Guinea Pigs needed - rules review of new campaign?

[celticgriffon]

Hi everyone,

I have been working like a madman on a new campaign structure for Wings of War/Glory. It uses Dawn Patrol for character development: i.e medals, rank, and origin. It uses a boat load of files from various members of this site. If I am using something of yours and you haven't received credit please let me know. Also, if I am using something that you feel is copyrighted please contact me so I can make amends.

Would anyone be interested in having a look to see if they make sense before I launch this craziness upon my game group? Please note three missions have not been completed yet - Aerodrome Attack 1917 - 1918, Large Scale Bombing and Zeppelins.. And it is entirely possible my logistics of things is way off base.

Here is my blurb for credits if anyone wants to see the sources I have used for inspiration.

Credits

This campaign rule-set would not be possible without the following:
Wings of War/Glory by Adrea Angiolino and Pier Giorgio Paglia, Michael Carr’s Dawn Patrol / Flight in the Skies, Hugh Walter’s Paragon’s Aerial Combat Rules, Canvas Eagles game system by Phill Hall, John Harshman and Eric Hotz, Richthofen’s War game system by Randall Reed, Bloody April game system by Terry Simo, Charles Schultz’ Snoopy and Red Baron via the Peanuts comic strip, Damon Slye’s Red Baron computer game, Keith Upton’s (Knights of the Air) Campaign system, , Tony Crewsdon’s WWI Campaign System, LTL Dad’s (Tactical Miniatures Gaming) Campaign system, Liam Thompsons (Pheonix Gaming Club) Campaign system, Traverse City Michigan’s (Don Bonner and Charile Stout III) Campaign system, Richard Bradley’s (Herkybirds Nest) Campaign system, Tyneside Wargame Club’s Campaign system, Tim Park (for creating the cards for the collision sub-game), and Michael Bricknell (for his brilliant geomorphic map system which we hope to bring to the world someday soon).

I would especially like to thank all of the members of WingsofWar.org especially those who have offered suggestions, historical information, air theory advice, encouragement, and files. This campaign system has specifically drawn inspiration from the following files (and therefore is using them.. ): Freebird-52 (Andy) scenario descriptions, Jan Horniek’s manouver sheets, Flash’s (Dave) new manouver sequences, Moonsylver’s (Rob Elliot) character record sheets, personality and quirk tables, storm cloud rules, and WWI timeline charts, Wargamer’s (Al) Ace Skill cards, LGKR’s (Don Bonner – rest in peace my friend) awesome explosion cards, etc, etc, etc.

And a huge thanks to everyone from the Regina area who joined the league. I hope as we play more games this campaign system will continue to evolve and improve.

Michael Becker (celticgriffon)


Sincerely,
Michael

[diceslinger]

This looks interesting, but I see that much of the character generation comes straight from Dawn Patrol. Sadly I don't have that game in my collection. How necessary is the game for the full campaign effect?

[celticgriffon]

Hey Shawn,

Thanks for having a look at the proposed rule set. It is definitely a work in progress. I have already cleaned up a lot of the wordiness and added bullet points to help with clarity.

I have been trying to get in touch with Mike Carr to obtain permission to rework his charts for this campaign set. Unfortunately I haven't had any success as of yet. I just don't want to violate any of his work especially as I believe a new version of Dawn Patrol (Flight in the Skies) is in the works.

1) The medals are for fluff so this can be improvised. Dawn Patrol had very good criteria for medals - i.e. after x missions or after specific in-game activities based on mostly historical information.

2) The rank system also had very good criteria for advancement. This campaign uses Rank to determine the Aerodrome Commander. Also, if a character advances to a Major rank their side gains a Winning the War point and retires from Pilot or Observer duty. A good substitute would be to have 5 levels of Rank advancement and have each player start at Rank Level 1 -whatever that title may be.

3) Also, players may want to have replacement characters have the possibility of starting at an advanced level (in terms of Rank or Ace skill. Dawn Patrol had a chart for that.

4) Finally Dawn Patrol has fantastic tables for the country of origin. For example if you are flying for France you could be from a specific local in France or from one of their colonies or via the Escadrille.

So pretty easy fixes. Perhaps I will write up a few quick tables to allow advanced replacement characters and for a basic rank system.

Cheers,
Michael

[diceslinger]

Thanks Michael. The place of origin is what caught my interest. I probably could put together one for the RFC pilots, but I wouldn't be as confident with France or Germany. I wonder if I could find a 1914 census and just take the first 100 biggest cities, assign a D100 roll and call it good. Good stuff, though, I like what I see!

Are you going to add the soon to be released Sopwith Triplane and friends to your Randomized Service chart?

[celticgriffon]

Shawn - Dawn Patrol doesn't go into City/Town of Origin but it has some neat charts. For example on the Austro-Hungarian table it states the following:

2d6
2 - Czech
3 - Slovakian
4 - Croatian
5 and 9 - Magyar (Hungarian)
6 - 8 Austrian
10 Bosnian
11 Slovene
12 Czech

Of course I have no idea how/where these details were confirmed but the placement of the numbers on the 2d6 bell curve would indicate some research was done. If you wanted to do anything with cities (or even break it down into provincial/states) I would absolutely use that data in my campaign structure.

And yes, as soon as I get the new models I will be adding the new planes to the charts as well. A note on the randomized service dates, however. It wasn't done in a scientific manor based on production or service numbers. It was my attempt to keep each plane in service for the longest time possible.

Cheers,
Michael

[celticgriffon]

Some major edits to various sections.

Thanks - this is a work in progress.

Michael

[grumpybear]

We did a game based mostly on dawn patrol, to many charts,dice rolls, mission planning etc. So went to KOA, nice and simple

[MoonSylver]

We did a game based mostly on dawn patrol, to many charts,dice rolls, mission planning etc. So went to KOA, nice and simple

Yeah, since I picked up WoW/WoG everytime I look at DP, my eyes go crossed, even though I know it's not THAT hard to play. It's just that the rules are so overwhelming by comparison. But all the background charts & such are still very useful.

[celticgriffon]

I just completed a summary of the rules to go through a proper turn with all of the advanced rules. I posted the details in the house rules forum... (check out the word doc as I couldn't get the data to format properly on the forum post...)

Playing the advanced game there are a lot more rules than we might think... ;p Eeek...

Michael

[celticgriffon]

Here are some Rank and Promotion charts (from Dawn Patrol with some minor adjustments).



Rank and Promotion

• Your starting Rank is determined randomly via the Rank and Promotion chart (below)
• For every five victories (Ace Level) you may check for a Rank promotion.
  
  • Draw 1 B Damage.
  • If it is a 4 or explosion then you gain a rank.
  
  
• If a pilot or observer gains a rank beyond those listed on the chart they leave the Aerodrome for a cushy office job.
  
  • Your side gains one “Winning the War” point for this achievement.
  • The pilot or observer must retire.
  • If the player has a current Back-Up awaiting service this character moves to active service.
  • If the player doesn’t have a Back-Up awaiting service a replacement is generated.
  
  

Michael

[flash]

Nice chartage Mike, very useful - The British did have NCO pilots though, not many I grant you but they did exist, so a sergeant as a starting rank would not go amiss, I would also load it so that most would be starting at 2nd Lt rank. i.e. 1=Sgt, 2-4=2Lt, 5=Lt, 6=Cpt this would give some leeway for promotion.

[Bobit]

I used to have pet guinea pigs...
But then I sold them to a market that was going to "breed" them.
Yeah...

[celticgriffon]

Nice chartage Mike, very useful - The British did have NCO pilots though, not many I grant you but they did exist, so a sergeant as a starting rank would not go amiss, I would also load it so that most would be starting at 2nd Lt rank. i.e. 1=Sgt, 2-4=2Lt, 5=Lt, 6=Cpt this would give some leeway for promotion.

Hi Dave,

I was mostly just straight lifting the data as it is listed in Dawn Patrol. But the more I read about early war the more I have learned that in the earlest days the Observers were often in charge. The pilot was more of a chauffeur. I don't want to segment any further, however.

I will likely adopt the changes as you have proposed.

In each Campaign Event (i.e. game night) the two players (one Entente and one CP) with the most rank (then a tie-breaking set of criteria) will make the decisions. Of course this could mean you have a Captain who is all but useless at managing these things. Cause we all know in the real world that would never happen...

/@ Dustin - no intention of selling you guys/gals... Well - not yet anyway.. lol

Michael

[flash]

Ah yes, the most dangerous thing in the world....an officer with a map !

[celticgriffon]

Hi everyone,

Here is my Nexus/Ares Aircraft Availability Chart (by year of service) for randomized historical models. Special thanks to everyone who aided in creating the original files. This is a modification for my campaign. Basically after each Game Night we determine if HQ's sends us any planes. If they do they could be any of the models listed in the current calendar month. Months not listed are status quo from the previous month. Also, in our campaign we can make a call for a special model but it takes campaign points away from repairs and technology advancements which may be desperately needed. I am not sure how to make the image bigger... so I have provided the attachment (sorry in excel).
Attachment 98532
Thanks,
Michael

[celticgriffon]

Updated Ruleset Bump (revised in first post) based on playtesting data.

[celticgriffon]

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to make a comment on the most recent changes to this campaign.

With our inaugural playtest this past Saturday we found assigning Mission Points via a 100 point sytem was somewhat tedius.

So instead, for our Campaign Event this evening we are going to try something different. Each aerodrome commander will receive five cards (Ace, 2, 3, 4, and 5). They will then assign these five cards to the different priorities for the day. When both sides have assigned the cards they then compare their rolled missions to determine the final mission. The priorities are as follows:

1) After mission repair points (Ace = 5 pts, "2" = 10 pts, 5 = 25 pts). This will help with draws for new planes from HQ's or repairing damaged planes
2) Initiative - both sides compare cards. Winning side has initiative. Winning side places planes after their opponents. Each point difference allows up to one level altitude difference and/or to move closer to enemy deployment zone.
3) Re-enforcements - both sides compare values. The winning side may send in a re-enforcement plane after their first plane gets shot down.
4) Location - both sides compare cards. Winning side chooses the location of the map. The map can either be mostly in home territory (2/3 of the map is in home territory), mostly in enemy territory or on the front lines (50 / 50 of both). The spot where a plane crashes (i.e. is destroyed) affects wether it is lost or can be recovered/repaired.
5) Die roll modifier - after you roll for the mission for the day (2d6 compared to the year of the mission) you can choose to place the 5 card in this slot. If you do you can modify the die roll by + or - 1. This may allow you to run a specific mission which is needed for catchup on Campaign points.

Cheers,
Michael

[predhead]

Just taking a first look at this as I am trying to find a simple campaign system to use with the group. Am I missing something with the Nexus/Ares randomized service file...I do not see Albatros D.Va nor Pfalz D.IIIa, and I think that they are available Nexus/Ares planes, yes? Seemingly there are a few aircraft missing? Regardless, you have done a lot of great work thus far, and the randomizer chart is excellent and something I know I will use!

As I am really just getting into the rules it is difficult for me to really comment much more as we haven't even started using tailing or altitude rules yet!

[celticgriffon]

Hey Darryl,

Thanks for catching this omission. Here is a revised spreadsheet with the missing Central Powers planes. Also, I have uploaded the latest Campaign Rule-set with a few more edits / updates.

Cheers,
Michael

[predhead]

Sweet, thanks for adding them and providing the file so quickly!

[celticgriffon]

Hi everyone,

We played another campaign mission last night.

Again - a few things came up which we are going to change to simplify things:

1) the house rules for spins are too lenient. We are going to drop 1 altitude at the end of each turn. If you haven't recovered from a spin by the second draw you instead go into a nose-dive starting next planning phase

2) Glides which fail will lead into a spin (and then likely a nose dive)

3) Crash system is a bit too harsh. We are going to only remove maneuver cards if a plane hits the ground. Also, when we draw a B Damage for characters when they crash a value of 0 will have no further effect instead of killing the character This should allow a lot more longevity in the characters.

4) There will be no more references to back up characters. It is too confusing. A player can use any active character when required.

5) The rank and promotion chart still has some mistakes - especially on the Italian side... damn cut and paste - this will be updated tonight.

6) Zeppelin missions have added clarity

7) A character who participated in a mission will regain 1 Luck during the End of Day Checklist. This is automatic instead of drawing. As such, maximum luck value will be 5 points.

As such, here is the most recent ruleset with the above adjustments.

Cheers,
Michael

[celticgriffon]

Sorry everyone - the updates have been coming fast and furious.

So far we are three missions into this campaign. Things are starting to get interesting as the Entente have new plane options.

We have found we are generating too many squadron points after each mission. As such, we have eliminated earnings for planes per side. We have also lowered the buy a technology value to 100 points (instead of 150).

Our next mission goes off tomorrow afternoon. I am sure their will be more tweaks again. The campaign rules are getting better as we go.

Cheers,
Michael

[Lt. S.Kafloc]

Apologies I am going to peruse over the next week as I have some spare time, spare time that's a joke.......ah well.

[celticgriffon]

Last Saturday we had our fourth Campaign Mission (March 1916). The Entente was on Patrol with a Saulnier and a RE8. The Central Powers were on yet another Balloon Busting mission (3rd in a row) using two Roland CII's. Despite hammering 43 points of damage into mostly two (out of the three balloons) we failed to pop any before they landed. Not one caught fire... (ouch).

The Entente managed to drop both CP planes as well. They also managed to explode a CP Drachen. It just happened to be completely undefended near the front.. With the Entente purchase of new technology (100 point expenditure) this brings them to a 3 point lead in the War. The tech advancement allows the introduction of their Nieuport 23; this advances the war to January 1917.

The mission randomizer fades out Zeppelin Raids upon the calendar reaching 1917. Unfortunately this time through we weren't able to use my new Zeppelin model.

Things should be interesting, however, as the late war can be won immediately via an Aerodrome Assault. It also brings trench strafing and large scale bombing missions (using Caproni's and Gotha's) into the mix.

Cheers,
Michael

[legioxxx]

Our group just found this campaign and is going to try it out in the next couple months. I will post some of our thoughts and after action reports.