NG IN A WORLD AT WAR!
~
FT
KRIE(;
THE GEAR KRIEG AIRCRAFT GAME
-
TWO-FISTED PULP DOGFIGHTING ACTION IN A WORLD AT WAR! I
LUFT
KRIEG
Aviation technology has come a long way since the Wright
brothers first flew. The core principles of flight remain the
same, but the methods and execution has changed dramati-
cally. No longer is aerial warfare a duel between gentleman-
pilots, swooping low over the battlefield in wood and cloth
biplanes. It is a violent dance in the sky, pushing man and
machine to the edge of their endurance - and often beyond.
In the air, Superscience is the alpha and omega.
www.dp9.com
'rinted in Canada
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Step Two Initiative Phase . 26
26
Command Points 28
John Bindas, Hajj Nasri Andreas. LWd D. 28
Jessee, Richard Meaden, Ken Winland, 28
Sidebar Howard Hughes
29
The Banle of Britain
Table Altitude Loss Table 30
31
Sidebar Modern Valkyries
Special Maneuvers 32
DarkestHwrs . 33
MareAlexandre VBzina Senior Editor
Sidebar Secret Weapons Stalemate
33
Sidebar Orient Korps Air Raiders . 33
Creative Director Table Aircraft Loss of Control
Sidebar In Defense of the Reich .
34
Aerial Technology 34
Structure and Design
Table DetectionThreshold Modifiers 35
pierre Ouellette Art DirectoriDesigner Sidebar Progress 35
Jean-Franpis Fortier Layout Artist Table Terrains
New Vehicle Types
Firing Arcs Diagram 36
Kieran J. Yanner The Human Factor 36
Sidebar LuftFortresses
Attack Modifiers 31
Tables Anack and Defense Modifiers 37
Defense Modifiers 38
38
Defenslve Maneuvers 39
Sidebar The Jet Age 39
Weapons and Sensors . 40
Prolectile Weapons
Area Effect Weapons 41
& Marketing Manager Rockets and Missiles 41
Advanced Weaponry 42
Ground-Air fire 44
Sidebar The Kramer X-4
45
Table Damage vs Armor 45
45
46
48
Basic Game Mechanics . 48
49
Measures and Scale 50
Sidebar Acronyms and S y n M F S 50
KristianWilliamson, Eric Paquette,Michael Die Rolling Standards 50
Friedrich, Rob Kenny, the Gear Kneg mail- Table Game Scale Table
51
Sidebar Gear Krieg and Lufl Krieg
Sidebar m e Hand of Fate
DieRolling Standards 52
52
Number of Actlons 53
Table Crew Actions . 53
54
Table Crew Skills 55
The Combat Turn 55
56
Step One Declaration Phase
2
Morale ...................................................................... 57 Focke-Wulf FWl90 .................................................. 86
Paratroops and Airdrops ......................................... 58 Horten Ho 229 ......................................................... 86 Produced 8 Published by
Hex-Map Conversion ................................................ 59 Ju 187 Stuka 2 ...... 86
Arado Ar 340 ........................................................... 87
Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe ........................... 87
Me 163 Komet ......................................................... 87
Fiction: White Rose, Red Star .................................. 60 Horten Ho XX Transport ........................................... 87
Army Lists ................................................................. 61 Bachem Ba 349 Natter ............................................ 88 All artwork 02001 Dream Pod 9, Inc.
Presentation............................................................ .61 Fiat G50 Freccia ..... ........ 88
Luft Krieg, Gear Krieg. Panzerkampfer, Sil-
Sidebar: Design Notes ............................................ 61 Machi C202 Folgore ................................................ 88
houette and all other names, logos and
Germany .................................................................. 62 Machi MC200 Saetta ............. 88
specific game terms are 0 Dream Pod 9,
British Commonwealth............................................. 64 Regiane Re 2000 Falco ........................................... 89 Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Imperial Japan ......................................................... 66 Mitsubishi A6M1 Zero-Sen Zeke ............................. 89
URSS ...................................................................... 68
LufIKrieg, Gear Krieg, the Gear Krieglogo.
Ki-444 Tojo ............................................................... 89
Panzerkampfer and Silhouette are trade-
United States ........................................................... 70 Mitsubishi J-7W1 Shinden ....................... 89
marks of Dream Pod 9, Inc.
Perks ...................................................................... 72 Kawasaki Ki-64 Rob ............................................. 90
Flaws ..................................................................... 74 No part of this book may be reproduced
Tachikawa Ki-94 ...................................................... 90
Weapon Characteristics .......................................... 76 without written permission from the pub-
Mansyu Ki-98 ........................................................... 90
lisher, except for short excepts for review
Aichi D3A1 Val. .......90
purposes. Any similarities to characters,
Nakajima B5N1 Kate ............................................... 91
situations, institutions. corporations, etc.
Mitsubishi Ki-21 Sally .............................................. 91 (without satirical intent) are strictly coinci-
Datacards
Yokosuka MXY-7 Model 11 Ohka Baka ...................91 dental.The useof the male genderthrough-
North American P-51 Mustang ................................ 78
PzKpf V Ausf X Sturmvalkurie ................................. 91 out this manual shouldin no way imply the
Curtiss P-55 Ascender ............................................ 78
Light Aa Battery (Oerlikon/Flakvierling)...................92 exclusionof the female gender or suggest
Lockheed P-38 Lightning ........................................ 78 that the game is intendedexclusively for a
Heavy Aa Battery (Quad Bofors. 88mm) .................92
Grumman FM2 Wildcat ............................................ 78 male audience. It is our hope that the fe-
Rocket Aa Battery (W-5 Wasserfall, F55 Feuerlilie) .92
Sikorsky R5 Helicopter ............................................ 79 male gamers will find this book just as in-
Chain and Chute Launcher ..................................... 92
Northrop P-61 Black Widow .................................. 79 teresting as their male counterparts.
Tables and Summaries ............................................. 93
8-25 Mitchell ........................................................... 79
Index ................................................................ 96 Warning! Gear Krieg is a work of fiction in-
Boeing 6-17 Flying Fortress .................................. 79 tended to be used in a game context only.
Bell P-59 AiracOmet .............................................. 80 It contains elementswhich may be deemed
R3 Roughrider ........................................................ 80 inappropriate for younger readers. Dream
Supermarine Spitfire .............................................. 80 Pod 9, Inc. does not condone or encour-
Hawker Hurricane ................................................. 81 age the use of violence or weapons. Pa-
De Havilland Mosquito ............................................ 81 rental discretionis advised.
Hawker Tempest ...................................................... 81 Dream Pod 9 can also be reachedthrough
Bristol Beaufighter ................................................... 81 the internet. Check the rec.games.mecha
Handley Page HP-75 Manx ..................................... 82 and rec.games.miniatures.miscnews-
Bristol Blenheim ....................................................... 82 groups for support and informationabout
Avro 683 Lancaster ................................................. 82 Gear Krieg. You can also visit our World
Gloster G40 Pioneer ................................................ 83 Wide Web page at http://www.dp9.com/
3
to follow. For a moment, the Pioneer
pulled away, then the German aircrafts
more powerful engines began to close
the gap, its greater speed telling.
Bellamy struggled to hold the Pioneer
in the steep ascent as its airspeed
dropped. Come on, come on!
4
On 17 July 1936, Spanish Army garri-
Ever since man first urged mechanical contraptions skyward in the 18th century, he sons in Morocco rebelled against the
has sought to use the ability of flight in war. Balloon spotters were used in both the government, followed in short order by
Franco-Prussianwar and the Boer War, but it wasnt until the end of 1903 when the many of their peers on the mainland. On
Wright Flyer took to the air at Kittyhawk, North Carolina that the dream took form. 28 July, German transport aircraft of the
Within four years, both the British and US Armies were developing aircraft for use in German Kondor Legion arrived in Mo-
the field. The Great War, between 1914 and 1918, saw the first large-scale use of air rocco at the request of General Franco,
power in war; aircraft engaged in dogfights over the fronts, while zeppelins bombed followed two days later by Italianaircraft.
factories and towns deep in enemy territory. Compared to todays superscience These German pilots were not there in
designs, the aircraft of the time were crude, but the conflict birthed many of the an official capacity, but rather as volun-
tactics and principals in use today. Aerial reconnaissance became a vital part of teers and tourists, sent to advise and
warfare, and many of the staples of the Modern Age - such as carrier aviation - instruct the nascent Nationalist air force.
were first employed. In truth, they were to gain first-hand ex-
perience of modern air warfare. Spain
The twenties saw a renaissance in aviation, with many of the rich and famous invest-
was to be the proving grounds for the
ing in aircraft and aviation technologies. Philanthropist-adventurers like Howard
bloody tactics that would soon become
Hughes pushed back the frontiers of mechanical flight, developing aircraft that could
a trademark of the Third Reich.
go further, faster and higher than those before them. The wood and fabric designs
of the Great War quickly gave way to all-metal models, and by the mid 1930s much After the Soviet Union deployed 1-15 and
of the infrastructure of the current war was in place. 1-16 designs in support of the Spanish
Republicans, Germany responded with
Bf 109Bs. German fighter tactics ad-
vanced swiftly, with both refinements of
Great War methods and the develop-
ment of new ones. Air-to-air combat was
not the only area to see tactical ad-
vancements. The Kondor Legion devel-
oped a range of bombing techniques,
I + attacking both ground and naval tar-
gets. On 14 August 1936 a Ju 52 suc-
cessfully bombed the Republicanbattle-
ship Jaime I,while Ju 87s used the con-
flict to practice attacks in support of
ground troops. On 26 April 1937, ele-
Though the Treaty of Versailles had for-
ments of the Kondor Legionattacked the
bidden Germany from developing an air
The Japanese invasion of Manchuria in Basque town of Guernica, causing mas-
force, Hitler nonetheless assembledone
1931 was the first modern-age conflict sive civilian casualties. The attack
under cover of flying clubs (the
to utilize aircraft, working in conjunction prompted harsh condemnation but fore-
Deutscher Luftsportsverband). On 9
with ground forces to push back the Chi- shadowed what was to follow in Europe
March 1935, the existence of the
nese defenders. The Italian invasion of and China in short order.
Luftwaffe - long suspected by France
Abyssinia in 1935 likewisedemonstrated
and Britain - became public knowl- Though not active participants in the
the effectiveness of airpower, with high
edge, prompting an aerial arms race. Spanish conflict, the Allies did not sit on
explosive and gas bombs used against
The new air force lacked experience but their laurels. Both Britain and America
the primitivelyarmed defenders.Italywas
it was well equipped, with early versions worked on developing RADAR detec-
condemned for its actions, but this dip-
of the Bf 109 and Ju 87 Stuka already tion equipment (the British had a sub-
lomatic incidentwas soon overshadowed
in service. Their lack of experience was stantial lead, deploying the first system
by greater conflict in Europe.
not to be an issue for long. in 1937) and in new weapon and pro-
5
I
6
in the summer of 1941.
The Modern Age is home to some remarkable people in e v e y field, and aviation is
no direrent. Hughes, born December 24, 1905 in Houston, Texas, is a manufac-
turer; aviator and motion-picture producer as well known, ironically,for his aver-
sion to publicity as well as for the uses to which he regularly puts his vast wealth.
Olphaned at I 7, he quit school and took control of hisfathers business, the Hughes
Tool Company. He would later move to Hollywood, in 1926, to produce a series of
movies (HellsAngels, Scagace) that would introduce new stars like Jean Harlow
and Paul Muni to the screen.
Despite his work infilm production, Hughes remains a passionate aviator at heart.
On September 12, I935, in an airplane of his own design, he established the worlds
landplane speed record of567.23 kilometersper hou,: On January 19, 1937, in the
same craft, he lowered the transcontinentalflight-timerecord to a mere seven hours
and twenty-eight minutes. A year and a half later;flying a Lockheed 14, he circled
the Earth in a record ninety-one hours and fourteen minutes.
Hughes is best-known, however;for the Hughes Aircraft Company of Culver City,
California. The company is notoriousfor its daring and experimentalplanes (many
designed by Hughes himself).It is whispered that the government provides Hughes
with secret funding to develop advanced technology for the US Army - including
an American version of the individualjetpack! For the moment, Hughes is working
on a design for an eight-engine, wooden flying boat intended to carry 750 troop-
ers: the Spruce Goose.
7
With Holland surrendered, and German
troops attacked unexpectedly through
the Ardennes - air attacks on the
bridgehead at Sedan were ineffectual
and cost many Allied planes - the
French and British began to withdraw
from Belgium. Unfortunately, the speed
of German panzers and Kampfers sur-
prised the Allied troops, driving through
their rear areas and reaching the mouth
of the Somme on May 20. The forces in
Belgium and northern France were en-
circled, unable to escape despite brave
counterattacks by armor and aircraft.
Luftwaffe alone, a plan that suited Hitler these were generally lower than those
Hitler wasnt finished with Britain. Plans
as it left the ground forces intact to as- suffered by the Luftwaffe,who often lost
for the invasion of the British Isles were
sault the rest of France. as many as two times the number of air-
already in place, scheduled to take
craft they themselves had downed.
British, French and German aircraft place later that summer. Codenamed
Massive losses of Ju 87 Stuka dive
clashed over the enclave, but despite Sealion, they called for a reduction of
bombers prompted their withdrawal
heroic efforts by the Allies, it soon be- Britains defenses by the Luftwaffe, in-
from the battle by mid-August and
came apparent that their position was cluding the elimination of the RAF and
Goerings vaunted Eagle Day of Au-
untenable. The evacuation of the Brit- the destruction of ports and food
gust 15 proved disappointing, despite
ish Expeditionary force and elements sources. June 21 saw the Luftwaffesfirst
concentrating on Fighter Commands
of the French First Army and Belgian use of the Knickebein radio guidance
airfields. More serious to the RAF than
Army began on May 27, codenamed system in a daylight attack on Britain,
its material losses were injuries and
Dynamo, and utilized a host of war- but the Battle of Britain proper did not
deaths among its pilots, who were be-
ships and small craft from all over begin until July 10, with mass air attacks
ing lost faster than they could be re-
Southern England. The Luftwaffe kept on shipping in the English Channel.
placed. Fatigue was also taking a ma-
up the pressure on the Allies, costing a
Hugh Dowding, commander of the RAF, jor toll on the British crews, but fortu-
hundred and forty German aircraft (to
refused to be drawn by these attacks, nately bad weather around the 20th
the Allies hundred and eighty and two
instead holding back his aircraft until gave them breathing room. On August
hundred ships). By June 3, 220,000
Britain itself came under assault. This 20, Prime Minister Churchill paid tribute
British and 120,000 French and Belgian
first phase of the battle lasted until Au- to the RAF fighter pilots in a speech that
troops had been saved, though the
gust 12, when the Luftwaffe attacked quickly became legendary.
French troops immediately redeployed
RAF airfields and radar stations. Radar
in the futile defense of France. On June
had demonstrated its worth on July 22
11, Paris was declared an open city
when it was used to direct a nighttime
and five days later the French sought
interception of a German force near On August 24. the air war entered a new
an armistice, hostilitiesending on June
Brighton. The system likewise allowed phase. That day - in contravention of
25. LArmee de IAir had lost almost nine
the RAF to scramble and face specific Hitlers directive banning the use of ter-
hundred aircraft in the campaign. Brit-
German threats rather than wasting re- ror attacks without his express permis-
ain now stood alone against the might
sources on patrols. sion - the Luftwaffe bombed Central
of the German Reich.
8
London. This provoked a major re- The air war limped on until the end of Britains efforts to support Greece
sponse from the British, who bombed October, with German and Italian air- against Italy came to naught when Ger-
Berlin the next night with a force of eighty craft attacking British cities, but by that many invaded Yugoslavia and Greece,
bombers. The damage to the German point it was clear that invasion was no forcing the British to make an ignomini-
capital was minimal, but such attacks longer possible due to the RAFs tech- ous retreat that cost them much mate-
would continue for the rest of the war. nological superiority. Over the months rial. Additionally, the arrival of Rommel
that followed, the campaign would be and the Afrika Korps in Libya pushed
Attacks against Fighter Command con-
replaced by sustained bomber raids, the British back into Egypt. The battles
tinued and both the RAF and Luftwaffe
known colloquially as the blitz, a sus- in North Africa would rage until 1943 and
sustained grave losses, much more
tained campaign against British civil- featured the deployment of tank-bust-
even than in earlier phases of the war.
ian centers that lasted until May 1941. ing aircraft by both sides. The campaign
British losses outstripped their produc-
The devastationof Coventry on Novem- also saw the first use of the German
tion for the first time, and Dowding
ber 14115 was the opening move of this Horten flying wings, used both as
feared that the end was nearing. Irldeed,
terror campaign, to which Arthur Har- KBmpfer transports and bombers.
when London was subject to a massive
ris of Bomber Command reciprocated
air attack on September 7 all troops in Flying wings also played a major role in
in the months that followed.
Britain were alerted to the prospect of Operation Mercury,the German invasion
invasion in the next twenty-four hours. of Crete on May 21, allowing them to land
Fortunately, Hitler chose to postpone the substantial numbers of infantry and
invasion until the end of September, giv- KBmpfers despite British successes
While the defense of their home island
ing the RAF a little breathing room in against German naval transports. The
occupied the bulk of the British atten-
which to recover. Nonetheless, on Sep- defenders fought bravely, but by the end
tion, it was not their only concern. On
tember 15 Goering ordered a major air of May were forced to abandon the is-
October 18, the Japanese bombed the
offensive against London and Fighter land. The Royal Navy lost three cruisers
Burma Road, hampering the flow of
Commands facilities, but received a and six destroyers, with a carrier, three
supplies to the Chinese. On November
rude surprise. battleships, six cruisers and seven de-
11, Swordfish from HMS ///ustrious
stroyers damaged, all by Luftwaffe at-
Having flown for the first time on July raided Taranto harbor, putting a signifi-
tacks. The only bright spot for the British
19 at RAF Cranwell, the prototype cant portion of the Italian fleet out of
during this time was the Atlantic, where
Gloster E.28139~were deployed commission and forcing the remainder
on May 26 Swordfish from the Arc Royal
against the assault. Later known as the into a defensive posture. Unfortunately,
managed to cripple the German battle-
G40 Pioneers, these dozen jet-powered not everything went the way the British
ship 6isrnark allowing it to be caught and
aircraft, based at Duckworth, gave the would have hoped in the Mediterra-
sunk by British warships the next day.
RAF an additional edge, allowing them nean. German Stukas damaged or
to quickly pursue the slower Luftwaffe sank several British warships in early
flotillas. The few squadrons the RAF 1941. In March of that year, German
could field were precious and used with aircraft succeeded in mining the Suez
April 2,1941 saw the first flight of a Ger-
parsimonyat first: the new jets required Canal, denying its use to the British for
man jet aircraft, the He 280, followed two
a totally different method of dogfight- three weeks. This hampered efforts to
weeks later by the first flight of the Me
ing, and the British pilots had to learn supply the island-fortress of Malta,
262 (originally planned with propellers,
all of their lessons the hard way. Still, in which nonetheless held on bravely de-
until the new jet engines were delivered
what became known as the Greatest spite repeated Luftwaffe assaults. The
at the last second). These technologi-
Day, the Luftwaffe lost almost two hun- Royal Navys attempts to supply the is-
cal breakthrough -the latter aircraft en-
dred aircraft to the RAFs thirty-five. land resulted in major losses of ships
tered mass productionat the end of May
These massive losses shattered the and aircraft, all routes to the island be-
- may have contributed to Hitlers de-
Luftwaffes morale and two days later, ing within reach of land-based German
cision to invade Russia in late June.
the German chancellor canceled plans bombers. Fortress Malta would, how-
for invasion. ever, become a legend.
Operating in support of the ground rope saw more fighting and lasted of cross-border actions, creating the
forces, the Luftwaffe assault was dev- longer than expected. 'Manchukuo Front.' Imperial aircraft
astating, able to destroy almost two launched deep interdictionraids against
Though still neutral, the USA received
thousand Russian aircraft, the majority communications lines in the Amur Basin,
details from the British of the Whittle tur-
still on the ground. Airdropped infantry one of which resulted in the severing of
bojet in July 1941, kick-starting their
and Kampfers allowed the invaders to the railway lines along which all Soviet
advanced fighter program though it
swiftly neutralize centers of Russian re- reinforcements had to flow. Russian re-
would be two years before they could
sistance, while the superiority of German solve wavered in face of this threat, but
deploy a working prototype. In the same
aircraft designs quickly became appar- rapid reorganization allowed the Soviet
month, the RAF began operations with
ent, with Luftwaffe pilots rapidly notch- forces to slow the assault. Though flying
the US-built 8-17, a stopgap measure
ing up dozens of kills. Indeed, by the aircraft technically superior to their Rus-
used until the deployment of the native
end of Operation Barbarossa, more than sian opponents, the Japanese pilots
Avro Lancaster in early 1942. By the end
a dozen pilots reported over two hun- lacked the combat experience of their
of the year, the RAF also deployed
dred kills! Four German Heinkels German counterparts and the air war
American Mustangs.
bombed Moscow on July 21, but plans over Vladivostok was much more evenly
for an airborne assault on the Russian In the Far East, the Chinese war contin- balanced than that over Moscow. Mean-
capital were postponed when the extent ued apace. In the summer of 1941 the while, relations with the USA deteriorated
of its air defenses became clear. In re- Japanese made extensive use of bomb- during this period and plans were put in
taliation for this assault, the Russians ing raids against Chinese positions, no- place for an offensive against the US
bombed Berlin on August 7; Moscow tably the city of Chungking.The Imperial Pacific Fleet before the end of the year.
would eventually be taken by the Ger- Army initially rebuffed German calls for
In the USSR, the Luftwaffe had almost
mans in November of 1941. The Ger- an offensive against Russia, preferring
free reign, with Soviet pilots forced to
mans occupied the city for several instead to conclude the war in China and
rely on suicide tactics to slow the Ger-
months, delaying the Russian counter- the Pacific before launching a new ven-
man advance. Despite ingrained sex-
offensive, and the eastern front in Eu- ture, but in October they began a series
ism in the WS (Voyennc-Vozdushne Sily,
IO
Soviet air force), women were drafted
as mechanics and pilots. This action
caused considerable tensions in the
Russian Air Force, as some chauvinis-
tic pilots refused to fly with a female
wingman or to pilot an aircraft with a fe-
male technician. Nonetheless, despera-
tion eventually forced them to accept
such measures and by 1942 there were
three all-female air regiments, incorpo-
rating notable pilots like Lilya Litvyak,
who would become known as the White
Rose of Stalingrad. Bad weather
slowed the German advance that win-
ter, and though they came to within nine-
teen miles of Moscow, the offensive
stalled. To make matters worse, a new
force was about to enter the war.
President Roosevelt called the attack In early March, General MacArthur with-
On 18 April, the Japanese were shocked
a day of infamy while the Japanese drew from the Philippines to Australia,
by an air raid on their home islands. Six-
commander, Admiral Yamamoto, de- while the Japanese made extensive use
teen 8-25 Mitchell bombers, equipped
clared I fear all we have done is of air power to reduce the last pockets
with experimental Goddard rocket boost-
awaken a sleeping giant and fill him of resistance in the islands. Amazingly,
ers and placed under the command of
with a terrible resolve. The USA imme- the US troops managedto hold out until
Lieutenant-ColonelJames Doolittle, took
diately declared war on Japan, with April 9, though many of the survivors
off from the carrier Hornet and bombed
Germany and Italy declaring war on were to suffer great hardship in the
Tokyo, Yokohama, Yokusuka, Nagoya
America on December 11. Bataan Death March and the captivity
and Kobe. The attack caused little ac-
that followed. On April 3, Japanese air-
tual damage but provided the Allies with
Cologne. Operation Millennium was to
become an obsession of Harris,with nu-
merous cities singled out for attention.
On June 4, the Millennium raid on
Bremen included testing of Gee blind-
ter crashlanding.
aircraft to attack a target without actu-
On May 4, a Japanese invasion force
bound for Port Moresby left Rabaul but
abandoned for the time being.
was ambushed by aircraft from the USS Wary of Americas reach, Japan sought
bases from which to oper-
ian Islands of Alaska, and
central Pacific were their
ts. On June 4, the Japa-
Mines and the Rammer Airplane never really caught on; other developments were damaged on June 4, was finally sunk
passingfads that visited the battlefield only briejly before a stalemate was reached. by a Japanese submarine on the 7th,
ending the Battle of Midway. The Japa-
The development of the Me-163 rocketplane both pleased and worried the Zaftwaffe.
ct their power into
thus modified to accept a servo-pilot - essentially, a metal drumfilled with a radio stroyed. Rumors of a Japanese secret
receiver and a cornputator: It was equipped with external servo-control levers and mega-battleship project would seem to
a televisor on top, andJt in the cockpit seat. This transformed the Komet into a reinforce this.
remotely operatedfighter that could also undertake maneuvers of its own if contact
was lost with the ground. The only external difference was the armored canopy,
which only had an elliptical clearfront windowfor the televisor:
August saw the first American air attacks
The Allies were soon to realize the new nature of the bold littlefighters that kept
harassing their bombers. Some planes were modijied to carry radio jammers in- in Europe, with rail sidings near Rouen
tended to block the control transmissions. These ECM aircraft were easy to recog- targeted by 6-17s escorted by RAF spit-
nize, their large antennae array and radome making them stand outfrom the rest of fires. August also saw the ill-fated Op-
theformation. They were soon escorted by bodyguard Flak bombers, airplanes eration Jubilee; the Ground operation
which sacrijiced their bomb loads and some of their defensive guns in exchangefor was a disaster, and the RAF sustained
massive turrets bearing shotgun-like cannons. They would swat the remotefighters major casualties in the air battle - 106
with little dijiculties, but manned aircraft responded too fast. After a few months, losses compared to 170 Germans. The
most of the Komets went back to human pilots, and the specialized ECM planes tragedy would, however, provide valu-
were re-assigned to more useful purposes. able lessons for the future.
I2
Germany, stalled in its drive, turned wrought considerable damage on Allied by the reinvigorated Russians. The sup-
south, staging a major assault on the troops off Algiers, while paratroop rein- ply situation in the Kessel was appall-
manufacturing city Stalingrad. The ini- forcements landed in Tunis. The war in ing, with scarcely a tenth of the needed
tial ground campaign went well, with air- North Africa would continue until mid food and ammunition making it into the
craft playing a major role in the attack 1943, but the Germans were now in a enclave, despite Goering's assurances
on the city, which began on August 19. difficult position. to Hitler that the Luftwaffe could meet
Bombers sought to level the city, while the needs of the embattled troops. The
The Russian counteroffensiveof Novem-
Ju 187s dove on transports bringing re- airlift continued until January 16, 1943,
ber 1942 caught the Germans by sur-
inforcements across the Volga. Despite when the Russians overran the airfield
prise, and the 6th Army and 4th Panzer
their best efforts, the Germans failed to at Pitomnik. Realizing the situation was
Army were trapped in Stalingrad. The
complete their seizure of the city and the futile, Von Paulus surrendered the
Reich troops fought on in the pocket,
campaign dragged on into the winter. Kessel on January, 31 1943.
referred to as the Kessel, but came un-
In the Far East, US troops landed on der attack on the ground and in the air
Guadalcanal but after an attack by the
Japanese fleet, the American warships
withdrew, leaving the marines without
supplies or air cover. Fortunately, the
troops had captured the Japanese air-
strip on the island and were able to use
it as a base. At the end of August, US
and Japanese carrier fleets again
clashed, this time near the Solomon Is-
lands This battle was inconclusive and
both fleets withdrew. The battle on
Guadalcanal would rage until February
1943, with air power - including the
new American Airacomet jets and battle-
ship-launched Roughriders - continu-
ing to be a major factor.
Biplanes have given way to monoplanes, and even these are becoming increas-
ingly sophisticated. Swept- and delta-wing have increased high-speed performance,
while some designs have massive wing areas to allow them to fly at altitude or to
transport massive loads. Indeed, some designs - notably those of Horten in Ger-
many and Northrop in the USA - lack a distinct fuselage and have been dubbed
flying wings.
his has prompted the RAF, Luftwaffe many, Japan and Russia are also experi-
nd USAAF to researchtyhnologies to mentingwith pharmacological methods
The continual development of new air-
afeguard and assist their pilots. Tests of increasing pilot endurance.
craft types has led to some interesting
ave been carried out with various cock-
vehicles that are unlike anything seen Mindful of the important resources rep-
it configurations to reduce the effect
so far in the field of aviation. Beyond resented by trained air crews, Britain and
f G-forces on the pilots, while the
simple design improvements, such as Germany have started to experimentwith
SAAF has an early prototype of an
the swept-wing or the turbo-charger, a ejector seats, intended to throw a pilot
lastic suit intendedto stop blood pool-
number of more exotic devices have clear of a stricken aircraft (jet speeds be-
ig in a pilot's limbs during high-speed
taken to the air. Some are hybrids of two ing too fast for traditional bail-out meth-
laneuvers, thus reducing the risk of
concepts, such as jet-propelled bi- ods to be practical). The Luftwaffe and
sing consciousness. Such a suit can
planes, while others merely make use Imperial Japan have also experimented
e combinedwith an oxygen supply that
of unusual layouts, such as the canard, with wholly detachable cockpits, with
ould enable a plane to fly harder and
to draw additional performances out of various degrees of success.
igher than anything previously built.
existing airframe technologies.
nconfirmed reports suggest that Ger-
Rotary wing aircraft may be the most
wW m - S P **dx"IQ*wm-
I8
cated gunner) can then steer the mis- on planes. Though other sensors, such though it remained to expensive for use
sile by the use of a small joystick in the as the German Vampyr infrared sight, in all designs. Radar-equipped planes
cockpit. Several seconds after launch- started appearing on planes by the were easy to spot by their antennae ar-
ing, the proximity and impact fuses are middle of the war, radar and its variants ray and large bulging radomes, and
armed; some models include a self-de- remained the main type of aircraft sen- many fighter pilots went automatically
struction fuse as well for the users sor for the bulk of the conflict. Efforts after the large dish-equipped, radio-
safety. Missiles carry several kilometers were made to counter radars effective- spoofing bombers.
worth of wire, and can reach speed of ness, and that of radio direction-finding
more than a 1000 kph. equipment, which led to the develop-
ment of Electronic Countermeasure
Germany is developing the
(ECM) systems. Efforts to efforts to en-
Vergeltungswaffe (Retaliation Weapon)
hance sensors -and to evade them - The Germans were among thefirst
series of long-range flying bombs, the
would be a major part of the late war. to develop reliable air-to-air missile
first of which -the FZG 76 (V1 to the
technology, and their X-4 missile
Allies) - is to be first tested in 1942 and
would serve as a template to many.
deployed a year later. America has its
Its production is simple, the design
own comparable program in the JB-2. As far back as June 1932, there had set up so that unskilled labor can as-
Japan too has a flying bomb program, been reports of planes interfering with semble large numbers in a relatively
but disdains the dumb- or computator- radio signals. Sir Robert A. Waston-Watt, short amount of time. Only the pm-
piloted concepts in favor of designs duction of the liquid-fie1 mcket mo-
A British electronics specialist, came up
flown by kamikaze suicide pilots, a the idea of RDF, Radio Direction Find- tor causes diflculties, with the BMW
practice the Germans have been eye- facility at Stargad currently the only
ing. With his staff, he submitted a paper
ing with interest. reliable source.
about a new type of sensor codenamed
radar in 1935 (radar is an acronym for
RAdio Detection and Ranging). The
device would transmit radio pulses to-
Experiments have also taken place re-
wards a target, then receive a return
garding the use of the ray guns and
portion of the transmitted signal after the
lightning generators already deployed
signal had contacted the target. By ob-
in fortifications and some tanks. To date,
serving the intensity and time delay of
however, the power requirements of
the returned signals, the position and
such systems have made a practical
speed of incoming aircraft could be ex-
aerial system impossible, but the inven-
trapolated. By the start of the war, both
tors of this Modern Age have merely
sides had a basic radar network in
taken these setbacks as a challenge to
place. They were short-ranged and in-
their ingenuity. Superscience will solve
accurate, but they at least provided
the problem.
early warning of an attack.
20
The aerial battles of World War II hold a particular fascination for many people. Luft A number of abreviations and acro-
Krieg is a ruleset that allows Players to refight such engagements using their own n y m appear in this book. For ease
tactics. The Gear Krieg setting incorporates many advanced ideas and technolo- of reference, the most common are
gies, giving Players access to a wide range of combat options. This chapter sup- listed here:
plies all the basic and advanced rules necessary to simulate battles and skirmishes
ACRONYM MEANING
in the Gear Krieg world; very specialized scenario-related rules, along with more
aircraft, will be found in a subsequent supplement. AE Area Effect
AUX Auxiliary System
For the purpose of the game, the aircraft are represented by small models, referred CP Command Points
to as miniatures. The locale where the battle will be fought is a tabletop landscape, - ICP Initiative Command Points
or an approximation of it. A tape ruler (or other similar instrument of measure) is - TCP Tactical Command Points
used to regulate movement and measure the range of the weapons. ECM Electronic Countermeasures
ECCM Electronic Counter-Counter-
measures
LOS Line of Sight
MnF Margin of Failure
MoS Margin of Success
MP Movement Point
Measurement Unit
Royal Air Force
21
The actual position of the unit is consid- for games involving only two or three
ered to be the exact center of the min- planes per side. Air war turns are a little STANDARDS
iature representingit. All measurements more abstract, each 30-second turn re-
Gear Krieg uses everyday six-sided
are taken from this center point. The flecting the major maneuversof a battle.
dice to add a random element to the
vertical dimension of the battlefield is It is suited to most game scenarios and
game. These are sometimes referred to
important: assume the aircraft is actu- can handle dozens of planes per side if
as 1d 6 in the rules, 2d6 for two dice,
ally one MU above the miniatures posi- need be.
3d6 for three, and so on.
tion on the table surface for every point
The rules remain the same regardless
of altitude. Calculate Line of Sight (LOS) When two or more dice are rolled simul-
of table scale, and, in both case, each
from this point. taneously, their results are not added
Movement Point (MPs - see page 28)
together. Instead, the highest result is
Luft Krieg can be played in one of two represents 30 kph. Usually, one MP
considered to be the outcome of the die
broadtimescales, DogfightingorAir War translates to one MU of movement, but
roll. If more than one 6 is rolled, each
(see table below). The former uses short some environments require additional
extra 6 adds one (1) to the total. If ev-
bursts of time (6-second game turns) to Movement Points to move through,
ery die rolled turns up 1, the die roll is
simulate the constant jockeying for po- simulating difficult atmospheric condi-
a Fumble and counts as an overall re-
sition of the contestants. It is best used tions or maneuvers.
sult of zero and no modifiers may
change this value. Unless specifically
mentioned otherwise, all die rolls work
in this way.
Situation Aircraft Scale Ground Scale Time Frame Movement Unit
DOGFIGHTING The totals of die rolls are often influenced
b r a e ODen Area 1148 1/48 6 stturn MU=6=16cm by modifiers. Modifiers are added to the
Large Table 1/72 1/72 6 stturn MU = 4 = 10 cm total of a die roll. If negative modifiers
Medium Table 1/87 1I87 6 shurn MU = 3 = 8 cm lower the total below zero, the final re-
1
AIR WAR sult is always zero and cannot go any
Medium Table 11144 1/1000 30 slturn lower. Modifiers are not applied to
Small Table 1/285-1/300 1/10,000 Fumbles.
22
Actions are listed on the aircraft data
card. Some or all of these additional Ac-
In Luft Krieg, pilots and crew are rated n aircrafts Actions are limited by the
tions can be lost when crew casualties
in terms of their Skills. A Skill is a learned tal number of crewmen. All aircraft au-
occur. If the number of crewmembers
talent or ability, which is often improved lmatically get one Action. Aircraft with
goes below the crewing threshold, one
with practical experience. There are four 10 or more crewmen get additional Ac-
Action is lost. A crewless unit cannot
important Skills in the game: Piloting, Ins at no cost. It takes two crewmen to
perform Actions. It is possible to take
Gunnery, Leadership and Tactics. It is a st one more Actions, four for two Ac-
more Actions than indicated during a
common practiceto rate a crew in terms ins, and so on, doubling each time
combat turn, but each additional Action
of general training: for example, a crew ough this may be modified by Perks
causes a -1 penalty on all Actions.
rated as Veteran is assumed to have an i d Flaws. The number of crew and/or
average Skill level of 3. wXeA-w-e*--
6 TXAMS@RWW
- u*Ar*m GrewActions
CREW ACTIONS CREW ACTIONS
AND FAILURE
1 1 (Basic) 8-15 4 (Basic +3)
Most attacks and tactical Actions require 2-3 2 (Basic +1) 16-31 5 (Basic +4)
Skill Tests. These consist of a die roll 4-7 3 (Basic +21 32+ 6 (Basic +51 I
whose result is compared to another die
roll or a fixed number called a Thresh- ~~~~~~~~
26
location of the target is used to deter- If an aircraft was tailed in a previous turn m m ! n r K T
mine the defense speed modifier, even and the chasing aircraft remains in a NEOUS E W PHASE
though the actual displacement may be tailing position (and has not yet
During this phase, any unusual events,
shorter, because this is a hurried reac- atedl when the target next activates,
such as bombing attacks, are resolved,
tion for the attacker. the may request another
At the end of the phase, Initiative Corn-
Piloting Skill test (as above) to see if the
Snap firing does not cost Command points go back to and any
Tailing continues. Though this does not
Points but it reduces by 1the total num- Actions not spent are lost,
gain the tailer an advantage in maneu-
ber of attacks that the snap-firing unit
vering, as in either case the target acti- Repeat Steps 1 to 4 until the battle is
has for the turn. The defender must
vates before them, it does give them a resolved Or pre-planned objectives are
spend at least one MP or end its move-
position combat bonus (see page 37). met. A group only move
ment before each of the attackers Ac-
once per combat turn.
tions if more than one Action is used.
1
Forward observers (units that spend an
Action feeding enemy coordinates to TailhgExan#e
friendly units) must always act before the
Pinkys Hurricane begins its turn behind an Italian Machi C202 Foglore over
firing unit(s).
the Western Desert. The Machi is in Pinkys Front arc and his aircraft is in the
Foglores rear arc. Both aircraft are at Altitude Level 15 and within 2 MUS, and the
Italian has yet to move. As a result, Pinky decides to try and tail the enemy airrrajl.
Starting the turn behind an enemy air- The Maneuver score of the Hurricane is -I to which he adds the result of his Pilot-
craft can give considerable benefits in ing Skill roll, 6,for a total of 5 and a MOS of I. The Machis Maneuver score is -2
combat, known as tailing. Getting into and a 5 is rolled for the pilot, a total of 3 and a MOF of 2. Pinky succeeds and the
the appropriate position is a difficult Italian must immediately activate and move his aircrajl. Pinky can thenfollow the
enemy aircraft and gains a bonus if he engages it in combat.
task, reliant on a several factors. To Tail
another aircraft, a unit must:
28
have enough power to climb almost
straight up if they want, spending up to Crashlanding example
half their MPs within a single MU.
The "Dante'sDaughtel;" an Avro Lancaster with a Maneuver rating of -3, a Size
Note: As most aircraft fly at consider- rating of I O and a Stall Speed of 5, is about to crashland on Rough terrain (Ground
able altitudes, the terrain effects of the MP cost of 2 ) . The pilot attempts a smooth belly-landing. Using his Piloting Skill,
ground below them are irrelevant. Ignore he rolls a 6, modified down to a 3 because of the Maneuver rating,for a Margin of
Success of I . He then rolls two dice for the crashlanding: the highest result of the
terrain effects unless attacking ground
two is a 4, from which he subtracts the Piloting MOS of I for a net score of 3. He
targets or some high ground, such as a
multiplies this by the aircraft's size (IO)and halfthe aircraft's MF! rounded up (3),
mountain, obstructs the line of sight
for a total of 90 damage points. Unfortunately, the Lancaster has an Overkill rat-
between two aircraft. ing O f 45 and disintegrates spectacularly.
29
Speed, the pilot must make a Piloting A stalled aircraft cannot attack or take
Skill test against a Threshold of 4. The any other actions, for the pilot is too busy
Most aircraft have a Stall Speed at-
test is not modified by the Maneuver trying to regain control and the crew are
tribute. This attribute indicates the mini-
value but a -2 penalty is applied for ev- simply hanging on for dear life. Those
mum speed at which an aircraft must
ery point of Overspeed beyond the attacking a stalled aircraft gain a +1
fly to avoid stalling, i.e. losing altitude
planes Stall Speed value. bonus, for much the same reason.
due to reduced lift. If the aircraft is mov-
If the roll succeeds, the aircraft is un- ing below this limit at the end of any Aircraft with the Lighter-than-Air perk
harmed, while a fumble results in the movement, the plane begins to stall. The cannot stall. Aircraft with the VTOL trait
immediate disintegration of the aircraft. pilot may attempt to fight this, making a can stall if they havent switched to the
In every other case, the aircraft takes Piloting roll against a Threshold of 4 + VTOL movement mode.
damage. For each point of MOS, the the number of MU below stall speed. If
aircraft takes Light Damage (including the roll is successful, he retains control
the appropriate armor reduction). Every of the plane, which (temporarily) avoids
AL- LOSS TABLE
point by which an aircrafts current the full effect of stalling but suffers a -1 # OF TURNS DROP
speed exceeds 40 (the speed of sound) penalty to Maneuver. If the roll fails, or 1 5
is added to the Threshold unless the an aircraft is reduced to 0 MP, stall ef- 2 10
3 I5
aircrafts unmodifiedTop Speed is 40 or fects come into play.
higher. 4+ 20
Stalled aircraft lose altitude levels, with
# of Turn is the # of turns the air-
increasing rapidity if the aircraft remains
craft has remained stalled.
stalled. To pull out of a stall, the pilot must
MOVEMENT
SYSTEMS first wait until the aircraft loses a number Drop is the number of altitude levels
of altitude levels equal to the aircrafts Stall lost during the turn. The maximum
Most aircraft have only a single move-
Speed, then make a Piloting roll against number of altitude levels lost in one
ment mode while in the air, referred to
as Normal Flight, but a rare few have a Threshold of 6. If the number of levels
alternate modes such as VTOL. To tran- lost in a turn allow, the pilot may make
sit between normal flight and VTOL (or multiple attempts to pull out of the stall.
vice versa) the aircraft must be at Com- If the pilots Margin of Success is 2 or
bat Speed, not at Top Speed. This shift higher, he can select his crafts head-
must be declared by the Player imme- ing when he pulls out of the stall: other-
diately after moving the unit. The vehicle wise, determine it randomly with a roll
is considered to be using the new move- of the die. If the die roll does not suc-
ment mode until it is switched again. ceed, the pilot can make another at-
A vehicle with multiple movement sys- tempt once the Stall speed is reached
tems may only switch modes once per again, up until the aircraft has lost the
turn. This option must be announced maximum number of altitude levels for
during the movement phase. that turn (see the Altitude Loss table).
Diving out of control, our Spitfre accelerates to 24 MF? Witha Top Speed of 2 I , the
aircrafi is Overspeeding by 3 and thus suffers a -3 Maneuver penalty. In the next
turn, the Spitfre accelerates to 27. an Overspeed of 6 - this is above the planes
Stall Speed of 5. and the aircraft is now in danger of disintegrating! The pilot rolls
his Piloting Skill and gets a 4, modijied by -2 (twice the difference between the
Ovrrspeed and Stall values). The aircraji suffers two Light Damage hi
K*mm--*%T*+ ---m-.ww>w,as4-- %WL%W%\%Wy*i e<
An aircraft can turn up to 60 degrees
A British Tempest is frying at an altitude of 24. It has a Stall Speed of 6 but only left or right at no MP expense after mov-
moved 4 MUS in the last turn. The Qualgedpilot attempts to avoid the stall (Thresh- ing forward at least one MU. Aircraft with
old 6 ) but rolls 3 and 4. The aircraft stalls and begins to lose altitude, falling five negative Maneuver values must travel
elevation levels (asper the table). Using his Piloting Skill, the pilot tries to regain straight ahead one more MU per nega-
control, but the plane mustfirst lose six altitude levels to match the Stall speed! He tive Maneuver point beforeturning. This
cannot make an attempt this turn. extra distance is known as the Turn Ra-
In the following turn, the aircraft remains stalled. It falls another altitude level dius. Aircraft with active VTOL move-
(down to 18)and the pilot tries to pull out. He rolls a 2 and a 4, a failure. Being in ment or the Lighter-than-AirPerks may
its second turn of stalling, the Spitfirefalls another six altitude levels (down to 12) turn at any time but must pay an MP for
and the pilot tries again to cheatfate, but his rolls of 3 and3 are insuficient to help each 60-degrees (or part of).
him. Now he begins to panic! The plane falls three more levels to match the chart.
Aircraft moving at speeds below 6 have
At the start of the third turn, the aircraftfalls three altitude levels (to 6!). This will their Turn Radius reduced by 1 (if the
be the pilots last attempt to pull out before his aircrafr decorates the Kent country-
Radius is already equal to 0, treat the
side. Luckily, he rolls two sixes for a score of 7 and pulls out of the dive a scant
aircraft as VTOL for purposesof maneu-
dozens of meters above the ground. Good show, old bean! However; as the pilot's
MOS was less than 2, thefinal facing of the aircrafr is determined randomly. vering). Aircraft moving at speeds
greater than 20 have their Turn Radius
increased by 1 , i.e. they must move an
additional MU before turning.
***
has a turn radius of 3, which means
it has to travel three MUS before dius. Rocket-poweredaircraft add a +2
turning.Aimrap C is a VTOLand can penalty when determining their turn
turn any amount, paying I MP for radius.
each 60-degrees.
A B C
wma
loop), thus executing a reverse turn. All
loops require one (Half Loop), or two
Unlike ground vehicles, which are lim- It is possible for a fixed-wing aircraft to
(Full Loop) Actions.
ited to 2-dimensional movement and by keep on flying even if it no longer exerts
the forces of gravity, aircraft can exploit To execute a Full Loop, a craft must any thrust, by gliding down to the
their entire environment, resulting in fluid spend a number of Movement Points; ground. Each round a plane glides, it
and breathtaking maneuvers. Some the tightness of the loop depends on must lose any combination of 2 points
types of aircraft are prohibited from at- how many MPs are spent. The MP cost of either speed (in MPs) or altitude.
tempting certain maneuvers, while air- of the loop is determined by the desired Should the aircraft's speed fall below its
craft with a poor Maneuver score may Turn Radius x 6 (with a minimum Turn Stall Speed, it will immediately stall and
find it impossible to successfully com- Radius as outlined in Turning, page 31); lose altitude levels accordingly. Gliding
plete certain maneuvers. the difficulty of the maneuver is equal to aircraft can use the diving maneuver
that of the selected Turn Radius +1 (see below) to gain speed.
(minimum 3; doublethe difficulty Thresh-
Planes that can reach supersonic
old for rotary-wingaircraft). Lighter-than-
speeds (i.e. with Top speeds of 40 or
Sideslipping allows the aircraft to slowly air craft cannot perform loops. The air-
more) are not very good at gliding. For
drift left or right without the need for radi- craft ends its movement anywhere within
each round spent gliding, they must lose
cal maneuvering. For every three MUS a distance and altitude of its starting
any combinationof three points of speed
of forward motion, the aircraft can move point equal to the Turn Radius in MUS.
or altitude, with a minimum altitude level
up to one MU left or right without need-
A Half Loop is handled similarly, though loss of one. Planes with the Glider Perk,
ing to change facing. Sideslipping has
the cost in Movement points is a little on the other hand, only have to lose one
no MP cost.
less (selected Turn Radius x 3). The dif- altitude level or speed point per com-
ficulty Threshold is the same as for a Full bat turn. Those rare aircraft with both
Loop. As above, the craft ends its move- the Glider Perk and capable of super-
ment within a number of MUS equal to sonic speeds conform to the standard
An aircraft rolls when it rotates around its
theTR of its starting point. Heading and aircraft rules, i.e. must lose any combi-
main axis, keeping a more or less straight
heading. Rolling does not affect move- altitude are fixed: heading is changed nation of two points of either speed (in
by 180,and altitude must be increased MPs) or altitude.
ment per se, as only the aircraft's hori-
zon really changes. This adds a +I bo- (or decreased, for Inverse Loops) by an
nus to evading enemy fire and a -1 pen- amount equal to at least the selected
alty to any attacks made by the rolling Turn Radius x 1.5 and up to twice the
Turn Radius, as desired. A good way to rapidly lose altitude, a
craft. Its difficulty Threshold is 4. On a
dive is nonetheless a risky maneuver,
failure, roll on the Aircraft Control Loss A pilot who fails his test during a Loop- as there is always the risk of being un-
Table. This maneuver costs one Action. ing must roll on the Aircraft ControlLoss able to pull out. To dive, the aircraft must
Only fixed-wing aircraft can execute a roll. Table (see next page), adding +1 for a spend a number of MPs equal to at least
Half Loop, +2 for a Full Loop and +3 for its full combat speed and loses that
any kind of Inverse Loop. number of altitude levels, plus a num-
An aircraft that is Tailed may undertakes ber of levels as indicated in the Altitude
The traditional air show maneuver, loop-
a loop to attempt to break the tail. The Loss table (page 30).
ing can have tactical uses. There are
two kinds of loops: a Full Loop and a opposed Piloting test is as outlined in At the beginning of the following turn,
Half Loop (also known as an Immel- Tailing (page 27),but on this occasion the pilot may attempt to pull out of the
mann). In a Full Loop, the craft more or the target aircraft adds the Turn Radius dive. Pulling out requires a Piloting roll
less ends the maneuver where it of the maneuver as a bonus to his roll. If (modified by the aircraft's Maneuver
started, keeping approximately the its MoS is greater than that of the at- value) against a Threshold of 4. A failed
same heading. In a Half Loop, the craft tacker, it evades the pursuit and is no Piloting test means that the aircraft can-
keeps on going straight at the top of longer considered Tailed, and the other not pull out this turn and begins to fall
the loop (or the bottom, for an inverse aircraft does not automatically activate. as if it were stalling. The aircraft w ~ llose
l
32
a number of altitude levels equal to the ?r was an outside (inverse) loop, add
MPs it originally spent in beginning the 1to the Threshold. If the roll succeeds,
Whenever a pilot fails during a delicate
dive plus a number of levels as indicate le crew continues to act normally. If
maneuver, or Fumbles any Piloting roll,
in the Altitude LossTable (page 30),until iiled, the MoF is applied as a penalty
he must roll one die and check the re-
the pilot can pull out of this uncontrolled I any Piloting Skill rolls undertaken for
sult on the Aircraft Control Loss Table
fall (Piloting vs. 6).If the aircrafts alti- te remainder of the turn. In the event
below. Specific maneuvers may modify
tude drops below ground level, the I a Fumble, the crew blacks out and
the roll, otherwise the result is taken
plane crashes and is completely de- lay not spend any Actions this turn. If
straight.
stroyed. A Fumble on the pull-out roll re- Piloting Skill roll is required while the
quires another roll, this time on the Air- rew is unconscious, it automatically
craft Control Loss Table; apply the indi- iils and the pilot must roll on the Con-
cated effects in addition to the normal 01 Loss table.
effects of a failed Piloting roll, unless ?aa * w ~ - Y e - * % Y ~ % - m ? % P ~ m ~ - * * * I * M - m= * \ w a P
33
There are several simple ways to check
line-of-sight. The string is acommon and
easy-to-use method. An ordinary string
Combat is essentially divided into two distinct Actions: first to find the enemy, then to
or thread is placed from the sensors of
attack it. Both provide offensive and defensive opportunities that must be taken
the firing unit to the visible portion of the
advantage of in order to gain the upper hand in battle.
defender (or the center points of both, if
Game play is divided among much the same line. A unit must be able to acquire its playing the tactical scale). If the string
target (either visually or through sensor or communication devices) before it can is not hindered in any way, the LoS is
attack it. clear. If it is, the model is in partial cover,
or, if the string is blocked completely, in
full cover. Other methods include direct
visual sighting (impractical on large
playing surfaces) and, for the well
equipped, laser pointer sighting.
34
0
35
Dorsal-Forwardarc allows the weapons
to fire at targets in the forward 180 de-
The Concealment value is equal to the If a unit has a Line of Sight to a target
grees andat a higher altitude level than
Obscurement of all terrain directly be- within its weapons firing arc and range,
the firer. The Dorsal-Rear arc allows the
tween the two (round down to the nearest it can attack that target.
weapons to fire at targets in the rear 180
number). In aerial combat, this is usually
degrees and at a higher altitude level When an attack occurs, an opposed
limitedto the effects of cloud and weather
than the firer The Dorsal-Turret arc al- Skill test is required to determine the
but may, in some low altitude engage-
lows the weapons to fire at any target at success of the attack. The attacker uses
ments, include the presenceof buildings
a higher altitude level. his units Gunnery Skill and the defender
and terrain features such as hills.
uses his units Piloting Skill to make the
The Ventral-Forward arc allows the
The Terrain Table indicates the Obscure- test, both rolls modified by the appro-
weapons to fire at targets in the forward
ment values for each type of terrain, per priate Attributes and situation modifiers
180 degrees andat a lower altitude level
whole MU, while the Weather Tab/e(page
than the firer. The Ventral-Rear arc al- If the attacker wins the Skill test, the at-
48) details the effect of various environ-
lows the weapons to fire at targets in the tack succeeds. If the defender wins or
mental conditions. Obscurement makes
rear 180 degrees andat a lower altitude if a draw occurs, the attack misses. The
a target difficult to detect and cause pen-
level than the firer. The Ventral-Turret arc table on the next page contains a list of
alties that are applied to the attackers roll.
allows the weapons to fire at any target the modifiers to both rolls, they are ex-
at a lower altitude level. plained further in the text.
36
@ab
Maneuver Ratina
range to the target, the obscurement (or 0 Defender Movement Modifier
cover) between the attacker and de- 0 Arc of Attack Modifier
fender and the attackers own movement.
POSSIBLE OUTCOMES:
If Attackers total is > Defenders HIT
0 If Attackers total is 5 Defenders MISS
the harder it is to hit and damage it. Half Long (from previous to four (4) times base range)
the difference in altitude levels between Extreme (from previous to eight (8) times base range)
the firer and attacker is added to the Target Tailed this turn
OBSCUREMENT MODIFIERS
range between the two units, each level
Clear Skies 0 Light Cloud 0.5 (round down)
of difference counting as 1/2 an MU of
Heavy Cloud 1 StormCloud
distance (round up).
MOVEMENT MODIFIERS
Stationary +2 Half Combat Speed or less
OBSCUREMENT Combat Speed +O TopSpeed
0
MUS MOVED DEFENSE MODIFIER MUS MOVED DEFENSE MODIFIER
!
0 -3 7-9 +1 :
The speed of both attacker and de-
fender can impact on the accuracy of
1-2
3-4
-2
-1
10-19
20-99
+2
+3
i
;
combat; aircraft moving at high speeds 5-6 +O Tailed by attacker this turn -1 b
are harder to hit but also have greater DEFENSEARC MODIFIERS
difficulty hitting targets due to the shak- If attack is in the defenders Front o c
ing and bumping that occurs at such If attack is from defenders Rear Flank or Above -1
velocities. Conversely, aircraft traveling If attack is from defenders Rear or Below -2 :
slowly are easier to hit but suffer less
from vibration.
37
T
yl*VA*B*zc\^*
39
Burst fire is generalizedand abstracted
Burst R e Example
into a form that is easier (and faster) to Heinrichs Bf 10g Gustavdrops onto the tail of a SpitJre andfires his 3omm MK
use during the game, rather than worry 108. The gun has a ROF of + I and he decides to unleash the full force of the
about each and every bullet or rocket cannon on Tommy, expending IO rounds of ammunition. He hits with a MOS of 3
sent toward the enemy. Any weapon with and the weapons normal Damage Multiplier is XIO. Since the ROF is + I this in-
a Rate of Fire (ROF) rating of 1 or greater creases to X I I , for as total O f 33 points of damage.
is capable of burst fire. A short while late6 Heinrich straafs a Russian convoy. He catches an infantry unit
in the open andattacks them with his 13 mm M G I ~machine
I gun, opting to use the
The Rate of Fire is added to the weap-
full ROF of +3 and expending 30 rounds. His MOS is 2 which would normally
ons Damage Multiplier when the
inflict8 points of damage (zx the Damage Multiplier of 4).As the target is unarmored
weapon is used against aircraft and the ROF adds to the Damage Multipliel; increasing it to 7. As a result, the attack
other hard targets such as buildings and inflicts 14 points of damage ( 2 x (4+3)).
other structures. This representsthe in-
creased damage effect caused by the
pounding of many projectiles upon the
targets armor.
A successful burst fire attack versus in- A flight of three Zeros are bearing down on the Americanfleet. Our canny hero,
fantry and other targets with no Armor
Chuck Ironman OConnoc dives out of the sun in his p51, catching them un-
awares. He rakes his 0.5 in Brownings across the Japaneseflight - the guns have
value, on the other hand, adds the ROF
an ROF of +3, allowing him to attack up to 4 aircrafl. By attacking two extra
bonus to the Margin of Success instead
targets his effective ROF against each aircrafr is + I . He still expends 30 rounds of
of the Damage Multiplier to represent the ammunition.
devastating effect of the multiple rounds %*A*
1I
c
be attacked, regardless of the diameter A r e a Effect Example I
of the saturation fire zone.
Having narrowly survived the Cloudof Death, Guntherpulls away fromthefac-
tory, only to have an AA shell (AEI, DMx2o) explode nearby. Though it missed
hitting the DO-17 directly, Gunthers plane is within 2 MU of the shell (the AE
value + I ) and is thus caught in the blast. The attack roll is a 4 and Gunthers
defense roll is a 6.He escapes the brunt of the damage but the Dornier still suffers
a IO point attack (OM of 20 divided by 2). Ordinarily this wouldnt damage the
bomber; but on top of damagefrom the Cloud of Death ...
--,6mW+we&-&
Depending on the aircrafts altitude, the
-Example Bombs fall into two broad categories:
bomb may or may not hit in the same
turn it was dropped on. Divide the
Pinkys tank-buster Hurricane dives air-to-ground missiles and ordinary
aircrafts altitude by fifteen (rounding
againsta PzKpf VAusfA Valkurie bombs. Air-to-groundmissiles follow the
any fraction down) to determine the
length of delay; Roll for the attack in
the Action phase of the designated
combat round.
flight path to ensure both fall in the depends on the aircrafts velocity, alti-
target area. Pinkys crate is moving tude and the method of bombing. There
at CombatSpeed and used itsfull MP are three such methods: normal bomb-
A tactic used for the mass destruction
of urban and rural regions, carpet-
gets are in the shortRange bracket calculated at any time during the bomb- bombing consists of dropping very large
(0).Together with the -2 penaltyfor quantities of bombs over a given area.
ing units movement phase, but are re-
strafing, Pinkys total modifiers are To carpet-bomb a target, a plane must
solved during the Action phase.
-4. He makes a GunnerySkill roll and
have a bomb rack with a ROF greater
gets a 7for a net result of 3. A Gunnery roll (Threshold 4) is still re-
than zero. Determining the target point
The Valkurie moved only 2 MU, quired to see if the target point was hit;
is done the same way as for normal
which would ordinanly impose a -2 in the case of a failure, the bomb falls
bombing, except that the bombs can-
Defensive modfie< but the strafing one MU away from the target for every
not be guided (this rarely matters as
penalty reduces this to -3. Its base two points of MoF, either short or long
accuracy is not the issue in carpet-
Maneuver value is - I and the attack (even MoF = long, odd MoF = short). If
bombing). The bombardier can choose
c m f r o m above ( - I ) ,for a net modi- a Fumble is rolled, the bomb did not ex-
to either devastate a target point (using
fier of -5. Heinz makes his Piloting plode or it hit way &-target (because
the Burst Fire rules) or spread out the
and gets a 69 -@dhwn of high winds, bent fins, collision with a
to I . This i-esults in a MOS of 2 for attack over the largest possible area.
bird, A draw is still a hit,
the Hurricanes 40 mm cannon, in- In the latter case, the aircraftsdirection,
flicting 24 damage points on the speed and altitude when released de-
~ walkes equaling its Overkill score termines the impact of each bomb as
and causing it to explode in a ball of
In normal bombing, the target point is per the rules outlined in Normal Bomb-
flame.
determined by how fast and high the ing. The maximum number of bombs
Pinkys Gunnery roll against the in- plane was going when it dropped the dropped per bombing Action of the
fantry is 6 but an additional -2 pen- bomb, as well as its direction (for speed, crew equals the bomb racks ROF.
alty is applied to anti-infantry at- use the number of MUS moved during
tacks,for a net result of 0. the precedinground). Bombs follow the
The target troops moved only I MU same direction vector as the plane that
but infantry do not use defensive dropped them. To find out how far (in Dive-bombing uses a different principle
movement modifiers (Gear Krieg, MU) the target point is from the drop than other types of bombing. The air-
page 63). The -I penaltyfor an at- point, divide the aircrafts speed by 3 craft actually plunges towards the tar-
tackfrom above is applied, howeves (round fractions down). With conven- get to drop the bomb, pulling up at the
for a net modfier of - I . The defense tional bombs, this distance may not ex- last moment.
roll for the infantry is 4, modified
ceed the aircraftsaltitude. Glide bombs The target point can thus be chosen
down to a 3. A success, and the in-
(those such as the Hagelkorn with the more easily: the bombing aircraft can
fantry escape damage as the men
Glider perk) may travel a distance equal pick either the point where hes diving,
scatters and dive into the nearest
ditch and foxholes. to the aircrafts altitude. Guided bombs or a position up to 1 MU in front of it
(see Guided Bombs on next page) can (front being the direction of pull out).
modify their target point by one MU in The procedure is not without risk.
any direction.
42
First, the aircraft must fall into a dive and LAdm B O M ~ ~ R S payload is droppedljettisoned, at which
spend the turn diving, losing a number point the penalty is adapted to reflect
The additional mass of bombs and other
of altitude levels indicated by the Div- the new payload level.
equipment greatly impedes the maneu-
ing rules (page 32). The next turn, the
verability of aircraft. While carrying in- External payloads count as only half
aircraft declares its attack and target
ternal payloads, the aircraft may suffer (round down) their normal load but re-
point at the beginning of its movement
a penalty to their Maneuver score, duce the Top Speed of the aircraft. More
phase. It then tries to pull out of the dive.
based on the proportionof the total load. details on such loads can be found in
The attack, as usual, is resolvedduring
These penalties remain in effect until the Underwing Stores on page 44.
the Players Action phase.
* Ij m w % __jw*<* we* w e m* *x @a*r
BonrberManeuver At the start of this turn he releases his bombs at the barge, which is I MU horizon-
tally in front of the dive-bomber. Normally, a bomb released at Altitude 19 would i
Penatty table take I turn to arrive at the target but as this is a dive-bombing attack, the number of 0
LOAD PENALTY levels dove ( I I ) are subtractedfromthe actual altitude (19)to determine the effec-
Up to 1/4 maximum 0 rive altitude ( I ~ - I I = when
~ ) calculating the delay. The bombs scream in at the
1/4-1/2 maximum -1 target this round. Now all Heinz has to worry about is the returnfire - andpulling
Over 1/2 load -2 upfrotn his dive.
Over full load -3
43
Underwing stores may be jettisoned at ~ ~ I ~
serves as the maximum Combat Speed. Guided Bomb 1 0 0 x12 AE. 1, Wire-Guided
If this speed modification drops the Bouncing Bomb 10 Special** -2 x20 Oversize
12,0001bsBomb2 11 0 -2 x35 AE: 3, Oversize
aircraftsmaximum speed below its Stall
EarthquakeBomb3 20 0 -3 x50 AE. 3, Oversize
Speed the aircraft cannot take off. If air-
borne, the pilot must immediately (their * Up to 5+1d6 MU from impact point in direction offlight if intervening terrain is
next Action) jettison the external stores Water; otherwise 0,
or the aircraft stalls automatically. **Up to 4 MU from impact point in direction of flight if intervening terrain is
Aircraft attempting to land while carry- Water;otherwise 0.
ing Underwing Stores must make a Pi- I This bomb type is also known as the Dam Buster
lotingSkill roll against a Threshold of 2+
2 This bomb type is also known as the Tall Boy.
the number of remaining Underwing
Stores. Failure results in a crashlanding 3 This bomb type is also known as the Grand Slum or Blockbuster
(see page 29).
44
DA If the attack successfully causes dam-
The Armor rating of an aircraft represents the toughness of its best armored loca- age to the enemy aircraft, the attacker
tion. Aiming for the weaker points of the structure thus increase the chances of must rolls l d 6 on the System Damage
damaging the unit. A weapons damage increases with the Margin of Success of its Table (see next page) to find the exact
attack, since weapon damage is rated as a multiplier to the Margin of Success. location of the hit.
Thus the better the marksman, the greater the damage.
If a six is rolled on the table, a cascade
Total Damage = Margin of Success x Damage Multiplier result occurs: multiple systems fail,
This final damage is compared to the Armor of the target aircraft. The table below bullets ricochet inside the airframe, etc.
lists the possible outcomes; only the most severe effect applies. For example, if an The attacker may immediately roll twice
aircraft suffers Heavy Damage because it took damage exceeding twice its Base on the table. If any of these new rolls
Armor, it does not suffer Light Damage as well. Regardless of the result of the Skill produce a six again, it also generates
test, the Margin of Success cannot be greater than six for the purpose of damage. two new rolls and so on until only
damage results have been rolled. Note
that the plane does not lose additional
Armor points for these extra hits (see
Armor Loss on the next page).
-
aged due to cracking and structural fa-
tigue. Bits and parts may fall off, or
chinks may develop through which the
Crew stunned (-1 Action for 1 turn)
next attack will reach a vital system or
1 4 Movement. -1 Movement Point
component inside, hastening the
4
9
5 Auxiliary Systems -1 to ld6 Auxiliary Systems
aircraft's demise.
$ 6 Roll Twice on this table*'-
When an aircraft suffers Light Damage,
Danrage T:- Heavy Darnage it loses one point of Base Armor perma-
DAMAGED SYSTEM nently in addition to the effect outlined
Fire Control in the System Damage Table. Heavy
Damage causes an aircraft to lose two
points of Base Armor permanently, in
Movement' 1/2 remaining MP (round down) & -2 Maneuver
addition to the system damage. Each
Auxiliary Systems ld6 Auxiliary System destroyed
point of Base Armor lost reduces the
Roll Twice on this table**
amount needed to inflict Heavy Dam-
*Choose Flight or Ground movement / ** Ifthe attack was a called shot, the at- age by 2 and the amount need to pro-
duce Overkill by 3.
46
Armor D m a ~ Example
e Any penalty to the speed of the aircraft
The FW 190 is hit again, this time for 15 points. Ordinarily this wouM be light is applied to its Top Speed for the Flight
damage (Greater than Base Armor but less than 2x Base Armor). Unfortunatelyfor Movement Type; the Combat Speed is
the F190, it has already been damaged and the Base Annor value is now only 7, then recalculatedas needed. If all Move-
meaning that 15 is more than 2x the Armor Value. The result is Heavy Damage, and ment Systems are reduced to 0. either
a further armor reduction of 2 points (only 5 points remain). through successive minuses (maximum
-5) or Heavy Damage, the aircraft can
8y-~mage~amp~
henceforth only Glide (see page 32). If
The pilot of our F W I rolls~ a die to determine the effect of the light damage on the damage reduces the aircrafts Top
aircraji, The result is 3, a crew hit, indicating that the pilot is stunned ( - I Actionfor Speed below its current velocity, the air-
I turn). He then rolls another die to determine the effect of the heavy damage and
craft suffers the effect of Overspeed
the result is a 6! He rolls twice more, thefirst result a I (Fire Control Damage) and
(see page 29).
the other a 4 (Movement Damage - I/Z MP and -2 Maneuver). The Fire Control
result requires the pilot to roll another die and add + I . He rolls a 3. modified to 4:
One of the FW 190s weapons is destroyed. Things dont look good.
47
Extreme cold (-40' C or lower) or ex-
The core Luft Krieg rules cover most of the situations that take place in an aerial treme heat (+50"C or higher) is very det-
encounter, but Players may wish to incorporate a wider range of actions into their rimentalto the functioning of aircraft. Any
games, or to add more detail and actions to those already possible. These ad- aircraft that lacks the appropriate Hos-
vanced rules provide a mechanism for doing so, covering a number of special situ- tile Environment Protection Perk auto-
ations and technologies. Using them may increase the complexity of games and matically suffers Light Damage when-
thus the time taken to play. All the advanced rules are optional and all, some or none ever pushed to Top Speed. In addition,
may be used, at the Player's discretion. All participants must agree on the advanced such aircraft must roll one die at the be-
rules to be used; if no consensus is possible on a rule, do not use it. Though every ginning of each combat turn. On a roll
effort has been made to cover all situations that may occur in a superscience air of one, the aircraft loses i d 6 MP for the
battle, there will be situations not covered in these rules. Some may be detailed in remainder of the turn as the engine
supplements to the game, while others should be agreed and/or resolved among splutters and labors.
the Players. Such "house rules" are part and parcel of many campaigns; if no agree-
ment can be reached between the Players as to how to handle a situation, refer to
The Hand of Fate (page 22).
Nighttime combat functions as daytime
combat except that the Night Detection
score of an aircraft is used instead of its
Daytime Detectionscore (see page 34).
Aircraft without sensors have a -1 modi-
fier applied to all attacks.
i
as indicated in LOS and Attacking
(page 34). The basic rules assume that Rain has an effect similar to clouds, and
Many weather conditions complicate mainly causes visual obscurement.
the cloud cover in the gaming area is
tactical combat, most of them by ob- Light rain does not affect visual detec-
constant across the map and altitude
scuring the targets or making flight dif- tion within 4 MUS.Beyond that it has an
levels.
ficult or even dangerous. They are, in Obscurement value of 1 per MU. Me-
many ways, the equivalentof the terrain Players may opt to specify particular MU dium rain has an Obscurement value of
features encountered by ground units. and/or altitude levels where the Ob- 1 per MU, while heavy rain has an Ob-
scurement effects take place. Players scurement value of 2 per MU. For Ac-
may also judge that these clouds move tive scanning, the value is 0, except if
with the prevailing wind (a number of the rain is actually an electricalthunder-
While clouds have little effect on an MU downwind equal to the Wind Force) storm; in which case, heavy rain has an
aircraft's movement, they do provide an at the end of the turn. Obscurment of 1 for Active Detection.
important source of visual obscurement
48
Heavy rain can also affect an aircrafts not impossible (add 2 to the difficulty of
flight: apply a -1 penalty to all Piloting any maneuver). Wind Force two (7 on
Since the earliest days of flight, devices
Skill rolls, -2 for lighter-than-air craft. the Beaufort scale) indicates a strong
have existed to ease the pilots lot in
wind, which will make flight with ultra-
long-distanceflights. The most common
light and lighter-than-air craft nearly im-
is a mechanism for locking the controls
possible (add 4 to the difficulty of any
in their current position so that an air-
Sandstorms are common in desert lo- maneuver). VTOL aircraft pilots subtract
craft continues its last maneuver. This
cales. These turbulent dustclouds ob- 1 from their Skill.
is usually straight and level flight, though
scure both visibility and sensors alike.
A typical storm has Wind Force 3 (10 if the controls are locked while the air-
If both Players agree that a sandstorm
on the Beaufort scale): subtract 1 from craft is climbing, diving or turning it will
is occurring during their combat, add
the piloting skill for fixed-wing aircraft: continue to do so as well.
+1 to the Obscurement value for every
for VTOL craft the penalty is -2. Higher
MU of intervening terrain. Additionally, The advent of the Computator has al-
Wind Force levels indicate hurricane-
an aircraftsManeuver Value is reduced lowed the installation of more sophisti-
force winds: for each point above 3,in-
by 2 when flying in a sandstorm and air- cated autopilot systems in some air-
crease the skill penalty by 1, and call
craft not equipped with the Hostile En- craft. These devices can store a series
for rolls on any maneuver other than
vironment Protection: Desert Perk must of simple instructions that they execute
moving straight ahead.
roll ld6. On a result of 5 or 6 the aircraft in sequence. The Autopilots rating is the
loses 1 MP as sand is sucked into the In addition to making flight more diffi- number of commands that can be
air intakes. cult, wind also affects an aircrafts over- stored, each of which must be simple,
all movement. At the end of the move- unambiguousand be directly related to
ment phase of any aircraft, move it the aircraft.
downwind an additional number of MUS
A point on one edge of the table may Simple conditions may be attached to
equal to the Wind Force. Do the same
be designated as the Sun. If this point each command -if the airspeed drops
for any normal or carpet-bomb trajec-
lies directly behind a targeted aircraft, below 300 kph then... or ...for ten min-
tory, counting the appropriate number
the attacker is temporarily dazzled and utes then... - but must be related to
of MUSfor every turn the bomb spends
suffers a -2 Attack Penalty. Cunning pi- the aircrafts instruments (speed, alti-
falling.
lots seek to have the sun behind them tude, time, distance, fuel level). Com-
(at their six) in order to increase the mands can be stacked to form more
difficulty of attacks against them. complex patterns. For example, main-
tain level flight for 10,000 meters then
DIEROLL WINDFORCE ~
49
munication rolls made by enemy units The pilots Actions can also reduce the
in the round are affected and must beat range of a fighter or bomber. Every kilo-
Barrage balloons are tethered above
the ECM Threshold. The unit which is meter covered at Top Speed (the exact
vulnerable sites as a means of discour-
using either of these systems is the one distance will vary depending on the
aging attack. They are unmanned
testing, not the receiver. Transferring scale) reduces the planes range by 5
Lighter-than-Aircraft and have an Armor
Command Points requires a Leadership kilometers; the extra performance
rating of 6/12/18. They are unarmed and
Test (Communication if using the Gear comes at a hefty cost in fuel.
cannot maneuver.
Krieg RPG) by the commanding unit.
The altitude of each balloon should be ECM affects all enemy units within the
noted and any aircraft that flies within emitters Sensor range, though friendly
one MU of the balloon and at an equal units are unaffected. Any aircraft capable of carrying bombs
or lower altitude risks becoming en- may be equipped with external fuel
If ECCM is active during the initiative
tangled in the tether cable. To avoid this, tanks, either replacing or in addition to
phase of the turn, all active ECM sys-
the pilot makes a Piloting Skill Roll vs. a other ordnance. Each fuel tank masses
tems within the Sensor range of the
Threshold of 4. Aircraft equipped with 1,000 kg (two bomb points) and extends
ECCM unit must compare their own
the Cable Cutters Perk reduce the avoid- the aircrafts range by 25%. Aircraft with-
Threshold to the ECCMs Threshold (or
ance Threshold by 2. out UW points (i.e. who carry their full
Thresholds, if there are more than one
bomb load internally) cannot use drop
Success indicates the aircraft avoids or ECCM system active). If the ECCM
tanks. Fuel is always taken from Drop
cuts the cable, while failure results in a Threshold is equal or higher than the
Tanks before internal fuel tanks.
collision. The Damage Multiplier of the ECMs Threshold, the ECM has no ef-
collision is the Aircrafts speed, which is fect that turn.
multiplied by the MOF to determine the
The ECM unit may spend an Action dur-
amount of damage suffered. Addition-
ing the turn to try and increase its own Suitably equipped aircraft (which are not
ally, when an aircraft strikes the cable
Threshold in order to beat the ECCM in common) may use the new technique
or balloon its speed is reduced to 0 and
the next round. Likewise,the ECCM unit of air-air refueling to top up their fuel
it suffers the effects of Stalling.
may spend an Action to try to raise its tanks and extend their endurance. The
own Threshold for the next round. The cargo space of the tanker aircraft is filled
new result stands, even if it is lower than with fuel which it can pump across to
the previous one. Friendly ECM units are the target aircraft -assumingthey man-
Some aircraft have ECM (Electronic
not affected by their sides ECCM. age to rendezvous and hookup.
Countermeasures) and ECCM (Elec-
tronic Counter Countermeasures)Perks The hookup maneuver requires both the
that can affect communication and sen- tanker and refueling aircraft to make a
sor operations. Piloting skill roll vs a Threshold of 4. If
The data card for each aircraft lists its
either fails, the hookup fails and no fuel
Activating ECM or ECCM costs an Ac- range, the distance over which it can
is transferred though another attempt
tion and requires the pilot or Electronic practically fly with a full load of arma-
may be made after 3 minutes. Success
Warfare officer to roll their Tactics Skill ments and then return to its base. Obvi-
indicates that the aircraft hookup and
(Electronic Warfare Skill if using the Gear ously, a one-way mission-for example
the targets tanks are topped up, a pro-
Krieg RPG) to which is added the ferrying aircraft from the USA to Britain
cess taking I d 6 x l d 6 minutes. If one of
systems Rating. This test takes place -allows the aircraft to fly further (up to
the pilots fumbles, more serious events
during the Activation Phase,though the 2x Range) but other methods exist to
ensue: a collision renders the refueling
system requires a turn to warm up and extend the operational range: the addi-
gear of both inoperable. If both fumble,
doesnt become active until the end of tion for fuel drop-tanks (at the expense
the gross miscalculation destroys both
the following round. of armaments), a reduction in payload
aircraft, by the impact and/or a fuel fire.
If ECM is active and functional during or, in a few rare cases, air-air refueling.
the initiative phase, all Sensor and Com-
Size, there is no reduction in speed. If
the towed aircrafts size is between a
When an incendiary weapon hits a tar- Designed to be carried aloft by other,
quarter and one-third of the towers Size,
get, the damage is equal to the larger designs, small parasite fighters
they are limited to Combat Speed; loads
weapons Damage Multiplier (called its may have a Size up to the aircrafts tow-
between one-third and one-half the
Intensity score) plus the Margin of Suc- ing capacity. Physically attached to the
towers Size limit speed to half Combat
cess. While this may seem like less dam- host rather than towed behind it, the
Speed (round up) until the load is re-
age than most weapons, most incendi- parasites do not assess a speed pen-
leased. An aircraft cannot tow an ob-
ary weapons are labeled as Slow-Burn alty unless their Size is more than half
ject if doing so would reduce its speed
weapons. Slow-burn weapons cause the capacity (at which point the host is
below Stall Speed. Releasing a towed
damage over a number of turns equal restricted to Combat Speed). The Size
item requires one Action. The released
to the MOS though these flames slowly of the parasite aircraft applies as a nega-
aircraft has the speed, heading and al-
die down, reducing the effective MOS tive modifier to the hosts Maneuver
titude of the towing aircraft but must
by 1 for every turn after the first. Slow- score for as long as the two remain at-
henceforth glide or activate its own en-
burn weapons apply their later turns of tached.
gines. Upon releasing its load, the
damage to ground targets only if the unit
speed penalties are removed from the Once the parasite is released (requir-
remains in the burning area.
towing aircraft. ing an Action from the host), the hosts
Some targets (infantry, wooden build- statistics return to normal. The released
Any attempt by the towed aircraft to
ings and Lighter-than-Air craft) are par- aircraft has the speed and heading of
maneuver, or any failed Piloting roll by
ticularly vulnerable to incendiary ammu- the host, but is on altitude level lower
the towing aircraft, results in the release
nition. Against such targets, the MOS is and must henceforth glide or activate
of the towed unit. If this happens, both
added to the Intensity and the result is its own engines. Parasite aircraft must
aircraft must make a Piloting Skill roll
then multiplied by the MOS to determine have the Airdropable Perk, while the
(Threshold 4) with failure or a fumble
the amount of damage inflicted.Normal transport must have the Host Perk to
requiring them to roll on the ControlLoss
Slow-burn effects apply in such cases. reflect the reinforced hookups and
table, adding their MOF to the roll.
adaptors.
PKGY- * ~ ~ , ~ I , - ~
m_wmYe,
I ~ w ~ ~ ~
53
0
ner as aircraft. Damage under the Dam- ture. Whenever damage occurs, roll one
age Capacity is ignored, while damage die (add 1 for Heavy Damage) and con-
VTOLs can also carry cargo suspended
between the DC and 2xDC causes light sult the Structure damage table. The
under their main body. Large pieces are
damage, damage between the 2xDC result of this die roll is also subtracted
attached to hardpointsvia strong cables
and 3xDC causes heavy damage and from the Structures DC.
while smaller items are placed in large
damage over 3xDC destroys the struc-
nets. A slung load is considered towed
by the aircraft for game purposes. No
matter what the cargo is, it is consid-
ered unsuitable for towing, effectively ROLL DAMAGED AREA RESULT
doubling its weight. 1 Occupants The occupants of thecucture are stunned (-1 Action).
If there are no occuDants. there is no effect.
2 Occupants 10% casualties. If there are no occupants, there is no effect.
3 Structure Structure loses an additional l d 6 DC
~~ ~~
While aircraft usually fly high above 4 Weapons One weapon (determined randomly) mounted in the
ground structures, such buildings and structure is destroyed. If no weapons are present,
the structure loses an additional 2d6 DC.
constructions are often the target for air
5 Auxiliary Systems Any sensors/communicationsgear
attack - or to be defended against the mounted in the structure is destroyed. If no auxiliary
same. Importantsites may be defended equipment is present, the structure loses an additional 2d6 DC.
by Barrage Baloons, AA batteries and 6 Roll Twice on this table
perhaps even fighter aircraft. For the 7 Roll three times on this table
purpose of Luft Krieg, large vehicles
such as boats and trains are considered
structures. Sample Stmtures Table
Each structure has a Damage Capac- STRUCTURE TYPE DC NOTES
ity, reflecting its ability to withstand dam- Sandbag bunker Normal 5
age. Structures come in two forms: Nor- Concrete bunker Hardened 10
~
structure takes more damage than its Dam Hardened 50 Larae Taraet
Damage Capacity, it is destroyed. Fishing boat Normal 25
Small warshio Hardened 25 Larae Taraet
Large warship Hardened 30 Large Target
Sub pen Hardened 45 Large Target
Designed to withstand damage, hard- Road Normal 5 Destruction removes Road benefits
ened structures shrug off many attacks, Railway Normal 7
saults. Such structures have a base *Any units on a destroyed bridge span are destroyed. If this span collapses, adja-
Damage Capacity like normal buildings cent spans lose x/z their DC automatically.
but sustain damage in the same man-
Ace operates a vehicle weapon, his at-
tack rolls are modified by + l .
Beyond the superscience and the aircraft themselves, the true heart of the conflict Flying on Vapor (1 point): The Ace's air-
are the brave aircrew that risk life and limbs on a daily basis. Players may wish to craft never seems to run out of fuel. Ex-
incorporate a wider range of options into their games, or to add more detail and tend the plane's range by l d 6 x 20km.
individuality to the crews of their fleet. The following advanced rules provide mecha-
nisms for doing so, covering a number of special situations related to the human Inspirational (2 point): All units able to
element of warfare. communicate with the Ace receive a +1
to Morale Checks. If the Ace is a Com-
All participants must agree on the advanced rules to be used; if no consensus is mander, he receives an additional Com-
possible on a particular rule, do not use it. Though every effort has been made to mand Point each combat turn.
cover all situations that may occur, there will be some not covered. If no agreement
can be reached between the Players as to how to handle a situation, refer to The Last Man Standing (1 point): In an air-
Hand of Fate (page 22). craft crew, the Ace will always be the
last to receive damage. Skip the Ace
and apply damage to the next
crewmember until the Ace is the last
person left alive aboard.
55
I ful,
dicated in the Bailout Table). If success-
all the crew bailout and drift to earth.
Select the Quality level of the Ace (see
Each point by which the roll fails indi-
Datacard, page 78). Next, look at the
cates that a crewmember fails to escape
Heroic Abilities on the previous page
or is injured in the process. A fumble
and write down those that go with the
result indicatesthat the entire crew goes
Ace's concept. Players may change the
down with the aircraft.
default Morale Threshold from the Qual-
ity of the unit to a different one. The Of course, if the crew bailout over the
Morale Threshold may be raised by one sea they are dependent on the Search
level or lowered by three (to a minimum and Rescue boats finding them in time.
Threshold of one). The chart covers the If they bail over enemy territory their
multipliersto use for raising or lowering Escape and Evasion (E&E) skills had
the Morale Threshold. better be up-to-date ...
Bailout Table
The base cost of an Ace is the Quality SITUATION MODIFIER
level multiplier (see chart on page 25) Aircraft straiaht and level -1
plus one. Take that value and, if modify- Banking/Climbing +1
ing the Morale Threshold, add the mul- Divina +2
tiplier from the Morale Threshold table. Out of Controlt +3
Add to this the cost for the abilities the AIRCRAFT MODIFIER
Ace has. The result becomes the new EauiDDed with Eiector seatk) -2
Quality modifier for the Ace. Difficult to Bail flaw +2
Soeed <=lo 0
If the Ace is part of an aircraft crew, av- Speed > 10 +1
erage the Quality multiplier between the Aircraft sustained No Damage 0
AcelEnample Ace and the other crewmembers. Aircraft sustained Lipht Damaae +l
Aircraft sustained Heavy Damage +2
Example: Second Lieutenant Kurt
Aircraft Overkilled or struct. collaDse* +4
Waldorfis a Veteran of the Battle of
CREW MODIFIER
Britain and the defensee of the Reich. An aircraft will often take such a beat-
He has taken everything the RAF Actions taken this turn #of Action
ing that it will no longer be airworthy. In
have thrown at him andsurvived. He crew +Crew/2. round down)
such circumstances, the pilot or crew
has an uncanny knack for knowing *These damage results trigger an
have little choice but to leap from the
what the enemy will do next and automatic bailout attempt at no Ac-
aircraft and trust that their parachutes
countering their moves, simulta- tion cost.
neously carrying out a superhuman will slow their descent. Ordinarily, bail-
series of actions and motivating his ing out costs an Action. If the aircraft is fRolled on the Control Loss table
troops on and off the battlefield. destroyed (e.g. via an Overkill result or this turn.
Waldorfworkshard andplays hard. a structural collapse), the crew are al-
lowed one final attempt at saving them-
Veteran Quality 2.25 selves at no Action cost.
Ace 1
Morale Multiplier (-1) 1.5 The difficulty of this bailout maneuver
Inspirational 1 varies considerably depending on the
Sixth Sense 1 circumstancesand damage inflictedon
Two-fisted 2 the aircraft. The pitoffcrew should make
Total 8.75 a Piloting skill roll and compare it to the
Threshold (a base of 4, modified as in-
counted as destroyed if it suffers an
Overkill result, crashes into the ground
Morale is an important part of warfare. Some people believe so fervently in the
or suffers an ammunition or fuel explo-
No commander can be truly sure of what cause they are fighting for that they are
sion. Non-combat eliminations (such as
his troops will do once under fire. Only ready to die for it. They will lay down
Overspeed disintegrations) do not
totally fanatical or automated forces are their lives without flinching if the situa-
count.
immune to the effects of morale, and tion demands it, and the thought that
even the best pilot will hesitate to fly his they may well die in the battle simply
- 7 -
aircraft into a maze of AA batteries. does not affect them. Such fanatical
units are immune to the effects of Mo-
The Morale rules deal more with com- The penalties caused by failed Morale
rale. If the Morale rules are used, such
mand control rather than with rout. The tests will soon prove crippling, but they
a unit doubles its Threat Value.
rules are structured in a way that will can be removed by performing an Ac-
allow Players to make their own choices tion called Rally. This is done by the unit
0
when it comes to falling back and re- commander, who must spend an Action
grouping. Insteadof affecting the crews to roll a new Morale check for a unit, this
Before the game, each Player rolls
will to stay and fight, poor morale affects time using his Leadership skill. Only one
against each units Morale Threshold to
die rolls, thus forcing the commander Rally is attempted per Action, although
determine the initial Morale level of that
to make some difficult choices. Will he multiple attempts are possible if suffi-
aircraft. The number of dice is based
push his troops, knowing that their effi- cient Actions are available. If success-
on the experience level of the crew in
ciency is degraded, or will he allow them ful, the Morale level of the unit rises by
each aircraft, just like a Skill. If
to fall back to regroup? one (Le., a single -1 modifier is re-
roleplaying characters are used, this
moved). A functioning Communication
Skill roll is replaced by an attribute test
system is required to participate in the
against the Willpower attribute. If the roll
Rallying Action.
fails, the threshold of all Morale Checks
Each aircraft, be it a single-seat fighter
in the scenario are increased by 1. If the
or bomber with numerous crew, has a
roll fumbles, the Threshold increases by
Morale Threshold based on its Quality.
2.
In Luft Krieg, each plane has its own Ifmorale penalties reach -4, the aircraft
Morale Threshold, unlike in the ground The table below lists the events when a will seek to flee the engagement, do-
warfare rules. Morale check is required. Morale ing everything possible to reach near-
checks are rolled using the Leadership est friendly map edge and leave the
or Piloting Skill of the aircraft (whichever mapboard. Such units do not flee
is higher). If the check fails, the unit suf- blindly but may take whatever actions
fers a -1 penalty to all die rolls, includ- are deemed vital to their survival, in-
TYPE THRESHOLD lQ MULT.
ing future Morale checks. A fumble in- cluding combat and maneuvering to
Legendary 0 x2
Elite 1 x1.75
dicates a -2 penalty. A spare die is sug- avoid combat.
Veteran 2 xl.5 gested to keep track of the die penalty
If the penalties reach -6 the unit flees
Qualified 3 xl caused by poor morale. As the aircraft
and must travel by the shortest route
Rookie 4 ~0.25 gradually loses its will to fight, its com-
to the nearest friendly edge of the
bat performance is affected and starts
mapboard. Such units will attack any
to rapidly degrade. A commander may
aircraft that obstruct their path but oth-
attempt to remove penalties caused by
Morale Checks erwise may not maneuver or take ac-
poor morale by rallying the unit. See
EVENT MODIFIER tion, unless by doing so they would re-
~ ~~~
Rallying for the rule.
Before the set-up phase 0 duce the time and distance to escape
Single aircraft is destroyed 0 Morale checks are made only in some the battlefield.
Aircraft breaks formation +1 specific situations, as listed in the Mo-
Per add. aircraft dest. in the turn +1 rale Checks table below. An aircraft is
mv
57
equal to one-half of the altitude level
(round up; maximum 9) is required to
Not all missions have the same The fatigue level of the soldiers has a
land at a precise point; otherwise, the
importance in the eyes of the soldiers. great influence on their combat perfor-
Margin of Failure indicates how far the
A simple reconnaissance flight will mance. For record-keeping simplicity,
trooper(s) landed from their intended
mean much less to the pilot than the units can be classified as either Fresh,
target, in MUS(direction is always down-
defense of his homeland, and this will Tired or Exhausted.
wind). Work out any collision with an
most certainly affect their morale and
Fresh troops have just arrived at the air- obstacle present in the MU immediately.
performance level. If the battle is being field. They are in good shape, had a
fought for something precious to The time required for the drop is equal
good night's sleep and are ready to face
soldier, he will place less importance to the sum of the altitude levels dropped
whatever the enemy will throw at them.
on his own survival. and the number of MUS between the
All Morale checks are rolled with a +2
drop point and the landing area, divided
Missions can be classified as High, modifier. Tired troops have flown con-
by two, in rounds. It takes one round for
Medium or Low priority. High Priority stant sorties for weeks, or have seen
a landed paratrooper to get ready for
missions are those that must simply not combat or other tense situations in the
battle, and usually one more to rendez-
fail because the emotional cost attached past few days. This is considered the
vous with the rest of his squad. (in Gear
to failure is too high. The defense of a default fatigue level and has no effect
Krieg, consider the unit Pinned during
home city is a good example of one such on Morale checks. Exhausted troops
the turn in which they rally).
mission. Although this does not neces- have been in Action for quite some time
sarily mean that the troops will fight to or have faced battles several times dur- If you are using wind rules, there are a
the death, they will stand their ground ing the past few days. They are near the few restrictions on parachuting. Para-
much longer. All Morale tests are made limits of their endurance and make very chuting is not possible with a Wind Force
with a +2 modifier on the dice roll. poor fighters. Exhausted troops have a greater than 2; even then, a Wind Force
-2 modifier on all Morale checks. of 2 will doom the paratrooper to death
Medium Priority missions are the every- if he fumbles his Parachuting skill roll. A
day military Actions. They are important,
Wind Force of 1 or 2 will modify a
but not overly so. Most engagementswill
paratrooper's possible landing area as
fall in this category: the troops know they Airdropping is another common military follows: a Wind Force of 1 will halve the
must do their best, but if they fail only and civilian use for aircraft. Large air- landing radius upwind and double it
the battle is lost, not the war. There is no craft can drop paratroopers, Gears, downwind. Landing at an angle to the
modifier attached to missions of this aircrafts, food, propaganda, etc., prac- wind, either fore or aft, will reduce the
type. Low Priority missions are those that tically anywhere you can see the sky. landing radius by 1/3 or leave it un-
have little or no consequence to the di- changed, respectively. With a Wind
rect survival of the force. Low Priority Force of 2, the radius upwind is reduced
missions cause a -2 penalty on all Mo- to zero, downwind it is tripled. The fore
rale tests because the troopers are un- Paratrooper squads are special infan- radius is reduced by 213, while the aft
willing to lay down their lives for unim- try units trained in the Parachuting skill. radius is halved. Parachutes weigh 15
portant objectives and will actively seek They may deploy from any height be- kg and cost 1 TV.
to escape or avoid hostile forces. tween Altitude Levels 2 to 20, from air-
craft with Speeds no greater than 20.
The number of paratroopers that can
MoFdeMadlficaion'wble
jump from a plane in a given turn is equal Some soldiers utilize paragliders to de-
MODIFICATION
to the aircraft's Size. scend onto the battlefield. These offer
Raise by 1
greater precision and control than regu-
Lower by I A paratrooper unit can choose to land
lar parachutes but also require more
Lower by 2 anywhere within an area whose MU ra-
skill. Paragliders use the same rules as
Lower by 3 dius is equal to the aircraft's altitude
parachuting save that the Threshold is
level. A Morale test (Parachutingskill roll
increased by one. Paragliders ignore the
if using the RPG) versus a Threshold
effects of Wind Force 1, and treat Wind
Force 2 as force 1. If the event of a fail-
ure, they scatter only half the indicated Players may choose to use hex-covered maps instead of a freeform tabletop play-
distance (round down). Paragliders ing area. The hexagonal divisions make it easier to manage movement and to visu-
weigh 54kg and cost 3 TV. alize firing arcs, albeit at the expense of some flexibility. Each hex corresponds to 1
MU; for game purposes is assumed to contain the same type of terrain (open sky,
e light clouds, etc) as indicated by the position of the dot in its center. Altitude contin-
PERSONAL
HELICOPTERS ues to be represented by chits or a marker die.
German Rocketruppen and US troops The speed and erratic movement of aircraft limits the number of aircraft that can
equipped with Sikorsky personal heli- occupy a particular volume of space. Each hex can hold up to 20 Size points worth
copters have unparalleled mobility on of units at the same altitude level. If this limit is exceeded at any point, the last unit
the battlefield and in deploying from air- entering the hex makes a Piloting Skill test (Threshold 4). adding the number of Size
craft. They can deploy from transport points over the limit. If the roll fails, the aircraft rams one of the planes, determined
aircraft automatically and may attempt randomly. The surviving aircraft remain in the hex.
to land anywhere on the mapboard.
Unlike those using parachutes and If not, divide the range to the target by
paragliders, such troops are not obliged the difference in altitude between the
All units must face one of the six side of
to drop two altitude levels per turn but two units (round down). Any Obscure-
the hexagon; they cannot face a corner.
may instead remain at the same altitude ment at the same altitude level of the
They may not turn to face a different hex-
or even climb. firer counts if it is within this number of
side unless allowed to do so by move-
hexes.
Normally, flight-capable troops remain ment or a maneuver. By spending 1 MP,
near the ground and use jump shorts a unit may move into the hex in front of Attack and Defense Arcs: these are not
during a firefight. This is why, in the Gear it. After moving forward a number of modified, though they follow the edges
Krieg ground wargame, considerations hexes equal to the aircrafts Turn Radius, of the hexes on the map.
of fuel and piloting are ignored in favor it may turn 1 hex-side left or right. A pi-
Range: this is measured from the at-
of speed of gameplay. This does not lot who sideslip moves his aircraft one
tacker hex to that of the target by the
mean these units are incapable of tak- hex to the left or right for every three
shortest route, excluding that of the at-
ing part in aerial battles -far from it. hexes forward. The MP cost for chang-
tacker but including that of the target. If
ing altitude is as in the normal rules.
These devices allow the troops to ma- combat occurs between units in the
neuver like aircraft. Rocket packs have same hex, the range is considered to
a Flight Speed of 316, while personal be Point Blank (0).
helicopters have a Flight Speed of 214. Combat on a hex map is the same as
Both have a Stall Speed of 0. Both can- on the tabletop, though the firing arcs,
not climb beyond Altitude Level 8. The
Hex-map Obscummt
range and Line of Sight rules are modi-
main restriction on their actions is fuel; fied slightly.
each has 50 points of fuel and expend For example, a Hurricane fires at a
Line of Sight: determine the line of sight
1 per MP spent at Combat speed, and BF rog 8 hexes away and three alti-
by tracing a line from the dot at the cen-
2 per MP spent at Top Speed. Rocket tude levels higher: Dividing 8 by 3
ter of the attackers hex to the dot at the
pack-equipped troops may spend 2 gives a result of 2.6, rounded down
center of the targets hex. Any hex en-
points to hover, while personal helicop- to 2 . Any obscurement at the
tered by the line is considered to lie
ters require only 1. If the unit runs out of HurricanesAltitude level and within
between the two units. If the LOS runs 2 hexes counts against LOS.
fuel while in the air, it is eliminated. They
along the edge between two hexes, the
are considered Small Targets in com-
defender may choose which of the two
bat and have an Armor value of 2.
it enters. Any Obscurement along this
Rocket packs and personal helicopters
line counts against LOS if both units are
multiply a units TV by 3.
at the same Altitude Level.
59
The acceleration was sudden and vi-
cious, kicking her back into the seat as
the rocket engine ignited and drove the
fighter down the runway. The slight
crosswind caused the speeding aircraft
to wobble and she struggled to hold
the aircraft straight on the runway,
knowing that a mistake now would be
fatal. The fighter bounced once then
climbed into the air. She pulled the nose
up to 45-degrees and hit the toggle to
retract the gear. High above, sunlight
glinted off metal and she aimed the
nose straight at it.
60
Desiun Notee
The following are simplified organizational charts for wargaming with Luft Krieg at the The average units presented here
flight and squadron level. These are the principal operational units of the conflict and were the building blocksfrom which
form the building blocks of larger formations (though such units are likely too big to armies participating in the conflict
play a major role in Gear Krieg games). More complete and detailed TO&Es (Tables were constructed. While it might be
of Organization & Equipment) for each army will be covered in later Army and The- enjoyable to fight a battle with an
ater Books. entire force consisting of Me 262s
with Elite crews, it won t be a cred-
Of course, World War II was fought in wide variety of conditions and circumstances. ibleforce and more than likely nofun
As such these lists are at best an approximation of actual deployments; an RAF unit at allfor either Playe,: Instead,play-
in North Africa would likely use different material to one in Europe, in turn distinct from ers are encouraged to follow the
deployments in India. The following Army Lists include some generalized color guide- historical guidelines and create
lines. The subject of camouflage is a book in its own right, so all of the possible balanced forces.
schemes cannot be listed here (there are many such books available through librar- The airforces used far more designs,
ies and book dealers). Future Gear Krieg books will cover the subjects of paint schemes models and variants than can be
and vehicle markings and uniforms in more detail. listed here. The Data Annex contains
some of these units, including their
in-service dates, while future
sourcebooks will add further units
and detail more specific organiza-
tions. The lists presented in the fol-
lowing pages are intended as a
guideline to enable Players to recre-
ate actionsfrom the period up to the
end Of 1942.Due to space consider-
ations, only armies of the major com-
batants could be listed; otherfactions
(France,Italy, etc) will be published
at a later date.
Threat Values (TV)have been as-
signed to aircrafi and it will be a
relatively easy matterfor Players to
design their own battle scenarios by
simply agreeing on a TV total for
PRErnWArn each nations entry The units default
each side and purchasing units to
add up to those points. Given the d$-
Morale rating is given here, though
Each countrys text begins with a gen- ferences in arms and equipment
Players may increase the Morale rat-
era1 introductionthat briefly sketches out available to each army, not to men-
ing of their units by paying the appro- tion personal preferences and tacti-
its air forces The introduction also lists
priate cost multiplier (see page 58) cal styles, an interesting game is
reasons why Players would want to
game with and collect miniatures for that A discussion of the color schemes and sure to result!
particular air force a brief description of uniforms used by
the air force is listed next Because the
This is followed by a Tactics and Morale
subject is quite broad, this section is
section which is an examination of the
somewhat generic, any history book
tactical doctrine used by that countrys
will supply thousands of alternate and
air force- basically, how they fight This
squadron paint schemes for all coun-
ties in with the combat groups descrip-
tries involved in the conflict
tions placed on the right-hand page of
61
The Luftwaffe wrote the handbook on The paint schemes used by the
aerial warfare in the Modern Age, par- ~ f t w a f f eare as varied as their aircraft
icularly regarding tactical ground sup- designs and the theatres in which they
~ o rmissions.
t Whereas in the Great War Dperate. Furthermore, they evolve
aircraft fought aircraft, with little impact throughout the war, adapting to meetthe
I n the ground conflict (at least com- qeeds of the Luftwaffe. Identifying ev-
Dared to artillery and machine guns), a ery specific pattern would require a
ground assault by the Wehrmacht with- book in its own right (such volumes are
Dut air support is unthinkable today. available in most good military book
stores) but there are four broad catego-
The Luftwaffe can attack the enemy
ries of patterning.
positions in advance of a ground as-
*_<a
sault, wreaking considerable damage In Europe, dark green is the predomi-
and reducing enemy morale. More im- nant color on the upper sections of the
The Luftwaffe is the newest air force in portantly, such strikes can target the aircraft, either a solid mid-green tone or
Europe, having been secretly formed in defenders supplies and communica- more often broken with a lighter shade
the middle of the 1930s. Germany had tion links, making it difficult to support of green or even an earth-brown. These
been previously barred from creating units targeted by the German land of- colors are usually in large blocks but
such a force by the Treaty of Versailles fensive. By such concentrated applica- some camouflage schemes use intricate
that concluded the First World War. Be- tion of force and restricting tactics, the swirls or blocks of blended color.
cause of this, however, it is also one of German armed forces were able to
the most modern of all current armed Arctidwinter patterning also uses green
puncture enemy defensive lines rela-
forces, both in terms of training and as its base but breaks it with bands of
tively easily in the first few months of
equipment. Its pilots learned well from white. Indeed, in the depths of winter
the war, pouring into weakly defended
the Spanish Civil War, gaining knowl- white may become the predominant
rear areas and making the enemy po-
edge of both independent operations color, with green or black inclusions. AS
sition untenable.
and those in conjunction with their with the temperate schemes, the exact
ground-based comrades. The speed, German pilots are well trained and su- patterns vary wildly though winter cam-
reach and firepower of the Luftwaffe has perbly motivated, staunch believers in ouflage favors a more intricate pattern.
made it a vital part of the German Blitz- the German cause (thanks to Nazi pro-
Desert camouflage - as used by air-
krieg strategy. - paganda) and desiring to both recover
craft assigned to the Afrika and Orient
their nations dishonor after Versailles,
The Luftwaffe is, with the possible ex- Korps - uses browns as its principal
and vindicate the Fuhrers policies. In
ception of the RAF, the most technologi- color. Sandy brown is the most common
many regards, the Luftwaffe pilots re-
cally advanced air force in the war. Their and may be used as a single color, bro-
gard themselves as knights, jousting in
equipment is top notch and they have ken with lighter or darker shades, or in
the skies against valiant (at least on the
the expertise to use it effectively. Play- a leopardskin pattern.
Western Front) opponents. To many the
ers may seek to use this to their advan- Ostfront is nothing more than a practice Aircraft intended for high-altitude op-
tage but will find themselves outnum- ground, though they will soon come to erations favor a flat gray paint scheme
bered (by the Russians, for example) or rue that arrogance. to better blend in with the sky. Similarly,
facing a foe with comparable equipment many camouflage patterns paint the
and motivation, such as the British. AS German pilots and air crews have a de-
underside of the aircraft a pale blue to
the years progress, these disadvan- fault Morale Threshold of 2 (Veteran) in
blend in with the sky when viewed from
tages will multiply to make the German fighters and 3 (Qualified) in bombers.
below
position difficult,despite ever more tech- Some elite flight units may have pilots
nological innovations. and crews one point higher (e.g. Elitel
Veteran).
62
4 Ketten (12 aircraft) 4 Ketten ( I 2 aircrafl)
Jagdgeshwader
3 Gruppen
(about 140 aircrafr)
rLpicalcambat6roups I
$
Fighter Schwarrne (A) 4xBf109
*
Fighter Schwarme (B) 4xFVJ190 2
I Rocket Fighter Schwame 4 x Me 163 or Ba 349 Natter g
Heavy Fighter Schwarrne (A) 4xHo229
Heavy Fighter Schwarme (B) 4xMe262 1
Dive-Bomber Schwarrne 4 x Ju 187 "Stuka2"
Light Bomber Schwarme 4 x Arado Ar 340
63
their Commonwealth and Allied com- craft) or Rodeos (involving 1-3 squad-
rades until 1942 when they are ab- rons),these simple sweeps are of mixed
sorbed into the USAAF. effectiveness, the Luftwaffeoften ignor-
ing them as of minimal importance.More
In the early war, the RAF are the only
significantly are the attacks known as
serious opposition to the Luftwaffe.
Circus. These involve several dozen
Though starved of resources, the Brit-
squadrons and are built around a flight
ish pilots and aircrews are skilled and
of bombers. Though small compared to
determined, knowing that they are the
the attacks on Germany itself, this
last bastion against fascism in Western
bomber contingent is sufficient to goad
Europe. Players choosing to play the
the Luftwaffe into action or risk serious
British will find themselves outnumbered
damage. Such engagements may in-
in most battles but have solid aircraft
volve hundreds of aircraft on each side,
*a
,*. -&w2 P W * i X * ^ P A Z &e P ** e* and superlative crews. Throughout the
as fighter groups take on Jagd-
war they jockey with the Luftwaffe for
COMMONWEALTH technical and numerical superiority, a
geshwader.
The newest of the three British Armed balance of power only upset by the ar- RAF pilots and crews have a default
forces, the Royal Air Force (RAF) was rival of their American allies in 1942. Morale Threshold of 2 (Veteran) and
formed in 1918, right after the Great War. consider most missions High Priority.
Though initially participating in many
aerial experiments and firsts, the RAF
dwindled throughout the 1930s and only RAF tactics evolve considerably during
when the European situation looked the war. In the early stages of the con- The RAF use five broad categories of
bleak did they rearm and update their flict, they are on the defensive, forced camouflage, reflecting the theatres in
equipment. to guard against German bomber raids which they operate. Most are subject to
and fighter sweeps. After their victory regional and unit adaptations, reflecting
In the early days of the war, British pi- localized conditions, unit characteristics
in the Battle of Britain the RAFs mission
lots struggled to learn the art of aerial diversifies into three strands: defending and evolution over time.
combat in the face of their more experi- British targets against the Luftwaffe, at-
enced German adversaries, but follow- The most common is the European pat-
tacking German targets, and degrad-
ing the withdrawal from Dunkirk found terning, either of two-tone green or drab
ing the Luftwaffes abilities. The former
themselves as the frontline of defense green and brown, though the specific
is aided by technology, radar allowing
against the German advance. The hard- tones and balance of the colors varies
fighters to be vectored swiftly and effi-
ships of the Battle of France and the wildly. The Pacific and North African
ciently against specific targets at day
Battle of Britain that followed forged the markings of the RAF are similar in con-
and night. Attacks against German tar-
RAF into a strong fighting machine, ca- cept to those used in Europe, but mix
gets take the form of massed bomber
pable of holding off - and later taking gray and green or sandy colors respec-
raids, occasionally escorted by fighters,
the war back to - the Luftwaffe. tively. In all three cases, the undersides
against military and civiliantargets in the
of the aircraft are painted a pale tone to
Though ostensibly British, the RAF in- Greater Reich. Indeed, such terror tac-
blend in with the sky, usually gray in
corporates pilots from throughout the tics were first used by the British in re-
Europe and pale blue in the Pacific.
Commonwealth - Australia, New sponse to German attacks but have
Zealand and Canada - as well as from been taken up by both sides. Naval aircraft use a light gray color
occupied allied countries such as Po- scheme, usually without the complex
Efforts to reduce the effectivenessof the
land, France and Holland. The RAF also patterning of land-based aircraft.
Luftwaffetake two broad forms. The first
gives American volunteers an oppor- is fighter sweeps across occupied ter- Finally, many night-fighters (notably
tunity to fight in Europe prior to the ritories (usually France) engaging tar- Defiants and Beaufighters) utilize a matt
USAs direct involvement, the three gets of opportunity. Called Rhubarbs black paint scheme to reduce the
Eagle Squadrons fighting alongside (those sweeps involving a pair of air- chances of visual detection.
Basic Flight Units
FliOht Up to Wo More Flight
A i i Groups Organization
____p_r___-
66
Chutai I
Kokutai
3 Daitai
(54-81aircrafi)
67
innovations - for example the use of
rocket fighters and Tesla guns - but
The color schemes employed by the
will never achieve technological parity
VVS are even more chaotic than other
with their opponents.
nations thanks to a major shift in sys-
tems after the autumn of 1941, the new
schemes running alongside their prede-
cessors for a considerable period
At the start of the war, the VVS were still
thanks to a gradual introductionthrough
using the 3-aircraft Vic formation of the
1942 and 1943.
Great War, with individualism and inno-
vation discouraged among the pilots by In the early stages of the war, Frontal
the ever-present commissars and in- (army) Aviation uses green on an
formers. After the disasters of 1941, the aircrafts upper surfaces and blue on the
VVS learned rapidly. As political con- lower. Bombers and transports often use
At the commencement of what the Rus- straints lessened,the Soviet pilots modi- this scheme as-is while fighters (and
sians call the Great Patriotic War, the fied their formations to counter those of some bombers) commonly add a sec-
Voyenno-VozdushneSily (VVS, Soviet the Luftwaffe (and later Imperial Japa- ond dark green or tan disruptive pattern.
Air Force) had a gross numerical ad- nese Army), adopting the Zveno (4- Ground attack aircraft, such as the IL-2
vantage over the Luftwaffe. Unfortu- fighter link) in lieu of the Vic, granting Sturmovik favor black instead of the
nately, as demonstrated in the Winter them increased flexibility. Additionally, dark green as a second color.
War against Finland, these numbers the quality of both pilots and aircraft in-
In 1942, black-over-green patterning
mean little against a better-equipped creased in 1942 after a winter of rela-
becomes the official standard for VVS
and more determined foe. Like Ger- tive respite while their opponents re-
fighters while black over dark green
many, the USSR sent volunteers to sources came under increasing pres-
became the default for ground attack
Spain to support their allies, but Stalins sure as the fronts broadened. Resis-
aircraft in the north. Some aircraft, nota-
vicious purges in the late 1930s cost tance in the Rodina (Motherland) stiff-
bly the 11-2, use black alone.
them much of this experience. As such, ened in 1942 and by 1943 the boot will
the VVS took a major beating in the be on the other foot. In the south, a sand base color is the
early days of Operation Barbarossa. norm, overlain by dark brown or black.
Unlike the Western Front, where aerial
Fortunately, the Germans underesti- Bombers of this period shift away from
battles took place at high altitude, the
mated Soviet air strength and though the solid green of the early war to the
VVS fight at medium to low altitudes,
tactically and technologically inferior to two-tone patterns hitherto used by fight-
engaging German ground attack op-
the invaders, the Russians continue to ers. Winter camouflage schemes also
erations and staging their own close air
battle the invaders. become more common after the change
support missions. Multiple Russian air-
in styles, with solid white or blue-gray
Though they gain the use of British and craft often find themselves facing a
upper surfaces.
American aircraft via lend-lease, the smaller number of opponents and ini-
VVS is the weakest air force in the tially this is their only advantage against
game. It lacks the qualitative or tech- the foe. As their capabilities increase,
nological edges of other nations, re- the overconfidence of the Luftwaffe be-
flecting the political and technological comes the VVS greatest advantage,
conservatism of Stalinsregime. Despite with German pilots who hitherto ex-
this, their numerical advantage and de- pected to win against superior num-
termination makes them an interesting bers finding themselves ambushed
faction to play, facing off against the so- by the Russians.
phisticated Germans or the determined
Russian pilots and crews have a base
Japanese. The late war sees the Rus-
Morale Threshold of 4 (Rookie) in 1941
sians make a number of technological
or 3 (Qualified) in 1942 and later.
68
Bask flight Units
Zveno
1942 is America's first full year in the war American air forces are the most widely
and USAAF pilots initially lack the ex- dispersed in World War II, rivaled only
perience of their RAF companions. Their by the RAF, and the range of color
only pilots experienced in the European schemes reflects this. There are consid-
Theatre are those of the Eagle Squad- erable unit- and regional variations, as
rons who, though offering their services well as adaptations during the war.
to the USAAF, refuse to be broken up
Most common is a flat olive-drab pat-
and spread throughout the new Ameri-
tern, favored by USAAF fighters and
can force.
bombers. In some cases this may be
Initially, the main US contribution to the overlain with a second (and occasion-
air war in Europe is the 8-17 bomber - ally third) shade of green or brown to
US fighters with sufficient range to es- break up the outline of the aircraft. The
cort the bomber fleets don't arrive in the- underside of these aircraft is usually
Even before the Japanese Navy at-
atre until 1943 -who immediately took painted sky-gray or pale blue. Later in
tacked Pearl Harbor, the USA was pe- the war, some bomber aircraft are de-
a different tack to their RAF equivalents.
ripherally involved in the war, providing livered unpainted and either decorated
Whereas the forces of RAF bomber
material to the British and Chinese, with by individual units or flown with only unit
command favor night attacks to mini-
American volunteers manning several markings.
mize casualties, the USAAF prefer more
squadrons of the RAF. Though the car-
accurate day operations. To reduce ca-
riers Lexingtonand Enterprise escaped In the early-war naval aircraft utilized a
sualties, the massive B-17s operate in
the devastationof the Japanese surprise light gray paint scheme though this
large formations, whose interlocking fire
attack, 65 percent of the USAAF (United gives way to a blue (upper surfaces)
arcs make attacks expensive for the
States Army Air Force) strength in the and white (undersides) scheme in 1943.
Luftwaffe. Nonetheless, losses among
islands was crippled or destroyed by the Aircraft belonging to the Marines use an
the American bomber force are substan-
attack; the early months of 1942 would all-over blue paint scheme.
tial, and eventually unescorted missions
be a trying time for the USA. Nonethe- High altitude fighters use a pale-gray,
will be abandoned.
less, America's unparalleled manufac- low-visibility scheme, while night fight-
turing capacity soon kicked in and US- In the Pacific, matters are more favor-
ers like the P-61 used black.
built aircraft are deploying in Europe, able for the USAAF and navy. Land-
Australia and the Pacific Islands. based B-17s and Marauders and car-
ried-based Dauntless dive-bombers
Players choosing the Americans will find
and Devastatortorpedo bombers wreak
their forces undergo a rapid change as
havoc on the Japanese, seeking re-
the war progresses. Though having venge for Pearl Harbor. Unlike in Europe,
large resources of men and material,
carrier-based fighters - Buffaloes and
they are largely untried at the end of
Wildcats - are able to escort the at-
1941 and lack the technological and tack aircraft though they are currently
tactical edge of the RAF or the Luftwaffe.
outclassed by the Japanese Zeros.
They soon make up for this, demonstrat-
Once the Imperial Navy carriers are
ing their resolve both on and off the
eliminated after Midway, American car-
battlefield as their role in the war in- rier-air supremacy seems assured.
creases. They will reach technological
parity with the RAF by the end of 1942, American pilots and crews have a base
deploying their first jets, and quickly Morale Threshold of 3 (Qualified) in
absorb the harsh lessons of war. By 1941/2 or 2 (Veteran) in 1943 and later.
1943, their resources will allow them to
outstrip allies and enemies alike.
Basic Right Units
Backup Communications System: The
aircraft may ignore communicationssys-
72
than the dispenser's ammo load, to the improved Off-Road Ability: The aircraft the aircraft, nor can they control it. Pas-
number of chaffs or flares that can be is designed to handle rough or rugged sengers cannot use the aircraft crew's
used in one round, but only one shot is terrain even better than standard escape system (if any); they must have
expended per defense roll. aircrafts. Such aircraft have large wheels their own.
or a very flexible suspension. Such air-
Diving Wings: An aircraft with this Perk Power Boost (R): Some aircraft can tem-
craft may landhaxi on rough ground.
has distinctive wings that enhance its porarily increase their engine power by
ability to pull out of a dive. Such planes Lighter-Than-Air: Aircraft with this Perk injecting water or a water-methanol mix
have a +1 bonus on Piloting rolls to pull use lighter-than-air gases to stay aloft. into the engine. Doing so (announced
out of Dives, Stalls or uncontrolled falls. As this requires no movement points, when the unit is activated) increasesthe
Lighter-than-air craft do not fall when aircraft's Top Speed by 1d6 MP. The rat-
Fire Resistant: The aircraft is made of
their movement systems are disabled or ing indicates the number of times this
fire-resistant materials and provides
destroyed,though their horizontal move- power boost may be used in a game.
adequate heat protection for the crew.
ment will be determined by wind alone
In game terms, halve the intensity of any RATOG: Aircraft equipped with Rocket
(see Wind, page 49). Lighter-than-air
flame attacks against the aircraft. Assisted Take-Off Gear require only half
craft can gain or lose one altitude level
the normal runway length to take off. Use
Glider: Fixed wing aircraft with this Perk per round without using any MPs.
of the RATOG unit expends the rocket
possess the abilities of a thermal glider,
Light Structural damage will cause a pack. It cannot be used in flight.
and only lose one altitude level or speed
lighter-than-air craft to lose one altitude
MP when gliding. In addition, the pilot ReducedG-effect: Aircraft with this Perk
level per round, without the possibility
can make a Piloting roll vs. a Threshold have been modified to reduce the strain
of gaining them back. Heavy Structural
of 5 to ride the thermal updrafts and ac- of pulled Gs (acceleration) on its crew,
damage will cause a two-level drop per
tually gain altitude levels. The flyer gains either through special cockpits, seats or
round. Craft with this Perk are consid-
a number of altitude levels equal to the flight suits. The pilot has a +1 bonus
ered as VTOL craft for determining ad-
Margin of Success, without losing whenever he has to make a roll as a re-
missible Perks and flaws.
speed. sult of G-effects (Piloting Skill in Gear
Lighter-than-Air craft are vulnerable to Krieg: Air, FIT in the Gear Krieg RPG).
Host: An aircraft with this Perk may carry
incendiary rounds and many also have See G-Effects on page 33 for more in-
a Parasite aircraft up to half their Size.
the Highly Flammable flaw, reflecting formation.
Hostile Environment Protection: The air- their use of Hydrogen as a lifting gas.
Refueling Equipment (AUX): An aircraft
craft is specially designed for prolonged
No Dead-Zone: Cockpit design and/or with this Perk can be refueled while fly-
exposure to some hostile environmen-
the placement of observers and gunners ing, or provide fuel to another aircraft
tal conditions without detrimental ef-
means this aircraft does not have a LOS while aloft. A refueling boom (cost 2)
fects. The Perk also protects the crew.
dead zone beneath it. allows the aircraft to pass fuel to another
Desert aircraft can withstand extended aircraft from tanks in the cargo bay or
Overloadable: This aircraft may carry
exposure to arid conditions without the tankers own fuel tanks. A fuel intake
twice its normal bomb load. If it does
needing special maintenance to avoid (cost 1) allows the aircraft to load fuel
so, its range is reduced to one-third
sand build-up. This includes air filters, while flying.
normal.
modified heat exchangers and cloth
Reinforced Armor (R): The aircraft has
coverings on delicate mechanisms. Oversize Load (R): This aircraft may
one or more facings (arcs of attack) with
carry a load (usually a bomb) that is
Extreme Cold aircraft are designed to better armor than the rest of the aircraft.
classed as Oversize. The rating indi-
endure freezing cold temperatures, When the aircraft is hit on a reinforced
cates the number of oversize loads that
such as those found in arctic and ant- facing, add the Perk's rating to the base
may be carried, each massing up to
arctic regions,without freezing up or oth- Armor rating of the aircraft.
10,000kg.
erwise breaking down. Heaters, special
Reinforced Chassis: The frame of the
lubricants and other modifications are Passenger Seating (R): The aircraft has
part of this Perk. aircraft is designed to absorb consider-
extra seats for passengers.The passen-
able punishment. The aircraft may ig-
gers do not confer any extra Actions to
73
nore the first structure hit on the Sys- normal aircraft but reduces its Combat Cannot Glide: The aircraft has a very
tems Damage Table, but then loses this Speed by 25% (reduce Top Speed ac- high aspect ratio (wing lengthkpan),
Perk. The Perk's effect can be restored cordingly). In swept mode, the aircraft and cannot gain lift without thrust.
by a normal repair if a technician works uses its full Stall Speed and glides as Should the engines fail, or be cut off for
on the aircraft after combat. per a supersonic aircraft but uses its full any reason, the aircraft will automatically
Combat Speeds and does not suffer any go in an uncontrollablefall.
Reinforced Crew Compartment: The
penalties for Supersonic travel (speed
crew compartment is layered with ad- Defective Active Sensors (R): Early sen-
40+), irrespective of whether it could
ditional armor and fitted with crash- sor systems are primitive and prone to
reach such velocities without
absorbing material. The aircraft may ig- damage. The aircraft's sensor system
Overspeeding. Changing modes re-
nore the first crew hit on the Systems has a tendency to go on the blink in a
quires an action and damage to this sys-
Damage Table, but then loses this Perk. random manner. Defective Active Sen-
tem locks the wings in their current mode.
The Perk's effect can be restored by a sors are rated from 1 to 5. In combat,
normal repair if a technician works on Weapon Link: This Perk allows multiple one die is rolled before attempting to
the aircraft after combat. weapons to be linked to one fire control obtain a line-of-sight through active sen-
mechanism simultaneously. One Action sors (see page 34). If the roll is equal to
ReinforcedLocation Armor (R): One of
is required to fire the weapon link. The or less than the Rating, the Flaw's rating
the aircraft's location has better armor
link's Accuracy and Range are equal to is a negative modifier to the sensor test.
than the rest of the aircraft. When the
the worst Accuracy and Range among
aircraft is hit in a reinforced location, Defective Fire Control (R): The aircraft's
the link's weapons. Each weapon at-
add the rating of this Perk to the base fire control system has a tendency to go
tacks separately, but as soon as one
armor rating of the aircraft before de- on the blink in a random manner. Defec-
weapon misses all the other weapons
termining damage. tive Fire Control is rated from 1 to 5. In
not yet fired automatically miss (but still
combat, one die is rolled just before fir-
Searchlight (AUX): The aircraft has a use their ammunition). When a link is
ing a weapon. If the roll is equal to or less
powerful lighting system, such as banks fired, all of the weapons in the link fire.
than the Rating, the Flaw's rating is ap-
of headlights or a large wide angle spot-
plied as a negative modifier to the attack.
light. At night, treat the aircraft's F (or
Rt, L, or Rr, depending on where the Difficult to Bail: Whether due to cockpit
searchlight is mounted) firing arc as if it Flaws are the opposite of Perks. Flaws designor the configuration of the aircraft,
were in daylight, up to the searchlight's represent defects in the aircraft. Some- this design is difficult to escape from in
maximum range. times these defects are planned into the an emergency. Increase the Difficulty
aircraft as a cost cutting measure, at Threshold of all bail-out attempts by 2.
Stratospheric Flight: An aircraft with this
other times the defects are the result of
Perk can climb past the usual ceiling of Exposed Auxiliary Systems: The
design or production errors.
12 km (altitude level 48), and into the aircraft's auxiliary systems have little
stratosphere, up to a maximum ceiling Annoyance: These includes weird protectionfrom combat damage. When-
of 50 km. It cannot be attacked by nor- noises, bad smells, false alarm signals, ever an Auxiliary Systems hit is rolled
mal ground-based weapon systems at a cramped cockpit, etc. Often, this Flaw on the Systems Damage Table (see
this altitude. has little or no tactical effect, but is in- page 46),the damage is one stage
teresting since it individualizes the vari- worse (i.e. Light Damage becomes
Towing Gear: An aircraft with this Perk
ous aircraft designs. Heavy, and Heavy Damage destroys all
can tow other aircraft or aerial targets
auxiliary systems).
as outlined on page 51. Brittle Armor: Due to poor design or ma-
teriel, or both, the aircraft loses twice the Exposed Fire Control: The aircraft's fire
Variable Geometry (AUX): By means of
normal amount of Armor when it is dam- control mechanisms are inadequately
swinging wings, an aircraft with this Perk
aged. Light Damage hits remove two protected and prone to damage or mal-
can alter its flight characteristics to match
points of armor, and Heavy Damage hits functions. A +1 modifier is applied when
the conditions and speed. In the ex-
remove four. rolling for damage on the Fire Control
tended mode, the aircraft reduces its
Damage Sub-table (see page 46).
Stall Speed by two and can glide as a
74
Exposed Crew Compartment: The mored, or both! A +2 modifier is added Maximum Climbing Angle (R): Aircraft
aircrafts crew compartment is open- to Ammoffuel hit rolls when the Ammo/ with this Flaw must advance a certain
topped or offers little protection, caus- Fuel Hit result is obtained on the Fire Con- number of MUS before they can climb
ing excessive crew casualties whenever trol Damage Sub-table (see page 46). one altitude level; the rating of the Perk
the aircraft is hit. Whenever a Crew hit gives the number of MU. VTOL craft
Highly Flammable: The aircraft incorpo-
is rolled on the Systems Damage Table cannot take this Flaw.
rates flammable materials, or it is ex-
(see page 46), the damage is one stage
tremely susceptible to excessive heat. No Communication: The aircraft is not
worse (i.e. Light Damage becomes
The Intensity of all incendiary attacks equipped with any form of communica-
Heavy, and Heavy Damage eliminates
against the aircraft is doubled. tion system. It cannot stay in contact with
the entire crew).
teammates over long distance and
Inefficient Controls: The aircrafts con-
Exposed Movement System: The therefore cannot use Command Points
trol mechanisms are poorly organized,
aircrafts movement systems have little unless it is within command distance
causing the crew to waste precious time
protection from combat damage. When- (see page 28). The crew cannot act as
in high stress situations. The number of
ever a Movement Systems hit is rolled a spotter for indirect fire, nor can it ac-
crew Actions is reduced by one. This
on the Systems Damage Table (see complish any Action requiring the pres-
Flaw only affects aircraft with two or
page 46), the damage is one stage ence of a communication system.
more crewmembers. If, because of ca-
worse (i.e. Light Damage becomes
sualties, the crew drops to one, this Flaw No Engine: The aircraft has been de-
Heavy, and Heavy Damage disables all
is disregarded. signed without an engine and must be
movement).
towed or catapulted aloft. Planes with
Instability: The aircraft is hard to control
Extreme Overheating: The aircraft is this flaw must glide once released and
at high speed or in difficult conditions
prone to overheating in a highly danger- ignore movement hits.
(such as high winds). A -1 modifier is
ous manner. The aircraft will automati-
applied to all Piloting Skill tests made at No Sensors: The aircraft has no built-in
cally suffer a random Light Damage hit
Top Speed. electronic sensors of any kind and may
if it does either of the following for two
only detect opponents visually. It may
combat turns in a row: move and fire a Large Sensor Profile (R): A design flaw
not use the sensor rules.
weapon; fire three or more weapons. If has made the aircraft highly visible to
it does either of these for three combat sensors. This may be caused by a tall Overheating: The aircraft is prone to
turns in a row, the aircraft suffers an structure, a high infrared signature, overheating in a dangerous manner.The
automatic random Heavy Damage hit. noisy machinery or a significant radar aircraft will automatically suffer a Light
trace. This Flaws Rating is subtracted Damage hit if it does any of the follow-
Fragile Chassis: The aircrafts chassis
from the aircraft% Concealment value ing for three combat turns in a row: move
is overly fragile and is prone to damage.
versus sensors. at Top Speed, move and fire a weapon,
The weight of the aircraft is too great for
fire three or more weapons.
the frame, weakening it, or it might just Maximum Ceiling (R): An aircraft with
be a bad design. A +1 modifier is ap- this very common Flaw cannot climb Partially Exposed Crew: Only part of the
plied when rolling on the Structural Dam- past a certain altitude. The rating is sub- crew is protected by the aircrafts mass
age Sub-table (see page 46). tracted, in kilometers, from a height of and armor. The other crewmen are riding
12 km to give the aircrafts maximum in open-topped compartments and are
Fuel Inefficient: The aircraft consumes
ceiling. For example, an aircraft with a exposed to enemy fire. The aircraft is
twice as much fuel while operating at
Maximum Ceiling rating of 4 cannot considered to have the Exposed Crew
Top Speed as it normally would. Its De-
climb past (12 - 4 =) 8 kilometers. A Compartment Flaw until all exposed
ployment Range is reduced by 10 kilo-
majority of aircraft have this Flaw, to dif- crewmembers have been eliminated.
meters for every kilometer covered at
ferent degrees; rotary-wing craft rarely For example, an aircraft which has three
Top Speed.
have ceilings higher than 4 km (rating crewmen in an enclosed cockpit and
Hazardous Ammo/Fuel Storage: The 8). Aircraft that can go higher than 12 four gunners on open mounts will have
aircrafts fuel tanks or ammunition bays km must have the Stratospheric Flight the Exposed Crew Compartment Flaw
are poorly designed. They are either Perk, and cannot take the Maximum until the four gunners are casualties.
placed in a prominent place, lightly ar- Ceiling Flaw.
75
Poor LandingGear: Design or structural Armor-Piercing (AP): The weapon is
problems with the aircraft's landing CHARACTERISTICS highly efficient when penetrating armor,
gear increase the difficulty of any Pilot- concentrating all its energy on a single
Some weapons have special qualities
ing test Thresholds while taxiing, tak- point. The aircraft's base Armor rating
or qualities that affect their performance
ing off or landing, by +l. is halved to determine damage. If the
in the game.
attack is successful, the target does not
PoorVisibility: Because of the restricted
Adhesive (ADH): This ammunition is de- lose any Armor points (the entry hole is
field of view, the crew must subtract 2
signed to stick to the target before deto- too small to affect the Armor rating), but
from all its visual Detection rolls.
nating. It places a -1 modifier on the at- takes system damage as usual. Targets
Random Shutdown (R): Whenever tack roll, but, if successful, the warhead may not be Overkilled by Armor-Pierc-
strained (each turn of combat where it becomes attached to the target. If de- ing weapons. Any extra damage past
moved at Top Speed) the aircraft must sired, it can be detached at any time by the Overkill Armor Threshold of the tar-
roll two dice against a Threshold equal the attacker at the cost of one Action. To get is ignored for simplicity.
to one plus the rating of this Flaw. If detach an adhesive warhead, the de-
fender makes a Piloting Skill roll versus Armor-Crushing (AC): The weapon is
failed, the aircraft shuts down for a num-
the attack's Margin of Success plus the highly efficient when destroying armor
ber of combat turns equal to the roll of
DM of the weapon. If the defending air- plating and structures, either because
one die. Such aircraft automatically go
craft has manipulator arms, a bonus of sheer striking power or because of
out of control and roll on the Loss of
equal to half the Rating of the largest arm its nature. If the attack is successful, the
Control table.
(rounded up) is applied to the Pilotingroll. target loses twice the usual Armor points
Requires Airstrip: The Aircraft cannot (2 for Light Damage and 4 for Heavy
land on rough or even smooth ground. Anti-Infantry (AI): The weapon or Damage) in addition to the usual sys-
An airstrip or straight portion of highway warhead is specifically designed to tem damage. If the damage point total
(in very good condition) is required for attack infantry units and other man- of the attack is equal or greater than half
a safe landing. In any other case, the sized targets. These weapons do not the target's Armor (but still under the
pilot must make a Piloting roll against a suffer the normal -2 modifier when base Armor), the target loses one Ar-
Threshold of 4 (for an exceptionally attacking infantry. mor point with no additional effect.
smooth and hard surface, like Clear ter-
Area Effect (AE): The weapon affects a Attenuating Damage (AD): The weapon
rain) to 10 (rough terrain w/rocks and
large area around the target point This loses a significant portion of its damage
shrubs) to avoid crash landing.
can be due to an explosive effect or a potential over distance. An AD number
Weak Facing: The aircraft has a weak large number of scattered sub-muni- is subtracted from the Damage Multi-
facing (arc of defense). This may be due tions. Area Effect weapons always have plier for each range band beyond Short.
to incomplete armor coverage, shoddy a minimum MoS of 1 versus everything For example, a x12 weapon with AD2
design, or plain bad material. When the in their radius, indiscriminate of friend would be x10 at Medium, x8 at Long and
aircraft is attacked on that side, its Ar- or foe, even if the target(s) successfully x6 at Extreme range.
mor is halved. defended These weapons are rated in
Area Effect (AE), followed by the radius Haywire (HW): The weapon's attack
Weak Point (R): The aircraft has a weak form consists of or causes a massive
of MUS of their blast area (radius 0
point in the armor covering one of its electrical discharge that fries electronic
means only targets within 1 MU of the
locations. This may be due to incom- components, damages sensitive sys-
target point are affected)
plete armor coverage, shoddy design, tems and shocks crewmembers into un-
or plain bad material. When a specific Area Effect ammo delivers a high con- consciousness or death. This discharge
system/location is aimed at and suc- cussion blast and/or scatters lots of courses through its target, often caus-
cessfully hit, the base Armor is reduced shrapnel around when it detonates. It ing multiple systems to fail simulta-
by the rating of this Flaw before apply- gives the weapon an AE of 0, unless it neously. In tactical terms, the weapon
ing damage. already has an Area Effect, in which gets two rolls on the Systems Damage
case it adds one to the AE radius. Table when it scores Light or Heavy
Damage on an opponent.
76
Illumination (ILL): The weapon can Power-Hungry (PH): The weapon re- An angle of 10 degrees will cover a path
release an intense burst of light which quires an inordinate amount of power one MU wide along the entire length of
can be used to blind opponents in or attention beforefiring. The vehicle can the beam - not entirely accurate, but a
battle. A normal attack is rolled: if do nothing else while preparing that good game representation. Players are
successful (i.e., at least Light damage), single weapon for firing. A number of welcome to use a true 10-degree angle
the target is blinded for a number of Actions equal to PH must be spent to if they so desire. A 60-degree angle has
rounds equal to the Margin of Success, fire the weapon, with any penalties for the same shape as a Fixed weapon
but may still use Active Sensors. If the multiple Actions in a turn being applied arc (including the vertical spread as
weapon has an Area Effect or a Wide cumulatively. outlined above). The 180-degree angle
Angle, the illuminated area is counted is identical to the Forward (et al) arcs,
Recoil: The weapon has enormous re-
as being in daylight. while the 360-degree arc radiates out
coil and causes major flight problems
in all directions.
Incendiary (INC): these are intended to for aircraft that use it. When fired, the
burn their targets. Incendiary weapons pilot of the aircraft must make a Pilot-
do not do damage normally: instead, ing Skill test or else lose control of the
they cause a fire whose Intensity is equal aircraft.
to the weapons Damage Multiplier plus
Slow (Slow): The weapon needs time to
the attacks Margin of Success. Incen-
recharge between shots, or reloading it
diary ammunition is filled with an incen-
is a complex operation.The weapon can
diary compound such as napalm or
only be fired once every R tactical turns.
white phosphorus It gives the weapon
the Incendiary characteristic in addition Slow Burn (SB): these weapons are In-
to its normal damage. cendiary weapons that cause the tar-
get to suffer the attacks effects for a
Link: This allows multiple weapons to be
number of combat rounds equal to the
linked to one fire control mechanism si-
original Margin of Success of the at-
multaneously. One Action is required to
tack. Damage is calculated using the
fire the linked weapons. The links Ac-
original MoS, minus one for each addi-
curacy and Range are equal to the worst
tional turn after the first one. For ex-
Accuracy and Range among the links
ample, a MoS 4 attack would use MoS
weapons. Each weapon attacks sepa-
3 on the second turn to calculate dam-
rately, but as soon as one weapon
age, MoS 2 on the third and MoS 1 on
misses all the other weapons not yet
the fourth and final turn. These effects
fired automatically miss (but still use
are in addition to the Incendiary effects
their ammunition). When a link is fired,
of the weapon.
all of the weapons in the link fire.
Wide Angle (WA): The weapons
Minimum Range (MR): The weapon is
method of attack covers a wide area,
unable to fire at a target that is close to
attacking multiple targets at once. A
its position. It might be a mortar or an
single attack roll is made, but any unit
artillery piece that fires in a high arc. In
within the affected area and within
game terms, the weapon suffers a -1
range must defend against it, friend
modifier for each MU that the target is
and foe alike. At low altitude, solid ter-
closer than the weapons Minimum
rain features like hills and structures will
Range rating.
absorb part of direct fire wide-angle
Oversize: The bomb is considered attacks, but in most cases a wide angle
oversized and many only be carried attack is uninterrupted.
by aircraft with the appropriate Perks
(Oversize Load).
Maximum Ceiling (3). R e d u d G - E M
AX s M L EX ACC OM n A-
Bmwning0.51n FF 1 2 b B 0 x4 4 2W Link. ROR +1
VAIUwrS P510, N 225 Year in Snvicr: 1943
Change: f i n Contml: 0. Range 1529 km, Mowmcnt Air 12/23. Size 6. Stall S p e d 1
Add Stntorphrtic flight
AX s M L EX ACC OM n A ~ O
HG53-2 ( S i n ) ff 1 2 4 8 0 x4 6 270 Link, ROF: +I
lOOOkg bombs (2, UW)
78
SIZC 4 I Senrarr: None I Ocp. Range: 0 km
crew: 2 I Comm: 4 / 9 0 km I S t i l l Sped: 0
.P C . S .
~
.
I?,K
MIXIIYRI Ceding (8). Cannot Glide. Difficult to Bail, Expored Monrmnt Syrtem. VIOL
WEIWNS
Name Arc S M L h ACT DM Y Ammo spcc
Browning O.3in fF 1 2 4 8 0 x2 2 120 ea Link. ROT:+2
79
80
Year ~n Service. 1940 Maneuver:
225 Rre Control: -1 Movcscnt: Air 8/16. Gd 213
7 sen*sa: -1115 Orp. Range: 3 w 0 km
-2/1W km Stall Speed
PERKS 6 FLAWS
Maximum Ceiling (3). Fragile Chassis
WEAPONS
Hlrpano 20mm FF 2 4 8 16 0 x6 4 ZWca Link, ROI:+1
Blornlng ,303 MG FF I 2 4 8 0 x2 4 m e a Link. ROk +2
-
Year in S c ~ r c : 1942 Maneuver: -1 Armor: 7/14/21
Threat Value: 225 Fire Control: -1 Movement' Air 11/22. Gd 213 h r m Value:
S12C 6 Srmon: None Dcp. Range: 1190 km ike:
crew: 1 comm: -3/80 km Stall S p e d 6
PERKS k nrmS
M m m m Ceiling (I), Instability (High Sped), HEP (krcrt), No Seniors
..f-I ..
Y W. Y.S
Hirpina 2Omm FF 2 4 8 16 0 x6 4 1Wea Link. ROR +1
Rockell FF 1 2 4 8 .1 x12 1 NIA Rocket R O k t l
VARUNlS V-B. N:225 Year in Service: 1942
I.rn"".. Pnrk....
"__
81
Marimurn Ceiling (3). Maximum Climbing Angle (2)
Am S M L Ex Au OM # Ammo
Bmming 303 MG FF 1 2 4 8 0 12 1 4001a
Bmwnlng ,303 MG V I 1 2 4 8 0 x2 2 400ea Link. ROR+2
Browning ,303 MG 01 1 2 4 8 0 x2 3 400ea Link. ROT:+2
Bomb Load 5Wkg (1)
VARIANrS IF, N 115 Year i n Service: 1940
Change: Senron: -1/80
Remove: No Scnron (Law
Change: Howment:Air 9/18
82
Year ?n S e m c r . 1935 Manewer.
Threat Value. 110 Fire Control:
Sile: 4 sensors: None I Dep Range: 800 k m
Clew
- 1 comm: -2180 km I Stali Soeed.
- *_
R I S 6 FLAW5
nmum Cabng (3). No Scnrorr
APOHS
ne AE S M 1 Ex Arc DM U
.p.-Suiza 20mm FF 2 4 8 16 0 x6 1 Hirp.-Suiza 2Omm FF 2 4 8 16 0 x6 6
...- ..- .. .
H y - S u i r a 20mm DR 2 4 8 16 0 x6 2
EPG 2 0 m m Rr 2 4 8 16 +1 x6 1
VARIANTS SE-5008. N 275 Year tn Service: 1942
... ".I.._
.._
(4). Remow: Redwe MG151 to 112. Add: Mk 108
c Y I r" nu (I lmnn
86
s
______
Year i n Semce 1942 Maneuver. -2 Armor: 8/16/24
Threat Value. 200 Fire Control: -2 Movement Alr 9/19. Grd 2/3
SIR: 8 Scnrorr. -1/l km Dep. Range: 2589 km
clew: 4 tomm: -2180 km Stall Speed: 5
rrna L nrm
Harimum Ceiling (6). Automation (1). mfhcuit to EaiL Laqe Sensor smfilc
WEAPONS
Name Arc S H L Ex Arc OM It Ammo SPCC
20mm MG151/20 Rr 2 4 8 16 0 x6 3 200 ea Link. ROE+]
llmrnMG131 DT 1 2 4 8 0 x4 1 450 ROF +2
I3mmMG131 Vl 1 2 I 8 0 x4 1 450 ROF +I
20aOkg Bombs (4. UW)
VARIAWTI A340 8, N 225 Year i n S c ~ 1942
w
Chanae: Movement: AI^ 10120. R a m : 3nw
88
Year ~n S e ~ c e : 1942 Maneuver.
200 Fire COntmL
6 Sensors: -2/4 km Drp. Ranqc:
2 / 9 0 km I Stall Speed: -2180 km Stall Speed:
-8ornb-load penalty not included
FF 3 6 12 24 0 x6 4 mea
M d : Jet
Change: Drp. Range 250 km
Year in Semre. 1940 Maneuver. - Armor 2/W
200 Fve Control. +I Movement.
4 Senrorr: None Dep. Range:
4 comm: NOW
WEAPONS Spec
Name Arc S H L Ex Acc DH W Ammo
Arc S H 1 EX ACL DH U Ammo
Chain Gun 01 1 2 1 8 0 Spec: I 5 PIE3
Ground-Air Missile 01 3 6 12 24 -2 x25 1 5
A unit i n the AE of 1 Chain Gun burst must make I Rlohng Skill test or else fly into the cham with the
Auto-pilot. Wire-Guided. Armor-Crushing. A E 1
same effects as I Barrage Balloon (KC page 50).
92
Altitude loss Table Turn Summary Table
#OF TURNS DROP STEP ONE: DECLARATION PHASE
1 5 Both sides declare any extra Actions and evasive maneuvers.
2 10 STEP TWO: INITIATIVE PHASE
3 15 Each side rolls a test based on their commander's Leadership Skill.
4+ 20 STEP THREE ACTIVATION PHASE
Move any or all units in one combat group .
# of Turns is the # of turns the air-
cra8 has remained stalled. Once every unit has acted, the other side activates one combat group.
STEP FOUR: MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS PHASE
Drop is the number of altitude levels Bombing attacks are resolved.
lost during the turn. The maximum Initiative Command points go back to zero.
number of altitude levels lost in one
Any Action not spent at this point is lost.
turn is 20.
Repeat Steps I to 4 until the battle is resolved or pre-planned objectives are met. A
combat group may only be activated once per combat turn.
Terrain Table
TERRAIN OBSCUREMENT
Clear Skies O* Detection Threshold Modifiers
Light Cloud 0.5 APPLIED TO ATTACKER'S ROLL
Heavy Cloud 1 Sensor Bonus variable, by default 0
Storm Cloud 2 APPLIED TO (CONCEALMENT)THRESHOLD
Stealth Bonus variable, by default 0
* If Clear Skies is the only terraid
Movement Penalty -1 per 5 MUSmoved by target (round down)
weather between the target and the
Combat Penalty -1 Der weaDon fired bv taraet this turn
spotter, its effective Obscurement is
-2 (it's hard to hide in an open sky)
0 Neither aircraft must 5 Aircraft loses a numberof altitude levels eaual to the roll of one die.
have moved this turn 6-7 Aircraft Stalls.
8-9 Aircraft suffers Liaht Structural Damaae and Stalls.
10 Aircraft suffers Heavy Structural Damage.
Using Command Points Aircraft Suffers Heavy Structural Damage and Stalls
Aircraft falls into an uncontrollable spin. It suffers Heavy Structural Damage
Extra Action (no penalty)
and will plummet to the ground and crash unless the pilot makes a
Defensive maneuvering Pilotina roll vs a Threshold of 10
(+2 to single defense roll)
Activate a unit out of sequence
(if it hasn't been activated already)
6-Effects
Whenever an aircraft spends more than 10 MP in one go, the pilot immediately make a Piloting
Skill test against a Threshold of (3+ number of MP spent over IO), + I for an Inverse loop If the
roll succeeds the pilot continues to act normally If failed, the MoF IS a penalty to Piloting Skill
tests for the turn If Fumbled,all further Plloting tests for the turn fail automatically
Special Maneuvers Attack And Defense Modifiers
SIDESLIPPING: For every 3 MUSof for- ATTACK ROLL MODIFIERS:
ward motion,the plane can move sideway Fire Control Rating
up to 1 MU left or right. Facing does not Weapon Accuracy Rating
change.There is no test or MP cost.
Range Modifier
ROLLING:Rollingadds +I to Defensetests Attacker Movement Modifier
and -1 to all Attack tests. Piloting Thresh- Obscurement Penalty
old is 4 if failed, roll on the Aircraft Control
LossTable.Requiresone Action, but no MP. DEFENSE ROLL MODIFIERS:
Maneuver Ratina
FULL LOOP: MP cost is Turn Radius x 6
Defender Movement Modifier
(min. of 6); Piloting Threshold is Turn Ra-
dius + I (min. 3). The aircraftends itsmove- 0 Arc of Attack Modifier
ment within a distance and altitude of its POSSIBLE OUTCOMES:
starting point equal to the TR, in MUS.
If Attackers total is > Defender's HIT
HALF LOOP: MP cost is Turn Radius x 3 If Attacker's total is < Defender's MISS
(min. 3); PilotingThreshold is Turn Radius
+ I (min. 3). Heading is changed by 1800,
and altitude must be changed by at least
the Turn Radius x 1.5, up to twice the TR. Attack Modffiers
Iffailed,rollonthe AircraftControlLossTable RANGE MODIFIER
(page 33), adding + I for a Half Loop, +2 0
Short (from 1 MU to base ranae)
for a Full Loop and +3 for an Inverse Loop.
Medium (from previous to two (2) times base range) -1
A Tailed aircraft may loop to break the tail. Long (from previous to four (4) times base range) -2
Tail tests are outlined on page 27; the tar-
Extreme (from Drevious to eiaht (8)times base range) -3
get adds half the Loop'sTurnRadius(round
down) to its break roll. Target Tailed this turn
OBSCUREMENT MODIFIERS
GLIDING: Lose any combinationof 2 points
of either speed (in MPs)or altitude per turn. Clear Skies 0 Light Cloud 0.5 (round down)
If speed falls below Stall Speed, aircraft Heavy Cloud 1 Storm Cloud 2
immediately stall. Gliding aircraft can use MOVEMENT MODIFIERS
the Diving maneuver to gain speed.
Stationary +2 Half Combat Speed or less +I
Supersonic planes (Top speeds of 40+) Combat SDeed +O To~SDeed -3
must lose any combination of 3 points of
speed or altitude, with a minimum altitude
MISCELLANEOUS
MODIFIER
level loss of one. Glider Perk have to lose Target is infantry -2
one Altitude Levelor MPof speed per turn.
94
Systems Damage Table: U#htD a m e Ramming Speed
ROLL DAMAGED SYSTEM RESULT RAM. DIREC. IMPACT SPEED
1 Fire Control Roll on Sub-table A Head On Attacker + Defender
2 Structure Roll on Sub-table B Side Attacker SDeed
3 Crew Crew stunned (-1 Action for 1 turn) Rear Attacker - Defender
4 Movement' -1 Movement Point
5 Auxiliary Systems -1 to ld6 Auxiliary Systems
6 Roll Twice on this table**- Impact Speed Modifiers
IMPACT SPEED DPMAGE MOD.
1-2 -2
ROLL DAMAGED SYSTEM ____
RESULT -
3-4 -1
1 Fire Control Roll on Sub-table A and add +1
2 Structure Roll on Sub-table 6 and add +1
5-6 +O
7-9 rI l,
3 Crew Crew killed, 10% casualties, min. 1
4 Movement* 1/2 remaining MP (round down) & -2 Maneuver +2
*Choose Flight or Ground movement / ** If the attack was a called shot, the at-
on table, depending on target).
Bailout Table
SITUATION MODIFIER
Aircraft straight and level -1
95
J 13
G-Effects 33 bent Korps Air Raiders
Aces 55 herheating 75
Actions, Number of 23 Germany 62
3der 73 )verloadable 73
Activation Phase 26 hersize Load 73,77
Aichi D3A1 Val 90 3loster G40 Pioneer 83
Aimed Shots
Air & Weather
39
48
3loster G41 Meteor
:round-Air fire
Sru
83
44
78
e
'aratroops 58
Airdrops 58 72
Airlift Winch 72 'artial Exposed Crew 75
Altitude
Anti-Air
28,30
72 92
P-I 82
'assenger Seating
'erks
73
72
Handley Page HP-75 Manx
Anti-Infantry 76 Hawker Hurricane 81 'iggy-back Aircraft 51
Arado Ar 340 87 Hawker Tempest 81 'iston Engines 16
Arcs, Firing 36 Haywire 76 blikarov 1-16 84
Area Effect Weapons 41, 76 Hazardous Ammo/Fuel Storage 75 'wr Landing Gear 76
Armor-Crushing & Armor-Piercing 3wr Visibility 76
76 Heavy AA Battery 92
Attack Modifiers 37 Hex-MapConversion 59 'ower Boost 73
Attenuating Damage 76 Highly Flammable 75 'ower-hungry 77
Automation 72 Horten Ho 229 86 'rolectile Weapons 18
Autopilot 49, 72 Horten Ho XX Transport 87 Jropulsion 16
Avro 683 Lancaster 82 'zKpf V Ausf X Sturmvalkurte 91
Host 73
Hostile Environment Protection 73
F N 91 Weak Point
76
76
88 NakajimaB5N1 Kate Weapon Link 74
Fiat G50 Freccia NO Communication 75
Fire Resistant 73 Weapons 18-19 76
No Dead-Zone 7:
Firing Arcs 36 No Engine 75 Wide Angle 77
Flaws 74
No Sensors 7:
Focke-Wulf FW190 86
North American P-51 Mustang 7E
Fragile Chassis 75 91
Northrop P-61 Black Widow 7c Yokosuka MXY-7 Model 11 Ohka Baka
Fuel Inefficient 75
96