Additional altitude level and new game mechanics
almost 4 years ago
– Wed, May 20, 2020 at 01:53:18 PM
This campaign has a good pace and we hope it will be like that until the end. As authors, we are extremely pleased with the comments that have been written both here and on social networks (Facebook). We would single out one of many, by Jeff Smith:
"I backed it up. Just finished reading the rules and I've got to say I'm impressed. It seems like a medium / light game but there are some cool details. Five altitudes, gyroscopic effects, speed affecting agility, significant differences between types of planes, many different firing positions and possibilities yet quickly resolved on a two column CRT plus damage die, sun, wind, clouds, defensive fire, pilot skill level, and more.
I'm in for the base game but may add the expansion before the campaign ends.
Although there are solo specific rules being developed, this seems like it will work perfectly playing both sides since there is no hidden info and there is enough randomness. Excited!"
When we see that our work is evaluated in this way, we get inspiration and motivation for further work on this and other games. In addition to the praiseworthy comments, many good suggestions were made. We will consider each and include some of them in the game.
We have already decided to introduce the sixth height level. If the Airco DH.9A aircraft is reached as the fourth stretch goal, the next will be a set of stands for the sixth altitude level. Only some of the planes from the set will be able to fly at that level. We will check which are the service ceilings for all types and therefore select the airplanes that can reach that height. This will be one of the specific characteristics. Among the planes, there are also those whose flight ceiling is quite low, so they will have a restriction that they can only fly up to the fourth altitude level. With this addition, the game will be even more interesting.
We were given several questions related to some complex aircraft maneuvers. We definitely planned to introduce some of them in the future games from this series, while the plan for this game was to be simpler. Since we see that some backers would like such rules to exist, we decided to introduce them. We will comply with our basic principle of MCMD (minimum complexity, maximum diversity) so that everything will be simple and easy to apply. These will be optional rules, so that games can be played without their application.
- Immelmann turn - the aircraft goes a few spaces and then comes back in the exact opposite direction, while climbing (the plane must be previously tilted nose up to perform this maneuver). Aircraft with "fast climbing" feature can climb two levels when performing this.
- Split S maneuver - the same as Immelmann turn, only in this case the aircraft descends, up to three altitude levels. Aircraft with "slow descending" characteristic can descend maximum two levels.
- Loop - the aircraft climbs and then descends by changing direction for 360° and continues forward, resulting in moving a far shorter distance. At the end the piece stays on the same altitude stand.
- Wingover - the aircraft climbs, turns while in vertical position and dives back in the opposite direction from the initial position. The effect is the same as turning horizontally for 180° (three consecutive turns for 60°), only the airplane must start from nose-up position and the total movement length is reduced because of vertical movement. This can be performed only by planes with agility III or better.
Aircraft with "non-consecutive turn" restriction (if the Roman number representing agility is written within a square) cannot perform any of the above maneuvers. Each maneuver requires some minimum "velocity" (the aircraft speed + rolled number on the die and other factors), so some slow or damaged aircraft won't be able to perform all the maneuvers. Also, rookie pilots can't perform these maneuvers.
These rules do not require any physical addition, except for a small space in the manual. That's why it won't be related to any stretch goal and we will definitely implement them in the rules.
