LIGHTER THAN AIR WARFARE
by Dale Poole
A modified version of Lloyd Krassner's ZEPPELIN BATTLES of the GREAT WAR,
Adapted for Play-by-E-Mail
INTRODUCTION
Imagine if Orville and Wilbur Wright did not successfully fly their powered
airplane in 1903, but instead ten years later. In such an alternate history there
would be no effective combat airplanes. Commitments in military research and
industrial production might have instead, focused on the Zeppelin as a weapon
carrier. This game provides a tactical simulation of such Zeppelin warfare.
The Ships
Zeppelins as depicted in this game, have three statistics; Movement Points, Cargo
Slots and an amount of Gas, all measured in arbitrary units.
Movement Points are outlined below. They determine the maximum distance a Zeppelin
can travel in a turn.
Cargo Slots hold Weapons, Ammunition, Personnel and possibly other items as may
be required by a given scenario.
Gas determines your Zeppelin's buoyancy - if you lose all of your Gas, you plummet
to the ground!
Each Zeppelin in your fleet requires the expenditure of Resource Points, and
must be further equipped with various items at a further cost in Resource Points.
ZEPPELIN UNIT TYPES TABLE
Airship Cargo Move Hydrogen Cost in
Class Slots Points Gas Resource Points
Scout 2 5 10 17
Escort 3 4 20 27
Destroyer 4 4 30 38
Frigate 5 3 40 48
Cruiser 6 3 50 59
Battleship 7 2 60 69
WEAPONS CARGO TABLE
Cargo To hit Cost in
Weapons Slots Range Ammo on 1D6 Resource Points
Large Cannon 2 15 5 1-3 18
Small Cannon 1 10 10 1-4 14
Machine Gun 1 6 20 1-5 11
Flame Thrower 1 3 5 1-3 6
Small Arms* 0 4 Unlimited 1-3 7
*every Zeppelin can be equipped with one Small Arms, an no Cargo Slot cost
Cargo
Other Cargo Slots Notes
Engine 1 Increase Base Speed +1
Ammo 1 10 Large or 20 Small Cannon Shots.
Patch Crew 1 Repair Punctures and put out fires.
Gas Tanks 1 10 Gas
Bombs 1 May be dropped on Zeps.
Target destroyed on roll of 1-3 on 1D6.
Passengers 1 May function as ‘Small Arms' weapon
Bulk Cargo 1 May apply to scenario victory conditions
BASIC TURN SEQUENCE
1. Determine Initiative
2. Submit Movement Orders
3. Map Update
4. Submit Combat Orders
5. Wind Randomization
6. Map Update
7. Resolve Combat and Damage
8. Make Repairs
INITIATIVE
- initiative is determined by a simple die with the highest roll winning
the initiative. All ties are re-rolled.
- initiative is determined for all players before movement occurs.
- the player with initiative chooses whether he will move first or last.
- if he chooses to move last, then initiative takes place in the reverse order
of the rolls, with the lowest roller playing first, then the next lower and so on.
- if he choose to move first, then initiative takes place with the initiative
winner moving first, then the next highest roll moving and so forth.
- on subsequent turns, a die roll is made as usual, however the winner of initiative
in the previous turn determines if initiative will take place high to low or low to high.
MOVEMENT
- in each turn a Zeppelin can increase or decrease speed, changing
facing (direction) gain or lose altitude
- Zeppelins have a maximum number of Movement Points, which determines how many
hexes the Zeppelin can move.
- a Zeppelin can never move more than it's maximum Movement Points in
"Orders" (see 'Winds' below)
- a Zeppelin may be ordered to move zero in which case it will remain in place
- 1 Movement Point is expended to change direction my one hex face; Zeppelins
will always face a hex side
- 1 Movement Point is expended for each step of altitude gained or lost
- there are 10 steps of altitude, with '0' being ground level
- Zeppelins will also lose altitude when they start losing Gas
- after Combat Orders are received, all Zeppelins are subjected to a
randomized Wind Effect
WINDS TABLE
1D12 Wind Direction
1 NW
2 N
3 NE
4 SE
5 S
6 SW
7 W
8 E
9 Zep rotates to left 60 degrees. Do not roll Wind speed.
10 Zep rotates to right 60 degrees. Do not roll Wind speed.
11 Zep pushed up 1 Altitude step. Do not roll Wind speed.
12 Zep pushed down 1 Altitude step. Do not roll Wind speed.
1D6 Wind Speed
1 0
2 0
3 1
4 1
5 2
6 2
COMBAT and DAMAGE
- each weapon on your Zeppelin may fire once per turn
- each weapon fires out of one set 90 degree Arc of Fire; Forward, Aft,
Starboard, or Port
- small arms fire can take place in any Arc of Fire and may change from Turn to Turn
- targets must be at the same altitude or up to 2 altitude steps below
- all Combat is simultaneous as per Orders
DAMAGE TABLE
Damage Result Flamethrw Small Machine Gun
on 1D20 L.Cannon Cannon Small Arms Notes
Cargo Hit 1 1 1 1 random cargo destroyed
Steering Hit 2 2 2 Zep cannot turn
Engine Hit 3 3 3 Base Speed -1
Cabin Hit 4 4 4 Spark- Zep catches on fire
Minor Puncture 5-7 5-14 5-20 -1 Gas per turn until patched
Major Puncture 8-12 15-19 - -2 Gas per turn until patched
Crit Puncture 13-18 20 - -3 Gas per turn until patched
Blowout 19-20 - - Zeppelin Destroyed
- if Ammo, Gas Tanks, or Bombs are hit, the Zep suffers Blowout.
- a Zeppelin hit by a flamethrower is considered to be ‘in flames'
and must roll on the flamethrower damage column once each subsequent turn until
a patch crew puts the flames out.
- each turn a Zeppelin is at 50% or less Gas, it loses 1 altitude step
- each turn a Zeppelin is at 25% or less Gas, it loses 2 altitude steps
REPAIRS
- Patch Crews can repair Gas Leaks and Punctures
- a Patch Crew can do one of the following, each turn:
- extinguish a fire
- patch a Critical Puncture to a Major Puncture
- patch a Major Puncture to a Minor Puncture
- patch a Minor Puncture, preventing further Gas loss
BUILDING YOUR FLEET
Here are some example Zeppelins:
Escort: The Blitzkrieger: L.Cannon - Forward
S.Cannon - Forward
Machine Gun - Aft
Total - 70 Resource Points
Battleship: The Bismark: Flamethrower- Forward
S.Cannon - Starboard
S.Cannon - Port
L.Cannon - Aft
Patch Crew
Engine
Bomb
Total - 139 Resource points
Cruiser: The Victoria: L.Cannon - Forward
Machine Gun - Forward
S.Cannon - Aft
L.Cannon Ammo
2 Patch Crews
Total - 132 Resource points
Destroyer: The Liverpool: S.Cannon - Forward
S.Cannon - Forward
Machine Gun
S.Cannon Ammo
Engine
Total - 90 Resources Points
PLAY-BY-E-MAIL NOTES
Die Rolls
In order to smooth game play and keep the randomization afforded by Die Rolls,
each player is required to submit a list of die rolls to the Referee, prior to the
start of the game.
The Referee will provide the details of which Die Roll Server to use, as well as
which and how many of each Die Roll is required. When the Die Rolls for each player
are received, Initiative will be determined.
For those who are interested, the Die Roll Server will create the list with your
Player Name on it and the list will be e-mailed to the Referee. This prevents a
player from stacking their rolls.
At the end of each game the Referee can mail the list of rolls received and used so
far, to any player who makes the request. This allows the Player the opportunity
to double check the Referee's work.
At the end of the game, the complete list of Rolls submitted to each player, will
be mailed to each player, showing the complete list and each roll used on their behalf.
Note that your opponent's rolls will *never* be revealed to you - Die Rolls are a
matter strictly reserved between each individual Player and the Referee.
Map Updates
Turn Sequence 3 and 6 are 'Map Updates', provided to allow the player some opportunity
to exercise his own brand of tactics. These Map Updates will be provided on the
game website, as soon as Movement Orders are received (in the case of Turn
Sequence 3), and Combat Orders are received (in the case of Turn Sequence 6).
Please feel free to check the site as often as you like.
ADAPTATIONS
Lloyd Krassner's ZEPPELIN BATTLES of the GREAT WAR was originally conceived as a
table top game, designed to be played on a physical map with figures or counters
to represent your Zeppelins and other support props such as dice.
Some obvious modification were required to fit the game into the PBeM format.
Most notably are the introduction of the 'Map Update' Turn impulses and the
elimination of random dice throws for things like Damage, Patch Crew Repairs,
and Altitude Loss due to Gas Loss.
Initiative was significantly changed, to allow some tactical decision making on the
part of the players. Initiative is usually regarding as the luck of the dice,
something the player can't influence. Now there is a reason to hope to get the
initiative and important decisions to make if you do. That decision may not always be
to your benefit. Along with Wind Effects, the Initiative system simulates
the inaccuracies of positioning and firing from a highly vulnerable platform.
Finally, a point system was introduced in an effort to achieve some sort of game
balance while maintaining the players' ability to exercise their own decision
making. This is my first attempt at a point system, and all point values were
assigned in a highly arbitrary manner! I would be interested in hearing what changes
you think would improve the game.
Please give Lloyd the honour he deserves for this game by visiting his website if
you haven't already done so. Send him your comments and while you're there, check
out some of the myriad other games Lloyd has created - he has a fabulous mind and
as a game designer I know he craves feedback of almost any type on his work!