From Moves#42 A Modified Zeppelin Campaign by Janies E. Meldrum Finally! Someone has, at long last, done a game on die Zeppelin strategic bombing campaign of World War One! This has been a long-ignored aspect of World War One. Likewise, the Zeppelin has been an equally ignored military technology as far as tactical air games have been concerned. There have been at least nine WWI air combat games that I'm aware of, and some of these have even had scenarios or variants dealing with Zeppelins. But, how many dealt exclusively with airship operations? Just one - Jagdpanther's ancient (1974) Zeppelin game. Now S&T #159 features its own Zeppelin game dealing with airship operations in the 1916-1918 bombing campaign against England. Not only does this game simulate zeppelin bombing operations, but also naval air reconnaissance by zeppelins. Important but obscure seaplane operations conducted by both sides are simulated in Zeppelin, as well as the evolution of a British air defense system. The scenarios included in Zeppelin represent typical force mixes encountered by each side for the time period 1916-1918. Each year is broken up into early, mid-, and late periods with typical orders of battle for each period. There is only one scenario simulating a specific action. As the rules state, each of the historical scenarios can be played chronologically to form a campaign game - by why let it end there? The campaign game for Zeppelin may be expanded significantly by playing scenarios in-between the historical scenarios. This represents reduced strength airship operations. This results in a drastically longer game, but one which may give an even greater appreciation for the conditions both sides had to fight under. Historically, this is an entirely viable scenario situation. The majority of the zeppelin raids were flown by only 2 to 4 airships. This is because a high number of flight aborts due to mechanical failure, bad weather, and crew incapacitation. The reduced strength raids were usually met by similarly reduced responses from British defenses. When playing an expanded zeppelin campaign, play each of the historical scenarios as indicated. In between each one of the regular scenarios, however, play an identical scenario from the same time period modified as follows: 1916 - eliminate all German land planes and British seagoing squadrons. 1917 - eliminate all German seaplanes and halve the number of British seagoing squadrons (round fractions down), and eliminate the EMS Furious. 1918 - As in 1917, but use the HMS Furious. ALL SCENARIOS - Germans use a total of 5 zeppelins. As mentioned earlier, the regular scenarios are composites which do not really simulate a specific raid in their particular time period. It's also possible to recreate four of the most significant zeppelin raids of the war and play them singly or chronologically as a short campaign game. Here are the six new specific raid scenarios: Scenario #1. First Zeppelin Raid – 1/20/1915 Play the early 1916 scenario using only five airships, Mathy, and two British land squadrons. No other forces are permitted. The target is Yarmouth. Use night bombing conditions. Scenario #2. Largest Raid - 9/2/1916 Play the late 1916 scenario under night conditions using London as the target. Use ALL airships - none abort in this scenario. Do not use German airplanes or British seagoing air units. Scenario #3. Mathy Killed In Action - 10/1/1916 Play the late 1916 scenario under night conditions minus both side's seaplanes and sea-going air units. Use 11 airships plus the Mathy counter. The target is London. The British win an automatic victory in this scenario if they destroy Mathy and the airship carrying him. Scenario #4. Most Damaging Raid - 10/13/1916 Play the late 1916 scenario using six airships plus Mathy under night conditions. The British use only the two London squadrons and two naval squadrons. No other British or German forces are used in this scenario. Scenario #5. The Silent Raid – 10/19/1917 This scenario uses the late 1917 scenario to simulate a disastrous zeppelin raid flown under horrid weather conditions in which five of the eleven participating zeppelins were lost. Play the late 1917 scenario under night conditions with London as the target. Wind is S-SE for the duration of the game. Wind force is level 2 for the duration of the game. All zeppelins begin the game in either the north or south convoy zones. Scenario #6 The First Firestorm Raid – 8/3/1917 Early in the war, German naval airship service planners calculated that a force of 20 zeppelins could drop enough incendiary bombs to create uncontrollable fires in London. If successful, they thought that this action alone could cause the British to sue for peace. Try seeing if the German projections were accurate by playing the mid- or late 1917 scenarios using all zeppelins-none abort in this scenario. Each zeppelin adds one to its roll on the bombing table. You can use this scenario as a variant in any of the campaign games or as a stand alone scenario representing the ultimate (from the German point of view) zeppelin raid. NB submitted by John Kula (kula@telus.net) on behalf of the Strategy Gaming Society (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/~sgs), originally collected by Andrew Webber (gbm@wwwebbers.com)