FLYING LESSONS FROM THE BARON
Updating RICHTHOFEN'S WAR
By Michael Anchors
from THE GENERAL, 23, #5, pp 31-32.
Back in Vol. 19, No. 6, in an article entitled "A Historian's Guide to AH Wargames", Seth Owens made a plea for "some Tom Oleson" to rescue RICHTHOFEN'S WAR from obsolescence. He advocated simultaneous movement and inclusion of the optional Maneuver Cards as standard features. Now that Mick Uhl has put physics back into air war games with KNIGHTS OF THE AIR, it is high time to refurbish that old WWI classic-but is Owens' formula the best? Actually, RICHTHOFEN'S WAR is so much fun already, I hate to louse it up making it more "realistic". Anyway, what is so realistic about complicated written movement orders? Let's try something new! Throw away your pencils, lads. Get your hands around the stick and your feet on the pedals. We are going to fly!
Variant
All movement and combat rules of the Tournament Game in RICHTHOFEN'S WAR are in effect except as below:
1.0 The Aircraft Status Pad (ASP) for each aircraft in play now contains a set of controls as well as the Altitude track and other data.
1.1 The "Current Speed" marker on the Speed track represents the throttle and regulates engine speed. (It never was a good reflector of airspeed.) All the old rules apply: Speed can be increased or decreased by one or two movement points per turn; Speed cannot be less than Minimum Speed or greater than Maximum Speed; and so forth.
1.2 A dummy counter, blank side up, represents the pedals. Place to the right, left or directly on top of the word "Maneuver Schedule this indicates right, left or neutral rudder respectively.
1.3 A second dummy counter, representing the stick, is placed in or adjacent to the hexagon figure below the word ''Schedule". When the stick counter is moved forward toward the word "Schedule", the elevators are depressed and the aircraft dives. Ease the stick back, and the aircraft climbs. Right stick in addition to right rudder effects a right turn. And so forth.
2.0 At the beginning of the game, the controls of all aircraft are set in any position desired by the owning player.
3.0 On its turn to move, each aircraft must be moved according to the positioning of its controls. (See the Control Effects Chart in Figure 1.)
4.0 The new Turn Sequence is as follows:
FIRST SEGMENT
1. Movement Phase. Player "A" moves his aircraft one by one according to the position of his controls. The controls of aircraft cannot be altered before or during movement of the aircraft counter. As each aircraft completes movement, its controls may be repositioned to determine movement for the next turn .
2. Attack Phase. Player "A" executes attacks, if any, by firing his machine guns.
3. Defensive Fire Phase. Player "B" returns defensive fire, if possible.
SECOND SEGMENT
4. Movement Phase. Player "B" moves his aircraft.
5. Attack Phase. Player "B" executes his attacks.
6. Defensive Fire Phase. Player "A" returns fire, if able.
5.0 Players may inspect the ASP of enemy aircraft only during the Attack Phase of their own segment. In other words, a pilot is not permitted to know the position of the controls of enemy aircraft when setting his own controls (Exception: ADVANTAGE). Of course, a player is always entitled to know the altitude of enemy aircraft.
5.1 ADVANTAGE. A player can see the ASP of an enemy aircraft at times other than his own Attack Phase only if one of his aircraft "has an advantage" over it. This occurs when the enemy aircraft is within the forward 120" arc, seven-hex range and within 250m altitude of the friendly plane (i.e., within the field of fire of an imaginary Fe-2 in the position of the friendly plane).
5.2 If two opposing aircraft have advantage over each other, the advantage of both is cancelled.
5.3 A plane can possess the advantage regardless of its ammunition or damage status.
5.4 A player must move his non-advantaged aircraft and set their controls before looking at the ASP of disadvantaged enemy aircraft.
6.0 If the controls of an aircraft are found to be in a position other than those shown in Figure 1 (or Figure 2 if in play), the opponent may reposition them in his favor.
7.0 Optional: Unexpected Maneuvers
Using the above variant, the optional Unexpected Maneuver cards (available from The Avalon Hill Game Company by mail order) can be used according to the rules supplied with them. At the start of the Movement Phase, aircraft that were attacked in the previous Attack Phase may choose to ignore their controls and go through the ritual of drawing cards and selecting a maneuver. A reasonable addition to the rules would prohibit aircraft with damaged controls (Critical Hits #5, 7, 8 or 9), dead engines or a wounded pilot from performing Unexpected Maneuvers. In addition, planes that exceed Maximum Dive +200m in the course of a Nose Dive or Spin ought to roll the Overdive Penalty .
Players may have more fun using their controls to generate Unexpected Maneuvers instead of the cards. In this form, pilots of aircraft that have been attacked may change their controls to any of the Unexpected Maneuvers shown in Figure 2, during a special "Maneuver Phase" that would follow the Defensive Fire Phase of their opponent's Turn Segment.
Each plane that attacked the maneuvering plane can attempt to follow its quarry by rolling one die. If the die roll is equal to or less than the firing range, the attacking plane may alter its controls to one of the Unexpected Maneuvers or to any position that would allow it to get a shot on the defending plane next turn. The die roll is modified as follows:
| Maneuver Schedule | DRM |
| A | +2 |
| B | +1 |
| C | 0 |
| D | -1 |
| E | -2 |
| Ace Attacker | -1 |
If the attacker fails the die roll, he may not alter his controls and must proceed six hexes straight ahead before making any turn, just as in the card variant. Unlike the card variant, however, after performing one of the Unexpected Maneuvers, aircraft in this variant must move straight ahead to the limit of their movement points without turning.
Note that for each Unexpected Maneuver, one or both of the control counters is turned arrow-side up to denote that the control is held longer in position or more widely deviated than for the usual turn or climb. In some cases, the arrows show which way the controls are moved in sequence in a complex maneuver. For play in the game, it is sufficient to memorize the position of the counters as a simple symbol for the maneuver intended.
Some maneuvers require that the aircraft be at a certain speed to initiate the maneuver. It must attain that speed, of course, by increasing or decreasing speed by two movement points per turn--not just moving the Speed Marker back as in the case of a dive. When the maneuver is completed, the Speed Marker is immediately moved to the specific~final speed. Altitude loss for the Nose Dive and/or Spin is based on the final speed. Players must use some foresight in planning for maneuvers and executing them if they are not to exceed Maximum Overdive and crash.
With the above, you have as much control of your aircraft as can be expected in any boardgame on this period to date. For the real aficionados, it should prove a challenge; to the novices, it should prove a revelation on how these old "crates" flew. But for all, it should prove fun.
Updated 14 Jan 08.
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