Mock Dogfight

[Spoonfrog]

I tried a dogfight with a difference. Sometimes friendly pilots would have a mock dogfight in order to hone their skills or to test a new aircraft type. I read about a mock dogfight between Guynemer (flying his SPAD VII) and an unnamed Canadian pilot flying a Sopwith Camel. Guynemer was on the Canadian's tail so much that he said "j'ai été tué beaucoup de fois" afterwards.

In this scenario there are no damage cards, since no guns are being fired. Instead points are awarded as follows:

Normal shot: 1 point
Short range shot: 2 points
Tailing shot (any range): 3 points

The first to 6 points wins. I took Guynemer's SPAD VII and my opponent was an auto moving Camel.


The range is slightly too long for the camel to open the scoring.


Oops, 1 point to the camel.


An overlap means no scoring.


Guynemer gets a shot in, not quite tailing though. 2-1 to the SPAD.


1 point each as they head towards each other. 3-2 to the SPAD.


Getting into a turning war, thankfully left not right!


Ouch! The camel managed to break out of the circle and put the tight right turns to use, hitting me at close range. 4-3 to the camel.


Breaking apart.


And coming back together for the final act... 6-5 to the camel, Guynemer did better than I did in the mock dogfight!

[CrashCraig]

Interesting twist on the game, Dom.

[Baxter]

A good game, innovative and fun I think.

[Teaticket]

Nice adaptation to simulate some practice fighting.

[Biggles downunder]

An interesting option to get on the table but can anything match seeing your opponent draw a ‘boom’?

[camelbeagle]

Nice game! It is nice to see the cards being used instead of the minis.

[Spoonfrog]

In response to the comments above - the idea was to make it a quicker game, a test of skill/aircraft agility by removing the randomness of the damage deck.

I'm a bit of a stickler for historical accuracy (or at least historical plausibility) so it allows for more match-ups, e.g. pitting friendly aircraft against each other.

I think it worked partially but it also does remove some of the fun...

[flash]

A neat way to train on a new or little used deck, or, intro a novice, Dom

[Windy Jack]

An interesting option to get on the table but can anything match seeing your opponent draw a ‘boom’?

As your sometime opponent, I would be happy if you didin't see your opponent drawing a boom!!!!

[Windy Jack]

I took Guynemer's SPAD VII and my opponent was an auto moving Camel.

It would be interesting to see how much difference having a live opponent would make to this scenario, rather than the auto moving plane.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

I found it interesting that the Auto aircraft did so well. I must try a few of these mock combats myself.
Now where did I leave my wing mounted camera?

Rob.

[Spoonfrog]

I found it interesting that the Auto aircraft did so well.

Or was it that I did so badly...? Note that there was a lot more circling that I didn't photograph just because it would have made a longer, duller AAR!