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| Recommend a set of modern air combat rules http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=14724 |
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| Author: | KaJo [ Thu Jan 29, 2009 10:22 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Recommend a set of modern air combat rules |
Interested in getting a decent set of modern (Korea to now) air combat rules. I'd like something more involved than Wings of War/Canvas Eagles rules, but not so complex as Air War. Up-to-date equipment lists are a plus. So, if some of you could chime in with an opinion and a brief synopsis of how your personal favorite game plays, it'd be most helpful. |
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| Author: | javelin98 [ Fri Jan 30, 2009 7:54 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Recommend a set of modern air combat rules |
My favorite set of modern air rules is Air Superiority by GDW. OOP for about 20 years now, but we played the heck out of it in high school. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3613 |
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| Author: | Carrington [ Sat Jan 31, 2009 2:18 am ] |
| Post subject: | Recommend a set of modern air combat rules |
GMT's Downtown has been well reviewed... and Brimmicombe-Wood, the designer, did some great research. But it's squadron-level, focused on Vietnam. Avalon Hill's Flight Leader was lighter than Webster's Air Superiority/Air Strike/Speed of Heat. Webster's WWII titles, Over the Reich and Achtung Spitfire were nicely ported to Windows (95) in the 90s... still available as abandonware/shareware, and a great revision of a slowish pen and paper system. WWII rules by Raiden Minis: http://www.raidenminiatures.co.uk/Rules.html Just MHO, 1:1 modern air rules struggle with the problem that there's a lot of complexity to simulate -- especially if you like reading McDonald-Douglas copy about the bells and whistles on their new airplanes.  But a complex game obscures the essence of air combat, which is compressed decision loops and changing energy balances: From: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/59/ ... page=0%2C1 An effective pilot explodes his rival's comfortable view of the universe. With his familiar clues hopelessly scrambled, a rival under pressure will usually try to interpret the mess from his accustomed perspective. While the confused rival struggles -- and before he has a chance to figure out the pattern that will yield the dogfight equivalent of a snowmobile -- the savvy pilot quickly executes yet another set of maneuvers, once more scrambling the parts and further feeding his opponent's confusion. Ultimately, Boyd wrote, the winner "collapses his [adversary's] ability to carry on." You win the competition by destroying your opponent's frame of reference." What you end up doing is modeling air combat in truly slow-motion... but running it in slow motion ensures that the snap decisions and psychological scrambling -- the essence of air combat -- get distilled out of the game. To "get it," game time scale has to approach real time... and with all the calculations and record keeping, it is awful hard to complete a turn in six seconds, let alone fifteen minutes. And as you complete the log sheets, update your status, and plan for the next turn... I suppose that is why I've found card-games like Down in Flames to be more satisfying -- the card play manages to capture (almost) enough of the physics of air combat, while also incorporating the crucial tension of a duel between pilots. ... and oh-by-the way, pace the worship of high-performance aircraft.... the Stuka was massively underrated: if any plane came close to winning the Battle of Britain, it was the Ju-87. |
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| Author: | KaJo [ Tue Feb 03, 2009 7:45 am ] |
| Post subject: | Recommend a set of modern air combat rules |
Quote: (Carrington @ 31 Jan. 2009, 01:18 ) What you end up doing is modeling air combat in truly slow-motion...  but running it in slow motion ensures that the snap decisions and psychological scrambling -- the essence of air combat -- get distilled out of the game. To "get it," game time scale has to approach real time... and with all the calculations and record keeping, it is awful hard to complete a turn in six seconds, let alone fifteen minutes. And as you complete the log sheets, update your status, and plan for the next turn... Yeah, I can agree with this. I played a lot of SPI's Air War back in the day (where it could take 4-6 hours of game time to simulate 30-40 seconds of combat). The only other person that would play it with me moved out of state when we went off to college. I still read through the plane stats (even though they're almost 30 years out of date) and rules on occasion, but don't see myself playing it ever again. Just hoping that there's a miniatures-based 1-to-1 game that's not as involved as Air War, but not as simplistic as, say, 40K (no offense intended, so nobody get their knickers in a twist) - which is what some of the rules I've seen (Air War C21 by Wessex and Mach Speed Hunters by Polaris) seem to be. |
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| Author: | Gaunts Ghost [ Wed Feb 18, 2009 6:49 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Recommend a set of modern air combat rules |
Air War C21 by Wessex Games are a good and relatively simple set of Air war miniatures rules. You can download a PDF from Wargames Vault - www.wargamevault.com They also do free taster set called Air War C21 Lite, also available from Wargames Vault. I played a Falklands Scenario at Salute in London in 2006 and it was fun. Flew a Harrier on CAP over San Carlos Water, downed a Pucara and then stalled myself and crashed into the sea.... good job I was never in the armed forces! A more complex rules set by A & A Game engineering and the same authors as Air War C21 is "Fox Two - Reheat". It is also available as a PDF from Wargames Vault, (Sorry this is not an advert for Wargames Vault - I just like PDF rules sets). Hope this helps. |
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| Author: | Cuban Commissar [ Thu Feb 19, 2009 2:49 am ] |
| Post subject: | Recommend a set of modern air combat rules |
I saw this and I was intrigued. I haven't played it mind you Birds of Prey |
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