WoW specs for planes

[Pooh]

I picked up a couple of Reviesco planes at enfilade that there are no WoW cards for and would like some comment on proposed specs.

The 1st is a Hanover CL III. Its speed puts it in "K" deck territory. Although it was supposed to be manouverable and was used as an escort, all other 2 seaters use a standard deck. The online sources I've looked at refer to 3 guns (1 forward 2 rear) but the model I have seems to have 1 each way so "B/B" guns. It was said to be robust so 16 damage?

K - B/B - 16

The 2nd is an Albatros DII. It is in the same speed range as the DIII so "J" deck for starters. The DIII was supposed to be more manouverable so should I take out a sideslip each way? The DIII is not all that manouverable to begin with. It has "A" guns and was tougher than the DIII due to more robust wings so damage 15?

J - A - 15 (possibly with a couple of manouver cards removed)

Pooh

[David Kuijt]

The 1st is a Hanover CL III. Its speed puts it in "K" deck territory. Although it was supposed to be manouverable and was used as an escort, all other 2 seaters use a standard deck. The online sources I've looked at refer to 3 guns (1 forward 2 rear) but the model I have seems to have 1 each way so "B/B" guns. It was said to be robust so 16 damage?

K - B/B - 16

That fits well with my estimation.

I think Alberto has commented that a very few two-seaters, including the BrF2b, the Halberstadt CL and the Hannover CL, will have an Immelman card. But you can't fire rear guns the card before or after the Immelman, because the observer has to grab on, get set, etc. Fire before the Immel and you lose the ability to fire your rear guns permanently (with your observer, swan-diving his way to oblivion cursing your pilot's name).

The nice thing is that the Crossfire expansion, due out ANY MINUTE NOW, is going to have a maneuver deck for the Bristol Fighter -- you can just use the BrF2b deck for the Hannover, depending upon speeds (and if the Biff is too fast for the Hannover, you can use the equivalent maneuver cards from a slower deck. The J/I/K decks are all the same speed).



The 2nd is an Albatros DII. It is in the same speed range as the DIII so "J" deck for starters. The DIII was supposed to be more manouverable so should I take out a sideslip each way? The DIII is not all that manouverable to begin with. It has "A" guns and was tougher than the DIII due to more robust wings so damage 15?

J - A - 15 (possibly with a couple of manouver cards removed)


Again, that's exactly what I have rated the D2. I use what I call the J* deck for Alb.D2s in my online campaign. It is basically the equivalent of the G deck, but at J speed -- the G deck has one sideslip each way, and a second one that is a steep. So the J* deck I use has one sideslip each way, and a second one each way that is a steep. It works great.

[Rick57]

Hey Tim,

Bill's club has House Rules that rates the Albatross DII as using a "J" deck with "A" guns and a maximum damage of 14.

The Hanover CL III isn't addressed.

Rick

[IRM]

The J Deck's a good match for the Hannover CLIIIa, as are the stats you suggest. The Bristol F2 uses a modified B deck (one less sideslip each side) so that will be too fast (also has 16 damage and A/B guns).

[krolik]

What about a Fokker D VIII? The "Flying Razor".

[Pooh]

Krolik,

I don't know much about this plane. It was about the same speed as a DVII (115mph or so) and was reputedly even more manouverable. No idea how tough it was.

Pooh

[check6]

how about the nieuport 28? I reckon F deck and 14 hit points, A guns.

as for the Fokker DVIII, I heard it had some construction quality issues around the wing attachment, glue used, and pins splintering ribs. so maybe 13 hitpoints? also you could probably give it a modified fokker DVII deck with three sharp right/left turns instead of two to represent its added maneuverability.

[krolik]

From what I've been able to find out the construction problems were for the early prototypes, and were fixed when the plane reached the front line Jastas in 10/18. Also the max speed was 127mph, faster than the D VII, but slower than the Spad 13.

[IRM]

Check6: "how about the Nieuport 28? I reckon F deck and 14 hit points, A guns."

Sounds about right, it's very similar to the Hanriot. It was supposed to have all sorts of problems with wing seperation and engine troubles (including fires if you were a bit careless with the blip switch !), so it might be worth knocking a couple of points off the hits to reflect this (same as the Nieuport 17 perhaps ?).

[Pooh]

On the Nieuport 28's wings. The problem was that the fabric on the wings would rip off in a dive. When the americans flew them, several planes experienced this but none were lost. It was sorted out before they switched to spads.

Pooh