(This is a first draft of a scenario, a work in progress. Any suggestion would be welcome. I’ve played this scenario a couple of times so I most likely missed some annoying situations that need improvements. Besides, I’m sure somebody has already had this idea of scenario. If it’s already been posted on the forums, sorry.)
1) The idea :
In WoG, all the players see the whole playing area and are aware of all that is happening on it, seeing where the enemy planes are, who shoot at who, etc., which was not the case in real life. Fonck mentioned it (and other pilots most likely also did) :
This is a classical situation where an hunter surprises his prey.‘Ten minutes after I took off, I spotted a plane in the distance. I recognized it immediately as a two-seater photo-reconnaissance job. Absorbed in their work, its two occupants had not seen my approach. As usual, I climbed very high in order to dive on the enemy. This tactic, instinctive to birds of prey, always seemed to me to be the best strategy. I surprised them in an attitude of complete security, the pilot still at his controls, and the observer in the act of taking photos, bending out over the cockpit waist-high.
I swooped down but waited until I was a few meters away before opening fire. With my eyes fixed on the sight, I quickly saw all the details growing rapidly in size. Aiming directly for the middle of the plane, my bullets raked the area which housed the motor and the aircraft's crew.
It wasn't long before I saw the results (…) the plane, like a gigantic torch, went down at full speed, crashing to the earth.’
2) The rules :
The players : 2
- A bird of prey (or hunter), such as a Spad, in the center of his side at an altitude of 3 or 4.
- A prey : a two-seater at a two-ruler distance from the hunter (from stand to stand) at an altitude of 2. The orientation of the prey might be random : it can fly perpendicular to the bird or have its back turn to it.
Game surface : 100 cm x 140 cm
Special rules :
At the start of the first turn, the prey secretly draws three C damage cards to see at which phase it becomes aware of the presence of the prey:
- if there is no special damage on the card, the prey remains unaware of the presence of the raptor, keeps on taking photographs and move forward with a stall card.
- if there is a special damage on the card, the prey gets aware of the presence of the raptor and, from that moment, choose his maneuver cards.
The prey will also get aware of the raptor as soon as the latter shoots at him.Example :
In turn 1, the bird of prey plans his 3 maneuvers as usual. Meanwhile, the prey draws three C damage cards : only the third card has a special damage on it, meaning that during this turn, the prey remains unaware of the raptor during the first two phases. So he places two stall maneuver cards on the first 2 spaces of the console. (If you don’t have enough Stall cards in your deck, use anything else, you'll replace this card with a stall when you reveal it during the movement step.) The third maneuver card will be whatever the player wants. From then on, the prey will play/plan his maneuvers as usual.
Winning conditions : if the prey exists the gaming field alive on the other side of the table, it wins. if the prey shot it down, it wins.Example :
During turn 1, the prey has drawn three C damage cards : no card has a special damage on it, meaning that the player playing as the prey expects to remain unaware of the raptor during this turn. But, at the end of phase 2, the bird chooses to fire (remember, firing is never mandatory, you can wait for a better, closer target). So the prey, aware of its presence, can now choose another 3rd maneuver card before the start of the third phase.
3) Variants
1) A dice could be used instead of the C damage cards. For example, if 5 or 6 are drawn, the prey gets aware of the danger.
2) The prey can also be another fighter. I guess the game surface can be smaller. The objective of the prey is not to flee anymore but to turn around and fight.
3) This one comes from the memoirs Notes of a lost pilot :
Special rules for this 3rd variant :‘The same for group flights. The single-seaters have every advantage in flying as a group. They (…) diminish the chances of surprise. You know it doesn’t take very long to get a crate on your neck without having had the time to see it. Yes, two planes flying at 150 kilometers per hour come toward each other at 300. But a crate which is coming toward you head on is scarcely visible at more than two kilometers and a half or three kilometers. At 300 an hour, a kilometer takes twelve seconds ; thus a (German), from the moment he becomes visible, is on you in a period which varies between 24 and 36 seconds.’
Both fighters are within half a ruler of the center of its own side, facing each other at the same altitude. Both player draw three C damage cards. When they get a card with a special damage, they gets aware of the enemy. Till then they fly forward one straight maneuver card per phase.
Nota : To avoid unlikely head-on collisions, probability of being aware of the enemy could be increased within the distance of one ruler (or 1,5 ruler).
Hoping I was clear and that it'll be of any use.
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