XCOM: 1918 (Wings of Glory)

 

Classified Action Report

April 7, 1918

Second Lieutenant John "Duke" Singer

Reports of another flying saucer over Logan, Nebraska at approx. 04:30 hours. Ordered to investigate and intercept. Just got my SPAD S.XIII, eager to get it into the sky.

Radio reports tracking saucer, moving east. Contact at approx. 06:12 hrs. Moving to engage.

Exchanged fire with saucer at long range. Technology is clearly not human in origin. Weapons fire from the saucer looked like something out of science fiction, War of the Worlds, something. Heat ray burnt right over the right wing, but I dipped at just the right moment, barely got a singe. The saucer wasn't as lucky. The way she zigged, I think I must have hit something important. Good to know that whoever these saucer-men are, they seem to be allergic to thirty cal.

Saucer quickly disengaged. Attempted to pursue, but could not match saucer's course and speed. Tracked radio reports of saucer as it moved out of sight, then climbed to an altitude no earthly aircraft could match. Patrolled operational area until approx. 08:30, then returned to airbase.

What is this?

I've been getting back into Wings of Glory lately and I decided to try modding it with 3d printed parts. Of course, the first thing I made was a flying saucer, complete with statistics, and using the X damage deck from the Tripods and Triplanes game. Once I made it, I started to ask myself how it might be used in play.

Now Wings of Glory doesn't have a native solo mode. I'm sure that there's automata out there, but I haven't looked into them yet. Instead, I came up with this crazy idea: XCOM, or something like it, but in 1918. The goal? Shoot down flying saucers, salvage alien tech and stop the invasion of Earth!

To do this, I shuffled the maneuver deck for the flying saucer and drew random cards for its movement. The scenario was simple: shoot down the saucer before it leaves the operational area. Of course, when the saucer made a beeline for the edge of the board in turn 2, it was over all too quickly. Next time, I'll have to chase a saucer around a larger operational area!