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RULE BOOK Table of Contents 1 Introduction Living Rules (June 2013) For my mother, whose support and encouragement throughout the years has been immeasurable. You are missed every day! RULE BOOK Table of Contents 1 Introduction .............................................................. 2 16 Anti-Aircraft Artillery .............................................. 25 2 Game Equipment ..................................................... 3 17 Air-to-Ground .......................................................... 27 3 Sequence of Play ...................................................... 4 18 Air-to-Ground Attacks ............................................. 27 4 Scenarios .................................................................. 5 19 Ground Target Damage ............................................ 28 5 Air Units .................................................................. 7 20 Track Phase .............................................................. 28 6 Random Events ........................................................ 8 21 Night ........................................................................ 28 7 Weather .................................................................... 8 22 Ground Units ........................................................... 29 8 Detection .................................................................. 10 23 Campaign Game ...................................................... 29 9 Initiative ................................................................... 11 24 Solitaire Game ......................................................... 29 10 Movement ................................................................ 12 25 Designing Bloody April ........................................... 30 11 Aerodrome Operations ............................................. 16 26 Tactical Hints ........................................................... 31 12 Task Planning ........................................................... 17 27 Appendices .............................................................. 32 13 Air-to-Air Combat ................................................... 20 28 Rules Index .............................................................. 33 14 Air Unit Damage ...................................................... 24 “Time to Climb” Conversion Tables ............................... 37 15 Post-Combat Procedure ........................................... 24 German Scout Aircraft Availability Matrix ..................... 40 This is the “Living Rules” document for the game. It includes errata and clarifications to the original rules. To aid read- GMT Games, LLC • P.O. Box 1308, Hanford, CA 93232-1308 ability, errata is indicated in blue text. www.GMTGames.com 2 Bloody April Rules Manual Aeroplane. British term for aircraft or airplane. 1. Introduction Aggression Value. A value representing pilot training, leader- Bloody April is a game of air warfare over the Arras Sector ship and élan. in France during March through May 1917. This area was the Arcs/Hemispheres. Arcs are 60-degree areas around a flight. scene of some of the most brutal air warfare to occur during The three forward arcs of an aeroplane flight make up the WW1. In Bloody April, the players command the air forces of front hemisphere, and the three rear arcs constitute the rear the British Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Deutsche Luftstreit- hemisphere. (See the Arcs diagrams on the play aids.) kräfte/German Air Force (DLS). They will also control ground Artillerie Flieger Abteilungen (FA(A)). German artillery units for their respective sides (e.g., Flak and Observation ranging and infantry support units. Balloons). Bouncer. A flight that attacks into an existing dogfight Design Note: The British Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) Campaign Day. A campaign day consists of a number of task- was a separate air force until combining with the RFC to be- ings that take place over one complete day. come the RAF in 1918. For purposes of simplicity, the RNAS Squadrons are considered to be part of the RFC for all game Detected. A detected flight represents one that has been spot- purposes. ted by ground observers and has its location passed on to the aerodromes but is still a tough find for airborne flights. Dogfight. Two or more flights engaged in prolonged aerial 1.1 Players combat. Two players are required; one to play the Royal Flying Corps DRM. Die Roll Modifiers. The DRM is used to alter the results (RFC) side and one to play the Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte (DLS) of a die roll by adding or subtracting to the total rolled. side. Both sides control aeroplanes and defensive forces for Dummy. A fog of war term used to denote any flight that does their side. It is possible to play with multiple players on one or not consist of real aeroplanes. Dummy flights are used to either side by dividing the forces or taskings per player. Success confuse the enemy player on the location of real flights. for the British results from completing their air taskings and successfully recovering their aeroplanes. Enemy/Friendly. Friendly units are all units assigned to the player by the scenario or campaign information. An enemy Success for the Germans results from successfully defending unit is a unit controlled by the other player. targets and preventing the British from accomplishing their taskings. Flaming Onion. An incendiary 37mm anti-aircraft battery used by the Germans to attack Allied aeroplanes attacking 1.2 Rules Observation Balloons or other defended assets. The rules are divided into standard, advanced and optional Flieger Abteilungen (FA). German long range recon units. rules. The advanced rules add detail and make for a more com- Flugmeldedienst. German Ground Observation Posts that were plete simulation. The optional rules add more realism but also instrumental in helping the Germans to maintain an effective increased complexity. Players learning the game may skip the defensive posture. advanced and optional rules until they are familiar with the standard game mechanics. Flight. A unit of 1-6 aeroplanes of the same type in formation. 1.21 Rule Conventions Friendly Territory. Map area that consists of all non-trench hexes that are on a particular side of the map (e.g., British Rules are numbered. Cross-references to other rules are listed Friendly Territory is on the west side of the map that does [in square brackets]. Design notes describe some of the back- not have trench hexes). ground and thought processes behind the rules. Jasta. German term for their scout squadrons, loosely translated 1.22 Learning Bloody April it means Hunting Squadron, condensed from Jagdstaffel. New players might wish to start by following the examples of play in the playbook. This tells you which rules sections to read No Man’s Land. Any hex between the British and German first and summarizes some of the more important combat rules. trench hexes is considered not controlled by either side except where noted by SSR. 1.3 Glossary of Game Terms Patrol. Small scale scenario with a limited number of flights Abort. Flights that are no longer able to conduct their mission per side. will ‘abort’ and run for home. Scenario. A scenario can be on three levels; Patrol, Show or Ack Ack (AA). Anti-aircraft artillery, also termed ‘Archie’. Campaign Day and vary in complexity and amount of activity. Active Aerodrome. Any aerodrome that is listed in the scenario Schutzstaffel. German term for their two-seater units that pro- Order of Battle for a particular date. vided protection for Recon (FA) and Artillery Cooperation (FA(A)) tasked units. Shortened name is Schusta. ADC. Aeroplane Data Card, a play aid that lists the performance and capability data for each aeroplane type. Scout. Term used to describe the single seat fighters used by both sides. © 2012 GMT Games, LLC Bloody April Rules Manual 3 Service Ceiling. Maximum altitude that an aeroplane type can 2.2 Map fly as denoted on its ADC. Design Note: The map shows the area of France where the Show. Medium scale scenario. majority of the air battles were fought during the March SSR. Scenario Special Rule. A scenario special rule is only through May 1917 time frame. applicable to that scenario or campaign. If a regular rule and the SSR conflict, the SSR takes precedence. The game map portrays a portion of France, with Arras, Cam- brai and Lens as the main cities displayed on the map. Tally. Codeword used by the British, meaning that an enemy flight has been visually sighted. The term Visually Sighted 2.21 Hex Grid and Tally have the same meaning for game rule interpretation. A hex grid has been superimposed on the map to regulate the position and movement of the playing pieces. Each hex is Tasking. A particular mission type or “job” that a flight is individually numbered. Where a four-number map reference performing for that scenario. is given, the first two digits (00xx) indicate the hex column on Time to Climb (TtC). A term used as a compilation of an the map, while the last two digits (xx00) indicate the hex row. aeroplane’s rate of climb and the amount of time needed to Distances on the map are counted in hexes. To calculate a climb to a new altitude band. distance, trace the shortest possible path from one map hex to Trench Line. Trench line consists of both British and German another and count the number of hexes the path enters. controlled hexes. Initial British trench depictions are blue and Example: An adjacent hex is one hex distant, the hex beyond German trenches are red. Any hexes and portions of hexes between the trench lines that
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