Boy, do I wish they had a solitaire version for this game. The concept is new to me - the way the planes "fly around" on the surface of the table, and then how the combat takes place in terms of where your plane is facing, etc.
I play it solo - it is a simple game, but fast - if you play, say, a Battle of Britain scenario, the bombers have to cross the table to the target, the escorts (be they ME 109s or Me 110s) have to defend. Bombers will cross the board, staying in formation, and defend against attacks. The escorts will defend. While it would be nice to have some sort of AI in the game, it might complicate what is essentially a quick fun game. But if you come up with some ideas, I'd be interested! The good thing is that there are more and more aircraft being released giving you the option to play what you like, with minimal cost. Want to play the American raids over Germany, defending against ME 262s, Mustangs vs Focke Wulf 190s, Japanese Bettys vs Buffalo, you got it.
You do have to print whole pdf for each plane. On the print job page it is possible only to print the pages, you need. By, clicking out of print all and choosing only the pages you need. But this on a Microsoft PC.
Now that is a very interesting idea. The rulers are small (the aircraft counters are slightly larger than boardgame counters). If we could get rulers that suit the larger miniatures I'd be keen. I like your thinking Michael, and if the producer does WW1, well, I'd be the first in the queue to play ... :-)
The game designer does not understand how aircraft maneuver. Any two aircraft (similar or dissimilar) will have the exact same turn radius at any given speed and amount of g's pulled.....initially that is. What happens is the aircraft with the higher wing loading will reach it's increased stall speed sooner than thge aircraft with lower wing loading. This means the higher wing loaded aircraft will loose airspeed faster than the other and have to relax it's turn sooner. This gives the appearance of one aircraft able to out turn another. Factors involved: Wing loading (weight), aspect ratio (determines induced drag when pulling g's), thrust to weight ratio (acceleration). Many more are involved but those are the critical parameters that determine basic maneuverability ofd any given aircraft.
thank you for the informative post. Could it be that the designer understands the physics but has chosen to abstract / simplify the process to increase playability?
Again, then you might as well just roll a bunch of die and the highest roll wins the game:) I wrote my own computer program many years ago that takes into account some 31 parameters of any given aircraft. It prints out speed per altirtude and the amount speed lossed when pulling any given "G" for 4 weight ranges. The effects of altitude accurately portrayed by using the pressure density of the atmosphere in ranges of 10,000 feet. It even shows prohibited "G's" when there is not enough energy for the wing loading to support a high "G" maneuver. The problem with "simplifying game mechanics is trhat you lose "resolution" which results in a P-47 having the same sustainability in a tight turn as a Zero. And knbow historically that is far from the case. Accuracy and playability can be achieved if one understands physics, ballistics and mechanics.
@@turnandburn9384 Yes, but dude, it's a tabletop game. Make it as realistic as possible, without all of the chores. Make it fun and there ya go! It's a game! More people will play a game that is fun rather than trying to decipher pressure densities at a given altitude and induced drag.
