I found a game that allows three dimensions of movement.

I have been working on using these FFG figures and flying in 3-d. Nice to add an upper cut to a swarm as fighter cut in at literally all directions. Also you can get some fancy flying as you literally barrel role a loop into a swarm.

Fun as hell FFG should contact Ad Astra as a great addition to its miniature line sales.

links? pictures? videos?

^^^ seriously this is the mod I want to my game lol

Ad Astra Squadron Strike allows 3-D movement and the use of FFG's figures. And wow absolute real movement

Would be cool but way complex I think other than in some simplified sense.

As a gamer from an era when we thought this kind of thing was fun I am recoiling in horror and saying "have fun with that."

The simplicity of X-wing is what makes it attractive. If I need more complexity, I'll play Full Thrust...

Squadron Strike with Ad Astra Games. They have already done X-wings

I remember playing "air superiority" a game that simulated all facets of air combat. Including such mundane things as how fast different engines spool up and how much smoke they put out at various settings. Game was tedious at best.

As a gamer from an era when we thought this kind of thing was fun I am recoiling in horror and saying "have fun with that."

The simplicity of X-wing is what makes it attractive. If I need more complexity, I'll play Full Thrust...

I remember playing "air superiority" a game that simulated all facets of air combat. Including such mundane things as how fast different engines spool up and how much smoke they put out at various settings. Game was tedious at best.

Are you on commission Empireeric? Your posts read like a QVC presenter on Speed...

Also, looked at the website and not appealing to me what-so-ever... I want the excitement of ship to ship fighting and out maneuvering a wily opponent - I don't need to worry the details of my pitch and elevation and what air freshener I've hung on the rear view sensor...

I remember playing "air superiority" a game that simulated all facets of air combat. Including such mundane things as how fast different engines spool up and how much smoke they put out at various settings. Game was tedious at best.

Disagree. Air Superiority was perhaps the first attemp to do it real. The mechanics were evolving in later games ( The Speed of Heat, Over the Reich, etc ).

But you are OK about x wing. It must be simple and easy to play. Like SW films, easy and full of emotions. I wrote 3D and energy adjustement rules. In the most literal sense, burned them. Only a High-Low rule for "trench" like scenarios.

I remember playing "air superiority" a game that simulated all facets of air combat. Including such mundane things as how fast different engines spool up and how much smoke they put out at various settings. Game was tedious at best.

Disagree. Air Superiority was perhaps the first attemp to do it real. The mechanics were evolving in later games ( The Speed of Heat, Over the Reich, etc ).

But you are OK about x wing. It must be simple and easy to play. Like SW films, easy and full of emotions. I wrote 3D and energy adjustement rules. In the most literal sense, burned them. Only a High-Low rule for "trench" like scenarios.

I played ALL the air combat sim games. i was and am an Aircraft fanatic.. and one of the more fun games was a simple one called sopwith.. It had a control panel that you would set before each turn kind of like the movement dial. the game was hex based but had some cool facets like different firing arcs and the Immelman maneuver.you could also "sideslip" it was like X-wing but with out all the various up grade interactions. and with out the cool miniatures. I would not be opposed to a 3D version as long as it was simple and EASY to implement. All i know is just implementing something as simple as random asteroid movement which I have seen done in a game was still problematic.. Although its a good use for a 3rd wheel player who is not playing..lol on somewhat related note Air superiority had a TON of tokens you had to move and set every turn...

Whats the power of xwing rules? Simplicity.

Except for maybe really complex "DMS-TelTrevura" examples rules of xwing are wrote in a way that kids can easily learn them and adult can get them in half an hour.

All the dials in the link while looking really interesting and promising are nowhere near simple.

I would not be xwing in 3d. Just interesting Star Wars game using Xwing miniatures. But not Xwing at all:)

A little, emphasis in LITTLE, more complexity is not bad. Moving Rocks, Nebula, AA fire, simple rules to add spice.

Per example, one doghfight near a Space Monster that moves randomly and attack to every ship at range one.

Or a pair or Turboblaster Turrets over a German Style flack tower ( GW scenery ). But allways eeeeasy.

Swedge , happy to meet another wargamer.

Given every on-screen and in-game battle takes direct licence from WW2 dogfighting, and given every on-screen dogfight happens inexplicably on the same virtual plane and orientation, all within an exceptionally confined relative altitude to that plane, I've never once felt a need for the game to suddenly have a Z-axis. It's actually thematic that they're all on the level with each other.

If you've ever played Homeworld, you'll understand why the simplicity of keeping "altitude" out of it is what makes it so accessible and fun. Homeworld is an amazing game, but after a couple of hefty engagements, you have to walk away and give your brain time to stop leaking out of your ears.

Given every on-screen and in-game battle takes direct licence from WW2 dogfighting, and given every on-screen dogfight happens inexplicably on the same virtual plane and orientation, all within an exceptionally confined relative altitude to that plane, I've never once felt a need for the game to suddenly have a Z-axis. It's actually thematic that they're all on the level with each other.

That is an interesting point.....

Given every on-screen and in-game battle takes direct licence from WW2 dogfighting, and given every on-screen dogfight happens inexplicably on the same virtual plane and orientation, all within an exceptionally confined relative altitude to that plane, I've never once felt a need for the game to suddenly have a Z-axis. It's actually thematic that they're all on the level with each other.

This would be an interesting point if it was at all true.

Even only looking at the most recent film, there are several examples of 3D dogfighting. Rey being chased by the TIE Fighters on Jakku and the X-Wing/TIE Fighter battle on Takodana are the first that come to mind. In the original trilogy, we have one of the most iconic chase scenes in the whole series - Han and crew being chased into the asteroid field, where he does a full loop in three dimensions to land in the space slug's mouth. In the prequels, there are numerous space battle scenes that involve fighters moving around each other in three dimensions.

Nothing out of relative plane, though. Loops happen in aircraft dogfighting as often as X-wing dogfighting. It's nothing special. Rey being chased by TIEs actually proves my point in an unfair way: they were atmosphere bound and had hard deck constraining their flight level. They literally were on the same plane and orientation for that reason.

When I say they're on the same plane, I don't mean directly aligned at all times. I mean +/- a few thousand meters, on a similar bearing. You don't see anything approximating Z-axis combat tactics. It's not something that happens, partly because it's difficult to understand, mainly because it just doesn't film well. Space is treated as in-atmosphere flying for the sake of continuity and story telling. Even the capital ships miraculously appear in plane and on the same orientation after exiting hyperspace.

Everything in the movies is based on regular dogfighting tactics with some artistic licence thrown in. Immelmann maneuvers, Cuban rolls, inverse barrels, scissors; it's all stuff developed as far back as WW1, but it still looks good on film, and it's still relatable. They're moving in three dimensions, but they're not in Z-axis combat.

It's not a criticism. I think it's smart to keep it that way. It's easier to track and understand, which is both the lynch pin of good story telling, and good gameplay.

I looked at the rules for this 3D game and I got a headache. If those were the standard rules for X wing I would never of bothered playing it.

Additionally, if I want to play 3D ships in space I will go play EVE or Elite: Dangerous or any of the other multitude of space games out there.

I'll see your Ad Astra Squadron Strike and raise you Attack Vector: Tactical. Just how many crewmen bunks were evaporated by that laser strike? Let's do the damage soak and find out...

Games Workshop briefly did a game called Aeronautica Imperialis: fun ships, basic maneuver templates, and speed/altitude settings. I can't help but feel like it was based on something else, but I really liked the (fairly) simple mechanics. Downside was that it took longer to play a standard game than X-Wing (something I really like about this game: quick matches) and it wasn't as well balanced.