| Now that I am back in the gaming business full time, I am redoing
and updating Fighter Pilot. The rules are designed to
allow the players to do any period air combat; Wright Brothers to modern
jets. You can even fly against alien UFO's if you can find or invent
stats for them. Stats are provided for all of the commonly used combat
aircraft from 1914 to 1996, and enough information is given in the
designer notes to allow players to insert any aircraft I may have missed
including variations and experimental craft.
One of the many drawbacks to the M&M system is that it requires
players to build their own stands. This naturally creates a wide variety
of stands which will track differently in use. Fighter Pilot uses
stands which I manufacture. These cast stands are uniform and much
closer tolerance than the old hand built ones. Both floor size stands
and table size stands are available.
Fighter Pilot also deals with the extremely complex subject of
energy gains and losses which any combat aircraft is subject to, much
more easily than the old M&M system. Fighter Pilot uses a paper cut out
analog computer system to do all the calculating, making the game much
simpler and faster to play. In this game there is no dice rolling except
at the beginning of an encounter to determine sighting and initial
advantage, and when the guns are fired.
This will actually be the second edition. The first was done
back in '84 and was only circulated among a few friends. My feeling at
that time was that the game was too complex to ever achieve very much
success. I was also concerned that PC based Flight Simulators were
becoming very much more sophisticated and would soon supplant any
need for such a game. However I have lately observed a great deal of
interest in Air War Gaming. It appears that my assesment of the
situation was incorrect. Good as they are, PC based Air Combat Sims just
don't provide the social interaction and fun of a good old fashioned war
game.
I was at a con down in Portland recently and watched several Air
Combat games in other systems. This convinced me that, if for no other
reason, I owed it to my own ego to put Fighter Pilot back on the market.
I have sworn that
I will play no computer games or read any of my new books until the job
is done, so you will see that it will get done soon.
I am currently adding a bunch of new
aircraft in the modern section, including a special section on Attack
Helicopters.
I have attached three pictures, showing the fighter pilot stand and clip mechanism, and the two
sections of the control board.
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