Post by scottwashburn on Sept 25, 2016 13:55:34 GMT
Okay, as promised, here are my proposed rules for aircraft. I have tried to keep them VERY simple!
Rules for Aircraft in All Quiet on the Martian Front
The rules for aircraft will be as simple as possible, keeping in the spirit of the main rules. Unnecessary complications will add nothing to the game.
Types
Aircraft come in two basic types, Combat Aircraft, and Reconnaissance/Spotter Aircraft. Combat Aircraft carry weapons which may attack enemy forces. Recon/Spotter aircraft fly at high altitudes and are used to detect hidden enemy forces and direct artillery fire.
Units
Combat aircraft will be grouped in units of three. Recon/Spotter aircraft operate individually.
Characteristics
Aircraft have characteristics similar to normal ground units. A sample is given below:
Burgess-Dunne D8
Unit: 3 Elements
Points per unit: 60
Type Speed Defense Armor Special
Aircraft 12” 3 3 See Below
Weaponry Range Power Special
Hvy Machine Gun 15” +1 Rapid Fire 3, Forward
Light Bomb (1) Special +3 Barrage 1, See Bombing Rules
Movement
Aircraft move slightly different from other elements in the game. Due to their nature, aircraft cannot elect not to move (although they can circle in place) and they must move in the direction they are facing (although they can turn). It is assumed that the aircraft model has some sort of support base.
Aircraft move in both the first and second movement phases. They must move at least 2/3 of their maximum movement. (So an aircraft with a movement factor of 12” must move at least 8” in each phase.)
Aircraft must move straight ahead but they can turn at any point. Turning makes use of a Turning Gauge. To keep things simple, we shall use the 4” bombardment template which comes with the game as our turning gauge. The template is 4” in diameter which means it is approximately 12” along its outer edge. To turn the aircraft, place the gauge next to the aircraft model’s support base. Move the base along the edge of the template until the aircraft is pointing in the direction you want. A 180 degree turn will use 6” of movement. A 90 degree turn will use 3”, and a 45 degree turn will use 1 ½”. You will have to estimate the distances of other turns. A full 360 degree turn will use all 12”.
You can turn as many times as you like during a move, as long as you have inches left to spend.
Since aircraft fly above the ground, they are not affected by any difficult or impassible terrain. For simplicity sake we will assume that the pilots are sufficiently trained not to collide with each other, so aircraft which do end up with their stands overlapping are considered to be at different heights.
Altitude
Aircraft can be at one of two different altitudes: High or Low.
Aircraft at low altitude can attack units on the ground (and be attacked by them), but cannot be used for recon or spotting. Aircraft at high altitude can do scouting or spotting, but cannot attack targets on the ground (or be attacked by them). Since there is no reason for an aircraft to want to change altitude during the game, there is no rule to allow them to do that
Combat
Most aircraft carry machine guns, or bombs, or a combination of both.
Machine guns fire exactly as ground machine gun units. They have a Rapid Fire characteristic giving them multiple shots and a slightly reduced range from normal machine guns to account for their moving fire platform. Machine guns will have one or more Firing Arcs. Aircraft have four firing arcs: Forward, Aft, Right, and Left. Each arc is 90 degrees wide. So the Forward arc includes 45 degrees to the right and left of straight ahead. The other arcs are treated in a similar fashion.
After their first movement phase, aircraft may fire their machine guns at any eligible target. Due to their height, they may fire over intervening obstacles, but targets in cover still get the benefit of the cover modifiers.
Bombing
Bombs are treated slightly differently from other weapons. Rather than use them during the Combat Phase, aircraft drop bombs during their first movement phase.
When the aircraft moves, it may drop its bomb(s) anywhere along the path that the center of its movement stand passes. The location of the bomb drop is determined and marked and then the aircraft completes its movement. A barrage template is then placed on the impact point and any units under the template are attacked in the normal fashion. The diameter of the template is based on the barrage rating of the bomb. The number of bombs carried by an aircraft is noted in its characteristics. If an aircraft drops multiple bombs at the same time, the size of the barrage template expands in the same manner as for multiple artillery elements firing a barrage. When all bombs have been dropped, an aircraft may no longer make bombing attacks. It may continue to fire its machine gun(s).
Attacking Aircraft
Martians attack aircraft with their heat rays in exactly the same way as any other target. Measure the range to the center of the aircraft’s base and then roll to hit and damage as normal. If the aircraft is successfully damaged it is destroyed. “Sweep” attacked can be used if multiple aircraft fall under the sweep template. Drones may not attack aircraft. Area affect weapons like Black Dust, Green Mist, the Shock canisters from Grenadiers, and the guided missiles on the Dominator Tripods may not fire at aircraft.
Aircraft Morale
When a unit of aircraft takes losses it must check morale exactly like any other human unit. Since aircraft pilots are used to taking extreme risks, they receive a +1 to their die rolls on morale checks. If they fail their morale check, the aircraft will leave the table and not return. There is no option for rallying aircraft.
Suicide Attack
If a unit of aircraft is reduced to a single element and it rolls a natural ‘10’ on its morale check, the surviving pilot is so inflamed with rage that he will intentionally crash his aircraft into the nearest tripod. During its next movement phase (or phases if the distance is too large for a single move), move the aircraft so that it touches the tripod and then roll an attack as normal. The aircraft’s power is +2 with an additional +1 for every bomb it is carrying. No matter what the result of the attack, the aircraft is destroyed. Note that in the case of a suicide attack, the attack can occur in EITHER movement phase.
Scouting Aircraft
The humans would make great use of aircraft for scouting. Flying at high altitude (8-10,000 feet) they would be safe from the Martian heat rays. They could be used to find the location of Martian forces. What function they would serve in a game of All Quiet would depend on the scenario. If the Martian player was scheduled to receive reinforcements during the course of the game, a human player with scouting aircraft would be allowed to know where and when those reinforcements would arrive. If the scenario had Martian units on the table which were considered hidden (behind a hill, in a forest, etc.) spotting aircraft will have a 50% chance (roll 6+) of discovering them each turn.
The cost of a scout plane is 60 points.
Spotting Aircraft
Aircraft can be used for spotting enemy targets for artillery attacks. These aircraft fly at high altitudes and have observers and later in the war, radios. Like scouting aircraft, they would fly high enough to be safe from enemy fire. Their range of vision would be great enough that unless you were playing a very large game on a very large table you can assume that the aircraft can see the whole table and there is no need to place an actual model on the table. If you do play a very large game, then each spotter aircraft has a visual range of 72” in all directions and you should place a marker (or model) on the table to show where it is.
The spotter aircraft can attempt to spot one target each turn. To allow for the unreliable means of communications available (dropped messages, or cranky radios) the spotter aircraft must make a successful die roll to spot the target. For planes without radios, they must roll a 7+. If they do have radios, the roll is a 5+. If successful, then human artillery may fire at the spotted target as if it had a clear line of sight. If unsuccessful the target is not spotted and may not be fired in this fashion.
The cost of a spotting plane is 100 points.
Heavy Bombers
Later in the war, the humans will develop large aircraft which can carry much bigger bomb loads. These aircraft have little role on the tactical battlefield (i.e. the game table). Even as late as World War II, the attempts to use heavy bombers in the direct support of ground troops had a very spotty record. In the All Quiet world, trying to coordinate the arrival of heavy bombers to strike fast moving targets like the Martian tripods would be next to impossible.
However, if the scenario is an attack against a Martian redoubt (or some other fixed position) then heavy bombers can be employed as a pre-attack bombardment exactly like the bombardment rules for Heavy Artillery in the main rule book. Each heavy bomber costs 25 points and can make a single Strength 4, Barrage 3 attack against any Martian unit on the game table prior to the start of Turn 1. The bombers make their attacks and then leave and do not return.
Designing Aircraft
I have given the statistics for one aircraft here (the Burgess-Dunne D8), but you may wish to design other aircraft. It is recommended that you use actual historic aircraft as your basis for design. Here are some guidelines:
Speed: The movement rate is determined by the actual speed of the aircraft.
Speed Movement Rate
<75mph 12”
76mph-125mph 15”
126mph+ 18”
Defense: The defense of an aircraft will be determined by its speed.
Speed Defense Rating
<75mph 3
76mph-125mph 4
126mph+ 5
Armor: Wood and canvas aircraft would be incredibly vulnerable to the Martian heat rays. The barest touch would set them ablaze and destroy them. Thus I have made their armor rating a 3. Very late in the war we might see aircraft with a thin aluminum skin. Such aircraft would have an armor of 4 or 5.
Weapons: You can add additional machine guns and additional bombs. The number should be based on the historic aircraft you are using as your design. It is STRONGLY urged that you don’t create absurd monstrosities with dozens of machine guns. Remember that the weight of the guns and ammunition would be a major consideration in a real airplane but we don’t want to get into fiddly rules for that sort of thing here. Use your common sense.
Point Costs
Coming up with reasonable point costs for aircraft is tricky. They are so vulnerable, that they ought to be cheap. But as you add more speed and weapons, the cost should go up. I would recommend that you start with the Burgess-Dunne D8 as the starting point (60 points for a unit of 3) and then add points for the following factors: (points are per unit.)
Speed
<75mph – 0 points
76mph-125mph +10 points
126mph+ +20 points
Armor
Aluminum Skin +20 points
Weapons
Each additional machine gun +10 points
Each additional light bomb +10 points
Medium Bombs. Some aircraft can carry a larger bomb. Medium bombs have a Power of +4 and a barrage rating of 2. They cost 10 more points than a light bomb.
Rules for Aircraft in All Quiet on the Martian Front
The rules for aircraft will be as simple as possible, keeping in the spirit of the main rules. Unnecessary complications will add nothing to the game.
Types
Aircraft come in two basic types, Combat Aircraft, and Reconnaissance/Spotter Aircraft. Combat Aircraft carry weapons which may attack enemy forces. Recon/Spotter aircraft fly at high altitudes and are used to detect hidden enemy forces and direct artillery fire.
Units
Combat aircraft will be grouped in units of three. Recon/Spotter aircraft operate individually.
Characteristics
Aircraft have characteristics similar to normal ground units. A sample is given below:
Burgess-Dunne D8
Unit: 3 Elements
Points per unit: 60
Type Speed Defense Armor Special
Aircraft 12” 3 3 See Below
Weaponry Range Power Special
Hvy Machine Gun 15” +1 Rapid Fire 3, Forward
Light Bomb (1) Special +3 Barrage 1, See Bombing Rules
Movement
Aircraft move slightly different from other elements in the game. Due to their nature, aircraft cannot elect not to move (although they can circle in place) and they must move in the direction they are facing (although they can turn). It is assumed that the aircraft model has some sort of support base.
Aircraft move in both the first and second movement phases. They must move at least 2/3 of their maximum movement. (So an aircraft with a movement factor of 12” must move at least 8” in each phase.)
Aircraft must move straight ahead but they can turn at any point. Turning makes use of a Turning Gauge. To keep things simple, we shall use the 4” bombardment template which comes with the game as our turning gauge. The template is 4” in diameter which means it is approximately 12” along its outer edge. To turn the aircraft, place the gauge next to the aircraft model’s support base. Move the base along the edge of the template until the aircraft is pointing in the direction you want. A 180 degree turn will use 6” of movement. A 90 degree turn will use 3”, and a 45 degree turn will use 1 ½”. You will have to estimate the distances of other turns. A full 360 degree turn will use all 12”.
You can turn as many times as you like during a move, as long as you have inches left to spend.
Since aircraft fly above the ground, they are not affected by any difficult or impassible terrain. For simplicity sake we will assume that the pilots are sufficiently trained not to collide with each other, so aircraft which do end up with their stands overlapping are considered to be at different heights.
Altitude
Aircraft can be at one of two different altitudes: High or Low.
Aircraft at low altitude can attack units on the ground (and be attacked by them), but cannot be used for recon or spotting. Aircraft at high altitude can do scouting or spotting, but cannot attack targets on the ground (or be attacked by them). Since there is no reason for an aircraft to want to change altitude during the game, there is no rule to allow them to do that
Combat
Most aircraft carry machine guns, or bombs, or a combination of both.
Machine guns fire exactly as ground machine gun units. They have a Rapid Fire characteristic giving them multiple shots and a slightly reduced range from normal machine guns to account for their moving fire platform. Machine guns will have one or more Firing Arcs. Aircraft have four firing arcs: Forward, Aft, Right, and Left. Each arc is 90 degrees wide. So the Forward arc includes 45 degrees to the right and left of straight ahead. The other arcs are treated in a similar fashion.
After their first movement phase, aircraft may fire their machine guns at any eligible target. Due to their height, they may fire over intervening obstacles, but targets in cover still get the benefit of the cover modifiers.
Bombing
Bombs are treated slightly differently from other weapons. Rather than use them during the Combat Phase, aircraft drop bombs during their first movement phase.
When the aircraft moves, it may drop its bomb(s) anywhere along the path that the center of its movement stand passes. The location of the bomb drop is determined and marked and then the aircraft completes its movement. A barrage template is then placed on the impact point and any units under the template are attacked in the normal fashion. The diameter of the template is based on the barrage rating of the bomb. The number of bombs carried by an aircraft is noted in its characteristics. If an aircraft drops multiple bombs at the same time, the size of the barrage template expands in the same manner as for multiple artillery elements firing a barrage. When all bombs have been dropped, an aircraft may no longer make bombing attacks. It may continue to fire its machine gun(s).
Attacking Aircraft
Martians attack aircraft with their heat rays in exactly the same way as any other target. Measure the range to the center of the aircraft’s base and then roll to hit and damage as normal. If the aircraft is successfully damaged it is destroyed. “Sweep” attacked can be used if multiple aircraft fall under the sweep template. Drones may not attack aircraft. Area affect weapons like Black Dust, Green Mist, the Shock canisters from Grenadiers, and the guided missiles on the Dominator Tripods may not fire at aircraft.
Aircraft Morale
When a unit of aircraft takes losses it must check morale exactly like any other human unit. Since aircraft pilots are used to taking extreme risks, they receive a +1 to their die rolls on morale checks. If they fail their morale check, the aircraft will leave the table and not return. There is no option for rallying aircraft.
Suicide Attack
If a unit of aircraft is reduced to a single element and it rolls a natural ‘10’ on its morale check, the surviving pilot is so inflamed with rage that he will intentionally crash his aircraft into the nearest tripod. During its next movement phase (or phases if the distance is too large for a single move), move the aircraft so that it touches the tripod and then roll an attack as normal. The aircraft’s power is +2 with an additional +1 for every bomb it is carrying. No matter what the result of the attack, the aircraft is destroyed. Note that in the case of a suicide attack, the attack can occur in EITHER movement phase.
Scouting Aircraft
The humans would make great use of aircraft for scouting. Flying at high altitude (8-10,000 feet) they would be safe from the Martian heat rays. They could be used to find the location of Martian forces. What function they would serve in a game of All Quiet would depend on the scenario. If the Martian player was scheduled to receive reinforcements during the course of the game, a human player with scouting aircraft would be allowed to know where and when those reinforcements would arrive. If the scenario had Martian units on the table which were considered hidden (behind a hill, in a forest, etc.) spotting aircraft will have a 50% chance (roll 6+) of discovering them each turn.
The cost of a scout plane is 60 points.
Spotting Aircraft
Aircraft can be used for spotting enemy targets for artillery attacks. These aircraft fly at high altitudes and have observers and later in the war, radios. Like scouting aircraft, they would fly high enough to be safe from enemy fire. Their range of vision would be great enough that unless you were playing a very large game on a very large table you can assume that the aircraft can see the whole table and there is no need to place an actual model on the table. If you do play a very large game, then each spotter aircraft has a visual range of 72” in all directions and you should place a marker (or model) on the table to show where it is.
The spotter aircraft can attempt to spot one target each turn. To allow for the unreliable means of communications available (dropped messages, or cranky radios) the spotter aircraft must make a successful die roll to spot the target. For planes without radios, they must roll a 7+. If they do have radios, the roll is a 5+. If successful, then human artillery may fire at the spotted target as if it had a clear line of sight. If unsuccessful the target is not spotted and may not be fired in this fashion.
The cost of a spotting plane is 100 points.
Heavy Bombers
Later in the war, the humans will develop large aircraft which can carry much bigger bomb loads. These aircraft have little role on the tactical battlefield (i.e. the game table). Even as late as World War II, the attempts to use heavy bombers in the direct support of ground troops had a very spotty record. In the All Quiet world, trying to coordinate the arrival of heavy bombers to strike fast moving targets like the Martian tripods would be next to impossible.
However, if the scenario is an attack against a Martian redoubt (or some other fixed position) then heavy bombers can be employed as a pre-attack bombardment exactly like the bombardment rules for Heavy Artillery in the main rule book. Each heavy bomber costs 25 points and can make a single Strength 4, Barrage 3 attack against any Martian unit on the game table prior to the start of Turn 1. The bombers make their attacks and then leave and do not return.
Designing Aircraft
I have given the statistics for one aircraft here (the Burgess-Dunne D8), but you may wish to design other aircraft. It is recommended that you use actual historic aircraft as your basis for design. Here are some guidelines:
Speed: The movement rate is determined by the actual speed of the aircraft.
Speed Movement Rate
<75mph 12”
76mph-125mph 15”
126mph+ 18”
Defense: The defense of an aircraft will be determined by its speed.
Speed Defense Rating
<75mph 3
76mph-125mph 4
126mph+ 5
Armor: Wood and canvas aircraft would be incredibly vulnerable to the Martian heat rays. The barest touch would set them ablaze and destroy them. Thus I have made their armor rating a 3. Very late in the war we might see aircraft with a thin aluminum skin. Such aircraft would have an armor of 4 or 5.
Weapons: You can add additional machine guns and additional bombs. The number should be based on the historic aircraft you are using as your design. It is STRONGLY urged that you don’t create absurd monstrosities with dozens of machine guns. Remember that the weight of the guns and ammunition would be a major consideration in a real airplane but we don’t want to get into fiddly rules for that sort of thing here. Use your common sense.
Point Costs
Coming up with reasonable point costs for aircraft is tricky. They are so vulnerable, that they ought to be cheap. But as you add more speed and weapons, the cost should go up. I would recommend that you start with the Burgess-Dunne D8 as the starting point (60 points for a unit of 3) and then add points for the following factors: (points are per unit.)
Speed
<75mph – 0 points
76mph-125mph +10 points
126mph+ +20 points
Armor
Aluminum Skin +20 points
Weapons
Each additional machine gun +10 points
Each additional light bomb +10 points
Medium Bombs. Some aircraft can carry a larger bomb. Medium bombs have a Power of +4 and a barrage rating of 2. They cost 10 more points than a light bomb.
