Age of Dogfights: WW1

Shipping status and support to our friends
about 3 years ago – Mon, Mar 01, 2021 at 02:09:45 PM

We inform the backers that we have continued to send packages. From this week, we believe that we will send 150 packages per week.

We have announced in advance that we charge shipping fees slightly less (by 4–10 USD) than the actual. However, as of January 1, both Post Express and DHL have increased their prices. Depending on the weight of the package and the destination, the price increase ranges from 5.5 to 8.7 USD.

Our estimation for the weight of the basic game (with transport package) was around 1.7kg, but the actual weight is 1.97kg. The increased weight is from many achieved stretch goals and better (and heavier) materials compared to the prototype. Because of this, some packages have moved to a more expensive shipping category. Due to all of the above, our shipping costs have increased a lot, but that is part of the risk that each of the creators accepts when starting their project.

On the accompanying documents with each package, we write much lower prices for both games and shipping fee. The reason is a daily limit in values that we can send packages. With a lower value for each package, we can send more in one day.

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We want to use this update to point out a project that enters the last 48 hours on Kickstarter. The creators are our friends from Belgrade, a family that made the game Forest of Radgost with the help of top artists. A lot of effort and love has been invested in this project, and it has been recognized by many backers around the world. You can see the project here:

Production status and shipping
about 3 years ago – Mon, Feb 08, 2021 at 12:31:15 AM

There was a short interruption in shipping. We have resolved the issue and will resume shipping shortly.

The interruption was due to errors on the printed sheets. We noticed some mistakes in prepress back in November and they were corrected immediately. On one sheet with bomb and photo markers, the letters A, B and C, in transfer between computers, were accidentally converted into the wrong font (Cyrillic letters). Our co-worker who printed the sheets did not notice it in time, so the sheet was printed with an error. A similar error occurred on one sheet on which the main expansion control panels were printed. Here, the inscriptions on the control panels for observation balloons have also been converted into a different font. See pictures below.
 

That's why we immediately printed a new sheet with those markers and control panels. These errors did not greatly affect the speed of production and the rhythm of sending packages.

Even then, we noticed some other minor errors on the the Main Expansion control panels. The numbers that denote a specific plane are of a different design than the numbers on the tokens. This applies to American, Serbian and Bulgarian planes.

This time, we made the mistake in design. The tokens have numbers inside a colored square, which was the final design. When preparing the control panels for printing, we used an older variant of the design by mistake. Another small mistake was noticed - on one control panel (Bulgarian Albatros C.III), a number was omitted which indicates the value of the plane when it carries the bomb.

At that time, we considered that these were not so important mistakes, so we planned to use those control panels. However, there was another mistake - the name of the country of Bulgaria was misspelled, which is unacceptable. That is why we have already printed new sheets with the control panels for Bulgarian planes. Since we had decided to print a new sheet, we also put control panels with American and Serbian planes on it, so that now all of the errors have been eliminated.
 

We apologise for delays caused by these errors. Shipping of packages containing the Main Expansion will start soon.

These errors slowed down the preparation of Print and Play files as well. All the files for the basic game are now ready and distributed. Files for expansions will be uploaded a little later.

In one of the previous updates, we said that we bought one working space after this project. We have had three leased rooms before - we use two as workshops and one as a warehouse. Despite that expansion, we were overwhelmed with boxes which slowed down our work. During January, a small company that has a workshop in the same craft-business center, stopped working due to the economic crisis. We have taken the opportunity and now we are renting that space as well. Thanks to the prefabricated shelves, equipping the new workshop is going very fast, so it already has a positive effect on production.

New project announcement - Age of Dogfights: WWII
over 3 years ago – Tue, Jan 05, 2021 at 12:11:09 AM

Back in the period when we announced the campaign for Age of Dogfights: WWI (AoD1) on Facebook, there was more interest in a game covering aerial warfare in the Second World War. However, we wanted to follow the order by starting the Age of Dogfights series from the beginning.

Since it is certain that we will send all AoD1 games during January and February 2021, we want to announce a campaign for Age of Dogfights: WWII (AoD2) in this update and invite backers to follow our further activities on that project.

The rules of the game AoD2 will be very similar to the rules for AoD1, with changes related to the newer aircraft (higher speed, better weapons, etc.). Because of this, the new game rules will be somewhat more complex, but on the other hand some elements will be simpler. For example, WWII aircraft did not use rotary engines (gyroscopic effect), and dorsal machine guns weren't used offensively (there will be fewer positions for offensive firing).

The rules of movement are basically the same, with some key improvements. The number of steps that an aircraft moves is still determined by the sum of its basic speed and the rolled number on a die. A novelty is introduction of four different blue dice with different range of numbers. Those are Idle, Slow, Cruise and Fast die. The green die remains - Full throttle (limited usage). This gives much more flexibility for aircraft movement.

In addition, we took into consideration that many aircraft engines had the ability to increase power in a short time by using methanol, water or similar injection systems. Such aircraft will be able to use this once during the game (increase speed in one movement).

Another addition are speed indicators. This is a hardware upgrade to the optional rule "Difference in Speeds When Firing". Speed indicators are plastic cubes in 4 different colors that have numbers on their sides. Each time when an aircraft moves, a speed indicator is placed next to it, with the top side showing the number equal to the movement steps it just made.

The optional rule in AoD1:

With speed markers, players have clear insight to movement speeds of all aircraft on the board. This enables introduction of another optional rule - factor of inertia. When flying slowly, an aircraft won't be able to speed up too fast and opposite - an aircraft can't slow down quickly when starting its movement from a high speed.

WW1 aircraft had one or two small caliber machine guns (with rare exceptions). In WW2, aircraft had very diverse combinations of machine guns and cannons of different calibers. Each aircraft will have offensive firepower category - a red number (2 - 10) located in front of the aircraft drawing on the token.

Examples:
Japanese Ki-43 has a firepower of 2 (two machine guns),
Yugoslav IK-3 = 3 (one cannon and two machine guns),
French D.520 = 4 (one cannon and 4 machine guns),
German Bf-109E = 5 (two cannons and two machine guns),
British Spitfire Mk.II = 5 (8 machine guns),
British Spitfire Mk.IX = 6 (two cannons and 4 machine guns),
American P-39 = 7 (one 37mm cannon and 4 12.7mm machine guns),
American P-47 = 8 (8 12.7mm machine guns),
German Me-262 = 9 (4 30mm cannons) and
British Beaufighter = 10 (4 cannons and 6 machine guns).


The defensive armament of the WW2 aircraft was also diverse and consisted mainly of small and large machine guns. Defensive machine guns are located on various positions on the aircraft. We will do our best to assess the firepower of defensive machine guns in all directions as realistically as possible. This will be the defensive firepower. Its value will be from 1 (one machine gun) to 4 (several machine guns acting in the same direction). On the token itself, these values will be represented by red dots - see the picture:

In all the reviews and in many comments we have received praise that the rules for playing AoD1 are very logical and easy to apply during the game. We want the rules to be simple in the new game as well, but due to the greater complexity of the WW2 aircraft we need to introduce some more factors. All WW1 aircraft were made of light wood and canvas, so machine gun fire always caused great damage. In WW2, there was a large difference in structural strength among aircraft. Therefore, we also introduce the aircraft endurance. This will be represented by black dots on each piece - see the picture.

Endurance 0 will be given to some light aircraft (Po-2, Fi 156 Storch, etc.) that participated in various auxiliary war operations (courier flights, surveillance, ...). Endurance 1 will be given to many Japanese aircraft that are deliberately designed to achieve some better flight performance by saving on sturdiness. Most single engine aircraft will have an endurance of 2 (inline engines) and 3 (radial engines). Endurance 4 is reserved for most twin-engine aircraft and some other planes that were extremely solid (P-47) or had armor (IL-2). Finally, endurance 5 is predicted for large three- and four-engine bombers.

Some improvements are introduced in rules for firing. Instead of two, all firing positions are grouped in three categories (A, B and C). When an aircraft is in a firing position, one classic red die is rolled, which determines whether it's a hit or miss. Ace pilots add 1 to the die roll, while rookies subtract 1. At this point, it doesn't matter how many machine guns the firing aircraft has (an aircraft with firepower of 10 can equally miss the target).

If this results in a hit, then two red dice are rolled. The sum of numbers is increased by the firepower number, and then decreased by the target endurance number. The resulting number is compared with the following chart:

For example, Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fires at B-17 and rolls 2 + 4 = 6. Firepower 8 is added and target endurance 5 is subtracted: 6 + 8 - 5 = 9. The result is damage.

We will introduce some more rules that are related to special characteristics of the airplanes of the age. For example, vertical dive maneuver - for precise bombing (special bombers Ju-87, Dauntless, ...). Aviation fans know that the Bf-109 had an advantage over the Spitfire and Hurricane during the Battle of Britain because it had an engine (DB-601) with direct fuel injection into the cylinders (the British RR Merlin engine had a classic carburetor). Because of that, the British fighters could not start the dive abruptly, as their engine would run out of fuel for a moment due to the negative G force.

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The new project will be conceived a little differently regarding the basic game and expansions. The basic game will contain all the elements and all the rules, covering everything needed for the complete enjoyment of the game. Aircraft from the second half of the war in Western Europe will be represented: German Bf-109G, Fw-190A, Me-262, Me-410, Ju-188, and He-177; British Spitfire Mk IX, Tempest, Meteor, Beaufighter, Mosquito, and Lancaster; American Thunderbolt, Mustang, Lightning, A-20, B-25, and B-17 (the list is not definite, there may be changes).

We are also preparing a list of aircraft that will be offered as stretch goals, which will have different purposes from the above (seaplanes, patrol aircraft, dive bombers), but also some that are interesting for the game. Those will probably be some of these types: Blohm & Voss BV 141, Fw-200 Condor, minesweeping aircraft Bv-138C-1 / MS and Wellington, and various other unusual and interesting aircraft. We invite the backers to give their suggestions.

We have also a mini-expansion in plan: Advanced German aircraft. It will probably contain 8 to 10 types (2 pieces each) of German aircraft that appeared too late to influence the war, but they certainly had the potential. These are: Me-163, He-162, Do-335, Arado 234b ic, He-280, He-111Z Zwilling, etc. This mini-expansion will be a gift for all backers who order a physical copy of the game on the first day (first-day gift).

In addition to this mini-expansion, we will offer several other expansions that will contain only aircraft tokens, corresponding control panels, and a short brochure that will describe the features of some specific aircraft and several scenarios. In the AoD1 project, the average cost of an expansion (excluding mini-expansion) was around $ 28. As we start the new project with expensive tools for injection molding of stands and sliders already made - we will be able to offer lower prices for expansions. The price will depend on the number of aircraft represented and will be around $ 20 per expansion.

The expansions are there because we want to offer the backers the opportunity to play games with a large number of different types of aircraft, even though the basic game will be more than enough for diverse gameplay.

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The physical components will be compatible between the two games (the board and altitude stands will be exactly the same in AoD1 and AoD2).

We hope that with this extensive text we have warmed you up for our new project. We have invested the profit from this project in a new workshop, machines and tools, so again we will do the next campaign without financial investment in advertising. Therefore, your support in that sense would help us a lot (sharing, positive comments and reviews on social networks, YouTube, BGG, etc.). As before, we will know how to reward such contributions to the campaign.

First packages
over 3 years ago – Fri, Jan 01, 2021 at 11:22:47 PM

We are informing you that we sent the first small number of packages on Tuesday, December 29. Tracking numbers have been sent to all recipients. After Orthodox Christmas, we will continue shipping. Most of the packages will be sent in the second half of January, and some will remain for February. PnP files will be ready during January.

Follow our further updates, we will announce the next project soon.

We congratulate all the bakers on the New Year 2021.

Production status
over 3 years ago – Sat, Dec 12, 2020 at 02:21:30 AM

The production is going according to plan, and the rewards will be sent to all the backers during January 2021. Immediately after the end of the campaign, we indicated that there was a possibility that the games could be sent ahead of schedule, however, that was not possible. Our team hasn't been affected by the virus, but the epidemic slowed down the work of some of our key associates. We predicted in time that something like this could happen, so we produced some elements in alternative workshops. We will start sending packages in December, but the majority will be sent in January.

In this update, we present some photos of elements that have already been finished. All other components are in production and will be completed in time.