Energy Management Explained

There's often a bit of head scratching over energy management in Wings at War, so here's a simple reminder of how it works. The key thing to remember is it is primarily at the end of a sequence of moves, when action point expenditure equals starting energy, that any energy problems are resolved (apart from stalls, which can occur during a turn as well as at the end)

1. Action Points = Energy at the start of a turn.

2. Don't change your Energy dice during a turn but do keep a separate track of Energy loss / gain (using tokens or counters is a good idea)

3. Aircraft are allowed to exceed their Energy rating during a turn, but....

4. If energy falls below 1 during a turn = STALL (the turn ends after this has been resolved using the stall diagram)*

5. Otherwise, the turn ends when all Action Points have been spent.

6. If Energy at this end point is less than 1 = STALL 

7. If Action Point/s spent for the final manoeuvre in a turn cause Action Point expenditure to be greater than starting energy = SPIN.

8. If Energy at this end point is greater than Energy Rating = AIRCRAFT BREAKS UP.

9. If Energy is equal to or less than starting energy (but obviously greater than 0) = Action Points available for next turn. 

10. Flip the dice to the new Energy level on the model's base at this point.

*Try to avoid making manoeuvres with a random energy modifier (D) as this can cause a significant loss of energy during a turn and is unpredictable. 

Aviation Hardback Books

I was walking the dog this morning and passed the local charity shop, popping in while the dog took a breather in the shade. Here's the result, a couple of aviation themed additions to the holiday reading list. I think I've read Tail End Charlies before but there's no harm in reading it again, while the history of the Israeli Air Force is a new one to me. Good finds both!

Wings at War 'How To?'

 

Mr Tumbling Dice, Paul Sulley, asked me for some reason to proofread and edit the Wings at War rule booklets to see if I could make the movement, energy management and action point system less opaque for customers. Apparently, he's had a lot of emails from prospective players who are confused by the text and who have given up on the game before they've had a chance to try it out. I thought the best way to clarify things would be to produce a set of 'box out' example moves including one turn that works and another where the flight parameters are exceeded, resulting in too much energy at the end of the turn and a spin, resulting in a crash. Here's the first example using the Desert Spitfires rules as a template, although the idea would be to modify this to fit the other rules in the series. Any feedback would be very welcome.

Wings at War 2024

Something new, or...

..time to dust this one off?

..or perhaps do this?

I'm off work at the moment with severe hearing loss, which pretty is unpleasant but also quite tedious, as I'm suffering from fatigue due to lack of sleep. It's given me some time to think about next year's projects, one of which will be a Wings at War thing, to add to the unfinished ones I already have, no doubt. At the moment, this is a toss up between Wings over Suez or Thud Ridge, with a possible third option being a 'do it yourself' Wings Above Angola adaptation of Flames Above the Falklands. The recent addition of the F101 Voodoo to the Tumbling Dice range is pushing me towards Vietnam, however, for which I've already done some preliminary sketching and the obligatory purchasing of lead. Whichever I choose it will be good to have a new project on the schedule.

Wings Over Suez

 

I wanted to do at least one Wings at War project this year, or even finish off one that I've started, but I've got too much to do already with the Red Actions! AFSR army, the 2mm English Civil War project and the Napoleonic naval fleets. However, looking forward to next year, I'm going to have a crack at Wings over Suez. I've already got some models for this but to keep it simple I'm only going to do a Fleet Air Arm and Egyptian focus, limiting the number of aircraft to about six to eight of each main type. The terrain for Wings over Suez also only involves some ground targets, which I can easily make using Brigade Models buildings. The main reason for doing this project, however, is so that I can actually use the very nice desert aerial mat I got for my birthday this year, so far gathering dust and being seriously under deployed. Just don't hold your breath!