Fuel issues

[GuySajerGD]

New to the game. 3 sorties so far.
I have found that in every game, fuel is an issue. To the point that we start falling out of the sky instead of shooting each other down

We start off with 40 fuel counters and am I correct in saying that you lose fuel EVERY maneuver (2 for a fast and 1 for a slow maneuver).

Granted we are still learning who to find each other and setup that nice shot. We seem to do A LOT of fly bys.....peppering each other as we close in.

Any comments on that.

[Stormkahn]

Spot on with the fuel usage, I'd need to check but there are some exceptions like climbing and diving.

The answer is : don't use fuel unless you have to I.E. It's relevent to the scenario.

How big is the table? Shrink the gaming surface, that'll make sure the lead is flying thick and fast :)

cheers,

Dave.

[Max Headroom]

I agree with Stormkahn... Although when you do use fuel, it adds a certain realism to tha game rather than a 'last man standing' scenario. The objective is to do the damage, and get home before you run out of fuel. Makes you truly calculate your maneuvres.

[HardRock]

I believe the intent of the fuel usage was to portray the limit of some aircraft had to dogfight before returning to base. So if you ran out of fuel, you would not fall out of the sky, but must return to your entry side and exit the board. For example: In the BoB, 109's had a limited fight time over England.

Modern jets have a term, bingo fuel. Which means you have just enough fuel to get home.

[Oberst Hajj]

These guys have it right, use fuel to limit the engagement time of one side (normally the attackers in most scenarios). With no real rules or guidance in the rule book, it's left to us to really play test how fuel you really need.

I would suggest that you guys play a few games where you do not limit your fuel, but instead track it to see what you would have had to have to finish that game. That will help you zero in on the best number pretty quick. Also, keep a spreadsheet of each game showing the number of turns played and how much fuel was used. This will allow you to build a database of sorts to reference when making new scenarios in the future. I would love to see data like that posted here on the site!

[Bartman]

I would suggest that you guys play a few games where you do not limit your fuel, but instead track it to see what you would have had to have to finish that game. That will help you zero in on the best number pretty quick. Also, keep a spreadsheet of each game showing the number of turns played and how much fuel was used. This will allow you to build a database of sorts to reference when making new scenarios in the future. I would love to see data like that posted here on the site!

This is a great idea Col!

I just ordered the entire miniature series of WWII products but have not even had a chance to look at them yet since I am down in Quantico attending a course. When this does hit the table I will definitely start tracking what sort of fuel burns we get (while not actually using the fuel rules) and see what they look like. Maybe I can post some limited info. on this.

[Doug]

There are other ways to use the fuel factor. In Battle of Brittan games we do not limit the fuel for the RAF but for the Germans we limit their fuel for combat (between 25 - 30 points) same as normal rules. It is assumed the aircraft has enough fuel to get to the target and home again The fuel limit starts from the first combat, if a German plane continues fighting after it has used all it's fuel and manges to survive, the plane is counted as a loss (due to fact it could not make it back to base) and is added to the British score.