Showing posts with label Our Space Age Air Force. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Our Space Age Air Force. Show all posts
14 October 2019
1/600 Jet Games: Wings at War Recommendation Request
This post is a request for information to any reader out there with experience with the Wings at War rulesets. I tried writing the Wings at War folks directly but their email server bounced my message back as undeliverable...
Now, I'm still working on the rewrite of my own jet game, Our Space Age Air Force, and hope to have it done and posted here before November. I designed my game specifically for solo play and I'll allow myself a little immodesty and say it's one of the only rulesets I've created that actually work.
All that being said, I'm a big fan and proud owner of many Tumbling Dice jets and I've recently discovered the Wings at War website. I'm intrigued by the various Wings at War rulesets, mainly because of slightly discounted starter set of minis that come with them but also because they look like solid rules. I downloaded the free Desert Spitfires game from the WaW website and really like what I see, at least for a multi-player game. The designer obviously has some knowledge of air-to-air combat theory, especially with regards to energy management.
So, anyone out there have any experience with WaW games, especially solo-play experience? If so, how exactly did you modify it for solo-play? The rulesets look like they would play well solo with simply a random movement order.
My other question is: which ruleset should I get?
I'd like to play out some "what if" scenarios based on a Cold War-gone-Hot premise, set around 1960. Basically I really want to use all those Cold War interceptors and early missiles.
I like the aircraft complement included with the Wings Over Suez game better than those provided with the Thud Ridge game but I'm concerned the missile rules in Suez may not be as detailed as Thud, or even non-existent. Flames Above the Falklands would probably have the most options that I could "dumb-down" for earlier decades but I'm not enthused about the aircraft included the Starter Set.
Based on my objective above (1960 WWIII, NATO vs. Warsaw Pact) which ruleset do you recommend?
05 October 2019
Our Space Age Air Force: Jet Stats
Fellow blogger Chris from Just Another Wargames Blog asked me to stat up some more aircraft for my homebrew solo air combat game Our Space Age Air Force (OSAAF). I haven't updated this blog in a while due to a hectic work schedule but Chris' request is a perfect reason to get back into it.
Embarrassingly, I abandoned posting about OSAAF back in 2015(!), after promising to continue presenting my rules, which I was doing in installments. I've had "Part 5: Gunnery" in my Drafts folder here on Blogger for nearly four years. Dang. So I kind of feel like I owe Chris and any other readers...
OK, before presenting any new rules, let's talk aircraft. As a reminder, aircraft only have three stats in OSAAF: Energy Factor, Maneuverability, and Maximum Speed. Additionally, in game terms the planes sport a finite amount of armament (# of shots) as well as fuel (game-turn the aircraft must exit). I'm contemplating adding a fourth stat, Visibility, but I still need to playtest this.
Anyone who knows a little about air combat knows it's all about energy management (kinetic and potential) and that a tremendous amount of factors play into an aircraft's ability to build and retain that energy. It's ludicrously simplistic to boil these factors down to two stats, Energy Factor and Maneuverability, but I feel a minimal number of characteristics keeps play fast, which is key in a solo game.
So how do we decide on the stats? I use what's called the TLAR method, or "that looks about right". Since, at its core, OSAAF uses what's essentially a "roll for degree of activation" mechanic, I've found an Energy Factor score of 3 or 4 works best for playability. The game is specifically meant to simulate the Korean War to Vietnam War era of jet combat, therefore Energy Factors of 4 and 3 represent typical fighter jets from that time. An Energy Factor of 5 (the worst) remains reserved for aircraft ill-suited for the air combat role, such as bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Superior Energy Factors of 2 or even 1 would be "futuristic" aircraft (from a 50s-60s perspective) featuring innovations such as turbofan engines, stability and control augmentation, and advanced structures allowing higher load factors.
Obviously, I've structured OSAAF so that (density) altitude plays a key role on aircraft performance. I therefore try to use historical engine data, such as thrust to weight ratio, to decide on the Energy Factor stat for each jet. A powerful engine will allow a plane to gain a lot of energy but keeping it, especially in a turn, relies on additional characteristics such as wing loading, maximum load factor, and most importantly but maybe the most nebulous, general handling qualities. If the historical data indicates that a jet was particularly demanding on the pilots, as demonstrated by something like a high accident rate in training, I may bump down the Energy Factor by one.
Maneuverability is just another aspect of energy management but for game purposes I broke it out into High, Medium, and Low ratings. In nearly all cases however, I use Medium for jets of this era while reserving High for exceptionally agile aircraft (like a WWII dogfighter for example) and Low for heavily loaded aircraft (bombers, transports, etc).
Maximum speed in OSAAF scales linearly at about 110 kts for each point of game stat, so that a jet with a Max Speed 6 can just kiss Mach 1 at sea level.
Initially I simply divided the combat radius (in NM) of the jets by 100 to yield the Fuel Capacity game stat, which again represents the latest safe turn to exit. Playtest revealed that to be extremely limiting so I now use 40 as the divisor. Generally this still puts a tight time limit on the games but allows the jets to get to the merge.
Armament, especially number of missiles, reflects a fairly accurate amount of available shots; I typically just use the historic load-outs including actual cyclic rates for guns and an assumed 2 second average burst length.
I generally don't account for differences in gunsights, air-intercept radars, human-factors in cockpit design, and additional crewmembers, mostly because I haven't playtested any modeling of these factors. I recognize however that all these are vitally important to weaponeering so I intend to introduce some aircraft-specific modifiers.
All that being said, most aircraft probably converge around the same general stats. This has become a hallmark of my solo games: vanilla-bland sameness for individual game statistics, hopefully offset by a few fun randomizers to introduce unexpected and interesting twists.
Despite this warning, I'm still happy to crank out some aircraft stats for Chris and anyone reading. I'm thinking I should do the ubiquitous F-4 and MiG-21, as well as perhaps the F-105 (to show how a jet can have multiple Energy Factor and Maneuverability scores depending on loading). Please send your requests.
Embarrassingly, I abandoned posting about OSAAF back in 2015(!), after promising to continue presenting my rules, which I was doing in installments. I've had "Part 5: Gunnery" in my Drafts folder here on Blogger for nearly four years. Dang. So I kind of feel like I owe Chris and any other readers...
OK, before presenting any new rules, let's talk aircraft. As a reminder, aircraft only have three stats in OSAAF: Energy Factor, Maneuverability, and Maximum Speed. Additionally, in game terms the planes sport a finite amount of armament (# of shots) as well as fuel (game-turn the aircraft must exit). I'm contemplating adding a fourth stat, Visibility, but I still need to playtest this.
Anyone who knows a little about air combat knows it's all about energy management (kinetic and potential) and that a tremendous amount of factors play into an aircraft's ability to build and retain that energy. It's ludicrously simplistic to boil these factors down to two stats, Energy Factor and Maneuverability, but I feel a minimal number of characteristics keeps play fast, which is key in a solo game.
So how do we decide on the stats? I use what's called the TLAR method, or "that looks about right". Since, at its core, OSAAF uses what's essentially a "roll for degree of activation" mechanic, I've found an Energy Factor score of 3 or 4 works best for playability. The game is specifically meant to simulate the Korean War to Vietnam War era of jet combat, therefore Energy Factors of 4 and 3 represent typical fighter jets from that time. An Energy Factor of 5 (the worst) remains reserved for aircraft ill-suited for the air combat role, such as bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Superior Energy Factors of 2 or even 1 would be "futuristic" aircraft (from a 50s-60s perspective) featuring innovations such as turbofan engines, stability and control augmentation, and advanced structures allowing higher load factors.
Obviously, I've structured OSAAF so that (density) altitude plays a key role on aircraft performance. I therefore try to use historical engine data, such as thrust to weight ratio, to decide on the Energy Factor stat for each jet. A powerful engine will allow a plane to gain a lot of energy but keeping it, especially in a turn, relies on additional characteristics such as wing loading, maximum load factor, and most importantly but maybe the most nebulous, general handling qualities. If the historical data indicates that a jet was particularly demanding on the pilots, as demonstrated by something like a high accident rate in training, I may bump down the Energy Factor by one.
Maneuverability is just another aspect of energy management but for game purposes I broke it out into High, Medium, and Low ratings. In nearly all cases however, I use Medium for jets of this era while reserving High for exceptionally agile aircraft (like a WWII dogfighter for example) and Low for heavily loaded aircraft (bombers, transports, etc).
Maximum speed in OSAAF scales linearly at about 110 kts for each point of game stat, so that a jet with a Max Speed 6 can just kiss Mach 1 at sea level.
Initially I simply divided the combat radius (in NM) of the jets by 100 to yield the Fuel Capacity game stat, which again represents the latest safe turn to exit. Playtest revealed that to be extremely limiting so I now use 40 as the divisor. Generally this still puts a tight time limit on the games but allows the jets to get to the merge.
Armament, especially number of missiles, reflects a fairly accurate amount of available shots; I typically just use the historic load-outs including actual cyclic rates for guns and an assumed 2 second average burst length.
I generally don't account for differences in gunsights, air-intercept radars, human-factors in cockpit design, and additional crewmembers, mostly because I haven't playtested any modeling of these factors. I recognize however that all these are vitally important to weaponeering so I intend to introduce some aircraft-specific modifiers.
All that being said, most aircraft probably converge around the same general stats. This has become a hallmark of my solo games: vanilla-bland sameness for individual game statistics, hopefully offset by a few fun randomizers to introduce unexpected and interesting twists.
Despite this warning, I'm still happy to crank out some aircraft stats for Chris and anyone reading. I'm thinking I should do the ubiquitous F-4 and MiG-21, as well as perhaps the F-105 (to show how a jet can have multiple Energy Factor and Maneuverability scores depending on loading). Please send your requests.
11 April 2015
Solo 1/600 Jet Combat Pt. 4: Movement
Solo 1/600 Jet Combat Pt. 4: Movement
Movement in my homebrew solo jet game Our Space Age Air Force is pretty straightforward. The order of movement is NOT the same order as established in the Initiative Phase and used during the Energy Management Phase. Now that each fighter jet has its Altitude and Speed values determined, the order for actual movement depends on Altitude.
The jet with the lowest Altitude must move first and its entire movement is completed before proceeding to the next lowest fighter. If two or more jets share the same Altitude value then determine first which table-edge indicates direction to the sun. The jet farthest "down-sun" i.e. looking into the sun (farthest from the sun table-edge) must go first. If multiple jets at the same Altitude are equally down-sun or the dogfight is at night, resolve ties with a die roll.
A jet must move a number of hexes equal to its speed value. Fighter jets normally move into the hex directly off their noses but turns may also be attempted. To attempt a turn roll 3d6 and discard two of the dice. The dice discarded depends on the fighter's Maneuverability value (described in the first post). Low Maneuverability fighters must discard the two dice with the highest scores. Medium Maneuverability fighters must discard the die with the highest value and the die with the lowest value, leaving only the middle value die. High Maneuverability fighters discard the two dice with the lowest scores. The remaining die score, whatever the fighter's maneuverability, is compared to its Speed. If the die value exceeds the Speed, the jet miniature may be rotated one hex-side (60 degrees) clockwise or counterclockwise. If the turn roll fails to exceed the jet's Speed, the fighter's nose remains pointing at its initial hex-side.
If a jet pilot chose any Hard Turns during the Energy Management Phase, a bonus is applied directly to the roll. The magnitude of the bonus may be +1 to +3, depending on just how many dice the solo player decides to sacrifice during the Energy Factor roll (see last post). Note that this bonus is applied to every turn roll during the respective jet's Movement Phase.
Regardless of whether the turn roll is successful or not, the miniature must be moved forward one hex after each turn attempt. Therefore a jet only has a number of turn attempts equal to its Speed. Aerobatic maneuvers provide an exception to this rule allowing jets to turn two or three hex-sides before proceeding forward; aerobatics are covered in a future post.
And that's all there is to the Movement Phase. The turn rolls may seem like a lot of dice rolling but I've found it leads to suspenseful solo play.
03 April 2015
Solo 1/600 Jet Game Pt. 3: Energy Management
Wow, work has been busy recently, leaving me no time for leisure. Well, a little but that time goes to the wife, dog, and sculpting. Subsequently these posts about my solitaire jet game have been lagging.
OK, so after the Initiative order has been determined (see last post), it's time to make decisions that will affect how each fighter uses its potential and kinetic energy.
Starting with the lowest Initiative fighter jet, decide how many Hard Maneuvers it will perform during the later Movement Phase. The maximum number of Hard Maneuvers is 3, and the minimum is 0. Three different Hard Maneuvers exist: Hard Turn, Jink, and Aim. Looking at the unit cards in the first post, notice that there are boxes to check off. I use this method to remember which Hard Maneuvers were selected. Also note that there are three boxes labeled "Turn" for the Hard Turn maneuver. A fighter can only choose to either Jink or not Jink, to Aim or not Aim, but Hard Turn can be selected up to three times with cumulative effects. Hard Turn reflects the aggressiveness of turning for all banks this game-turn and provides a bonus during the Movement Phase; the number of Hard Turn maneuvers chosen indicates the size of the bonus and not the number of turns that will be performed later. The Hard Maneuvers limit however is still three total. Therefore, a jet pilot can choose for example to perform Hard Turn x2 plus Aim, for a total of three maneuvers. Most of the time however less than three or even no Hard Maneuvers are selected. Why? Hard Maneuvers bleed speed, and speed is life. The Energy Roll takes this into account as well as providing a random factor for solo play.
Once the lowest Initiative fighter decides on its Hard Maneuvers (if any), the solo player then makes an Energy Roll for that aircraft. The roll consists of anywhere from 3 to 5 six-sided dice. The "normal" Energy Roll is 5d6, but one die is lost for every Hard Maneuver chosen. Thus if an aircraft decided to Jink and Hard Turn (x1), it is performing two Hard Maneuvers and gets only 3d6 for its Energy Roll. After the dice are rolled, two dice are always discarded due to altitude effects. The two dice discarded due to altitude effects depends on the aircraft's starting Altitude. If the fighter is at Altitude 1 through 3, the two dice with the lowest scores are discarded. A fighter at Altitude 4 through 6 discards the highest die and the lowest die. Finally, a fighter at Altitude 6 through 9 discards the highest two dice.
After discarding dice due to altitude effects, the remaining dice are considered. For each die with a score above the fighter's Energy Factor (1 through 5), the aircraft Speed is increased by 1. Speed increases earned via this dice roll reflect a positive change in both kinetic and potential energy; therefore any Speed increase due to this roll may (temporarily) take the aircraft speed above the aircraft's maximum.
Afterburners: An aircraft using afterburner adds 1 to the value of each die score, increasing the chance for acceleration. Additionally, the aircraft gains a bonus 1 Speed increase. For example, an SU-9 at Altitude 4 ignites its afterburner whilst simultaneously using a Hard Turn. The single Hard Turn results in only 4d6 rolled. The values are 1, 3, 4, 4. One "4" and the "1" are discarded due to altitude effects, leaving values of 3 and 4. Neither of these scores exceed the SU-9's Energy Factor of 4, so normally the Speed increase due to the Energy Roll would be 0. The afterburner however results in adjusted dice scores of 4 and 5, one of which exceeds the fighter's energy factor. This, plus the bonus +1 Speed, means the SU-9 is allowed to increase Speed by 2. Of course this is at the tremendous fuel cost inherent with afterburning engines (more on that later).
After noting any increases in Speed due to the Energy Roll, subtract 1 Speed for drag effects. No aircraft can ever avoid drag effects.
Next, decide if the fighter is climbing or diving and adjust speed accordingly. Altitude changes of 1 level result in Speeds decreasing or increasing by 1 for climbs and descents respectively. Descents of 2 Altitude levels increase Speed by 3, whilst climbs of 2 Altitude levels decrease Speed by 3. Finally, if and aircraft dives or climbs 3 Altitude levels it gains or loses 6 Speed respectively.
Finally, after setting the fighter's new Altitude level, adjust the Speed downward to the aircraft's maximum if it is currently exceeding the limit.
Any aircraft ending the Energy Management phase with a Speed of 0 has Stalled (later post).
Speed Brakes: Any aircraft may "pop speed brakes". This allows the solo player to choose NOT to take some or all of the Speed increase due to the energy roll or diving.
Once the new Speed and Altitude of the lowest Initiative fighter are recorded, repeat the entire process for each aircraft, working from low Initiative to High.
OK, so after the Initiative order has been determined (see last post), it's time to make decisions that will affect how each fighter uses its potential and kinetic energy.
Starting with the lowest Initiative fighter jet, decide how many Hard Maneuvers it will perform during the later Movement Phase. The maximum number of Hard Maneuvers is 3, and the minimum is 0. Three different Hard Maneuvers exist: Hard Turn, Jink, and Aim. Looking at the unit cards in the first post, notice that there are boxes to check off. I use this method to remember which Hard Maneuvers were selected. Also note that there are three boxes labeled "Turn" for the Hard Turn maneuver. A fighter can only choose to either Jink or not Jink, to Aim or not Aim, but Hard Turn can be selected up to three times with cumulative effects. Hard Turn reflects the aggressiveness of turning for all banks this game-turn and provides a bonus during the Movement Phase; the number of Hard Turn maneuvers chosen indicates the size of the bonus and not the number of turns that will be performed later. The Hard Maneuvers limit however is still three total. Therefore, a jet pilot can choose for example to perform Hard Turn x2 plus Aim, for a total of three maneuvers. Most of the time however less than three or even no Hard Maneuvers are selected. Why? Hard Maneuvers bleed speed, and speed is life. The Energy Roll takes this into account as well as providing a random factor for solo play.
Once the lowest Initiative fighter decides on its Hard Maneuvers (if any), the solo player then makes an Energy Roll for that aircraft. The roll consists of anywhere from 3 to 5 six-sided dice. The "normal" Energy Roll is 5d6, but one die is lost for every Hard Maneuver chosen. Thus if an aircraft decided to Jink and Hard Turn (x1), it is performing two Hard Maneuvers and gets only 3d6 for its Energy Roll. After the dice are rolled, two dice are always discarded due to altitude effects. The two dice discarded due to altitude effects depends on the aircraft's starting Altitude. If the fighter is at Altitude 1 through 3, the two dice with the lowest scores are discarded. A fighter at Altitude 4 through 6 discards the highest die and the lowest die. Finally, a fighter at Altitude 6 through 9 discards the highest two dice.
After discarding dice due to altitude effects, the remaining dice are considered. For each die with a score above the fighter's Energy Factor (1 through 5), the aircraft Speed is increased by 1. Speed increases earned via this dice roll reflect a positive change in both kinetic and potential energy; therefore any Speed increase due to this roll may (temporarily) take the aircraft speed above the aircraft's maximum.
Afterburners: An aircraft using afterburner adds 1 to the value of each die score, increasing the chance for acceleration. Additionally, the aircraft gains a bonus 1 Speed increase. For example, an SU-9 at Altitude 4 ignites its afterburner whilst simultaneously using a Hard Turn. The single Hard Turn results in only 4d6 rolled. The values are 1, 3, 4, 4. One "4" and the "1" are discarded due to altitude effects, leaving values of 3 and 4. Neither of these scores exceed the SU-9's Energy Factor of 4, so normally the Speed increase due to the Energy Roll would be 0. The afterburner however results in adjusted dice scores of 4 and 5, one of which exceeds the fighter's energy factor. This, plus the bonus +1 Speed, means the SU-9 is allowed to increase Speed by 2. Of course this is at the tremendous fuel cost inherent with afterburning engines (more on that later).
After noting any increases in Speed due to the Energy Roll, subtract 1 Speed for drag effects. No aircraft can ever avoid drag effects.
Next, decide if the fighter is climbing or diving and adjust speed accordingly. Altitude changes of 1 level result in Speeds decreasing or increasing by 1 for climbs and descents respectively. Descents of 2 Altitude levels increase Speed by 3, whilst climbs of 2 Altitude levels decrease Speed by 3. Finally, if and aircraft dives or climbs 3 Altitude levels it gains or loses 6 Speed respectively.
Finally, after setting the fighter's new Altitude level, adjust the Speed downward to the aircraft's maximum if it is currently exceeding the limit.
Any aircraft ending the Energy Management phase with a Speed of 0 has Stalled (later post).
Speed Brakes: Any aircraft may "pop speed brakes". This allows the solo player to choose NOT to take some or all of the Speed increase due to the energy roll or diving.
Once the new Speed and Altitude of the lowest Initiative fighter are recorded, repeat the entire process for each aircraft, working from low Initiative to High.
13 March 2015
Solo 1/600 Jet Combat: Initiative
Here's Post #2 in a series that introduces my home-brew jet combat tabletop game, designed for solo-play. The posts will unfortunately come in slowly due to my work commitments.
Airspeed and Altitude:
Altitude and Airspeed are abstracted in OSAAF to ranges from 0 to 9. As shown in the pictures from this old post, I use home-made polymer cubes to record the current Altitude and Airspeed of each aircraft. Any aircraft with an Altitude of 0 has crashed and is destroyed; therefore the red cube represents Altitude. Although the numbers are abstract, I imagine about a speed of 6 represents Mach 1. Good starting speeds and altitudes are 3 and 3.
Initiative:
After initial set-up is complete and the opposing jets are on the board with Altitude and Airspeed set, it's time to play. Since it's a solo-game, the very first thing to accomplish on every turn is determining the order of decision-making. This is not however the order of decision-execution (i.e. moving/shooting), just the order of making certain energy management decisions (how hard will I bank, do I care more about speed or nose-pointing accuracy, etc.)
The aircraft cards I introduced last post were designed to be drawn as chits for initiative. During play test however I've found simply rolling to determine order works fine.
Once the order is established randomly, then the energy management decisions are made. It's a simple process but it's the core of the game and I haven't had my coffee yet… so that's for next post.
Airspeed and Altitude:
Altitude and Airspeed are abstracted in OSAAF to ranges from 0 to 9. As shown in the pictures from this old post, I use home-made polymer cubes to record the current Altitude and Airspeed of each aircraft. Any aircraft with an Altitude of 0 has crashed and is destroyed; therefore the red cube represents Altitude. Although the numbers are abstract, I imagine about a speed of 6 represents Mach 1. Good starting speeds and altitudes are 3 and 3.
Initiative:
After initial set-up is complete and the opposing jets are on the board with Altitude and Airspeed set, it's time to play. Since it's a solo-game, the very first thing to accomplish on every turn is determining the order of decision-making. This is not however the order of decision-execution (i.e. moving/shooting), just the order of making certain energy management decisions (how hard will I bank, do I care more about speed or nose-pointing accuracy, etc.)
The aircraft cards I introduced last post were designed to be drawn as chits for initiative. During play test however I've found simply rolling to determine order works fine.
Once the order is established randomly, then the energy management decisions are made. It's a simple process but it's the core of the game and I haven't had my coffee yet… so that's for next post.
07 March 2015
Solo Jet 1/600 Wargame: Our Space Age Air Force
A while ago I promised Chris over at Just Another Wargames Blog that I'd share my home-brew rules for solo 1/600 scale jet combat.
Unlike most of my rules, this home-brew system exists not as a nice downloadable document but resides only as scribblings in my notebook. And also uncharacteristic of my rules, this set really works! At least for me that is; I've had a lot of fun over my three or four play test experiences.
So eventually I'll write up the game in document, but until then I'll use this blog to introduce pieces at a time.
OUR SPACE AGE AIR FORCE (Solo Wargame for 1/600 scale Jet Combat) Post 1
Materials needed:
Aircraft Characteristics:
Aircraft designs in Our Space Age Air Force (OSAAF) have only a small number of characteristics. In addition to Fuel Capacity and weapons load-out, each design features only three other "game mechanic" characteristics: Energy Factor, Maneuverability, and Maximum Speed.
-Energy Factor: Arguably the most important important characteristic is an aircraft design's ability to gain and keep specific excess energy (called Ps "pee sub-ess"). Energy factor is driven not only by engine design, but the overall aerodynamics of the fighter as well. Five Energy Factor classes exist, in ascending order from 1 (the best) to 5 (the worst).
-Maneuverability: Three Maneuverability classes exist in OSAAF: Low, Medium, and High. The majority of all fighter aircraft are Medium with only rare examples in the Low and High classes.
-Maximum Speed: Maximum Speed is the highest level flight speed in hexes per turn that a given design may attain.
-Fuel Capacity: Indicates the game turn on which the aircraft must exit the table on a friendly edge or be considered lost. Fuel Capacity can decrease with afterburner use and is adjusted for all aircraft (non-afterburning and afterburning) with a dice roll for extra drama.
-Weapons Load-out: Indicates not only the type of weapons available, but the number of individual attack rolls that may be made for each type.
Aircraft Notecards:
Each aircraft requires some sort of notecard to record not only the above characteristics, but turn-by-turn decisions. The pictures below illustrate the cards I use. Initially these were intended as chits for random Initiative draw, but play test soon revealed that a simple dice roll would suffice for order determination.
The above card shows the SU-9 has an Energy Factor of 4 (circled first number), Medium Maneuverability, and a Maximum Speed of 8 hexes. It also carries four semi-active radar homing missiles, but no gun. Next to its Fuel Capacity number it has a number of blank boxes, indicating it has afterburner capability.
The French Mystere above has a similar Energy Factor and Maneuverability, but is slower and lacks afterburner. While this particular version carries no missiles, it does feature air-to-air rockets.
Note the Fuel Capacity numbers on both cards. Playtesting revealed these numbers are way too low and I've since doubled their values (not shown here). Also note the "plus sign" next to the number, which reminds the solo player to roll an additional 2d6 during set-up increasing the fuel further.
The right sides of the above cards feature action tracks. This is the topic of the next post, where I'll get into actually playing the game.
Unlike most of my rules, this home-brew system exists not as a nice downloadable document but resides only as scribblings in my notebook. And also uncharacteristic of my rules, this set really works! At least for me that is; I've had a lot of fun over my three or four play test experiences.
So eventually I'll write up the game in document, but until then I'll use this blog to introduce pieces at a time.
OUR SPACE AGE AIR FORCE (Solo Wargame for 1/600 scale Jet Combat) Post 1
Materials needed:
- 1/600 (or other scale) jet miniatures
- A minimum of 5 six-sided dice
- A hex mat
- Aircraft notecards (one per aircraft, details below)
- Markers for Altitude and Airspeed (I use small polymer clay cubes)
Aircraft Characteristics:
Aircraft designs in Our Space Age Air Force (OSAAF) have only a small number of characteristics. In addition to Fuel Capacity and weapons load-out, each design features only three other "game mechanic" characteristics: Energy Factor, Maneuverability, and Maximum Speed.
-Energy Factor: Arguably the most important important characteristic is an aircraft design's ability to gain and keep specific excess energy (called Ps "pee sub-ess"). Energy factor is driven not only by engine design, but the overall aerodynamics of the fighter as well. Five Energy Factor classes exist, in ascending order from 1 (the best) to 5 (the worst).
-Maneuverability: Three Maneuverability classes exist in OSAAF: Low, Medium, and High. The majority of all fighter aircraft are Medium with only rare examples in the Low and High classes.
-Maximum Speed: Maximum Speed is the highest level flight speed in hexes per turn that a given design may attain.
-Fuel Capacity: Indicates the game turn on which the aircraft must exit the table on a friendly edge or be considered lost. Fuel Capacity can decrease with afterburner use and is adjusted for all aircraft (non-afterburning and afterburning) with a dice roll for extra drama.
-Weapons Load-out: Indicates not only the type of weapons available, but the number of individual attack rolls that may be made for each type.
Aircraft Notecards:
Each aircraft requires some sort of notecard to record not only the above characteristics, but turn-by-turn decisions. The pictures below illustrate the cards I use. Initially these were intended as chits for random Initiative draw, but play test soon revealed that a simple dice roll would suffice for order determination.
The above card shows the SU-9 has an Energy Factor of 4 (circled first number), Medium Maneuverability, and a Maximum Speed of 8 hexes. It also carries four semi-active radar homing missiles, but no gun. Next to its Fuel Capacity number it has a number of blank boxes, indicating it has afterburner capability.
The French Mystere above has a similar Energy Factor and Maneuverability, but is slower and lacks afterburner. While this particular version carries no missiles, it does feature air-to-air rockets.
Note the Fuel Capacity numbers on both cards. Playtesting revealed these numbers are way too low and I've since doubled their values (not shown here). Also note the "plus sign" next to the number, which reminds the solo player to roll an additional 2d6 during set-up increasing the fuel further.
The right sides of the above cards feature action tracks. This is the topic of the next post, where I'll get into actually playing the game.
22 December 2014
Solo 1/600 Jet Combat: France vs USSR
The holidays are finally here! In the short time I have off I've already experienced a burst of creating and gaming, including further play test of my home-brew solo 1/600 jet combat rules.
Continuing my Cold War gone hot scenario based around the Congo Crisis of 1960-63, the Soviets threaten to take direct action versus the tiny (one fighter) Katangan Air Force that has been harassing the army of the leftist Congolese government. Not wanting to be seen as a weak tool of the US government, Secretary-General Hammerskjold (who survives his plane crash in my alternate history) begs the French Air Force to provide two Mystere IVs to keep the peace.
The French pilots however are well aware that Belgian mercenaries fly the Katangan Fouga Magisters, and are loathe to fire on their fellow western europeans. As such, they've "missed" the Magister taking off to strafe Congo trucks a few times, to the anger of the USSR. The Soviets have had enough and launch a pair of Yak 25s, based out of Angola (another change to real history), to destroy the Magister on the ground.
I started the Yaks at the bottom corner of the hex mat, with the target airbase near the other edge. I rolled 3d6 and dropped the lowest die, summing the remaining two scores. If the dice sum was equal or less than the turn number, then the French fighters appeared on the edge near the base. Weighting the dice rolls like that ensured randomness but also gave the Yaks enough time to make a strafing run.
The Mysteres did not appear until turn 9, one turn too late! On turn 8, chalk two of the Yaks made brilliant strafing run and destroyed the Katangan Magister. Mission complete, the Soviet fighters turned for Angola; but the faster French fighters were closing…
The pictures show the intercept turn and man was it fun. The lead Mystere, high above his prey, turns to split the formation of Yaks. Knowing there's no escape the Yak trail bird pulls hard into a climbing left turn, forcing the lead Mystere's hand.
The French lead banked hard right to keep the trail Yak in sight, just barely avoiding a hail of 37mm shells. Cursing he increased the aggressiveness of the turn, seamlessly transitioning to a barrel roll. As he returned to right-side up, boom! the speed brakes were deployed. Straining against his harness he felt his stomach in his throat as he pushed the nose over hard, holding the nose right on the closing Yak. Just one breath to let the Soviet close then he held the trigger, exulting as smoke erupted from the Yak's starboard nacelle and fuselage.
The trail Yak was reduced two condition levels and just couldn't keep it in the air, crashing a number of turns later. The French, pushing the limits of fuel, turned back toward their base, allowing the other Soviet to flee.
That was the "official" story, but in order to play test other concepts I actually frozen everyone's fuel and had two SU-9 Fishpots enter on the Soviet edge. They fired two semi-active homing missiles at the lead Mystere. The French lead, so worried about trying to break missile lock, then failed to take the lead Yak into account. The Yak-25 avenged his wingman, crippling the lead Mystere right before the first missile slammed into it.
Overall another great home-brew experience. I tested out a ton of changed rules, including new fuel, gunnery, missile and aerobatics rules. Lots of good lessons learned, such as my missile rules are a little too powerful for this era.
Continuing my Cold War gone hot scenario based around the Congo Crisis of 1960-63, the Soviets threaten to take direct action versus the tiny (one fighter) Katangan Air Force that has been harassing the army of the leftist Congolese government. Not wanting to be seen as a weak tool of the US government, Secretary-General Hammerskjold (who survives his plane crash in my alternate history) begs the French Air Force to provide two Mystere IVs to keep the peace.
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| The French rondel was difficult |
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| Wonderful Tumbling Dice jets take inks so well |
The French pilots however are well aware that Belgian mercenaries fly the Katangan Fouga Magisters, and are loathe to fire on their fellow western europeans. As such, they've "missed" the Magister taking off to strafe Congo trucks a few times, to the anger of the USSR. The Soviets have had enough and launch a pair of Yak 25s, based out of Angola (another change to real history), to destroy the Magister on the ground.
I started the Yaks at the bottom corner of the hex mat, with the target airbase near the other edge. I rolled 3d6 and dropped the lowest die, summing the remaining two scores. If the dice sum was equal or less than the turn number, then the French fighters appeared on the edge near the base. Weighting the dice rolls like that ensured randomness but also gave the Yaks enough time to make a strafing run.
The Mysteres did not appear until turn 9, one turn too late! On turn 8, chalk two of the Yaks made brilliant strafing run and destroyed the Katangan Magister. Mission complete, the Soviet fighters turned for Angola; but the faster French fighters were closing…
The pictures show the intercept turn and man was it fun. The lead Mystere, high above his prey, turns to split the formation of Yaks. Knowing there's no escape the Yak trail bird pulls hard into a climbing left turn, forcing the lead Mystere's hand.
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| Classic wingman support |
The French lead banked hard right to keep the trail Yak in sight, just barely avoiding a hail of 37mm shells. Cursing he increased the aggressiveness of the turn, seamlessly transitioning to a barrel roll. As he returned to right-side up, boom! the speed brakes were deployed. Straining against his harness he felt his stomach in his throat as he pushed the nose over hard, holding the nose right on the closing Yak. Just one breath to let the Soviet close then he held the trigger, exulting as smoke erupted from the Yak's starboard nacelle and fuselage.
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| Speed and altitude differential saves the Mystere…barely! |
The trail Yak was reduced two condition levels and just couldn't keep it in the air, crashing a number of turns later. The French, pushing the limits of fuel, turned back toward their base, allowing the other Soviet to flee.
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| The Yak gambled…and ended up in the Mystere's sights |
That was the "official" story, but in order to play test other concepts I actually frozen everyone's fuel and had two SU-9 Fishpots enter on the Soviet edge. They fired two semi-active homing missiles at the lead Mystere. The French lead, so worried about trying to break missile lock, then failed to take the lead Yak into account. The Yak-25 avenged his wingman, crippling the lead Mystere right before the first missile slammed into it.
Overall another great home-brew experience. I tested out a ton of changed rules, including new fuel, gunnery, missile and aerobatics rules. Lots of good lessons learned, such as my missile rules are a little too powerful for this era.
10 August 2014
DIY 1/600 Air Combat Hex Mat
Actually, an internet vendor did it for me, but I had to create the pattern. Best $25.00 I've probably spent in wargaming.
I found this website called Build-A-Sign so I went there and selected a 3 foot by 3 foot custom vinyl banner.
Next I went to Microsoft Powerpoint and started a new presentation with a custom slide size of 3 foot square. I inserted a screen capture of an aerial view from Google Maps and resized it to fit the slide. Since the original image was 72 dpi, this resulted in massive pixelation but I didn't mind. I simply cranked up the transparency on the image to wash it out.
Next I created a 1 inch hex pattern in Powerpoint using a shape file and overlaid it on the aerial image, saving the whole thing as a composite image.
Finally I uploaded my newly created composite image as the custom background for my vinyl banner, selected "no grommets" (excellent that they have that option), and hit "order". About 10 days later my vinyl banner showed up. The hexes are perfectly 1 inch and while not extraordinarily crisp, still far better than I could do by hand. Since the mat is vinyl and meant for outdoor display it's very tough and looks water/dirt proof, yet rolls up tight and is light. The banner cost $25.00 with shipping being free and fast.
I've been busy building a vacuum-former, trying out new sculpting techniques, and of course working, but now I'm going to have to paint some more planes up! Oh and post my solo jet rules...
I found this website called Build-A-Sign so I went there and selected a 3 foot by 3 foot custom vinyl banner.
Next I went to Microsoft Powerpoint and started a new presentation with a custom slide size of 3 foot square. I inserted a screen capture of an aerial view from Google Maps and resized it to fit the slide. Since the original image was 72 dpi, this resulted in massive pixelation but I didn't mind. I simply cranked up the transparency on the image to wash it out.
Next I created a 1 inch hex pattern in Powerpoint using a shape file and overlaid it on the aerial image, saving the whole thing as a composite image.
Finally I uploaded my newly created composite image as the custom background for my vinyl banner, selected "no grommets" (excellent that they have that option), and hit "order". About 10 days later my vinyl banner showed up. The hexes are perfectly 1 inch and while not extraordinarily crisp, still far better than I could do by hand. Since the mat is vinyl and meant for outdoor display it's very tough and looks water/dirt proof, yet rolls up tight and is light. The banner cost $25.00 with shipping being free and fast.
I've been busy building a vacuum-former, trying out new sculpting techniques, and of course working, but now I'm going to have to paint some more planes up! Oh and post my solo jet rules...
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| SU-9 launching missile |
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| 3 foot by 3 foot square |
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| 1 inch hex patterns |
11 December 2013
Cheapo Modular Flight Stands for 1/600 Jets
Have you ever wanted to make a really tall flight stand, but then realize your fighter jet or star cruiser is now too high to fit in the storage box? No? Well, it happened to me and I thought I'd share my solution for cheap modular flight stands, illustrated with a partially painted Yak-25.
For materials you'll need 1 inch washers, CA glue, two-part epoxy, Equate brand cotton swabs, and thick spaghetti.
I noticed a few years ago that the stems of Equate brand cotton swabs are not paper but in fact little hollow plastic tubes. These little tubes, sans the cotton swabs on the ends, have become a staple of my scratchbuilding. My wife buys the more eco-friendly brands, but I still have a stockpile of the old Equates. Anyways, another thing I noticed was that a piece of thick spaghetti fits snug within the hollow tube, adding strength while remaining in place. The plastic tube cuts very easily when hollow, but is very resilient with a pasta core.
Mix up a tiny bit of epoxy (cheap plumber's putty works fine) and use it to fill the hole in the 1 inch washer, forming the base. Before the epoxy sets push a small section of cotton swab tubing into it to act as the lower part of the flight stand rod. Attach another short piece of tubing to your miniature to act as the top part of the flight rod. Get another, full length piece of plastic tubing and use CA glue to secure small pieces of thick spaghetti into one end of this piece and the tubing connected to the miniature. You now have a male/female interface between the plane and the flight stand base, or between the plane, a flight rod extension, and the base. The pictures below will probably explain all this better than I can.
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| Yak-25, flight rod extension, flight stand base |
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| Flying low/ready for storage |
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| Towering over the board at 65mm |
09 December 2013
Solo Jet Game AAR (1/600)
OK, it's actually a "During Action Report" because the game's not finished.
Right now I'm in the middle of a solo game of jet combat. As I mentioned last post, the rules are homebrew, designed for solo play and this game is the second of the playtest.
I managed to paint up the two RAF BAC Lightnings, as well as two Yak-25 Flashlights. Another improvement was the construction of a hex-board. I came across some free blue card stock, so I made up a quick 1" hex pattern and printed it in light gray on the card. Even after hours of diligent cutting with the hobby knife the individual sheets don't fit together perfectly. It's OK however, the gaps aren't too noticeable and the benefit of playing with hexes far, far outweighs having to measure movement with a ruler.
For the scenario I replayed the first scenario but added two Yak-25s. It's late 1961 and a war between proxies, supported by the USSR and the western powers respectively, is heating up in central Africa. The troops in these proxy forces are supported directly by the air forces of these world powers. The USSR has accused the Federation of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland of harboring Katangan military aircraft, specifically Fouga Magisters flown by Belgian mercenaries. Intelligence reports indicate Blinder bombers repositioning to central Africa, presumably ready to strike at Federation airfields. In response, the United Kingdom has deployed BAC Lightnings to Salisbury in order to intercept any incoming bomber strikes.
The game starts with a single Magister, fresh from strafing communist supply trucks and fleeing to Nyasaland, in the middle of the board with two pursuing Yak-25s on the edge. The Yaks have until turn 10 to destroy the Magister, at which time an element of two RAF Lightnings enter on the opposite corner. The Yaks must then survive and attempt to egress back to friendly territory. A random number of turns later, two Su-9 Fishpots arrive to intercept the UK interceptors.
With the ground rules set I played the game. The Magister spotted the pursuing Soviet planes on turn 6. The Yak-25s caught the Magister on turn 8. On turn 9, the little Katangan plane tried to reverse direction, a trick that should have worked, except for a bad maneuver roll on his part. An excellent maneuver roll on the lead Yak's part put the Soviet fighter right on the Magister's tail on turn 10, and the Fouga explodes in a hail of 37mm cannon fire. Of course, the Lightnings had arrived, decelerating from Mach 2 and quickly the hunters became the hunted. Or so it seemed. The slower Yaks managed to survive the first pass and turned inside the fast UK interceptors, and suddenly the lead Yak scored another kill as he gunned down the trail Lightning!
I rolled 4d6 and dropped the low and high dice, adding the two remaining to get 9: the Fishpots show up nine turns later. On turn 19, the two Yaks have managed to stay alive, as the cavalry in the form of two SU-9s arrives. Both new arrivals manage to get a radar lock and fire their semi-active homing missiles at the sole remaining Lightning, just as the he rakes the lead Yak-25 with cannon fire. The Yak survives, albeit with holes, and the Lightning immediately begins evasive action. The SU-9's maintain their locks, guiding the missiles toward the UK fighter (Picture 1). The Lightning breaks hard left, causing the first missile to miss and lining up the lead Fishpot for a Firestreak faceshot (Picture 2). Before the lead Soviet can react, the British IR missile strikes home, destroying the Su-9 (Picture 3). As soon as the Firestreak leaves the rail however, the other radar homing missile explodes off the Lightning's left side, sending shrapnel through the British fighter (Picture 4). Will he make it home?
Honestly, this is the most fun I've had wargaming in years, if not decades. I just purchased a set of rules called Pulp Alley. I was going to devote a bunch of money, time and effort into building terrain and buying figures for some cool pulp adventure games. But with my time limited by work, I think I'm going to spend my money on little jets. I have a lot more stats to write up, game pieces to make, and rules to write down. Lucky it's the slow holiday season.
Right now I'm in the middle of a solo game of jet combat. As I mentioned last post, the rules are homebrew, designed for solo play and this game is the second of the playtest.
I managed to paint up the two RAF BAC Lightnings, as well as two Yak-25 Flashlights. Another improvement was the construction of a hex-board. I came across some free blue card stock, so I made up a quick 1" hex pattern and printed it in light gray on the card. Even after hours of diligent cutting with the hobby knife the individual sheets don't fit together perfectly. It's OK however, the gaps aren't too noticeable and the benefit of playing with hexes far, far outweighs having to measure movement with a ruler.
For the scenario I replayed the first scenario but added two Yak-25s. It's late 1961 and a war between proxies, supported by the USSR and the western powers respectively, is heating up in central Africa. The troops in these proxy forces are supported directly by the air forces of these world powers. The USSR has accused the Federation of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland of harboring Katangan military aircraft, specifically Fouga Magisters flown by Belgian mercenaries. Intelligence reports indicate Blinder bombers repositioning to central Africa, presumably ready to strike at Federation airfields. In response, the United Kingdom has deployed BAC Lightnings to Salisbury in order to intercept any incoming bomber strikes.
The game starts with a single Magister, fresh from strafing communist supply trucks and fleeing to Nyasaland, in the middle of the board with two pursuing Yak-25s on the edge. The Yaks have until turn 10 to destroy the Magister, at which time an element of two RAF Lightnings enter on the opposite corner. The Yaks must then survive and attempt to egress back to friendly territory. A random number of turns later, two Su-9 Fishpots arrive to intercept the UK interceptors.
With the ground rules set I played the game. The Magister spotted the pursuing Soviet planes on turn 6. The Yak-25s caught the Magister on turn 8. On turn 9, the little Katangan plane tried to reverse direction, a trick that should have worked, except for a bad maneuver roll on his part. An excellent maneuver roll on the lead Yak's part put the Soviet fighter right on the Magister's tail on turn 10, and the Fouga explodes in a hail of 37mm cannon fire. Of course, the Lightnings had arrived, decelerating from Mach 2 and quickly the hunters became the hunted. Or so it seemed. The slower Yaks managed to survive the first pass and turned inside the fast UK interceptors, and suddenly the lead Yak scored another kill as he gunned down the trail Lightning!
I rolled 4d6 and dropped the low and high dice, adding the two remaining to get 9: the Fishpots show up nine turns later. On turn 19, the two Yaks have managed to stay alive, as the cavalry in the form of two SU-9s arrives. Both new arrivals manage to get a radar lock and fire their semi-active homing missiles at the sole remaining Lightning, just as the he rakes the lead Yak-25 with cannon fire. The Yak survives, albeit with holes, and the Lightning immediately begins evasive action. The SU-9's maintain their locks, guiding the missiles toward the UK fighter (Picture 1). The Lightning breaks hard left, causing the first missile to miss and lining up the lead Fishpot for a Firestreak faceshot (Picture 2). Before the lead Soviet can react, the British IR missile strikes home, destroying the Su-9 (Picture 3). As soon as the Firestreak leaves the rail however, the other radar homing missile explodes off the Lightning's left side, sending shrapnel through the British fighter (Picture 4). Will he make it home?
Honestly, this is the most fun I've had wargaming in years, if not decades. I just purchased a set of rules called Pulp Alley. I was going to devote a bunch of money, time and effort into building terrain and buying figures for some cool pulp adventure games. But with my time limited by work, I think I'm going to spend my money on little jets. I have a lot more stats to write up, game pieces to make, and rules to write down. Lucky it's the slow holiday season.
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| Radar missile inbound, breaking left! |
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| Missile dodged! (Still need to paint flight stands) |
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| Guiding a homing missile to the target leaves one vulnerable... |
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| Dodged the first, but not the second |
02 December 2013
Solo Air Combat with 1/600 Jets
Anyone who's read this blog knows I love to scratchbuild. I know my limitations however, and there are plenty of miniatures I am happy just buying instead of building.
I just purchased between forty and fifty 1/600 scale jets from the 1950's and 60's eras for right about $1.00 per figure, including shipping. The miniatures are from Tumbling Dice and are exquisite.
I'm really interested in this era of aerial combat, so the Check Your Six! Jet Age (CY6:JA) seemed like a good ruleset. Unfortunately, from what I read I'm not sure it's too solo-friendly. So I made my own game up.
To get ready for the playtesting I painted up two Soviet SU-9 Fishpots. My first lesson learned: use white primer, not gray. The gray primer I used made it just too dull. Painting was easy however, with a coat of silver mixed with white painted over with black ink to bring out panel-lines. The canopy really makes the minis looked finished with a light blue. The red stars of the Soviet Air Force were hand-painted on.
I played the first scenario in a Cold War-gone-hot setting I call "Atomic Africa". It's set in 1961 central Africa and postulates a "what if Dag Hammarskjold hadn't died" situation which leads to western governments supporting the breakaway Katanga and surrounding governments, and the USSR supporting communist rebels. Of course, hostilities escalate. In the first game, a flight of two SU-9's are chasing down a Fouga Magister flown by a Belgian mercenary, trying to prevent it from fleeing into Nyasaland. Screaming to the rescue comes a flight of two RAF BAC Lightnings!
My game uses large dual-sided 30mm square chits, with plastic coated paper labels mounted on pieces of plastic. I can write all over these with grease pencils and alcohol pens and then wipe them off at the ends of turns and games respectively. I designed these specifically for solo-play, as initiative could be determined by a simple chit-draw. Honestly though, for the first game there were only 5 aircraft, so random die rolling was just as easy.
The bases also use the same plastic-clad paper technique. The arrows allow me to use a hex-less game surface, but I'll probably switch to 1" hexes to make the games go faster.
The little cubes are made of polymer clay and reflect speed (in inches, the white cube), and altitude (abstract number, red cube).
All in all it's a fun little game. I've found loads of tweaks that need to be made, but the important fun-factor is there.
I just purchased between forty and fifty 1/600 scale jets from the 1950's and 60's eras for right about $1.00 per figure, including shipping. The miniatures are from Tumbling Dice and are exquisite.
I'm really interested in this era of aerial combat, so the Check Your Six! Jet Age (CY6:JA) seemed like a good ruleset. Unfortunately, from what I read I'm not sure it's too solo-friendly. So I made my own game up.
To get ready for the playtesting I painted up two Soviet SU-9 Fishpots. My first lesson learned: use white primer, not gray. The gray primer I used made it just too dull. Painting was easy however, with a coat of silver mixed with white painted over with black ink to bring out panel-lines. The canopy really makes the minis looked finished with a light blue. The red stars of the Soviet Air Force were hand-painted on.
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| Tumbling Dice 1/600 Fishpots |
I played the first scenario in a Cold War-gone-hot setting I call "Atomic Africa". It's set in 1961 central Africa and postulates a "what if Dag Hammarskjold hadn't died" situation which leads to western governments supporting the breakaway Katanga and surrounding governments, and the USSR supporting communist rebels. Of course, hostilities escalate. In the first game, a flight of two SU-9's are chasing down a Fouga Magister flown by a Belgian mercenary, trying to prevent it from fleeing into Nyasaland. Screaming to the rescue comes a flight of two RAF BAC Lightnings!
My game uses large dual-sided 30mm square chits, with plastic coated paper labels mounted on pieces of plastic. I can write all over these with grease pencils and alcohol pens and then wipe them off at the ends of turns and games respectively. I designed these specifically for solo-play, as initiative could be determined by a simple chit-draw. Honestly though, for the first game there were only 5 aircraft, so random die rolling was just as easy.
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| Lyev (Lion) 31 and 32 |
The little cubes are made of polymer clay and reflect speed (in inches, the white cube), and altitude (abstract number, red cube).
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| Flying over the Arctic apparently |
All in all it's a fun little game. I've found loads of tweaks that need to be made, but the important fun-factor is there.
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| What it looks like at the table |
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| Gory close-up detail |
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