Rule Modifications for Starfire

Mass-ive!  And they should act that way on the table!

https://oldschoolfrp.tumblr.com/post/186521407401/maneuvering-ships-in-starfire-william-h-keith

A good concise intro to Starfire, albeit a tad out of date:
https://www.starfiredesign.com/starfire/introduction/

fun little post at the piazza:
http://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?f=88&t=23045
Just shows how easy it is to use and adapt these rules.

So, having fun getting back into these rules and definitely have more experience with naval games. This has helped developed some of my thoughts on space ship wargames in general, and what I'm looking for in a game.

1) History v. Fiction. As a big fan of the WWII Solomon Islands campaign, I think that you can in fact have different navies, different ships, different tech and different strategic / tactical issues, and have a great naval wargame. 

I think a lot of sci fi wargames give good tools for gaming, but they get into trouble when it comes to differentiating between [fictitious] cultures and their gear. History delivers the issues right into the game designer's hands. The last big space game I know well enough to comment on was Battlefleet Gothic, but some people insisted that the Eldar fleet was broken - it was probably just not easy to handle...most warhammer and GW gamers wouldn't know tactics if it erupted thru the lining of their stomach wall at breakfast.

2) Newton's Laws. I'm realizing that they matter to me, especially the First Law. They make it space instead of wet navy. Doesn't have to be "Ad Astra" level in detail, just give a good feel for inertia, acceleration / deceleration, thrust, etc. So I said that once you were moving in a specific direction at a specific velocity, you just continued at that speed/velocity until Thrust changed it [accelerate, decelerate, or turn].

There are a few things that I don’t like about the movement system; I appreciate the impulse mechanic being an attempt to allow players to move simultaneously without writing orders, but it is cumbersome. I sometimes forget which impulse I’m on!  You can also screw up your ship movements by forgetting which are moving in which impulse – this is more a product of ship differentiation as if you make them in identical batches a lot of this goes away.

Don’t like that it ignores Newton’s First Law. I have been tinkering with a very simple NFL inertia system and it works well. It also adjudicates power – the Ion Engine Units – to various systems to enhance performance. With the smaller scenarios, this gives the players an opportunity to do things that make sense but also achieve a bit of tactical surprise with EW / ECM affecting the to hit number.

3) Ship design. Dying to do this. Mostly in the area of making for interesting game play between different fleets with different gear. I think tactics revolve around the gear, and the hard part is making viable different fleets with different tactics.

4) Dicing. Switching to d12 with a natural ‘1’ being a critical Hit that damages like a particle beam. This significantly speeds up play as each firing system can be a colored dice, and you can roll for all your shooting at once.

5) Turn Modes. Movement in a previous turn doesn't count for Turns. 

I also really dislike tracking anything - ANYTHING - in any game across two turns, unless it is super easy like flipping a counter over to "disrupted side". So all turn mode movement must be spent each player turn and doesn't carry over. Think of the turn as less about time and more about decision points for captains and admirals, and you'll see it makes sense.

6) Energy Allocation. It has to power Shields, Weapons and acceleration/deceleration and each 60° Turn; any excess may be allocated to EW / ECM [Electronic Warfare / Electronic Counter Measures] to modify your Initiative die roll. So for example: if you have 6 Ion Engines, you might allocate 2 to S/weapons, 1 to a Turn and 3 to ECM [giving +3 to the Initiative roll]. I also tinkered with the ECM package as giving a bonus / penalty to your Hit ability; this time I gave 1:1, so 3 ECM made you harder to hit by 3 on the dice.

So, how did it play out?
I kept the 2d6 rolling and the constant IN to the Khanate ship for this playtest.

Using my handy 99cent marble notebook, I've made a high tech record sheet, *ahem, seen below. In the first couple of turns, the Terrans research vessel Discovery moved on spending Thrust to close quickly - scientific curiosity, no doubt!  The Alkzar would like to keep distant but also protect the planetary outpost from the intruding vessel, ergo it fires a missile [with 2d6 still, didn't switch to d12 yet] and hits, knocking down Discovery's shield.

Turn 3, both captains pull some maneuvers, and end up on mostly opposed courses and much closer. The Khanate Khats just can't shoot and miss with their Gun. The missile knocks out the Discovery's Armor. In response, the Terrans roll very well - outraged sensibilities? "But we're SCIENTISTS!" - and knock out both Shield and Armor.

Turn 4. The Discovery is moving rapidly along, at about 8 hexes / turn, and darts around Alkzar and scans the planet with its scientific instruments for a tactical win -if it can escape. Alkzar corkscrews clockwise to keep Discovery from getting onto its tail [Khats hate that]. With only one weapon, the Khans get a hit and the Terrans miss. Still, Alkzar has only three systems left, its Gun/Missile Launcher and 2 Engines. They really need to trim a weapon from Discovery to survive much longer.

Turn 5. Some tight turning, then Alkzar has IN and hits, knocking out the Terran Laser. At three hexes, it would've hit for 2 Dam and pretty much toasted Alkzar - whew! The Terrans shoot second and still pull the last tooth off of Alkzar - the Khans really needed a miss there.

Turn 6 [ignore that die!]. The Terrans speed off with a tactical victory. With nothing but one engine left, the Khanate isn't in a position to do anything about it. As it is a first encounter, the Terran scientific vessal decline to vaporize the alien vessel, hoping that a salvageable future is still possible with this species..."After all, Captain, didn't we intrude into their system?  Surely it was a natural, if hasty reaction for most species?"

Well, that was cool!  I liked the continuous movement. You only need to fire up the engines when you want to increase/decrease speed or change direction. The power can then be used for other fun stuff. It definitely felt more like space and didn't require much effort.

Obviously, another play is needed!  This time I added in some more resource allocation and started to write orders each turn and track them.

Turn 4. The usual closing game had the Alkzar better positioned, but their obligation to protect the planet from the intruding vessel doesn't give them many choices. If they could only abandon their charge, perhaps they could snipe with a missile at long range. Still, Discovery has better weapons at long range, anyway, with the Laser way outclassing the Gun in range [almost triple effective range] and damage [double], plus it ignores Shields [not that it matters, there's only one on Alkzar]. With 50% greater engine power, Discovery also outclasses the little system ship in terms of game speed, 6 to 4.

Turn 5. Despite smart maneuvering and good luck, Alkzar is still losing the fight with 3 hits to inflicting 2 on the larger Discovery.

Turn 6. Alkzar gets pummeled for two hits and misses Discovery. Fortunately, the Terrans are not without mercy and begin to depart with an easy Tactical Victory. This could easily become a Strategic Victory as there's nothing the Khanate can do to prevent Discovery outmaneuvering it to get a 2-hex scan with its scientific instruments unless Discovery starts to completely miss every turn with both its weapons. Not likely.

Turn 7. The Terrans head for the Warp Gate. Alkzar rolls a critical hit with the natural '1'! This knocks out an additional system, but the total is one scientific instrument and one Hold.

Turn 8. Terrans are outta there!

I enjoyed the changes. Still, simple is always better so I'll be implementing the ECM changes in a bit of a simpler way, altho I am going to port over the missile method from BFG more or less. They will fly around as a counter chasing targets.

ECM bonus. If you have more ECM, even if you lose IN you get a hit bonus of -1/die roll, and are targeted at penalty of +1/die roll. It is simple and represents that you've out performed / out resourced the opposition on allocation to EW.

Missiles. Switching to a counter that moves, like BFG.

Starfire’s use of missiles also is a bit awkward – you can shoot a missile towards your aft quarter at a ship going away from you at high speed, but it still accelerates fast enough to hit in one turn. This avoids tracking missiles, of course, but I think  Battlefleet Gothic has it right when it handles fighters and ordinance [missiles] as the same thing. What is a fighter but a missile with full decision-making capabilities that can then be retrieved?  

When beam and other speed of light weapons arrive, relative speeds don't matter much, but the acceleration of a missile fired between two ships heading away from each other at speed 6 each at max range would be an acceleration in 30 seconds of around 32 hexes!

Return to Starfire 2nd Edition: Box Rules

I dig the rules, the graphics, EVERYTHING!

From my previous series of posts here [CLICK]

Well, it's been over five years, and I've got the Space Bug again [not to be confused with the WUHAN BUG] which means more Starfire, and some rules experiments. Expect several posts on this, as I've already played a number of games and been re-reading the rules.

Amazingly, Starfire Design Studio has kept this game going in its many variations for over 40 years! Nearly everything is still available from Wargame Vault, here [CLICK] and there are even shapeways ships here [CLICK] altho they are a bit too big and too pricey for my purposes. There's some lively discussion at their forum, too [CLICK].

I dig these rules. They can be played as simple or as complex as you want just by using - or not - the various weapons and ship types. The only thing missing for me is movement rules that are a bit more realistic / vector oriented. The rest of the rules seem to hold up quite well. Like many naval games, the issue of rules complexity has a lot to do with ship variety and technical differentiation. There's really nothing to say that in the distant future, starships won't be treated more like Sherman Tanks than WWII naval vessels, and production will be streamlined as well as cut'n paste with the technical widgets. Anyway...

These 2nd Edition rules have a lot going for them, still, and I strongly recommend you invest a measly $8 on getting them. They clean up the original micro game and its successor, Starfire II [which added carriers and fighters, effectively taking Starfire I from WWI to WWII]. And even the scenarios have been re-balanced. A thoroughly cleaned up edition.

Well, to get back into the game, I first did a replay of Scenario I, this time with the 2nd edition. The victory conditions were tweaked in this edition, and seem a lot more realistic. The Terrans are still entering thru the Warp Point at left, and discovering the Khanate planet and its patrol ship. They need to get within 2 hexes of either with scientific instruments intact for a tactical victory, and both for a decisive victory. The Khanate side wins if he destroys Discovery [not your kindler, gentler aliens!]. It's a draw if the Khanate fires upon the Discovery and it escapes with news of "less than friendly" aliens at this particular Warp Point. The Khanate player has Initiative and the drop on the Discovery - Terrans can't fire for a full turn after being fired upon first.

Turn 1 start. Khanate Escort class ship Alkzar is on routine patrol, towards the mostly likely point of danger, the Warp Point, facing it.

Discovery enters. Alkzar moves 4 - max speed - towards her, hoping to get two solid hits and a superior position before Discovery can respond. Will it work?

Turn 2. Alkzar veers to starboard, fires, but misses with the Gun, hitting with the Missile. Discovery's Shields are down!

 whoop, whoop - red alert, red alert, all hands man your battle stations...

Terran Turn 3. Discovery positions itself for a stern rake [ships cannot shoot into their rear 60 arc]. Terran is always moving first as the Khanate player always has the IN. The Khanate player therefore always moves 2nd and shoots 1st!Discovery achieves a victory condition, getting a readout of the Alkzar with its scientific instruments at 2-hex range.

Turn 3 Khanate. But the Alkzar doesn't let that happen. She swings to starboard and gets a bit of distance as well as a blocking position to prevent Discovery reaching the planet. Both blast away at each other with hits at close range. Discovery is a bigger, faster, ship. Both have the same firepower, two weapons, but Discovery has one Laser which is more dangerous at close range.

Turn 4. Discovery and Alkzar tighten up a bit, both to each other's starboard side, and pound away with weapons. The Discovery's Laser inflicts 2 hits for 3 total. Alkzar loses its Gun, and now has 1/2 the firepower and 1/3 the engine power of Discovery. Doesn't look good...

Turn 5. Alkzar tries to gain a bit of distance while Discovery gets scientific readout of Khanate planet, for decisive win. She then smokes the Alkzar and the debris scatters.

Well, that was easy. The Alkzar may have the drop on Discovery, but the Terran Laser makes a big difference in firepower, and with 6 Engines compared to 4 for the Alkzar, Discovery is just too much for it to handle.

Naval tactical maxim: if you are outclassed in BOTH firepower and speed, you are left with luck or prayers, whichever you favor. A small ship HAS to be able to out maneuver a large one as we will assume it is outgunned.

Probably the most effective small ship in Starfire would be high-speed with plenty of missiles, giving it some long-range punch. It can then maintain distance with its speed. This is part of the fun of Starfire - you can design your own ships. The question then becomes how you model design philosophy differently for the two sides lest they have identical ships.

Well, that didn't take very long, so I immediately played again, this time with the thought that Alkzar should try to maintain distance, forcing the Discovery to close in, get scientific readings, then clear out to the warp point - with its greater speed, it should be able to do so but we'll see.

Turns 1 & 2, the ships get in range while Alkzar opens up with a missile hit - the Gun is way out of range. Discovery has a missile, also, however.

Turn 3, Alkzar keeps some distance while Discovery closes in. Unfortunately, Alkzar misses with its Gun while Discovery rolls well and hits with both its weapon systems.

Turn 4, Alkzar loses some distance while Terrans scan the Khanate planet. This time they each get only one hit - lost chance for the Khanate ship to catch up! They have both lost 5 systems, but the Alkzar has lost two Engines and has move 2 v. move 5 as well as its Gun. Doesn't look good with half the firepower and half the speed!

Turn 5, the slowly creeping Alkzar has its fangs pulled, and a whisker, also [ouch!]. It is now at the mercy of the Terran, who can close in and take a close reading of the ship, and depart with a decisive win.

 Called the game at this point - decisive Terran win.

Well, Alkzar did better, but clearly needs the Gun replaced by a missile, perhaps two, and she may then survive while pecking away at the terrain. Might also help if they used the planet as an obstacle to hide behind occasionally.

So this is a RAW post. I'm still reading the rules and getting caught up on all the wonderfulness that is Starfire II!

Next post: tinkering with Vector movement!

Forged in Battle 1:3000 fleets hit the streets! Well..."Hit the waves!"

Alexander Hay-Whitton, a South African based in Bangkok has corresponded re: the Forged in Battle review posted here [CLICK]. We went back and forth a few times and I cajoled some extra commentary and pics from him. This is undoubtedly what the FiB sculptor wants to see, so, enjoy!

"The first outing for the Forged in Battle Trafalgar fleets. I finished them yesterday [he did it in a month...I'm envious!]. They look pretty good, even with my less-than-renaissance brushwork.

The rules in question are 'Rum, Buggery, and the Lash', trying to do a sort of DBA for sailing fleets, since I don't think the usually massed record-keeping ruleset suits local conditions. 

Less than glorious, it was a disaster! The rules actually penalized the fleet with more frigates, and we ended up starting way downwind. There were also numerous opportunities for the sort of gamer who plays the loopholes rather than the game.... I need to do a lot to the rules before we try again!"

lovely overview with an island or peninsula to left

"The cloth representing the ocean is cheap Chinese silk (Thai silk is better, but would be wasted on such a project)."


Very nice building models - must ask what they are!

View from the crow's nest - sails ahoy!


maneuvering for a positional advantage but it seems blocked!

things are looking pretty scrappy here

***********************************

"Since then, we've had another, much more successful go, following a lot of rule revisions."

"Too Geometrical"

"This second time we brought off a Nelson act, coming in from windward and cutting an enemy squadron in half, beating it down with a full squadron's fire, boarding, and capturing five SOL before nightfall." 

"Break the line!"

Wild melees above and below!

"We also landed some 2mm Irregular Miniatures marines and captured the land battery."

"S. Valentine is captured!"

Players were myself (Nelson), my wife Krisanan (Collingwood), and my regular opps Anthony Reardon (Villeneuve), and Englishman, and Mike Seely (Don Miguel da Siljio), a Canadian.

Rough being a wargaming Alexander, isn't it? Gives you a lot to live up to!

******************************

Yes, but Alexander wasn't much of a naval commander, anyway, altho some say he was "at sea" mentally!

Well, that's all for now - Alex's work is inspiring me to get back to these ships and playtest the rules I was favoring, Bob Cordery's Portable Naval Wargame. The rules and many others are a free download here [CLICK].

Ace of Aces - the miniature game

Hexes!? We don't need no stinkin' hexes!

https://boardgamegeek.com/image/517636/ace-aces-flying-machines

Over with the old club the other night, and had a great chance to get into some WWI flying ace action with the hosts miniatures adaption of his favorite WWI flying game, "Ace of Aces".  This was actually a flip-book *game* where the designers ingeniously hid the entire mechanics inside the book, and you picked a maneuver, turned to the page that corresponded to your opponent's maneuver, and a hand-dawn pic showed you what your situation was. An example of it is in the below image, from Wikipedia article [CLICK]


There is also a nice amount of info at Boardgame Geek [CLICK], including the market rate of the game in its various printings, etc. A really neat game, one of a rare breed, and I love the hand-drawn pics. May have to get it some day to play with my son while traveling by air, train, etc.

Anyway, the host's particular genius was to figure out the hex-based mechanics behind the flip-book maneuvers, then translate them onto the table. He took actual pics of the planes on tile hexes, marked the start/end positions with color, then printed them on cards, like the below:

Above, start position in yellow, end position in red.

By drawing the hex outlines on the table, we have the board, and the ways to maneuver [which is the main challenge]. Each turn, you pick a maneuver and put the card face-down on the table. When all have done so, the cards are flipped and the maneuvers are executed. Additional rules are quite simple, e.g. you can't shoot each other in the same hex.

Above, yet another near-miss. Beats being shot down, but I wish I had a pistol to take a shot as we fly by each other!


Above, brilliant maneuvering on my part has left my plane [left] once more in the sights of my opponent, "Death from Above" Matt. We started in the same hex, the one with the right card in it, and you can just tell how we moved out of the hex and our original facings by back-tracking the card.

Another too-often sight...our  planes jousting each other like the knights of the air we're supposed to be! We've just gunned each other a point-blank range for 2 hits each [planes have 6] and have revealed our cards:

...and below is the end result of the chosen maneuvers.


Another sight seen too often... we shot each other down. Sometimes it was the best I could do, however!


Game plays fast - the better you know you cards / maneuvers the faster it plays. Initially, we had a mutual shoot-down, then Matt crushed me three times quickly, then the 5th game I managed to win, and the 6th I crushed him. Overall, I'd still say it was more his game than mine, but I walked away with a bit of honor having learned a few of the key tactics I needed, and at least occasionally having the better second-guessing of his choice!

The game has no way to change your card once you've revealed them, and also doesn't use altitude. This does remove a couple of "reality" issues like pilot reflexes and the height advantage, but with 8 people playing you can only do so much in a 2-3 hour evening.

While Matt and I jousted, the other six were in an ugly scrum that was hard to follow, despite being just down the table.

Above, the Huns chase Limeys...
Below, jousting in pairs.


A wild mix of planes, I think there were a dozen, two per player. Sometimes it pays to get out of close proximity and get a little breathing space before charging again.


This could result in lots of damage, or lots of near-misses!


A fun time and a thoughtful game. Host likes the maneuvers and says that are quite historical despite the hex-mechanics. I am uncertain how much difference there is between planes, but Matt and I kept it simple by having identical performance and picking planes we like. So, not a beer'n pretzel game by being simplistic, but an easy fun time thanks to the simple mechanics and effort put into making them easy to work with...I wish more games and hosts did this!

Certainly has me thinking I should try Ace of Aces in its original form.

Air Strike: Modern Air Combat for the Whole Family... Really!

Yes...really!

The BLUF: These are great, best $4.50 you'll ever spend!
Buy them [HERE]

The card-driven mechanics are not a mechanical simulation, so forget the variations of planes and hardware. BUT, they may be seen as a simulation of the balance Airmen make between:

- decisions within their control using the resources at hand, 

- fleeting opportunities seen as a risk worth taking, 

- and enemy activity that "gets a vote".

In that sense, they are actually closer to a simulation than a lot of other games that claim to be. Interestingly, this game does not.

If you need more convincing for your hard-earned cash, on to the more detailed review...

So I bought these rules b/c I was intrigued - and amused - at the "for the whole family" thing since I have a 10yo and my wife can occasionally be convinced to try a game with us. I was also thinking that I can always tweak it if the bones are good but it is half-baked [not the first time I've done that].

I got more confidence after watching the intro video to T. Jenson's "Missile Threat" which I found accidentally on another blog where they were using it for the Falklands. It clearly had some clean, straightforward mechanics that are a nice balance of abstraction and realism. So I was hopeful about "Air Strike..." and figured what the heck, it is only $4.50!

The card mechanics orient around the following limits:
- 4 card hand per plane, you must play two a turn.
- Number cards are movement, turns, and [with optional rule] cannon attacks; face cards are moves and missile attacks.
- you can defeat enemy attacks by playing a higher card [thus, if you are faced with many attacks, you may run out of cards, or high cards, and take hits].

- if you run out of cards, you lose your turn but draw extra cards next turn.
Aside from that, just a few nuances in play mechanics.

I set up a simple fight, two Russky Su-27 [red, left] v. two F-16s [blue, right]. I put out their card hands, which *seem to* favor the Reds, who have more high cards.


Blue Turn 1. They start by playing out some weak number cards hoping for better replacements. Or they're just obeying the ROE?

Red Turn 1. No worries about the ROE here! Reds advance [number cards] then fired a missile each [face cards - higher the card the greater the "threat level" of the attack, which I interpret as the quality of the lock-on]. The missiles move fast but fixed distances each turn when the firing plane activates [creats tension against the variable move opportunities of the aircraft - nice!].


Blue Turn 2. Hands are still a bit weak [no face cards for missile attacks - they can't get a lock-on...they must be getting jammed!] so they turn away, playing for time and preparing to evade missiles!

Red Turn 2. They have hot cards, and great lock-ons! They again fire missiles [Jack and Ace] as their previous missiles track and close in. cue menacing voice..."I have you now, imperialist running dog!"


Blue Turn 3. BUT! USAF training kicks in, and both planes dodge at point-blank range, running past and along side the incoming missiles, finishing far to their left to get out of the missile tracking arcs. I marked the missiles tracking Blue 1 red and those tracking Blue 2 [wingman] green.

Above, both Red missiles lose Blue 1 [he passed their tracking area, so they turn towards him and lose their lock]...

...and are removed.
Red Turn 3. Red 1 turns and advances, but can't fire a missile or use his cannon. He used the 8 for the turn and the 5 for distance, not wanting to get too close and perhaps be attacked in return.

Red 2 starts his turn, both his missiles track but the foremost missile loses the target...

...which is behind the tracking arc...

...so is removed. The second missile has closed in, however!

Red 2 then moves, using two number cards to turn then move 2" forward. I'm leery about getting too close...this may or may not be a wise tactic, hard to tell at this point.


Blue Turn 4. Blue 1 turns and moves a little. Blue 2 just moves a bit. Basically, they just didn't have the cards to lock-on and attack with missiles, so they took some short moves and ditched low cards looking to improve their options, i.e. their hands of cards.

Red Turn 4. Red 1 advances 3", locks-on with an Ace and fires a missile - Blue 1 can't defeat it with a higher card so it hits!

Damage in Air Strike is pretty simple - take two hits and you're shot down. There's a rule for matching missile hits by threat level, but I ditched it as a bit odd and complicated. One of the few rules that made no sense to me.

Red 2 turns and plays an Ace lock-on also! Missile fires off and can't be defeated, so Blue 1 is down! Bottom of his class at Top Gun?


Blue Turn 5. Blue 2 is out for revenge - and he has the cards! Unfortunately, he is just a hair out of 8" and missile range, so he'll have to turn and close in for a real melee!

He plays 4 to turn and 10 for distance, and is all over Red 2.

Red Turn 5. Red 1 has weak cards so just turns around tight as possible. Red 2 turns with a '5', locks-on with a King and launches. But Blue 2 is too slick - he dodges with an Ace! would've liked that card for a missile lock but...outnumbered and no Hits on either Russkie means he has to bide his time...


Blue Turn 6. Blue 2 brakes hard right, locks-on with a King, launches and can't be beat [Red 2 has no Ace to beat the King lock-on, so can't even play his King]. A hit is scored - first blood!

Red Turn 6. Red 1 floors it past Blue 2. 

Red 2 fires his cannon at a 9, but Blue 2 evades playing a Queen. Red 2 then passes Blue 2 and Red 1.


Blue Turn 7. Blue 1 hard turns and is on both Red tails!

Red Turn 7. Red 1 blasts forward out of dodge and then hard turns left.

Red 2 then gets past Red 1 and also turns hard left. My thinking is that they don't want to be too close, and they don't want Blue 2 on their tail.  It's my first game, I'm uncertain what's best...


Blue Turn 8. A short advance against Red 1 and a 6 cannon attack is defeated by Red 1 playing a King and evading the hail of shells.

Red Turn 8. Red 1 turns hard left, fires a 6 cannon which is defeated by Blue 2's 7 evade. you can feel the micro-seconds ticking along between the actions and interactions of this dogfight!

Red 2 then turns, locks on with an Ace and fires a missile.

Blue 9. Blue 2 locks-on with a Jack and fires, to finish off Red 2! After all, he can't have a second Ace up his sleeve, can he?? He then full thrusts with a 10 and cuts within the Red missile's tracking capabilities evading it...but it was very very close!

Red 9. Red 1 is short of cards, and plays a low move card. Red 2 turns hard right...

...but has nothing to avoid being struck by the missile as he can't get out of its tracking arc or defeat it with a Queen or better.

So on Blue Turn 9, it's "Buh-bye Red 2!" Blue 2 then turns hard left.


Red Turn 9 sees Red 1 go for some distance, using a Jack for 10" of forward burn.

Distance has lengthened out of either missile or cannon range. Blue has two face cards but Red has one Ace! Shhh, don't tell...


Blue Turn 10. He turns hard left and locks-on with his Queen and launches.

Red 10. With no fear, he hard turns with two cards for 180.

Blue Turn 11. The Queen lock-on is defeated by the Ace Red 1 had up his sleeve!

Blue then moves up and locks-on with his Jack, getting a hit 

[Red has zero cards at this point, anyway, so something to be said for pacing yourself and/or pushing your opponent to go all-out to defend himself, spending cards in the process].

Red 11. Fate has turned against him - he draws 3 cards and should lose his turn as he had no cards left to play [clearly, he was regaining his senses or lost sight of Blue]. However, I forgot this and Red moved 2 and fired his cannon for a 6, best card he had. This is defeated by Blue's 10 easily.


Blue Turn 12. Blue turns with his 2 and...

...has Red in his sights. however, I think I erred in drawing two cards first - I was interrupted by the family at some point and this may have been it.

In any event, whether I skipped a turn with the pics, or not...

...Blue has a 7 which smokes Red since he can't beat the card with a higher card - his 7 is only equal.

Dosvedanya Comeraden!

Whew, that was a pretty intense little dogfight. Between paging thru the rules, playing both sides and figuring out what to try and do [plus an interruption or two], I am spent!

This is one of the most interesting games I've run into in a long time. The card mechanics aren't complicated, but it isn't easy figuring out how best to plan your actions when you don't know what cards the other guy has up his sleeve! It's amazing how much you get used to that "I know what's happening" vibe with miniatures [I realize lots of other games have concealed possibilities].  A lot depends on how your opponent reacts and what cards he has, so the game is much less predictable than a typical miniatures game - this captures the wild, fast-moving possibilities of air-air combat, or air-ship-ground combat, for that matter!

Interestingly, the card mechanics evade the limits of the fixed-time turn. The fixed-time turn is where each turn represents a fixed interval with speed limits, firing limits, reaction limits, built around the time the turn represents.

Interestingly, in fast-moving or intense periods of human activity, training and reaction times are so disparate that a fixed time turn just doesn't work. It often necessitate a mechanic to try and splice it into reactive sub-phases or partial turns where players may react and change their plotted orders. This feels more realistic and gives tempo to reactions in a game about fast-moving gear, e.g. Star Fleet Battles [32 sub-phases?] or Car Wars [10 sub phases? can't remember].

Here, the turn is best perceived as of flexible length, and based upon reaction times of pilots which of course are not identical. For example, if both players play low cards, then the turn may be seen as shorter with more intense activity, e.g. attacks or maneuvers. If both players have higher cards, then the turn may be seen as longer, with more movement and fewer opportunities for actions. When players play a mix of cards, there's an increasing variable between movement and activity.

Ergo, the cards should be seen as representing opportunities for decision points to change position relative to other fighters; low cards can represent a quick decision to act [turn or shoot], while high cards are useful to push the speed up and either close in or get away.

The interaction and availability of various decision points and opportunities [cards] and how the player uses them determines who wins the game.

Critical point: the cards played for movement do NOT represent speed / velocity! They represent the interval of movement between opportunities for OTHER types of activity, e.g. lock-on and launch a missile, shoot a cannon, maneuver / turn.

Interestingly, I found high cards less useful at times when I wanted to dogfight - you want the low cards to stay close, turn tight, etc, then lock-on with a missile or fire off the cannon.

Altho missiles can be evaded at longer ranges [easier reaction for the target] close in they are better than cannon fire since they have a wider arc of fire [180 front v. straight ahead, this may be way off...perhaps it should be a 90 arc].

Only thing I don't like is that you can decline to move at all, just rotate on the spot up to 180 - this would take two cards and your whole move, so perhaps is not entirely misplaced [representing an Immelman or other extreme maneuver?].  Still, it can be done over and over with no chance of failure and no repercussions.

It may be that the scale allows the plane counter itself to be the size of the tightest turn possible...but I still don't like it since it gives the planes a turret sort of feel. Also, the forward momentum of the planes creates tension with the maneuvers and prevents the players from twirling around in place and just shooting...like a turret! Perhaps a tweak needed here.

Overall, I think this game is amazing - I would never have thought of these mechanics, and I wonder if the designer stumbled upon the concept or stole it from someone else [how many original mechanics are there in this hobby, anyway??]. Whatever, in 37 years of wargaming, I haven't seen it before. 

The game has some obvious limits - there is no difference in plane capabilities or in weapon capabilities. Neither pilot is better trained than the other. The technical aspect of the gear has been completely set aside in favor of the player choices and the cards that fate brings. This gives the game a fast, risky feel that is great.

Playing two on two and both sides, I feel like I saw a lot of action and yet am just scratching the surface of a brilliant little game. I can hardly wait to try it with some pals or my family, even!