To add an element of risk to the game, I have developed some simple Ace Pilot rules.

To become an Ace you need to shoot down 5 planes. You take a 3x5 card and record the name of your pilot and keep track from game to game how many kills he/she achieves.

Once a pilot is an ace, the benefit is that all shots are done at the +1. +1 shots are still only +1 and zeros are still misses.

In addition, Aces unjam guns in one less turn. Aces also are able to achieve tailing status from a further distance. Take the ruler and touch it to the front of the card/base of the tailing plane. If the ruler simply touches the other card/base and passes through the rear side, then the ace is successfully tailing.

This gives an incentive for a pilot to survive a dogfight rather than both sides simply fighting until all planes are down.

Shooting down an ace - When any pilot is shot down, you must determine what side of the lines the plane goes down. For a simple game, we use the center of the table as the line. If the plane goes down on the enemy's side of the table, the pilot is lost due to either capture or death. If the plane goes down on the friendly side of the table then there is a 50% chance the pilot lived. Either flip a coin or flip a pilot marker to determine if the pilot lives. If he/she lives, then they return for the next battle in a new plane.

We have experimented with limiting the ace status to pilot and plane type. Due to the unique qualities of each plane, a pilot needs to reestablish themselves as an ace if they change the kind of plane they are flying.

I've introduced this concept of aces and pilots to some games stores with player group. They have found it has added a new level to regular customers/players who now have a personal interest in keeping their pilot alive. Children who play also enjoy knowing that the person lived even though the plane died.

This introduces a new factor about trusting your wingman. You never know if your wingman is going to lose his nerve and bolt for the border to save himself.

You will find out who your true friends are.

Richard Bilss

Nice concept, but the downfall in your scenario is that if I had a heavily damaged "Ace" plane, I would avoid flying over enemy territory to minimize pilot loss. I've read that most air battles occurred near/over German lines, thus Allied airmen losses/capture exceeded that of the German's. As well, 50% is a rather high figure.

I too use house rules, but have dumped the axis/allied front division line to avoid "playing it safe" scenarios. The entire play area is treated as no-man's land (neutral front). Applied then is a given set of historical figures (modified slightly to be "D" damage deck compatible) to determine the chance of a downed airman to survive the crash landing, mitigate injuries and return to flying duties. These figures are as follows:

1. Crewmember dead or plane explodes = 0%

2. Plane downed + Crewmember injured or plane on fire = 3.5% (Draw 2 cards; if successful shuffle 2x "0" and 2x Explosion. Draw 2x "0" again)

3. Plane downed = 7% (Draw 2x "0"; if successful shuffle 1x "0" and 1x Explosion card. Draw the "0")

4. Mid-Late 1918 German (parachute equipped) plane downed + Crewmember injured or plane on fire = 14% (Draw 2x "0")

5. Mid-Late 1918 German (parachute equipped) plane downed = 43% (Draw 1x "0")

Note that:

a. the Mid-late 1918 German figures include not everyone wearing a parachute; and

b. pilot and rear gunner are treated separately.

Without percentile dice, these percentages can be obtained with the "D" damage deck. Remove 1x Explosion card so there are seven cards remaining. Then draw a number of cards as indicated in italics above. All cards drawn must be a "0" to count as being successful. Note that this system tends to treat both side equally (except for late 1918). Historically, allied losses/capture would be higher as the battles continued to edge over German lines as the war progressed.

I use the Ace rules that were developed for the game. These rules I felt were slightly lacking so I modified them to be a little bit more involved. I added more ace abilities, none of which are too powerful.

Check them out here:

http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/sDy6Sf3CrWGTNaXDMhh6aLSfaoAZ6DLfTbaO3p7d7GYBcgohAZwXwnhBunMe899fhajoQgh0AajW7bPEpXzrxI2aHarudxzNjINitKB6/Optional%20Wings%20of%20War%20ACE%20rules-lingster.pdf

(That's in the yahoo group for WOW_NEXUS)