Pulp air war rules?

[Ruarigh]

Does anyone know of a set of readily available 1930s pulp air war rules? I am interested in something that would allow our 45 Adventures characters to fly planes in dogfights. Would the rules in Fantastic Worlds do this? I am not certain that they have enough detail for the type of game I am after, but would like to know others' opinions. The sort of game I am looking at is probably like Crimson Skies, but the clicky game does not have the customisable element I want, while the board game is no longer readily available.

Cheers,
Ruarigh

[flooglestreet]

Fantastic Worlds does not have the depth you want for dogfight rules. If you know just what you are doing you might be able to design a dogfight game around the FW flying rules, but its a sophisticated game designers challenge. You might hunt down the old Crimson Skies boardgame at boardgamegeek.

[rjandron]

Well, since the physics would be the same as for WWII air combat, you could try CY6 by Skirmish Campaigns.

http://mysite.verizon.net/fisherts/skirmishcampaigns/cy6/

They also have a video up on Youtube:

I haven't tried the rules myself, but it looks interesting.

[Nathoruuk]

Hi,

I own the crimson Skies rules and I really think they did a great job with the pulp feel. The damage system is too detailed for complete World War battles, but I think for a .45 Adventures game it would be perfect. They would give some exciting detail to a game session. The movement system is based on hexes and every player plots their next move at the beginning of a turn. Based on how hard you pushed your plane beyond it's limits, you may make control rolls or stress your aircraft. Everyone moves at the same time so I love the fast, simultaneous feel. Also, the rules allow for (I think) five different pilot statistics. That could be something you could derive out of the .45A characters somehow. There are some rules for basic aircraft construction so I think you could tweak your own planes.

Eventually I plan on using them for .45 Adventures as well.

[Lowtardog]

Hi,

I own the crimson Skies rules and I really think they did a great job with the pulp feel. The damage system is too detailed for complete World War battles, but I think for a .45 Adventures game it would be perfect. They would give some exciting detail to a game session. The movement system is based on hexes and every player plots their next move at the beginning of a turn. Based on how hard you pushed your plane beyond it's limits, you may make control rolls or stress your aircraft. Everyone moves at the same time so I love the fast, simultaneous feel. Also, the rules allow for (I think) five different pilot statistics. That could be something you could derive out of the .45A characters somehow. There are some rules for basic aircraft construction so I think you could tweak your own planes.

Eventually I plan on using them for .45 Adventures as well.

Yep the Cromson skies rules are fun. There is also the older version with lead planes sold by Ral Partha Europe

[Ruarigh]

Yep the Crimson skies rules are fun. There is also the older version with lead planes sold by Ral Partha Europe

Yeah, I was looking at the Ral Partha figures, which is what got me looking at Crimson Skies. I used to have a computer game from the mid 90s(?) that had pulp planes being launched from zeppelin aircraft carriers as you tried to dominate the air and take control of the kingdom too, which is a bit of an inspiration. The clicky game does not really have the aircraft construction rules that I want, and the CS boardgame is too expensive when you can find it so that is why I was wondering about other options that could be integrated into our 45A games.

Cheers,
Ruarigh

[wolfgangbrooks]

I'd say Wings of War with homebrew rules for weird weapons. It's what I'm going to do.

[warrenpeace]

and the CS boardgame is too expensive when you can find it so that is why I was wondering about other options that could be integrated into our 45A games.

Cheers,
Ruarigh

Well, if the customizable aspects of the old Crimson Skies boardgame is what you really want, then you might have to bight the bullet and pay the price for it, especially if the airplane fights are going to be a big part of your Pulp campaign.

However, there is another option.  I believe that you could download the old Mustangs boardgame rules for free.  You might have to make up some aircraft cards for 1930's era planes, if you can't find cards already made.  It's an OK game.  I've played it with 1/300 scale planes, but I've seen it played with larger models.  Interwar planes can be found in 1:72 and 1:144 and 1:300 scales.  You could also use the Crimson Skies planes with Mustangs rules, so long as you are willing to do the work of making up the plane characteristics and making the cards for the planes.  Here is a link to a page about Mustangs, with further links, including a link to downloadable rules:

http://www.warflag.com/mustangs/

[BaronVonJ]

There's a guy on ebay right now with the rules (no box) on sale for $2.99

[Ruarigh]

Do you have a link to the rules on ebay?

There is also a guy that just posted his Canvas Eagles / Crimson Skies project on TMP: http://randomthoughtssenselesspastimes.blogspot.com/2008/10/crimson-eagles-rule-book.html

This looks interesting too.

[BaronVonJ]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Crimson-Skies-aerial-combat-FASA-Used-with-extras_W0QQitemZ130262576035QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item130262576035&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

[richarDISNEY]

Stay away from the clicky CS game...  You could use the figs, not the rules!