"Danger Zone, Mercenary Air Combat in the Cold War" Topic

Just another note about the rules I'm working on inspired by Area 88 and Top Gun, called Danger Zone.

It's a fast playing game of air combat in the Cold War in an alternative history where NATO and the Warsaw Pact created a set of accords where mercenary units fight under strict rules of engagement and compensation.

I'm a huge fan of Check Your Six Jet Age and Air War C21. These rules are probably closer to the Air War C21 level of complexity level but with easy to use altitude rules. It's also a bit inspired by the old Fight in the Skies/ Dawn Patrol rules in how quickly you can get into and play a game. I created a set of rules that would allow you to use all your cold war era aircraft from the 50's through the 90's and beyond. Want to play F3H Demons versus Yak 28's? Want to mix it up with a squadron comprised of Sabres, Vampires, Mysteres and MiG 15s all on the same side? These rules allow for that, and include pilot growth and equipment swapping to boot.

I won't be releasing these rules until 2017 but I'm showing them off this week at What Khan Saturday afternoon at 2pm if you want to check them out. This will be an all air-to-air game (though the game includes full air to ground rules).

Here's a few pics from the game I'll be running.

I'm also nearing a point where I'd love feedback on the game from people interested in testing.

YouTube link

Great idea! Please include the what-if aircraft and UFO's.

I was thinking about doing the what-ifs as an expansion. Hadn't thought about UFOs, but that's an interesting idea as well but I'd want to keep it in an expansion from the core rules as I want the core rules to be more 'real world' influenced.

The core rules live in the same world and history as we do, but are a bit of parallel history where the mercenaries fight in imaginations that exist between the borders of real world nations. I'm treating it as a bit of 'secret history of the cold war' in the fiction of the game, but I'd love to have the what if's make it. F-107s and Avro Arrows mixing it up with XB-70s would be a blast.

Throw in a touch of Gerry Anderson's UFO and it could be really interesting as an expansion.

Looks promising! Lots of "Danger Zone" air/naval rules out there as of late it seems.

looks very cool

Count me as intrigued.

I like it. I'm thinking 'Independence Day' in the 1950s.

Is there any chance of getting a copy of the play test rules? I'm very interested in seeing what you've come up with and how it works.