Here is a Question that I have been meaning to ask for some time, but as I only game with the models it has not taken on a significance until now, Why is it that some cards have differing fire factors when they depict the same aircraft as each other? Is it because of some difference in the armiament, percieved ability of the different pilots, or some other technical innovation that has taken place since the aircraft was commissioned? It would be great to get feedback from some of you more experienced fly boys, thanks.

Hello,

Some planes have "A" damages and others "B" damages. It s because of guns avaible in the plane.

Single Gun get B damage

Double Guns get A damage.

Look at French Nieuport 17 which have A damage Guns, It has a second gun over the upper wing. The russian nieuport 23 doesn't have this second gun and so have B damage gun.

à+

Thanks Merlin, I felt it would be something like that. However I'd like to see the pilot try to fire both those guns at the same time.They had enough trouble just re loading the one on the upper wing.

Guns were coupled. Pilots were able to fire both at the same time.

But, true, the problem was to reload or repare the upper gun when jammed !

Thanks again Merlin. The reason all this has come up is that I have just painted up one of the Nieuports as Albert Ball's kite, and noticed that his card was a B for guns. I know he has this habit of flying under enemy machines and firing up into the underside, but as an ace the B does turn him into a very mediocre pilot again when up against all my friends flying there A rated Tripe hounds et al, especially as I have to get below them first. Why bother with Albert Ball? I am also a Nottingham lad, so it just had to be done. I guess I'll just have to live with the consequences.

THANKS AGAIN.

Upper wing Lewis guns and fuselage gun Vickers guns were not always linked. Sometimes a pilot had to fire one or the other. A SE5a pilot had stated this (forget name at moment but details can be found at the Yahoo game group).

Weight of Fire is not calculated in this game, which would further affect "A" vice "B" damage for different planes. In essence, Weight of Fire is how much lead is thrown at the target plane per second. Twin guns with a lighter caliber, lower rate of fire and slower muzzle velocity (penetration) could potentially have less weight of fire than a "better" single gun that beats it on some or all of the stated criteria. Factor in tracers, explosive and armour piercing rounds as well. The calculation better pertains to WW2 planes and beyond however.

IMO, the game designers have done well with the one gun "B" vice two gun "A" damage rules for WW1 WoW.

Flying Officer Kyte said:

It doesn't help that there's no Official rules for this -- I suggested some a while back, but it's not Official.

To equilibrate the game ... you can use the Ace abilities !

Extract from an Andrea's message on the ML

> So I'd say, roughly and without checking:
> 0 - Nieuport 17
> 1 - Albatros D.III
> 2 - SPAD XIII, Sopwith Camel, Sopwith Triplane, Hanriot Hd.1, Fokker Dr.I, Albatros D.Va, Pfalz D.III/D.IIIa
> 3 - Se5a, SS D.III, SS.DIV
> 4 - Fokker D.VII, Sopwith Snipe

> Planes in the same group are at roughly the same level - if you choose
> the A-firing ones of course. Planes at different levels can maybe be
> balanced with a certain number of ace skills matching the difference in
> levels - a Nieuport 17 can maybe face an Albatros D.III if you give it
> 1 (1-0) skill, a Fokker D.VII can maybe face a Camel if the latter get
> 2 (4-2) skills.

Here the skills:
http://www.wingsofwar.it/read.asp?id=1273

I 've worked on my own home-made Aces and campaign rules... but it's in french.

You can have a look here : Regles de campagne

@+

Thanks Merlin, I've printed them off.

Ball's trick of firing upwards is only possible with a Foster mounting, which appears on the SE5. This placed the overwing Lewis gun on a rack, allowing it to slide downwards so the pilot could change the ammo drum without having to stand up (the previous method!) Of note, Ball had his SE5 (early model, not the SE5a) modified with an additional Lewis mounted to fire downwards, through the floor of the cockpit!

One thing Wings of War does not portray within the game is changing ammo drums. In fact, WoW doen't address ammo usage at all as far as I can tell. Lewis guns had at most 100 rounds in a drum (more often only 40). This compared to 400 rounds in the ammo bins of twin-Spandau armed Fokkers. Might go a long ways towards explaining the higher kill numbers for German pilots, since the Allies mostly used Lewis guns until 1917.

Firing the guns on a WWI plane was not as primitive as you may have been led to believe. Not at all like you see in the movie "Blue Max". The triggers were actually wired, through cables, to "buttons" (actually pressure plates) or levers on the control stick. They were placed so that the pilot could press either or both with one thumb or finger while still controlling the joystick with one hand and the throttle with the other.

Now this presents an interesting problem in the Wings of War game when it comes to jamming. In reality, a plane with two guns could continue to fire one of them (and did) even if the other jammed. You could use a "house rule" of allowing "A" damage to become "B" damage in the event of a jam, instead of not allowing any fire at all. Needs playtesting, though, it could really throw off the game balance.

Here's a combat report by Fank Luke, American ace, who flew Nieuport 28's and SPAD XIII's:

September 12, 1918 "Saw 3 EA [enemy aircraft] near Lavignelle and gave chase following them directly east towards Pont-A-Mousson where they disappeared towards Metz. Saw enemy balloon at Marieville, destroyed it after three passes at it. Each within a few yards of the balloon. The third pass was made when the balloon very near the ground. Both guns stopped [jammed] so pulled off to one side. Fixed left gun and turned about to make one final effort to burn it (italics mine) but saw it had started the next instant it burst into great flames and dropped on the winch, destroying it..."