Simple Air to air rules

Here is my take on modern (1960’s to near future) air combat. Despite being six pages, it really is a
simple game at heart. The main thing that separates my game from others is that you do not need to
know everything about air combat to play. The moves are simple, but can be strung together for more
complex maneuvers. I also tried to incorporate the “feel” of air combat which boils down to two things,
your position in a fight and getting/evading tone. If you keep those abstracts in mind and don’t focus o
the technicalities then this will be a fun, fast, and somewhat realistic game. As with all my games they
are supposed to be intuitive – don’t read into the rules. If something sounds right, go with it. I combine
these rules with my modified version of Milton Bradley’s Mission Command: Sea game for a full
naval/air game.

Pilot Skill Rating:

1 Not used
2 Rookie/Nugget someone who just graduated flight school -1
3 Standard but no combat experience
4 Experienced +1
5 Vet +2
6 Ace +3 (very rare)

Cat and Hotdog in the BSG reboot have a 2 Rating

Most pilots in the Cold War era and modern times have a 3 rating.
Maverick from Top Gun has a 2 rating.
Rick Hunter in Robotech has a 2 rating.
Roy Fokker and Max Sterling in Robotech have a 3 rating.

Sometimes the plane will give a +1 bonus such as the Su-57 Felon in Top Gun 2.
Sometimes the difference in the planes can be represented by a bonus also. The F-14s vs the Zeros in
“The Final Countdown” can be expressed as a +2 for the F-14s.

Maneuvering:
I use a simple protractor and divide it into sectors that represent turn angles and G stress.
1 Straight or up to 10* left or right
2-3 10*to 40* turn left or turn right
4-5 40* to 70* hard left or hard right
6 70* to 90* break left or break right

This represents the rate of turn (max Gs) a pilot can handle before passing out.
(I might add a rule just for Vets and Aces called “Press your luck” where a pilot can roll to exceed the
blackout, but there would be serious consequences if he failed.)
Because this game is a simplified version of air combat and not a simulation, it is a little abstract. The
protractor does not describe the flight path of the airplane. It only shows the position of where it ends
up at the end of the maneuver. The “actual” path is determined when you roll your skill vs your
opponent’s skill. A low roll for you would be a simple turn while a high roll for you would represent any
banking, jinking, or rolling while making that turn.

Place the middle of the protractor’s straight edge at the nose of your plane. Determine the angle of
travel. Move your plane to that point on the protractor.

Use the length of the straight edge of the protractor for straight line afterburner.

Example - You are an Experienced pilot (+1) flying straight and want to turn 60* left. You roll a 3 (+1) = 4.
You can turn any angle up to the 70* mark. Since you are not in combat there is no one to roll against
and no reason to make an opposing Pilot Check.

Example - You are an Experienced pilot (+1) flying straight while in combat and want make a 60* left
turn. You roll a 3 (+1) = 4 for your maneuver. This places you where you want. You also rolled a 4 (+1) =
5 vs your Standard opponent’s 3. Your roll is higher so you out flew him and he does not get a
bead/tone on you.

Example for solo play (limited enemy AI) – Using the example above, the enemy starts out behind you,
but not at a firing angle. He rolls a 5 for his maneuver roll and can turn left or right up to 70*. This
places him behind you in a firing position. Both of you make opposing Pilot Skill rolls. He rolls a 5. You
roll a 3+1 = 4. His roll is higher so he gets tone on you. (you as the player must choose which way he
goes, but the dice determine the angle/position he can end up at.)

Combat:
There are two types of combat in this game. Beyond Visual Range (BVR) using missiles only, and
Dogfight which is close range with missiles and guns. Because of the distance in real life and the scale of
the models this is very abstract and inconsistent in the game when compared to real life.

BVR combat:
Combat beyond visual range takes place up to 100 miles away from each other. To represent this, you
can have the opposing planes at their edge of the table for as many turns as needed to represent them
still flying to merge, but still far away. Missiles can be fired and evaded, but the position of the planes
would still be at the edge of the table. Missiles move at 8in per turn and continue to the target as long
as you have tone. If you lose tone, they miss. Once the planes get closer, then start moving them on
the table like normal. If both planes were going Mach 1 it would take them about 5 minutes to merge.
They would be in “dogfight” range (roughly 10 miles or so) in about 4 minutes. So, 3 or 4 turns at the
edge of the board is enough to show what happens before the merge, but not enough to be boring and
slow the game. The BVR stage is when both sides decide whether or not to commit, quickly develop a
plan, try to break each other’s formation, and use missiles to put the other side in a defensive position.

You need to get radar lock (tone) for your missile in order to fire it, then you need to keep tone in order
for it to track. Some missiles have a range in which they can go “active” and can track to the target by
itself, it no longer needs your guidance. “Pitbull” (range it can go active) for the phoenix is 10 miles.
 Turn 1) Both sides roll for maneuver. Planes stay at the edge of the table. Opposing
Pilot Checks for tone/evade. Red gets tone.
Turn 2) Both sides roll for maneuver. Opposing Pilot Checks for tone/evade. Red
maintains tone and fires a missile. “F3 at 78 miles out”
Turn 3) Both sides roll for maneuver. Opposing Pilot Checks for tone/evade.
Red maintains tone, the missile moves 8in, but the planes stay at the table’s edge.
Turn 4) Both sides roll for maneuver. Opposing Pilot Checks for tone/evade.
Red maintains tone and the missile moves another 8in, but the planes stay at the
edge of the table. Missile is now within “Pitbull” range to become active and no
longer needs Red to keep tone. The missile needs to keep its own tone for 1 turn.
Turn 5) Both sides roll for maneuver. Opposing Pilot Checks for tone/evade. Red rolls
for the missile NOT his plane. Red is free to select another target. Red’s missile
maintains tone and the missile moves another 8in. Planes can now move from the
edge of the table.
Turn 6) Both sides roll for maneuver. Opposing Pilot Checks for tone/evade.
Red’s missile maintains tone and the missile slams into the Blue plane. Blue’s
wingman and the Reds are now in a dogfight.

Dogfight:
This is the most common form of fighting in this game. Technically this could still be at a greater
distance than visual, but to keep things simple I went with only two ranges. Missile combat at this range
is the same as in BVR. Most modern missiles for this range are fire and forget, so you only need to get
tone and keep it for one turn. Gun combat is what makes this range so deadly. You can use your
wingman’s gun bursts to restrict the opponent’s movement by forcing him to choose whether or not to
fly into the burst.

You (or your wingman) can fire a gun burst. Even if it misses it can still be deadly. Missiles track to their
targets turning as their target does, but gun bursts travel straight (ignore the physics of firing while
turning) even if you turn away. You can effectively restrict your opponent’s movement (even if you miss
your intended target) by firing in a direction that blocks his path. If a pilot crosses the path of a gun
burst (enemy burst or friendly burst), he rolls a D6. Even roll means he flies above or below the burst.
Odd roll means he flies through it and gets hit. Sometimes a good wingman will fire into the empty sky
for the sole purpose of funneling the opponent into your weapons zone.

Example: You are flying straight and there is a bandit flying toward you at your 11 o’clock. You fire a
burst to your front and turn left into him. He now has 3 three choices. To fly into the burst with a 50%
chance of getting hit, fly toward you where you might get tone, or turn right and try to evade.
Limited Enemy AI:
Roll for maneuver like normal and then choose the position that will place him at the greatest
advantage. When in doubt, use even/odd to determine the direction.
Roll opposing Pilot Checks like normal.
Enemy aggressiveness or deciding when to bug out can always be done using even/odd.
The enemy will always take a shot if possible.

Combat sequence:
Turn 1 Roll opposing Pilot Checks. Highest roll has initiative and can act or let the other pilot go first.
First pilot rolls for maneuver and moves his plane.
Roll opposing Pilot Checks for first pilot to get tone if in range. If tone is achieved, mark the
plane with a “Tone” marker.
Second pilot rolls for maneuver and moves his plane.
Roll opposing Pilot Checks to see if the second pilot breaks tone if tone was established. If he
breaks tone, remove ‘Tone” marker. If there was no tone you can skip this step.
Turn 2 First pilot rolls for maneuver and moves his plane.
Roll opposing Pilot Checks to see if the first pilot maintained tone. If he kept tone, then he can
fire a missile (or guns). If tone was lost that means the second pilot evaded and no missile shot
can be taken. Guns can be fired.
Second pilot rolls for maneuver and moves his plane.
Roll opposing Pilot Checks to see if the second pilot evades the missile if one was fired, breaks
tone if tone was established (but no missile fired), tries to get tone on the first pilot.

Turn 1) Both roll for maneuver. No need for opposing Pilot Checks
since no one has an angle yet.
Turn 2) Both roll for maneuver. Both flights have turned in to each
other. Roll Opposing Pilot Checks.
Turn 3) Red planes split. Red One fires guns cutting off Blue One.
Red Two breaks right. Roll opposing Pilot Checks. Blue Two gets
tone.
Turn 4) Both sides roll for maneuver. Blue One rolled a 4 and must
decide either to chance going through the gun burst or not. Red
One rolls a 2 and will turn left planning to go into a one circle fight.
Red Two rolls a 5 and turns right planning to go into a one circle
fight. Blue Two rolls a 2 and follows Red Two. Roll opposing Pilot
Checks. Blue Two kept tone and fires a missile at Red Two. Blue
One chooses to go straight and rolls to dodge the gun burst.
Even/Odd; he rolled odd and goes through the burst taking 1D6
points of damage.
Ordinance:
Guns have a 3-inch range and do 1D6 damage per burst, per gun (if you have multiple guns).
The F-8 has 4 guns so you would roll 4D6 for the burst.

Missiles are simply F1, F1(I), F2, F2(I) and F3, F3(I).
F1 Range 12 in Speed 8 in Guidance System 5 20-80mi, Mach 3
F2 Range 12 in Speed 6 in Guidance System 5 20mi, Mach 2.5
F3 Range 36 in Speed 6 in Guidance System 5 80-115mi, Mach 5
F1 (improved) Range 14 Speed 8 Guidance System 6
F2 (improved) Range 14 Speed 8 Guidance System 6
F3 (improved) Range 40 Speed 8 Guidance System 6

Flares: +1 add this to your Opposing Pilot Check while evading only.
Chaff: +1 add this to your Opposing Pilot Check while evading only.
ECM: +1 add this to your Opposing Pilot Check while evading only. ECM pods are weaker than what the
EA-18 Growler can carry. EA-18 Growler can fly escort and jam while staying “well outside” enemy SAM
ranges. I haven’t been able to get a real distance for this (probably Classified) so just place an EA-18
model on the table edge and leave it there if you are using one. This represents that it is in the air and
can be targeted or chased away.

Missile types and brevity codes:

F1 (Fox 1) Semi-active radar homing (SARH) – These are not fire and forget, they need your radar to
guide them to their target. You need to maintain tone until the hit. They can engage at any angle to
your front quarter. They are used at BVR.

F2 (Fox 2) IR heat seeking missiles – Mainly for dogfights. These are fire and forget. Early ones were
enemy rear only, but modern ones can track at any angle to your front quarter. Once you get tone, they
lock on to the hottest heat source. They can be defeated by flares but not chaff.

F3 (Fox 3) Active Radar Homing – BVR missiles. You need to maintain tone until they reach their
“Pitbull” range when their own radar can guide them to target. They can be defeated by chaff, but not
flares.

F4 (Fox 4) Old code for guns, no longer used. Now it’s simply “guns”.

Pickle – old fashioned dumb bombs

Paveway – guided bombs
Rifle – Maverick air to ground missiles
Bruiser – anti-ship missiles
Magnum – anti-radiation (radar) missiles like Shrike or HARM
Definitions:
Ace- 5 or more confirmed arial kills.
Maneuvers – Basic movements of your aircraft.
Tactics – How you and your wingman use maneuvers in a fight.
Operation(s) – A single “game” or series of games that make a campaign.
Objective – The goal you are trying to accomplish during you operation.
Mission – How you plan to accomplish your objective.
Tally – Any contact(s) within visual range.
Merge – The point in which you enter a dogfight.
Tone – Radar lock for a missile.
Bogie – Any unidentified contact. Might be friendly, enemy, or civilian.
Bandit – Confirmed enemy, but not a threat or didn’t break your ROE yet.
Hostile – Enemy that broke your ROE and is now a threat.
Weapons tight – Free to engage any hostile and bandit, but not bogies.
Weapons free/hot – Free to engage any contact.
Weapons hold – Immediate cease fire.
Splash – enemy air target destroyed.
Bingo fuel – Doesn’t mean out of fuel. It means you don’t have enough fuel to return to base safely.
Bug out – Either leave the fight completely or get enough distance to regroup and engage again.
Heading – The direction a plane is traveling.
Bearing – The direction from your location to a target or object.
Bullseye – A stationary reference point agreed upon before the operation (game) that is used to relay
contact bearings from one plane to another.
Request a Bogie Dope – Request for a control station (AWACS) to give you a list of contacts. Comes
back in this format:
B bearing - the direction it is from you or a “Bullseye”.
R range - the distance from you.
A altitude – How high it is.
A aspect – It’s direction relative to you – Hot nose towards you
Cold nose away from you
Flanking perpendicular to you