Aeronef Ramblings Part 2

 EDIT: Note there is now a thread and rules on the google group

Well, here is my design manifesto.
#1.  No meaningless hitpoints.  All hits do something or we simply don't record them.
#2.  12" battleship guns do not accurately track small fast moving targets. That's why ships were equipped with quickfiring secondary or even tertiary guns (see rule #8.)
#3. Altitude is not an optional afterthought but integral to gameplay and tactics.
#4. Crew training is essential to gameplay, as are command skills
#5*. Movement and shooting ranges are low, and ratio between gun range/movement is 2:1 at most.
#6. Ships cannot teleport part each other unscathed.  Some sort of reaction fire mechanic?
#7. Terrain! Clouds, sky islands, weather, mountains, smoke screens. Maybe BFG-esque flak bursts?
#8**. Escorts are not #@$*ed over by the rules. Small ships actually have a purpose and a lifespan beyond the first game turn.

Within this framework, I have a lot of questions.  I'm going to toss out some directions the rules could go, and kinda question myself about them.  I'm documenting my mental thought processes.

ACTIVATION (see #6, #8, #4)
Where to go here?
I have a kinda hankering for a BFG vibe, so I'm thinking a Warmaster-ish sort of thing.  Maybe roll 2d6 against a crew stat, and when you fail, opponent gets initiative. Actually, I could modify some ideas off Delta Vector.
(a) 2d6 + commander rating. Winner can choose one of own or one of enemies ships/units to move. Can either hand over initiative or try to retain it by passing a 2d6 roll vs crew skill.
(b) However - any time a ship's move starts/ends within a set range (say 2 miles) of an opponent, said opponent can do a contested roll to try wrest the initiative off them

Whoa, I'm pretty much writing rules! Steady down. This is just supposed to narrowing them down. 

Not sure how reactions fit into this. (See #6). Maybe light guns can react to enemies sailing past, medium guns react with a -1 penalty, and heavy guns cannot fire in reaction at all. This shows how slowly big guns load and traverse, and give benefits to high RoF smaller weapons.  

I actually didn't consider the use of a hex grid like so many aerial/space games.  Too constricting....

MOVEMENT (see #3)
Okay, we need altitude. A micro d6 blu-tacked to the base takes care of recording, so not a big deal.  But how does it impact the game?  
(a)  Pre-dreadnought weapons had about +/- 13-17 degrees, which had improved to +/- 40 degrees by the end of WW1.  This would create a significant "dead zone" under/above the ship where guns cannot elevate or depress.  This would create new 3D tactics beside the usual naval "crossing the T."  Perhaps firing from different angles has different effects? (i.e. shoot from below at hull) Or too complex?
(b)  The maximum air crew can operate without oxygen is about 12,000 feet (2 nautical miles) and it was the average WW1 Zeppelin's ceiling. The Germans found operating over 15,000 feet for long periods caused nausea and blackouts. As WW1 went on Zepplins improved their ceilings to 18,000 and even 24,000 feet and started using compressed oxygen.  Diving helmets and rubber suits were invented in 1837 so you could arguably use higher altitudes.  Maybe penalties to crew checks over a certain altitude? How big is each range band - a nm (6000ft)? Or maybe half that - 1000 yards or so. (3000ft).
(c) Speed.  Airships could move at 100-120kph (60 knots+). Do we make aeronefs faster, slower, or about the same? Perhaps roughly double the "naval" speed i.e. a 20kt battleship = 40kt nef battleship, and a 35kt destroyer = a 70kt nef destroyer.   This will have a major impact on gunnery - big guns will have an even harder time tracking even faster targets.

DAMAGE (see #1, #2, #8)
I'm currently experimenting with a system for Delta Vector that may work - each hit rolls on a d6 for location. The first hit on said location damages it, the second destroys or neutralizes it.

D6	1st hit on location	2nd hit on location
1	Main guns - halve main guns	Weapons inoperable. Risk of ammo explosion: 5-6 on d6.
2	Secondary guns/torpedoes - halve secondary guns, AA etc	Weapons inoperable.
3	Hull Breach - Cannot climb	Ship sinks 1 level per turn until repaired or crashes
4	Hull Fires - Cannot roll for other repairs until fire "repaired". If fail fire roll, take another 1 random damage	Test for explosion of handwavium generator.
5	Engines - halve speed	Ship can only change altitude, otherwise stuck in place
6	Critical hits - lots of interesting things on a sub-table - bridge, rudder	Simply more rolls on the sub-table.

...but I'm not sure that's how I'm going to go.  I mean, are we firing by salvoes or individual turrets? Do we use generic firing arcs (sensible) or use the actual whacky nef firing arcs (cool)

If I was to copy the rather broad damage effects in Aeronef and IS, I could use 4 hull boxes for all ships, i.e. ranked pristine 100%, damaged 75%, heavy damaged 50%, crippled 25% and destroyed *boom*.  Easy peasy! But is that a tad broad brush - do we need more detail?  Maybe a system damage track?

What about the damage systems from BFG or Man O' War? They are good models for buckets of dice (fun)  Or even the old favourite General Quarters - that worked pretty well with a salvo system (sensible?).

My only rule - it must all fit on (and be no more complex than) a Warmachine unit card.  A complete data-card-less game tends to attract too many tokens...

Should I use a d10 (which I'm fond of as you can radically change mechanics but keep the easy decimal math the same) or maybe use a 2d6 for firing (consistent mechanic, and fun probability curve, but PITA to balance). Not keen on the buckets of d6 used by Aeronef as there isn't enough "room on the dice" on d6 for modifiers like smokescreens, target speed/angle/size. That tends to preclude buckets of dice as most people don't have buckets of d10s.... (except those weird RPGers who insist on visiting this site from time to time ;-)

I'm thinking definitely two separate rolls - a roll to hit, and a roll to damage/saving throw. Combining them leads to issues like in Imperial Skies or Coaling Stations - a 12" gun does the same damage as a 4", but just more consistently, accurately, and to longer range - meaning escorts get chewed apart by big ships at range and struggle to hit each other bar random fluke.

SCALE (see #2, #8)
I'm going to fudge this a bit and say 1" = 1000 yards/km, and 1" speed = 10kts.  So I'm going to say for movement: 4" - battleship, 6" - cruiser, 8" - destroyer. I'm a bit concerned the movement is stupidly slow (like in Firestorm Armada where ships can't move their own length) but I really want room to maneuver on the board.  For gun ranges I'll say all weapons are most deadly inside, say 2000m (2")  but they have a maximum effective range of say 5000m (escort guns); 8000m (cruiser guns); and 12000m (battleship guns) i.e. 5", 8" and 12" respectively.  I have no idea if they are correct or not; I'm just interested in the ratio of gun range/movement.  A destroyer can move further than it can shoot; that emphasizes its mobility. Good. A battleship can shoot 3x further than it can move. Also good. That emphasizes its firepower.

CLOUDS, FLAK, TERRAIN (see #7)
I'm pretty keen to use flak bursts like Battlefleet Gothic.   Shots that hit (even unsuccessfully) against ships creates terrain with the smoke and explosions - perhaps giving a -1 to shots going through it including subsequent ones from the same firing enemy ship who caused them. This, actually, mimics the complaint crews had of predreadnoughts when they would confuse the shell splashes of 12", 8" and even 6" guns when spotting.  Easy to make with cotton wool balls on a stick. The problem - how do I quickly and easily track what height they drift at? 

Clouds give interesting abilities - feathery clouds might act to limit view range and/or give mild (-1) gunnery modifiers; whilst heavy pillar clouds might go through several altitude bands and block line of sight completely to anything not on the edge/within the cloud.  Flying under/over clouds and using them as cover sounds tactically interesting.  This could be an important part of the game. But.... how to implement clouds unless you use a completely flat table?

CREW TRAINING (see #4)
Maybe could be used to test for reactions, repairs, and even how many things the ship can do in its turn i.e. roll 2d6 and how many it beats the crew skill by - that shows how many orders you can give. like changing speed/altitude/heading or opening fire or plotting a torpedo attack, like in Coaling Stations.  Maybe have modes to switch between like in Battlefleet Gothic. 

ESCORTS MUST NOT BE &*%# UPON (see #8)
Escorts
I'm going to make them radically more agile, faster and better climbers - able to break engagement at will with battleships and play tag through cloud cover.  They can lay smoke to cover allies.  Maybe a special "evasive action" ability that gives them near-immunity to gunfire.  When they escort things they don't absorb hits aimed at their charge (**** that) but rather get automatic reactive fire to interdict enemies; or both they and their charge get a -1 to be hit.

Guns
Heavy guns, perhaps, cannot fire in reaction and get huge penalties against small, fast moving targets.  In fact they aren't even good at damaging them as massive AP shells go slap through small unarmoured targets Medium guns can fire in reaction at a -1 penalty. Light guns have unlimited reactions and have very little dead zone as they have special high elevation/depression mounts.  Also, the effective range differences isn't that huge, say 5000m (light) vs 10,000m (heavy) - maybe even less. 

 Torpedoes & Aircraft
 I  will make torpedoes shot ranged but deadly; but escorts able to dodge them with impunity. Unlike Imperial Skies, I will not make it so aircraft can only damage smaller vessels (thanks a lot - as if escorts don't have enough handicaps without an enemy exclusive to them - they really needed a hard counter they were so overpowered before) but instead, escorts are really hard to hit by aircraft. Aircraft are instead a counter to large, slow ships (*cough* battleships *cough*). 

Well, I have more ideas, but I think I've adequately addressed the "manifesto" and I have another shed to clean so I can start the playtest phase of my to-do list.   

A set of draft rules should go up on the google group soon-ish.