Ace HERO

[tkdguy]

I've been thinking about a campaign involving dogfights lately. The characters would be fighter pilots or the crew of a bomber. It would be a heroic campaign, of course.

 

There have been aerial battles since World War I, so there are a lot of time periods to set the campaign. And there are rules in 5th Edition for dogfights.

 

Has anyone done this type of campaign?

[JmOz]

Re: Ace HERO

 

I've been thinking about a campaign involving dogfights lately. The characters would be fighter pilots or the crew of a bomber. It would be a heroic campaign, of course.

 

There have been aerial battles since World War I, so there are a lot of time periods to set the campaign. And there are rules in 5th Edition for dogfights.

 

Has anyone done this type of campaign?

 

No but sounds interesting, definatly set it in WW I or WW II however. Depending on how Pulpish you might want to look into picking up DC Comics Blackhawk collections

[Doc]

Re: Ace HERO

 

I never did it, but if I would, I'd use this:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramming

[Captain Obvious]

Re: Ace HERO

 

I've never done it, but I have often thought of running a campaign based around the Near Space Defense force from the old Super-Agents book. Intermingle on-the-ground X-Files intrigue with spectacular dogfights in the upper reaches of the atmosphere...

[tkdguy]

Re: Ace HERO

 

Great ideas, guys, thanks. I also considered setting the campaign abord an aircraft carrier, so you can have a base that moves around.

 

But no, it won't be named Enterprise, and the first player who suggests it be named Galactica gets FREd dropped on his head!

[tkdguy]

Re: Ace HERO

 

But seriously, this idea actually came during my musings about making starship combat more "realistic." I realized there are several advantages with this campaign:

 

1. We know it can be done. It has already been done many times for nearly a century.

 

2. No rubber science necessary. You already know (or you can research) the technology available in whatever era you choose to play.

 

3. The campaign is earth-bound, so you don't have to worry about microgravity or oxygen. And there are a lot of exotic locations here on Earth anyway.

 

I like the Near Earth Space Defense idea, though. I was thinking of writing a story that featured a spaceplane armed with the Metal Storm system.

[CorPse]

Re: Ace HERO

 

A couple of weeks ago I heard a story on NPR about a nearly forgotten author that wrote an amazingly tough-minded and interesting series of novels about WWI Aces. He was British, and I can't for the life of me remember the guy's name. Any help out there?

 

But a game about Aces.... v. cool.

 

I'd definitely recommend The Ultimate Vehicle and the extended vehicle combat rules for your perusal.

[SCUBA Hero]

Re: Ace HERO

 

But no' date=' it won't be named Enterprise, and the first player who suggests it be named Galactica gets FREd dropped on his head! [/quote']Pegasus?

 

 

 

 

:dodges:

[CorPse]

Re: Ace HERO

 

Pegasus?

 

 

 

 

:dodges:

 

Dude, have you seen the FREd...

 

I think you're going to have to make that a Dive For Cover.

[The Monster]

Re: Ace HERO

 

Here's a wild thought: if you're not married to metal and tech, use the Temeraire series as a basis!

 

For those who haven't read any, the books are set in the Napoleonic era, where dragons are used for aerial combat. The dragons are huge - similar in scale to sailing ships - and have crews clambering around on them (with harness and straps), numbering into the dozens. It strikes me that a potential campaign built around a bomber crew could be more wild if their vehicle was an actual dragon. You'd have all the aerial action, along with the high-altitude danger of manning the rigging in a sea fight.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: Ace HERO

 

You definitely want to take a look at Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, as that is very much that type of campaign. Sky Captain is an aviator who takes on all sorts of evils. It also features a Royal Navy flying base, complete with submersible aircraft (!).

 

If you're looking for a war to set it in, WWI would be perfect, as the flying aces of that period liked to think of themselves as the last vestiges of European chivalry. You could actually develop intense, personal rivalries with a particular enemy pilot who fights you to a standstill every time you meet -- much as you may hate your Hun rival, you would regret his death and were it not for the war you would be friends. Of course, some pilots would not be honorable or chivalrous at all -- there could be flying thugs on both sides who don't care about fair play or honor and just want as many kills as they can grab so they can get their name in the papers back home.

 

The ace appears to have lost much of his romance in World War II; while there were many aces, some of whom racked up astonishing kill counts, it was much less personal and more desperate. You almost never could tell who specifically you were dueling by then, and the missions were designed to be brutally efficient. The heroism was of forces as a whole, not individuals; the RAF defense of Britain became legendary because the stakes were so high.

[tkdguy]

Re: Ace HERO

 

The History Channel's series Dogfights is another great resource. Thanks for all the recommendations, guys.

[tkdguy]

Re: Ace HERO

 

Here's a question. Certain planes like the F-4 have a two-man crew: the pilot, and the radar intercept officer. If they shoot down five enemy planes, are they both considered aces, or is that honor reserved for the pilot alone?

 

Edit: On that note, what about bomber crews?

[CorPse]

Re: Ace HERO

 

And interesting conundrum. I always thought the rules of the road (to throw in a slightly inappropriate metaphor) only allowed ACE status to go to whomever pulled the trigger.

 

I wonder if, in the modern era, planes with crews have gone more to stenciling the silhouettes of their kills on the sides of their planes. Seems like bombers in particular did this in the WWII era.

 

I'm guessing someone very knowledge about this sort of thing will wander along.

[Toadmaster]

Re: Ace HERO

 

Well I've never heard of a famous RIO, so I think it just goes to the pilot. Bet they don't get the girls either.

 

 

You might look into Crimson Skies too, it was a FASA game kind of like Battle Tech (vaguely RPG like but really more of a war game). Very pulp feel, semi-post apacalypse, zepplins, fighter pilots etc. Microsoft made a computer game version too.

 

Only problem I really see with using HERO for this style game is the vehicle rules are pretty weak, very much designed for a vehicles are props style campaign, not a vehicles are nearly as important as the pc's game.