, etc.

Having victory points is merely an abstraction of this and it works okay in a scenario but in a campaign, it doesn't really make sense unless the campaign is really short.

Thread: Re:Hornet Leader 2

crusher100 — 2004-11-06T10:05:22+00:00

Extract from Consimworld forums:

In terms of what is the same and different between Hornet Leader and Hornet Leader II:

-The new game keeps all of the original game's concepts, but the procedures have been streamlined to greatly reduce 'player fatigue'.

-The new game features entirely new artwork based around photographs or Hornets, aerial photos of targets, and photos of real military hardware and personnel.

-Experience Points have been simplified and are built into the basic game systems.

-Pilots are rated by experience levels. At the start of a campaign you get to choose your mix of pilots based on these levels.

-Each enemy country has its own unique mix of target cards. Target cards used for one country will not be used for a different country.

-Each Campaign can be played either as a short 'Skirmish', moderate 'Conflict', or all out 'War'.

-Targets are not only rated for Victory Points, they are also rated for the effect they have on enemy strategic capabilities.

-All components are full color.

-The game includes roughly: 60 Target cards, 18 Event cards, 18 double-sided Pilot/Hornet cards, 200 double-sided counters, 3 tabletop display sheets, a Campaign log sheet, and a 12 page rulebook.

-All components have been designed to easily print on a normal color printer.

As the time of release gets closer I will be making general announcements on various sites, but I wanted to announce it here first because you guys are the heart and soul of the game, and have kept it alive these past 13 years. Many thanks to all of you!

Thank you, Dan Verssen Leader Series Designer Dan Verssen Games (DVG) www.dvg.com

Thread: Re:Hornet Leader 2

The Maverick — 2004-11-06T07:06:31+00:00

Please post the info here... I wonder if it is the same version as I playtested.

Thread: Hornet Leader 2

crusher100 — 2004-11-05T16:43:39+00:00

Is seems that Hornet Leader II is in progress. Check Consimworld.com forums. It is planning a DTP release. Downloadable version.

Thread: Please, rules needed (I can exchange with other games)!!!

mae68it — 2004-10-25T12:57:38+00:00

Hi,

anyone has scanned the rules (and the rest of this game)?

I can exchange them with other (complete) games.

Bye

Thread: Re:Variants

GeoMan — 2004-10-05T13:03:51+00:00

jhockaday (#57936),

Check here:

http://www.gmtgames.com/gmt0c3i.htm

Thread: Variants

jhockaday — 2004-10-05T02:54:04+00:00

My copy of Hornet Leader came with a "Clarification" sheet.

At the bottom it mentions, "InsideGMT: Issue #2 of our newsletter (Available mid-June, 1991) includes new variants for HL, including optional Rules for 'Squadron Reputation' and 'Randomly selecting Campaign lengths.'"

Can someone please post these variants?

Thread: Re:User Review

The Maverick — 2004-08-27T06:04:37+00:00

MartyMcMartin (#50686),

My only other complaint is that the game can be very unfair at times. The different targets are balanced in the fact that the an easy target that only needs four hits and is weakly defended will require fewer air-craft than a capital strike that requires 12 hits and is heavily defended. The problem is that you can get easily get into trouble quickly with fatigue if you have back-to-back (or worse three-in-a-row) long range missions on heavy targets. The problem is that it really isn't your fault that you're in trouble, but is due to the randomness of the mission cards. The worst is when you are given a long-range capital strike and you don't even have enough rested pilots to do the mission.

Ever seen the 1938 film Dawn Patrol? This is sort of how the random and unforgiving nature of the game struck me... Besides, if the game didn't put you in a really tight spot now and again, it wouldn't be as interesting.

the Mav

Thread: Re:User Review

MartyMcMartin — 2004-08-26T20:26:37+00:00

MartyMcMartin (#50686),

I guess the joke ultimately was on me. I may re-submit this at some point, but for now this will have to stand. I plan on adding a session report in the near future for a short campaign and I will probably cut the review down at that point.

Thread: User Review

MartyMcMartin — 2004-08-26T20:13:52+00:00

DISCLAIMER: I've submitted this today (8/23/04) and will be proof-reading/editing it and checking the rules for accuracy tonight. I apologize if you find any problems between now and the time I resolve these issues. If there isn't a way for me to update this after I submit it, then the joke is clearly on me.

Hornet leader is a excellent solitare game that puts you in command of a squardron of of F/A-18 Hornet strike-fighters. Each campaign involves a number of missions that is dependent upon the campaign. Before the mission you must decide how many planes to fly and how to arm them while managing your human resources to minimize pilot fatigue. During the mission you make general decisions about flight paths and targetting.

While I feel that the game is excellent I should add that it might not be for everybody. The game itself is very a very simple suimulation of air missions and may not satisfy a military tech-head looking for a lot of detail or a former pilot looking to transfer his experiences onto the tabletop. What Hornet Leader offers is a approachable game with good graphic design, simple rules, and quick playing time. There are important decisions to be made before and during the mission but there is a lot of die rolling and even the best decision can have catastophic consequesnces if the die rolls go bad. Still, the game provides with choices that allow you to play conservative or aggresive and choices can be made that will minimize your pliots exposure to risk (and bad die rolls) but at the potential expense of mission success. Like all good solitare games, I think that Hornet Leader provides you with an compelling game narrative shaped by important game decisions and their consequences.

The Game Play of Hornet Leader is divided up into three phases; pre-mission, in-mission, and post-mission. In the pre-mission phase you first receive your "mission briefing." This includes the target, the surrounding defenses (AAA, SAM, and fighter jets), and other specifics to the mission (long/short range, night/day, certainty of intellegence about defenses, and others).

After analyzing the briefing your first decision is to determine which and how many pilots to fly and how to arm their aircraft. Each mission has a recomended number of aircraft but you can increase or decrease that number by two if you see fit. The advantage of flying fewer aircraft is that you increase your potential for a "mission success" (determined by a victory point formula and not only damage to the target); while flying more aircraft will decrease those chances, but also provide you with more firepower and probably minimize the risks to each aircraft.

The specific pilots you fly will depend on a number of factors. Each pilot has four ratings; air-to-air, air-to-ground, style, and cool. Air-to-air and air-to-ground are combat modifiers for that type of attack. Style is either aggressive, normal, or defensive and refers to the pilot's air-to-air combat style. Aggressive pilots get advantages in dogfighting attacks (initiative and hit chance) but have a disadvatage in defense (modifier to enemies chance to hit them), conversely defensive pilots have negative modifiers for their initiative and hit chance, but also decrease their enemies chance to hit them. Cool refers to the pilots ability to handle the day to day stress of being a jet pilot. Pilots with a lot of cool will suffer less fatigue during missions and have less of a chance of being "shaken." The just mentioned fatigue is the final factor you will use to determine who to fly. Pilots will suffer fatigue after every mission dependent upon how the mission went, how long it was, etc. As your pilots accumulate fatigue you will need to give some of your pilots missions off so that they can recover and be ready for future missions. If you manage your pilots fatigue poorly you can end up in serious trouble.

The final pre-mission decision is how to arm your aircraft. This ussually comes down to a decision of what role to give each "wing" (a pair of aircraft). Traditionally the aircraft will be divided up into "air-support" or "ground-strike." The air-support aircraft deal with any jet fighter defense that might protect the target and tend to be armed with Sparrows and Sidewinders only. The ground strike jets concern themselves with the target and the surrounding defenses and are armed with HARMs, Mavericks, Mk 82 bombs, and others. You do not want to arm your air-support with air-to-ground weapons since those weapons will weigh down the plane and decrease dogfighting performance as well as take weapon space away from valuable sidewinders. Occassionaly I will put aircraft in hybrid roles; either ground-strike aircraft with Sparrows (long range air-to-air missles that can only be fired on the first turn of the mission) or air-strike jets with a few HARMS (anit-SAM missles) to soften up SAM sites before engaging the enemy aircraft. It is important to arm your aircraft effectively since too few air-support jets could allow unengaged enemy fighters to pick off your ground-strike aircraft while too few ground strike Hornets could make it difficult to do enough damage to the target.

Once you've finished the pre-mission steps it is time to start the mission. The actual mission itself is somewhat of an after thought because the actual work and decision making tends to be in the pre-mission phase. You formulate your general attack plan while you are arming your planes and the mission itself is really only the die rolling resolution of that plan. This is not to say that there may not decisions to be made during the mission, but the decisions made when arming the planes is probably more important than the decisions made during the mission.

The mission itself starts with placing each plane on the map. The map is divided into a high altitude area (where air-to-air combat takes place), the target area, a north, south, east and west approach, as well as a far-north, far-south, far-east, and far-west approach area. How close you can place your planes to the target depends upon the targets defenses.

The next thing you do is check the certainty of the defenses. As I mentioned before, you get a mission certainty in the pre-mission breifing. This certainty is used to check the validity of the pre-mission breifing intellegence. Basically you roll a d10 for each SAM site and if the number is higher than the certainty factor (between 6 and 9 depending on the mission) you re-roll the size of the SAM site. This can be especially disconcerting if the approach that you planned on using actually has a very large SAM site instead of the small one you thought it had.

The last thing before the actual mission resolution is to roll for fighter defense. You get a qualitative feel for enemy fighter defense (minimal, light, medium, heavy) in the pre-mission breifing, but you don't find out the number and type of aircraft until the actual mission.

Combat is relatively simple. First round air-to-air attackes are conducted simultaneously but subsequent rounds start by rolling for intiative with the winner of iniative attacking first. Attacks are resolved by first rolling a "lock-on" attempt followed by a damage roll if the lock-on was successful. One of the nice things is that your planes have an opportunity to attack separately or join into pairs and attack as a leader and wingman. The disadvantage to attacking as a pair is that only the leader can attack but this is out-weighed by the fact that the wingman can cancell out an enemy's successful lock-on by getting a successful lock-on of his own. Essentially, the wing-man sacrifices his ability to attack an enemy so that he can cover the leader.

Ground attacks are also resolved by a d10 roll. The enemy AAA and SAM sites (the only defenses) get to attack the aircraft that are in their range followed by your Hornets. If the AAA and SAM sites roll a successful "hit" the aircraft have an opportunity to go "evasive." This decreases the chance that the aircraft will be damaged or destroyed, but it takes away the ability for that aircraft to attack this turn. After resolving AAA, and SAM attacks all non-evading aircraft execute air-to-ground attacks. These are resolved with a simple die roll after choosing the target.

At the end of the turn all aircraft move one space (or stay in the high altitude box) and the process is repeated with each mission lasting a maximum of four turns. The "success" of a mission is based on the number of hits you get on the target minus any damage that you may have taken.

A few things happen in the post-mission phase that are not worth detailing here, but the most important is the pilot fatigue. A d10 is rolled for each pilot and certain modifiers are applied. A pilot that returns "shaken" will probably need to sit out a mission or two (or three) before he can fly again.

All in all I think that Hornet Leader is a excellent solitare game. I think the simplicity in the details of the game are made up by the quick play (a single mission can take 15-20 minutes) and simple rules. Over the course of the campaign you can end up with a nice narrative of your squadron's exploits. There is also an option set of rules for "reputation points" that are kept separate from "campaign points" that determine your military success. The reputation points involve how you squadron is looked upon by other squadrons, basically how bad are you (and by bad I mean good). You earn reputation points by successfully completing missions, downing enemy aircraft, etc.

The downsides to the game are typical for the downsides to solitare games. The game itself can boil down to a puzzle that needs solving if you choose to look at it that way. Essentially, each mission can become a little formulaic in that you generally do the same things (approach from the side with the weekest SAM, arm with enough HARMs to nuetralize those SAM sites, etc.). The certainty rolls can mitigate this feeling a little bit but you're probably screwed if the certainty rolls go against you and at that point you're lucky to get home alive. There are also random event cards that you pull before and after the mission that do add a little variety, but after playing it for a while you may still end up with that puzzle feeling. Generally, I will pull the game out after several months, play it a lot for a week or two and then put it away again. With that said, I still really like the game.

My only other complaint is that the game can be very unfair at times. The different targets are balanced in the fact that the an easy target that only needs four hits and is weakly defended will require fewer air-craft than a capital strike that requires 12 hits and is heavily defended. The problem is that you can get easily get into trouble quickly with fatigue if you have back-to-back (or worse three-in-a-row) long range missions on heavy targets. The problem is that it really isn't your fault that you're in trouble, but is due to the randomness of the mission cards. The worst is when you are given a long-range capital strike and you don't even have enough rested pilots to do the mission.

Thread: Re:Looking for Mission Log Sheet...

GeoMan — 2004-01-19T22:13:30+00:00

DarrellKH (#26011),

Thanks a lot for the scans.

Got a reply from GMT and they will also send me the original Mission Log sheets.

Thread: Re:Looking for Mission Log Sheet...

DarrellKH — 2004-01-19T13:19:40+00:00

GeoMan (#26007),
I've posted both sheets pertaining to missions on the Hornet Leader page. They should show up in a few hours.

Thread: Re:Looking for Mission Log Sheet...

Sir Loin o Beef — 2004-01-19T13:12:40+00:00

GMT Games would probably help you out. gmtgames.com

Thread: Looking for Mission Log Sheet...

GeoMan — 2004-01-19T12:42:15+00:00

My copy arrived without a Mission Log Sheet

I would be grateful if someone could post a scan of it here or mail it to me at:
geomangr@yahoo.com

Thanks!