From Q: Rockets

[BlueRabbit]

Hello there!
"Le Prieur rockets" were recently used against our new three-legged enemy, and I say, the feed back was rather negative. Which I find rather harsh. The current "rules of engagement" are very effective against Ballons... but then Ballons do not move.

So I have new Rules of Engagement for you to try, and don't forget to feedback your thoughts....

(the following is to replace T&T rule book, Pg 21, second column)

When firing rockets, the player can decide to use one or both of the counters. If an airplane fires only one of its initial two rockets, it can fire the other during a later phase.

To fire rockets, the airplane must perform either a straight or a stall. AFTER you have moved the airplane:
° The Rocket Counter is then placed at a distance of One Half Ruler straight a head.
° In the following 3 phases the Rocket continues to move at distance of One Half Ruler, in a straight line AFTER all other models have moved.
(I advise you to put the Rocket counter on a square base to avoid it "drifting")

° The Rocket counter is removed if:
At any time it touches the base of another model (friend or foe). (This includes the rocket "moving through/over" another base). Each Rocket counter causes a single D damage card.
After 4 phases of movement it runs out of fuel and it removed from play.


Rocket and Altitude
The Basic rules cover the firing of rockets at the same altitude as the plane. When the Rocket is fired add an altitude counter next to the Rocket counter as a reminder of its altitude.

°The Pilot may also fire its rockets after a DIVE maneuver. In which case the rocket losses one level of altitude at the END of each of its movements (including the first).

°The Rocket is removed if at the end of any phase it reaches an altitude of 0.

[flash]

I can't see that increasing the range, the rocket token moved in a straight line and an extra phase to allow evasion helps much on a moving target.?
The original rules allow rockets to hit anything in the arc of fire so you'd have a better chance with that on a moving target.

[BlueRabbit]

I can't see that increasing the range, the rocket token moved in a straight line and an extra phase to allow evasion helps much on a moving target.?
The original rules allow rockets to hit anything in the arc of fire so you'd have a better chance with that on a moving target.

Good point :-)
My reasoning:
° under the current rules, if a pilot wants to use rockets he/she will take a minimum of two hits from either Black Smoke and/or the Heat Ray because of "the range" + "the two straight/stall moves in a row" + "the double fire arc". This combined with the tripods' shield means that the rocket very rarely does any damage at all (if the plane takes any special damage during these two phases the rocket misses). I playtested the current rules 5 times after the "a Spark of Hope AAR" (because I used the wrong Damage Deck during the AAR and wanted to see what difference the correct Deck made), and the plane was destroyed twice because of the rocket run, the rockets missed 5 times and those that hit managed to reduce the shield, but then the shield was "recharged" on an Objective Counter a maximum of 2 phases later.

° Having the rockets use the same game mechanics as a bomb (by staying on the play area untill they hit something) allows more "game play" tactics. The pilot can use the rockets to make "temporary exclusion zones" and try to force the Tripod player to move where he/she wants.

° The pilot can try to protect an objective from a longer range. A tripod needs to stay stationary for one phase if it want to "recharge" and "destroy" a single objective, if there is a rocket bearing down on that objective it may slow the tripod down or make it make a mistake.

° stray rockets are as dangerous for allies which is an interesting addition.

° with these modifications the pilot may fire and hit the tripod in the same phase at Half Ruler Distance or anticipate the tripods' movement and try to hit it from further out.

[flash]

Rockets can be fairly useless, which, as using a firework against a technologically superior alien armoured machine, they probably should be but a successful launch and a good draw can potentially cause much more damage, or, sap a lot more energy than expectation deserves to.
Pitting one plane against a tripod is fairly suicidal whatever weaponry it's carrying, so your playtest results are unsurprising. A tripod can only engage its weaponry if it has selected the necessary action and has energy to do so. Chance of it causing any damage is 50-50 for both weapons and once fired they have recovery periods before they can engage again. Timing is key but still no guarantee of success. Some wingmen may increase the chances of success, just make sure that they don't get in the way of the rockets !

[OldGuy59]

With one-on-one, a plane on a tripod is very tough.

I held a demo game at a convention, with some very experienced pilots. I was the tripod controller, with four tripods, against eight planes. The tripods died horribly. With three rocket armed planes, and one cannon armed plane, the pilots ganged up on single targets. It was nearly impossible to out maneuver all the shots.

The planes with machine guns attempted to burn away the shields at every opportunity. However, the specialty weapons almost always went onto unarmored sides, due to the skill of the pilots' maneuvering.

Extending the range wouldn't be something I would use. The game is fiction, so anything could be possible, including TV guided missiles. I will struggle with the 'primitive' technology of 1918 against an advanced enemy.

[BlueRabbit]

nice feed back thanks :-)