do you use a mission tree?

[Kiwi_Ace]

hey, was just wondering who uses a mission tree for their campaign.

my campaign is quite "loose" in terms of its really a series of unrelated sorties. next time i run a ww1 campaign we will get things more structures and im thinking of letting the attacking side pick the path through the missions and the defending team set up the tree using a deck of mission cards ( i have made up over 60 specific mission cards)

any thoughts?

[Oberst Hajj]

Well, you know my KotA uses a mission tree. I have talked with a few people about having a "pool" missions to chose from for each mission level. So, if we use the KotA tree as an example...

http://wingsofwar.org/UserImages/MissionTree.jpg

Mission 1 would be a straight up dogfight like it is now. For mission 2, there several different missions that the attackers could pick from. I've even thought about having a selected pool of missions for 2a and a different set for 2b. This way, you could let the attackers pick the mission set they want to use, but randomly select the actual mission. This could represent HQ handing down the orders... at the level the pilots are at, they don't really get to pick the missions, they just fly them.

This mission pool would also allow different squadrons to fly different missions in the World Wide Knights of the Air Campaign.

[Grinneth42]

Even though I haven't gotten very far in the playing of this game, I have to say that I love the mission tree approach and will be applying it in the near future. I believe that it makes a lot of sense, and provides a forward momentum to the game... as well as 'forcing' people to make choices about the planes they are flying based on forseeable future mission objectives... Yep, I just like it.

[The Blue Baron]

Whem I tried to make up a mission tree for our next gaming session I had the idea to make a linear mission "tree". Some Missions in a row and the outcome of each effects the number (and maybe kind) of planes an other devices you have in the next mission. Winner of the campaign would be the side that wins the last mission. But - since I had the idea last night - I am still working on the details...
But I also realy like the complex mission tree above.

[Charlie3]

Our group does not use the campagin system at all.

Our games are considered one offs. However, this allows us some flexibility when it comes to the number of partisipants on game night. Since no one is affiliated with either side in the war, the players get to use that shinny new plane they just got, or what ever strikes their fancy. Most of them have planes from both sides, so we can balance the games out easily which takes pressure off of me! Our evenings often start off with a Dog Fight to see who is going to be the agressor in the main event.

We do keep player records that record all the pilot names and nationalities, planes flown, missions flown, and kills. We also have pilot records for individual pilots to track ace abilities. At the end of every 3 months we add the total number of missions flown by the player, to the total number of kills made by the player and subtract the total number of Dead pilots to find out who did the best. Who wins the war? why the side with the least number of Dead Pilots of course!

All in all we have a great time and are moving up on 6 months of WEEKLY gaming, something unusual for our area. What a Great Game!!

[StormforceX]

We like to keep things simple so we start with a dog fight then choose missions at random with a straight three strikes and your out. Lose 3 in a row and you lose the war.

[Belis4rius]

I am in the middle of a campaign at the moment, it doesn't use a mission tree but it produces some excellent fights, I got it from a PBEM site which is now defunct.

Each side is allocated a certain number of aircraft i.e. 20 scouts and 5 two seaters, you don't actually have to have all of these as they will never all be in the air at the one time. You are also allocated two first class scouts which can be given as replacements to any two pilots, after the first 'week' you get another first class scout which goes to the pilot with the highest number of kills for that week, once these aircraft are shot down they are not replaced, except the one for the highest scoring pilot which comes from HQ.

A number of missions are chosen for the week i.e. British bombing, Dogfight, British Recon, German artillery spot, German Bombing etc. these can be as many or little as you like, and can be evened out over the four week campaign. Points are given for winning or defeating the missions and the side with the overall score at the end wins. Also if you shoot down twice as many as your opponent you get an extra point.

Once you know what missions are coming up during the week you allocate your aircraft accordingly, therefore you never quite know what you will be up against. For instance British Bombing; two DH4's, one Camel and one Snipe (first class aircraft replacing a pilots normal steed an N17). You keep records and watch your pilots grow in experience or die. Each week has the same number of aircraft but obviously with new recruits flying many of them.

[Kiwi_Ace]

cool idea. i like the allocation of aircraft. seems pretty realistic and a simple way to keep track of overall kills per side.


I am in the middle of a campaign at the moment, it doesn't use a mission tree but it produces some excellent fights, I got it from a PBEM site which is now defunct.

Each side is allocated a certain number of aircraft i.e. 20 scouts and 5 two seaters, you don't actually have to have all of these as they will never all be in the air at the one time. You are also allocated two first class scouts which can be given as replacements to any two pilots, after the first 'week' you get another first class scout which goes to the pilot with the highest number of kills for that week, once these aircraft are shot down they are not replaced, except the one for the highest scoring pilot which comes from HQ.

A number of missions are chosen for the week i.e. British bombing, Dogfight, British Recon, German artillery spot, German Bombing etc. these can be as many or little as you like, and can be evened out over the four week campaign. Points are given for winning or defeating the missions and the side with the overall score at the end wins. Also if you shoot down twice as many as your opponent you get an extra point.

Once you know what missions are coming up during the week you allocate your aircraft accordingly, therefore you never quite know what you will be up against. For instance British Bombing; two DH4's, one Camel and one Snipe (first class aircraft replacing a pilots normal steed an N17). You keep records and watch your pilots grow in experience or die. Each week has the same number of aircraft but obviously with new recruits flying many of them.

[Doug]

In the other group I play with, we don't use a mission tree, but we do have set objectives for a game, such as balloon busting, trench straffing or bombing missions. This prevents games where players do nothing except try to shoot every one down and the last player on the table is the winner. I like the missions that have been generated in this forum. I look forward to the series 5 WW1 minatures as I belive it will make the game harder to achive objectives,

[usmc1855]

Our group plays much like Doug in the post immediately prior to mine. When I set the games up, I make sure that the aricaraft available are all from the same time frame (I try to keep all planes on the board as being available within a 6-12 month period). We also have spcific missions, but no mission tree where we would advance on designated path to the next specific objective for the next flights. All of this predicated on the fact that although we play every Tuesday night, with every one in the group owning numerous game systems and hundreds of Minis, we play something different every week and come back to the same game about once every two or three months.