Our House Rules

[Eserchie]

1) Tailing - We don't bother to check for it, as it seems to almost never occur anyway, and is a fair amount of hassle for limited benefit.

2) Collisions - Draw a SINGLE C card and apply the exact same damage to both planes in the collision. (Following a head-on incident where the cards drawn were 0 and explosion)

3) Split-S - Lose 2 climb counters during the Split-S, and another on the following Straight. This seems to be slightly more realistic than the default rule, and is also more fun, as it affects fast and slow climbing planes differently.

4) Trench fire - half ruler against ground skimming planes only. Trench MG's function normally.

5) Illegal Manouvers - May be deliberately played, and will be carried out, but draw 2 A damage cards. If any card but a straight is played before an immelman, it counts as a split-s.

6) Diving Two Seaters. - The DH4 and Ufag C.I only lose two climb counters per dive manouver, rather than losing all and an altitude marker. The Roland and the RE8 lose five climb markers/one altitude marker.

7) Aces - If you get an Ace, invent a skill for him based on how he achieved that status. This is subject to approval by other players, but can be anything you devise.

8) Smoke - Due to the absence of tailing rules, smoke instead affects aim.

We are additionally contemplating making some of the steep manouvers cost climb counters, and boosting the diving ability of the spad in some way, as spad XIIIs were kind of famous for diving fast and steep without tearing off bits of plane.

[Carlos Lopes]

Hello,

Can you help me and indicate some documentation that would able me to determinate dive specifications?

(HR 6)

Thanks

[Pooh]

Getting specific dive information is difficult. Often in testing reports pilots just mention ease of handling during dives. I've seen some info that Spad VII & Spad XIIIs could exceed 200 mph in a dive and were easy to handle during hard dives. The SE 5a is supposed to be similar.

Pooh

[Stewby]

I like these suggestions particularly with tailing and smoke damage.

Tailing very rarely occurs in our games as well ( in fact I cant remember it occuring) to the point where smoke damage doesnt realy mean a great deal.

I wonder if there can be a game mechanic that means that tailing is more frequent if a pilot can get close behind an aircraft at half ruler distance at the same altitude, the pilot is more likely to predict the enemys evasive attempts?

From what i have read of accounts of WW1 combat, once a plane got close in diectly behind, it meant impending disaster as it was difficult to shake the enemy off. maneouvring was quite slow and could be more easily predicted or reacted to.

[krolik]

In our group we've changed tailing to: check after every card, if you can tail, your opponent shows you his next maneuver and you get to pick new cards.

[Stewby]

In our group we've changed tailing to: check after every card, if you can tail, your opponent shows you his next maneuver and you get to pick new cards.

This sounds like a good idea - we will try this on our next game

the only thing is from this it would be impossible or very difficult to out -maneouvre or escape once being tailed. I think the element of chance introduced by a roll of a dice could also come in handy. Say the tailed has to roll 5 or 6 on a D6 at the beginning of each turn to keep his next maneouvre secret again.

just an idea, I might have to test it first, it might not work.

[krolik]

This sounds like a good idea - we will try this on our next game

the only thing is from this it would be impossible or very difficult to out -maneouvre or escape once being tailed. I think the element of chance introduced by a roll of a dice could also come in handy. Say the tailed has to roll 5 or 6 on a D6 at the beginning of each turn to keep his next maneouvre secret again.

just an idea, I might have to test it first, it might not work.

Even with the expanded tailing rules, it's still fairly easy to break a tail. An Immelman does it every time.

They do make tailing more effective, but they are not an automatic death sentance for the plane being tailed.