Quote from: beeberquick one before i go to class:

rules for turret weapons, like on bombers or (IIRC) avengers?

For simplicity, I separated mounts into one of three types - fixed (aimed by aiming the plane), flexible (like the tail gun in an SBD or the waist guns in a B17), and turreted. Fixed mount guns have no arc, and no penalty to Gunnery. Flexible mount guns have a small arc and a moderate penalty to Gunnery. Turret mount guns have the widest arc and the largest penalty.

Avengers had a .50 cal MG in a small turret on the dorsal side aft, and a ventral .30 cal on a flexible mount, in addition to two fixed mont .50 cals in the wings and one fixed mount .30 cal in the nose.

-clash

Quote from: TimI wasn't sure how the planes and pilots interact. Say, if the plane was sort of a template attached to the pilot's ability, such a thing would be pretty simple to handle, but if the interaction is more complicated than that, tracking the umpteen billion different versions of canopies would be a real pain in the ass! I like that you have separated out tracking and noticing things. They're certainly two different skills in flight sims (for whatever that's worth).

I'll post up a dogfighting sheet for a plane - maybe tomorrow. I don't have one with me now.

QuoteCool. Sounds like an excellent way to handle tactics, to me.

I still think you should do the game up military flight-manual style, though. Maybe a normal book for the RPG portions and a small grungy tan book for air combat maneuvers, full of typewriter type, stark tables, shadow profiles of planes, and those cool maneuver diagrams.

If I could pull it off, I would!

-clash

I forgot to send myself a new WWII dogfighting sheet, but since the old WWI sheets are almost the same, I'll use one of those for a SPAD VII. Hopefully this will give you all a good idea of Aces dogfighting.



The box marked FUEL is your fuel tank. Place the appropriate number of chips/tokens (using different colors for different vales) in the box.

The arrow going diagonally out of fuel is labelled BURN. The square above the arrow shows the maximum number of fuel tokens you can push from your FUEL tank into IMMEDIATE. This initiates every turn.

The BURN arrow leads to the IMMEDIATE box. This is your engine. This is the energy you create every turn. It is a rough indicator of your your airspeed. If your IMMEDIATE box is empty, your turn ends.

The arrow leading to the left from the IMMEDIATE box is your CLIMB rating. By climbing, you are converting usable energy into potential energy. The CLIMB rating is the maximum you can climb per turn. When you climb, push this number of markers or less into the POTENTIAL box. Each token in the POTENTIAL box indicates 500 meters of altitude. The number in the square indicates the maximum number of tokens you can save in your POTENTIAL box, and thus your plane's ceiling. Any CLIMB maneuver ends your turn.

The arrow leading down from the IMMEDIATE box is the USE arrow. When you perform a maneuver, push the required number of tokens from IMMEDIATE into the MANEUVER box. Once the maneuver is complete, discard the tokens off the sheet via the WASTE arrow.

The arrow leading right from the POTENTIAL box to the IMMEDIATE box is the DIVE arrow. The number above is the DIVE rating. This is the maximum number of tokens that can be moved from POTENTIAL to IMMEDIATE per maneuver. Diving increases your available energy and your airspeed.

Along the lower left hand side of the sheet are various maneuvers, along with a number on either side. The number to the left of the maneuver is the cost in tokens to execute the maneuver. The number to the right of the maneuver is the modifier to your Pilot skill check. When you execute the maneuver, push the appropriate number of tokens from IMMEDIATE to MANEUVER, then make a Pilot skill check with the appropriate modifier. Certain simple maneuvers do not require a Pilot skill check.

MANEUV is a rating of the aircraft's maneuverability. You add this number to your Pilot skill check TN when executing any maneuver.

STABILITY is a rating of your aircraft's tendancy to fly straight. You add this number to your Pilot skill check when landing or taking off. and to your Gunnery skill check when firing.

MANEUV + STABILITY = 20. An increase in an aircraft's Maneuverability is a decrease in Stability, and vice versa.

The box on the lower right shows plane and pilot information. Constitution is the amount of damage you can take. Your aircraft's current constitution is the plane's FULL constitution, minus any damage taken.

FULL is the maximum constitution. If your aircraft's current constitution is between FULL and HINDERED, you have no penalty.

HINDERED is 3/4 of FULL. If your aircraft's current constitution is below the HINDERED level, you have a -20 modifier to all Pilot skill checks.

SHOT UP is 1/2 of FULL. If your aircraft's current constitution is below the SHOT UP level, you have a -30 modifier to all Pilot skill checks.

SMOKING is 1/4 of FULL. If your aircraft's current constitution is below the SMOKING level, you have a -40 modifier to all Pilot skill checks.

To the right of the constitution information is a small box showing the general sequence of turns.

You can perform any number of maneuvers - except climbs - in a turn if you have the energy. Any climbing maneuver ends the turn. Any excess tokens in IMMEDIATE are discarded to WASTE.

Gunnery may happen at any time there is a firing solution during maneuvers.

-clash

For some reason, that image didn't appear. I'll try again:



-clash

Ummm... Did I break some brains there? I was expecting loud derisive laughter...

-clash

No laughter here -- that's a pretty elegant little energy management machine you built there.  I'm going to like this game.

same here!  can't wait to try it out!

(sorry, a bit busy here at work.  i can look at it more later, when i get home :keke:  )

Glad you guys are still with me!

-clash

okay, upon perusal of the chart, that's some system you've come up with!  at first glance it seems pretty crazy, but with the explanation in the previous post, it makes sense.  i guess the values for things like constitution, fuel, etc. will be higher in the new one?

Quote from: beeberokay, upon perusal of the chart, that's some system you've come up with!  at first glance it seems pretty crazy, but with the explanation in the previous post, it makes sense.  i guess the values for things like constitution, fuel, etc. will be higher in the new one?

Hi beeber!

Fuel, yes. WWII planes can just do so much more. However, I rescaled damage and constitution because the math was getting unweildy with the more powerful weapons and higher constitutions. I talked about that earlier in the thread, post #28 on this page. You appeared just after that, so you may not have read it.

-clash

ah yes, i remember now.  i had forgotten that part of the thread already!  piss-poor short-term memory sometimes.

Quote from: beeberah yes, i remember now.  i had forgotten that part of the thread already!  piss-poor short-term memory sometimes.

At least I have an excuse, being a former musician. I remember the eighties! No... wait! That was the seventies!

-clash

Well, the second playtest session went very well again! The PCs used and abused their planes, horsing them around the sky, and causing two mechanicsl failures - a busted rudder and a wrecked aileron. The PCs decided to ignore history again, and the session ended up in alt.history - they took on the second invasion fleet at Wake Island and drove them off. The PCs refused a recall to Pearl which would have left the Marines on Pearl in the lurch and managed to convince the Captain of the Maui to go along, using their Troupe characters social skills. They came up with a plan to hit the fleet from the southeast, as the Japanese carriers were well north of Wake, while the covering surface fleet and troopships came in from the south.

Now comes the consequenses of their decision. Will their heroic decision rebound to their credit or debit? They refused a direct order and succeeded. In real life, the Enterprise task force was recalled and went home, the marines resisted heroically and eventually surrendered, and most of them didn't survive.

Interesting!

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceNow comes the consequenses of their decision. Will their heroic decision rebound to their credit or debit? They refused a direct order and succeeded. In real life, the Enterprise task force was recalled and went home, the marines resisted heroically and eventually surrendered, and most of them didn't survive.

If nothing else, should the players pilots be shot down, the jar heads might be more likely to want to help recover them. Sounds like a really fun session.

Quote from: cnath.rmIf nothing else, should the players pilots be shot down, the jar heads might be more likely to want to help recover them. Sounds like a really fun session.

It wasn't for want of trying! Two of them survived terrible hits on their planes from 40mm AA, and one was set afire and almost destroyed when his bombs hit an amunition store on a cruiser and flew through the blast. He managed to crash-land on Wake, and his wingman flew him back to the Maui. The session was a blast! I 'suffered' from GM high for hours afterward.

I do think the Maui has earned the friendship of the leathernecks forever, whatever else happens.

-clash