Starting a campaign. Need your expert input!

[tofarley]

So, I finally found a player willing to take on a WoW campaign with me!!

At this point, I only own the WWI Deluxe set, and the West map. I'd be willing to buy some more stuff, but not in excess (Would the Famous Aces expansion be a must-have for campaign?)

Where do I begin? Just grab a campaign from the files section here? Which one? We're looking to start Monday, so any input is appreciated!

[IRM]

In a word, yes. I'd suggest the Knights Of The Air campaign rules that Keith (Col. Hajj) produced.

You've already got everything that's in Famous Aces other than the extra aircraft cards if you have the Deluxe Set. If you intend to get more official aircraft models you don't need any of the other box sets to use them. If you're just sticking to dogfights that's really all you need.

Watch Your Back is pretty much redundant if you use miniatures (covers two-seaters), Balloon Busters and Burning Drachens both cover the same ground (like the Deluxe Set, BB drops extra cards for miniatures) and Flight Of The Giants covers large bombers. You can download the rulebooks from the Files section, although you may need some additional materials to use them fully.

[tofarley]

Thanks for the info. I'm hoping to do a bit more dynamic of a campaign than just dogfighting... at the very least run some balloon busting attack/defend and some "escape with the recon photos" sort of scenarios. Hoping to have a bit of a campaign element in that things that happen in one fight might affect the next scenario.

Thanks!

[Anav]

The Pasadena Flight is about to start its next campaign.
I use the heck out of Keith's Knights of the Air. You can take it and modify it and use whatever your groups needs/wants are.
Keith has done wonderful work and I have seen no reason to start over.
I believe if you open it you will find what you are looking for.

[tofarley]

I'm reading it now, and loving it. The first time I checked the campaign section I overlooked the big one at the top (mind is configured to tune out what looks like an ad). Super excited to get this going. We picked up another player now they are crawling out of the woodwork, and this guy owns all the expansion.

[tofarley]

I might be dense, but I read through the entire KotA rules, and the only thing I don't quite understand is the table on page one about creating the community damage deck. Can someone please explain what that table is trying to explain?

Thanks in advance.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

I might be dense, but I read through the entire KotA rules, and the only thing I don't quite understand is the table on page one about creating the community damage deck. Can someone please explain what that table is trying to explain?

Thanks in advance.

You just take cards out of the deck for ammo each plane uses. What is left is the community damage deck Tim. If shooting at close range you use one card from your ammo and take the second from the community deck to make up the difference instead of depleting your ammo further, as the second hit signifies a better hit not more shots used up,
Rob.

[Kiwi_Ace]

You just take cards out of the deck for ammo each plane uses. What is left is the community damage deck Tim. If shooting at close range you use one card from your ammo and take the second from the community deck to make up the difference instead of depleting your ammo further, as the second hit signifies a better hit not more shots used up,
Rob.

this is a good idea with larger groups of players as the deck gets passed around the table a bit during the game and gets "lost" at times. another way to deal with this issue is to have 1-2 ppl responsible for flipping/dealing out the damage cards although i think i like the idea of each player just having their own ammo cards ready to give.

as for your campaign, it will definately take on a life of its own once you start mixing things up a bit with balloon busting, recon and bombing missions. aftera while u will find your own house rules that work for your particular group of players. Use keiths Knights of the Air as the starting point but dont be afraid to modify things and tweek rules to suit yourself and the tastes of your players. id recommend having 3 missions linked together in some way where the outcome of the previous one effects the next one. i know thats quite general advice but it might be as simple as starting with a "Scouting Mission" into enemy territory where there are ground targets and a few planes that you have orders not to engage, then the next mission is a photo recon, where there are ground targets defending a gun or plane card (secret weapon that is not yet fully operational), then later on one team can undertake a mission deep into enemy territory to either land and rescue a captured pilot or destroy observation balloons then bomb a strategic target.

The 'alertness' and defensive strength of the defending team will depend on the success of the previous missions eg. you lost two planes in enemy territory so only get a reduced number of planes for the next one.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Yes indeed Tim. That is pretty much the way that KoTA goes. Stormkahn and I have been playing it for nearly a year now, and are about half way through it, with the tide of battle ebbing and flowing as we proceed from mission to mission. It allows for sorties to be flown within the mission structure. For instance, if one of your pilots goes down behind the lines and survives without being captured, you can pop in a daring rescue mission between the programmed missions without upseting the flow of the campaign. This also allows for the occasional player to pop into the game now and then. we have had my son playing Nigel Bouncer-Smythe once, and Christophe von Rogerstein up from Northampton as well. All adds to the fun.
Rob.