12AIRCRAFT ANALYSIS(I) F-104: Many players prefer this planeover all o<strong>the</strong>rs. It can climb better than anyplane at any speed. The YO-YO method ofattack works best with this plane. The trickis to get above your opponent (which isn'thard with <strong>the</strong> 104's climbing ability), getbehind him, set your altitude just right anddive. While diving, go to maximumacceleration. At <strong>the</strong> end of your dive, fire amissile and on your next turn, climb likecrazy (you may get a second shot).(2) Mig-21: Maneuver is <strong>the</strong> key to thisplane and it is my favorite. To survive, keepyou speed down. This makes you a moredifficult target and maximizes your turningability (your greatest asset). Your mosteffective maneuver is <strong>the</strong> "Climbing Turn."It makes you hard to corner and allows youto reverse direction and attack withsurprising quickness. If, after all you'vedone, your opponent still can get aboveyour ceiling altitude: Go Homel Nothingmore can be done. Remember, with <strong>the</strong>Mig-21 you have to strike fast.(3) Mirage Fand IN: These have <strong>the</strong> definiteadvantage of long range, radar missiles.They are <strong>the</strong> only planes which caneffectively fire at planes flying at a higheraltitude. My experience with <strong>the</strong>se planeshas taught me to keep my speed up for afast getaway and at all times; keep mydistance!(4) F-14 and 15: These two monsters areheavily armed and have lots of "blackboxes." When using <strong>the</strong>se two, rememberthat you can always out-run your opponent.You can also turn as you verticallydive with <strong>the</strong> F-15. Lastly, when all elsefails, Climb! You have with both planes <strong>the</strong>highest operational ceiling in <strong>the</strong> game.(5) F-4 Phantom: This plane is called for inso many scenarios that I felt it <strong>war</strong>rantedsome closer inspection. Everything aboutthis plane is mediocre with one exception.It has a high operational ceiling. So, keepyour altitude up and don't be afraid to fireoff a wild shot with a missile once in awhile. You've got plenty!AIRCRAFT CHARACTERISTICS SUMMARY-F-4EF 5EA 7F 14ArftF 15AF 104F 111LightnlnqM~rage FMlragr IllSu-7Su 11Mtg-21Mtg 23- u "'"-12 2:151381621162116161612181419C x16to251 Jto179to1017tc2722t2817to2722tc3117to2417tci2617to2713.to2019to27315I
13SUGGEST -ED ADDI' TIONAL S 'CENARIO,gets 1 point fc ,r each A. .7 that gw ts back (#3) PC ;e scenaric 3'sThe follow ing scenar-.10s were a dded to ttIe from <strong>the</strong> targe t area and I 1 point fc Dr each are intrucgame ~y some Trfends ana ml F, -. "..L-& A F-- -LI-LI snor aown. ror rnls scena--.- . -..Mlg-no you3 F-104's or three British Li ghtnings i are(#I) 2P hantoms p ~rotecting : 2 A-7's on a had l better plan your moves far in ac dvance. interceptitactical bl ombing n nission. 3 Mig 21 's One false move can benginterceptin9.Special Rules: In! stead of <strong>the</strong> norr nalc----*:--Intruder_secrer~y cnooses a11 area w~rr~ I 2 Phantoms try to protect ct bomber ..-- A C___&I__ _L.IUIIII~LIUII, uae r GaiU-7's. Tt ley,--I'..",,V."F -.radius of six hexes in a hex pal Tern no le! atter npting <strong>the</strong> rescue of a downed pilot. 3 arrive at level 5 and speed 5. ~ney maythan 24 hexes (center measure 21's try to prevent t move in any manner <strong>the</strong> player desires, but!merit) fro1 m Mig-he rescue and soany board edge. This is <strong>the</strong> ure <strong>the</strong> pilot. <strong>the</strong>y must move in formation (i.e., all planestarget are, a. captimust make <strong>the</strong> exact same maneuvers atA-7's (which may not fire) enter me ~oal-. O,.+hp ""ul I players stake out a target area wn-z rn8-zin Scenar'- ' ":- is staked <strong>the</strong> same time). No fire is allowed from <strong>the</strong>at level five and speed five. These drop 1 to one 10 1. l 111s out inSU-7's unless <strong>the</strong> formation is reduced tozero altitude and disappear in this "Target tl# blanl k counters #. Nei<strong>the</strong>r : side is cor sider redone plane. Victory conditions are <strong>the</strong> samearea (drop below <strong>the</strong> cloud cover) for or le <strong>the</strong> intruder 1 'or spottir rg or mo lvementas normal point defense (1 Mig-23 pilot isturn. The A-7's <strong>the</strong>n reappear at "C reasc 31-15. inex~erier --"altitude and attempt to leave from sam be 2 ~ h antoms , arr ive at <strong>the</strong> South edg e of <strong>the</strong>map edge <strong>the</strong>y arrived on.map at 2 les s than level maxin ium atMirage Ill'Phantoms enter <strong>the</strong> board at le\ re1 "15 at 2 level 10.interceptiA -.A -0. e+ -3." :- -1,-less than level maximum speeuIU LI s airive -.J IVI2 turns later ileave <strong>the</strong> board before game's en d. maxi imum speed and level 10 (#5) 3 F-5 Tigers intruding.Phantoms are bound by intruder sightir lg boar d edge).regulations and follow a preplanned fligl3 SU-11's defending (SU-11 may not usepattern until <strong>the</strong>y sight a Mig-21. ht Vict( pry Conditions: The Mig-21 player radar missiles).recei ves 2 points for each Mig-21 thatMig-21's E trrive at a ny map e ~dge at arBoth plal (ers have 2 inexperil enced pila ltS.!: reacl nes "0" altitude in <strong>the</strong> target areaaltitude dc asired one turn afte !r <strong>the</strong> A-7This sce nario is very tricl ty and i In-(gett in? back makes no difference).arrive.predictab le.Mig- 21 s are obliged, however, to attempt-- A-vrcrory ~ona~oons: I ne lnrercepror player ru return -. to <strong>the</strong> north edge. The "':-' IvIIy-A I(#6) 3 A-7's intri ding.receives 2 points for each intruder A-7 he player also receives 1 point fo r eachshoots down before it reaches <strong>the</strong> target Phantom shot down. The Phantom r player 3 SU-7's ng (just fc ~r fun).area. He receives 1 point for any o<strong>the</strong>r plane gets 1 point for each Mig-21 shot down. This- -.scen.ario is real ly wild anc I reminds me(including returning A-7's). The intruder This scenario is difficult for ei<strong>the</strong>r player. ot k~ytng C~~PIIS ,.,-,.LDesigner3 Notes (continued from page 10)o<strong>the</strong>rs). The Chinese have ADM's (AtomicDemolitions) with which to slow <strong>the</strong> Russiansup. For example, a 50KT ADM, properlyplaced, would create a hole in <strong>the</strong> ground 1100feet wide and 340 feet deep (enough for athirty story building to fit comfortably). Not tomention <strong>the</strong> general destruction for a few milesin all directions. The Russians may also usestrategic nuclear weapons, which makes <strong>the</strong>operation less a <strong>war</strong> and more a form ofgenocide. All in all, a potentially veryunpleasant situation. Unfortunately, <strong>the</strong> actionspresented in this game may well be <strong>the</strong>first act of World War Ill.Ano<strong>the</strong>r gaming oddity arose recently. Whiletesting Warin <strong>the</strong> East our systems analyst gottired of doing all <strong>the</strong> paperwork associatedwith Russian production and army/air forcerebuilding. His work was made more tediousbecause he was also trying to develop anoptimum "building" strategy. An obvious jobfor <strong>the</strong> computer. A few hours devoted towriting <strong>the</strong> program, a few more hours testingand debugging and, <strong>the</strong>re it was. War in <strong>the</strong>East (or part of it, at least) was computerized.Now we were able to test various buildingstrategies (as well 3s which arms andpopulation centers <strong>the</strong> Russians could affordto give up). The idea of using computers in <strong>the</strong>design of games has been around for a longtime. More complex "machine" gamesactually require <strong>the</strong> use of a computer.But <strong>the</strong> type of game we produce (knownin <strong>the</strong> trade as <strong>the</strong> "manual" game) isstill more art than science. We have kickedaround variousideas for using <strong>the</strong> computer indeveloping our games. We already have somepretty definite concepts in mind. We also haveour own computer. But <strong>the</strong> biggest stumblingblock is, again, money. Any computerapplication requiring more than ten or so hourswill cut into our regular computer work (ofwhich we presently have more than we canhandle). This Warin <strong>the</strong> East application was afortunate coincidence. Perhaps in 1974 we'll beable to afford some "standard" programs touse in games. A "standard" computerapplication (or, ra<strong>the</strong>r, a "family" of applications)which could be used to aid <strong>the</strong>development of most games would cost a fewthousand dollars to produce. And part of thisR&D work would be true "risk" work (some ofit would probably have to be thrown out aftercostly development). This at least showsthat we're moving in <strong>the</strong> direction of usingwhatever means available to develop more andbetter games.While an article on Seelowe (Sealion, <strong>the</strong>planned German invasion of Britain in 1940)appeared in S&T 40, our game of <strong>the</strong> samename won't appear until April of 1974. Thiswas a result of <strong>the</strong> change in publishingschedule brought about by our unexpectedsuccess introducing our games to <strong>the</strong> retailmarket. The general slowdown in ourpublishing schedule also allowed us toimplement some long needed game developmentprocedures. The main one is what we call"end testing." This involves actually doingall <strong>the</strong> artwork for a game and <strong>the</strong>n, beforeprinting, making photostatic "prototypes" ofall <strong>the</strong> game components. We <strong>the</strong>n test <strong>the</strong>game again. We test it ra<strong>the</strong>r intensively at thisstage. What happens is most unusual. Flawswhich escaped <strong>the</strong> most rigorous "preartwork"testing of <strong>the</strong> game now becomeobvious. We can only attribute this to <strong>the</strong> factthat, when a game is put into its finalorganizational format it becomes much easierto "use" <strong>the</strong> game. This increased "ease ofuse" enables flaws to be more easily spotted.This "end testing" procedure requires muchmore time (and money) than we have hadpreviously. But now that we don't have toproduce so many new games just to keepahead of ourselves we can take <strong>the</strong>seadditional pains. Moreover, our R&D staff,after having produced over three dozen gamesin <strong>the</strong> past two years, has become ever moreexpert at what <strong>the</strong>y are doing. This may not beall that noticeable to anyone who has beenwith us all <strong>the</strong> way. But if you "step away"from it all in your mind (as we have done) youcan see <strong>the</strong> changes. We try to explain someofwhat goes into producing <strong>the</strong>se changes. Butthis is difficult because <strong>the</strong> myriad elementswhich go into game R&D are not easilyexplained. In future issues of MOVES we hopeto start a series of articles showing muchmore detail on this subject.Four more games are in <strong>the</strong> preliminary(research and "concept") stages of design.First, <strong>the</strong>re is <strong>the</strong> Civil War. A strategic levelgame covering <strong>the</strong> entire <strong>war</strong>. Will probably use<strong>the</strong> same sort of system as <strong>the</strong> World War 11game. This game will published in SBT 43(March, 1974). Our game of tactical <strong>war</strong>fareduring <strong>the</strong> age of sail, Frigate, will appear inJune, 1974. This one will follow "CA" in manyparticulars. In August 1974 we will publish <strong>the</strong>Alpha CentauriCampaign. A futuristic game ofstrategic space <strong>war</strong>fare with many unusualgame features. In October 1974 (if not earlier)we will publish Patrol. An outdoors Sniper1with improvements in <strong>the</strong> Sniper! gamesystem as well as new design features(continued on page 27)
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