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Thread: Rookie Progression Deck

  1. #1

    Default Rookie Progression Deck

    ROOKIE PROGRESSION DECK

    I have spent some considerable time trying to develop a system of play which demonstrates the increasing abilities of a Rookie pilot, from novice to competent squadron flyer.
    I tried using the “Wounded Pilot” rule from the RAP, but found myself unhappy with it, since it only affects the Rookie’s guns, having no impact AT ALL on the pilot’s ability to fly the plane.

    I personally feel that a new pilot, arriving at his first squadron, would not be able to climb into a possibly-unfamiliar aircraft and be able to fly it to the limits of its performance envelope on his first sortie, without first undergoing a ‘familiarisation’ process.
    Currently, the rules allow a new, untried pilot to blast across the table and throw his aircraft around the sky with all the panache, elan, daring and skill of all but the most Acrobatic of Aces!


    This system is designed to be used in a campaign situation, but could also be used to ‘balance’ a regular game by weakening one side or another by replacing experienced pilots with rookies.

    The Rookie Progression Deck starts off at Novice level, with a fixed set of manoeuvre cards and restrictions, and adds further cards, and removes the restrictions, gradually as the rookie accumulates flying time.


    NOVICE DECK
    12 cards, comprising:-
    2 straight, 2 stall, 2 gentle left turn, 2 gentle right turn, 1 gentle left swerve, 1 gentle right swerve, 1 climb and 1 dive.
    These twelve cards are common to ALL aircraft manoeuvre decks which I have examined, from ‘A’ through ‘S’

    Click image for larger version. 

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    A (sometimes a bit blurry) photograph of 14 of the most frequently used decks can be found in my Albums.
    The intent was to make the easier, more-familiar and less-deadly cards available first, whilst keeping the 'killer' manoeuvre cards back until last, before the Immelman card is received after 10 sorties.

    A novice flies with the restrictions of “Engine Damage” (one compulsory Stall card per turn), “Wounded Pilot” (cannot fire after any Steep manoeuvre, 4 turns to un-jam guns), as well as sequential firing when exchanging fire with a non-rookie (rookie fires last, NOT simultaneously), has no ability to "tail" another aircraft, and also requires one EXTRA climb counter per level.
    This simulates the Novice flying slower, turning wider and not pushing his plane as hard as his more experienced colleagues.
    He has more on his mind than the others – lack of familiarity with navigational landmarks, constant worry about enemy threats, lack of experience with formation flying, the need to watch his flight leader constantly in order to spot signals etc.

    After every 2 sorties, the rookie gains extra manoeuvre cards to add to his repertoire, as he becomes acclimatised to his aircraft and surroundings, and at fixed threshold sorties the restrictions are gradually removed, until after 10 sorties the whole manoeuvre deck is available, and the pilot is no longer considered a rookie.
    Across ALL manoeuvre decks, the Engine Restriction is always removed after 6 sorties, the Guns restriction after 8 sorties, and the Immelman card is awarded after 10 sorties, no matter which aircraft is being flown, and regardless of how few/many other manoeuvre deck cards may be made available.

    While the “Engine Damage Restriction” is in force, the rookie is “immune” to the first Engine Damage card he draws – the rationale being that he pushes his damaged aircraft harder out of fear/necessity, and therefore achieves the same level of aircraft performance with which he has become comfortable. A second Engine Damage card eliminates the aircraft as normal.
    While the “Wounded Pilot Restriction” is in force, the rookie is “immune” to the first Wounded Pilot card he draws – a second Wounded Pilot card eliminates the aircraft as normal.

    All sorties flown by the rookie qualify for experience advancement - it is not necessary for him to engage the enemy every time; simply taking off, flying over the trenches, practicing formation flying and navigation and then returning safely to base will all boost his confidence/experience/familiarity with his aircraft.


    This system presents variables to be considered by the leader of a Flight when the Rookie Progression Deck is used:-

    1) When opposed by enemy scouts, do you send your rookie back to base so as to shield him from danger, and thus allow him to continue to accumulate experience? He will survive this sortie, but the remainder of the Flight must fight without his guns.

    2) Do you race on ahead, and attempt to ‘thin out’ the enemy opposition before the rookie engages?

    3) Do you assign an experienced pilot to mentor and protect your rookie, or just let him take his chances?

    4) Does your Ace play possum, using the Novice Deck to draw the enemy in, before ‘Turning Ace’ and trashing them?

    When new players are first introduced to the game, having them play using a Novice Deck can help them to slowly immerse themselves in the game system – it has the advantages of containing very few Steep cards, (only the 2 Stall cards if you play without altitude!) so accidental eliminations through playing two Steep cards back-to-back are much rarer, and the planes fly slower and more predictably, so there is less chance of flying off the map! Just remember that it is best to fly a rookie aircraft yourself, in opposition, so the scrap is evenly balanced, and the new player doesn’t feel disadvantaged!


    Give it a try if you wish, and see how you like/dislike it.

  2. #2

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    Nice work. I like it. Soon I'll start a solo campaign and was thinking about hindering rookies a bit. This may be the way to go, thanks.

  3. #3

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    Lord... it's a wonder any novices survived to accumulate experience!

    Interesting progression, Tim. I'll have to give it a go.

  4. #4

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    Yes, certainly well worth a try out. You have put a good deal of thought into this Tim.
    How do you think it would translate into WWII, gun jams aside.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flying Officer Kyte View Post
    Yes, certainly well worth a try out. You have put a good deal of thought into this Tim.
    How do you think it would translate into WWII, gun jams aside.
    Rob.
    I don't know - I don't do WW2 (despite the offer of cookies!)

  6. #6

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    Looks cool tim! I have started the OTT missions (for a second play through) on my own, so I may incorporate this. Although, 10 missions to be able to use the full deck seems a bit long. I may reduce the timing on some of them, we'll see how it goes!

  7. #7

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    Wow. I don't think my gaming group would go for this level of detail, but I always love reading everyone else's great ideas about this game. Thanks for sharing; it looks great.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by rkwright View Post
    Looks cool tim! I have started the OTT missions (for a second play through) on my own, so I may incorporate this. Although, 10 missions to be able to use the full deck seems a bit long. I may reduce the timing on some of them, we'll see how it goes!
    Please, alter any timings you wish - It's only my opinion!
    I originally had the full progression last 8 sorties, not 10, but the larger manoeuvre decks (L and M) with 24 cards meant that those planes received a big stack of new cards all in one go, a little too quickly for my liking, and anyway, 10 is a nice round number!

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Scott View Post
    Wow. I don't think my gaming group would go for this level of detail, but I always love reading everyone else's great ideas about this game. Thanks for sharing; it looks great.
    Thanks Scott.
    A few of my local players baulked at it as well, but most of them came around to it eventually. Having said that, it's all unofficial, and always subject to change!

  10. #10

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    great job, great work, my group loves it

  11. #11

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    It is a neat idea, & easily implemented.

  12. #12

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    You could change "after mission 2", "after mission 4" etc to "stage 1", "stage 2" etc and then after each mission throw a dice to see if your rookie proceeds to the next stage. That way your Rookies would progress at different rates i.e. Some are smarter than others. You could have a table that affects your dice throw depending on what the Rookie did in the last couple of missions. Just a thought.

  13. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by Brambo View Post
    You could change "after mission 2", "after mission 4" etc to "stage 1", "stage 2" etc and then after each mission throw a dice to see if your rookie proceeds to the next stage. That way your Rookies would progress at different rates i.e. Some are smarter than others. You could have a table that affects your dice throw depending on what the Rookie did in the last couple of missions. Just a thought.
    Oooo, I really like that. Great idea!

  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by SgtRock57 View Post
    great job, great work, my group loves it
    Thanks Dan, glad you like it.

  15. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by MoonSylver View Post
    It is a neat idea, & easily implemented.
    Thanks Rob, and many thanks for the Rep!

  16. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by Brambo View Post
    You could change "after mission 2", "after mission 4" etc to "stage 1", "stage 2" etc and then after each mission throw a dice to see if your rookie proceeds to the next stage. That way your Rookies would progress at different rates i.e. Some are smarter than others. You could have a table that affects your dice throw depending on what the Rookie did in the last couple of missions. Just a thought.
    That's intriguing - I must try it out. My initial system minimised bookkeeping by having all Rookies progress at the same rate, but it was pointed out to me that a given rookie could be sent back to base EVERY sortie, and would thus survive, risk free, until he achieved non-rookie status (I said that I didn't believe anyone would play that way, but I've been wrong before!). Your table tracking what the rookie did on previous sorties could well be the answer - thanks!

  17. #17

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    I had worked out a system where a novice had the ability to perform only the basic manoeuvres as well, although I didn't carry it to the level of specifying which cards he could and could not use at first. Then, as he completed a certain number of missions, or achieved a kill, he was able to pick one from a buffet of possible skills. When he exhausted the basic buffet, he was then eligible to progress to a more advanced buffet, but still able to choose the skill he wanted. It worked, but involved a considerable amount of paperwork and record keeping (and guess who got to do that!), since each of us had 6 scout pilots, 2 2-seater pilots, and 2 observers to start with, plus additions as casualties occurred. This is a much simpler but equally useful system, and I do believe we will begin to use it. Kudos for the idea and the work.

  18. #18

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    Really trying to get back into WoG after a busy, busy work/life period. Just picked up on this and there are some really nice ideas which I would love to incorporate into my own plans to run a solo campaign. I read elsewhere on the forum the idea of altering the number of damage cards drawn by a pilot who force-lands too - rookies being more likely to fluff up the landing and flip over or whatever...

    Here's my question though - what are some good names for a pilot's status? We could have:
    1) Rookie/novice
    2) ...?
    3) Experienced
    4) Veteran/ace

    Any thoughts/suggestions?
    I guess Ace could be separate to the above (e.g. a veteran might not be an ace, an experienced pilot might quickly get enough kills but not yet be a veteran).

    Ian

  19. #19

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    I rather like Novice, Experienced, Veteran, Ace. but you could start with Novice, Standard, Experienced, Veteran, and keep Ace just for the number of kills made. As you point out, there were after all a lot of experienced Aces, who never lived long enough to reach Veteran status.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  20. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flying Officer Kyte View Post
    I rather like Novice, Experienced, Veteran, Ace. but you could start with Novice, Standard, Experienced, Veteran, and keep Ace just for the number of kills made. As you point out, there were after all a lot of experienced Aces, who never lived long enough to reach Veteran status.
    Rob.
    Agreed. There were many Veterans , too, who never reached 5 kill Ace status.

  21. #21

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    Maybe...

    Novice, Qualified, Experienced, & Veteran?

    Novice, Experienced, Veteran, Legendary?

    Novice, Experienced, Veteran, Daredevil?

  22. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flying Officer Kyte View Post
    I rather like Novice, Experienced, Veteran, Ace.
    I like this as well. Even shortening the categories to three (Novice, Experienced, Veteran), and leaving off "Ace" to mark those who score five or more victories, would work.

    CY6! uses something similar: four pilot skills, +0 (Green), +1 (Skilled), +2 (Veteran) and +3 (Ace). Those titles could, in hindsight, work as well.

    Has anyone played with these further?

  23. #23

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    We need Tim's Rookie charts made into a "Beau" style reference card! Beau has 6-7 reference cards already and this would be a great addition to the set.

    What say you all!

  24. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by richarddaystrom View Post
    We need Tim's Rookie charts made into a "Beau" style reference card! Beau has 6-7 reference cards already and this would be a great addition to the set.

    What say you all!
    Wouldn't be a bad thing at all, if that fine gentleman is willing.

  25. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by MoonSylver View Post
    Wouldn't be a bad thing at all, if that fine gentleman is willing.
    Agreed. Love the look and utility of Beau's cards. Great addition to the library.

  26. #26

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    It would certainly help keep down the book keeping.
    I put mini Ace ability cards in the boxes under the aircraft that they fly, and could do the same with rookie status cards. That way you know exactly what is what as soon as you get the aircraft out of the box.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."



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