I ran another two playtest games yesterday, with a MiG-21 against an SU - 22. Both games ended up as close range gun fights again, although I did have a go at an I/R missile attack which ended up with two successful evades using flares. I've now scrapped the old missile firing parameters and designed a different system for missile firing arcs, which I'm hoping will make it easier to target and fire at aircraft. I'm even considering getting rid of the restrictions on I/R missiles, so that they don't have to target the rear arc, but that's up for debate with the club.
My unsolicited 2 cents: gotta keep the rear aspect-only firing arc for IR missiles or you lose all flavor of the difference between them and radar guided missiles.
ReplyDeleteThe way I’ve played it is:
IR - very low failure rate, rear aspect only, short range, shorter minimum range, greater chance to hit
Radar - higher failure rate, all aspect, longer range, longer minimum range, lesser chance to hit
Both are susceptible to countermeasures (flare/chaff).
Having said all that, I’m a simple man, so have no problem saying “a missile is a missile,” but you seem to desire more granularity in your designs.
Another thing: if you’re continuing to find yourself in short-range knife fights (and you don’t want to be), there are two options to fix that: make the Jets’ turning radius larger, so it’s harder to come to grips, or go with a smaller ground scale (if, for example, gun range is 4 inches, cut it to 2 inches).
I hope something in there helps, Jim, and thanks for posting, I’m really enjoying your Knights of the Sky project.
V/R,
Jack
Good advice Jack. I'm trying to balance realism with playability, while factoring in the 'what's all this about then?' lack of knowledge of some of the players. I'm also adapting an existing, well loved set of club rules, so can't do too much re-thinking or the natives will get restless. It's a tricky thing to do and I've had to make some compromises, but I think it will work in the end?
ReplyDelete