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1.1) The following rules are based on a set of postal rules adapted by Tom Tweedy from the original boardgame. Small amendments have been made by a number of other GMs (gamesmasters) notably by Keith Thomasson & Dave Tant. Further modifications have been made by myself to suit play by e.mail.
1.2) The game takes place on a hexagonal playing area made up of smaller hexagons. The total area is ten hexagons on a side. Games normally consist of six pilots, each of whom starts from an airfield located in one of the six corners of the playing area. Each plane starts the game with 16 ammunition points, 12 damage points and zero victory points.
1.3) To win a game you must be the last pilot left in the game.
2.1) Each 'turn' is divided into three 'moves'. Pilots may order their planes to perform one of the following in each move.
| A | Plane moves ahead one hex |
| LT | Plane turns left by 60 degrees and moves ahead one hex |
| RT | Plane turns right by 60 degrees and moves ahead one hex |
| LS | Plane performs a left slip, moving into the hex ahead and to the left, retaining its original facing |
| RS | Plane performs a right slip, moving into the hex ahead and to the right, retaining its original facing |
| o | Plane does not move, but see below |
| I | Plane performs an Immelman turn. This move is only available to Aces. The plane moves forward one hex and turns to face in the opposite direction |
2.2) Note that planes MUST make some movement to avoid stalling, so the 'o' move cannot be the first move in any turn, and if it is the second move, it MUST also be the third!
3) Taking off and landing
3.1) Taking off and landing involves taxiing along your airstrip. Each airfield has three airstrips and to take off you must tell the GM which to use. They are called Alpha, Beta, and yes, you've guessed, Gamma. Beta is the one leading towards the centre of the board and, relative to that, Alpha is on the left and gamma is on the right, from the point of view of someone standing on the airfield looking towards the centre of the playing area.
3.2) In order to take off you must order 'A'; 'A' to taxi along the selected airstrip. Your wheels then leave the ground and the third move may be any of those listed above, except 'o'.
3.3) Conversely, in order to land you must line yourself up with the end of one of your OWN airstrips (you may NOT land on anyone else's) and order 'A' for two moves in succession over the airstrip. These two moves may overlaps two turns if necessary. Note that to land, you MUST tell the GM before you reach the end of the airstrip, and you CANNOT then change your mind!
3.4) When you land your plane, you MUST stay on the ground until the next turn, even if the landing manoeuvre is completed before the end of the turn. During that time the ground crew hastily re-arm your plane, and you can take off in the next turn with a full 16 ammunition points again. No damage is repaired.
3.5) On the turn following the one on which landing took place you may elect to stay on the airfield in order to repair your plane. Players begin the game with 6 Repair points and these may be expended at this time on a one for one basis to repair your plane. There is no limit to the number of points repaired during a single turn, all six may be repaired at the same time if you wish, however once all six have been used then no more repairs are possible. These repairs should be seen as 'running repairs' ( probably using duct tape and string ) just to get the plane back in the air. Proper repairs will be carried out between games to ensure that all planes begin a game on 12 hit points.
4) Firing
4.1) Providing you have sufficient ammunition left, you may fire up to three bursts in any one turn, spread over the three moves in any way you wish, except that you may not fire in the same direction more than once in any one move.
4.2) Note that planes on the ground may be fired at in the normal way, but may not fire back. This also applies to planes taking off or landing. They may be shot at, but may not fire back while their wheels are touching the ground.
4.3) Firing may be in a choice of three directions: 'FA', 'FR' and 'FL'. 'FA' is obviously ahead, while 'FR' and 'FL' correspond to the hexes you would turn or slip into. A burst of fire uses one ammunition point and inflicts damage as listed below. Note that all opponents within range in the appropriate direction are hit, even if two are in the same hex or one is hiding behind another. There is an exception to this, in that you cannot fire into or through clouds, so targets in or behind clouds will not be hit. Note the prohibition against firing more than one burst in the same direction in the same MOVE. Thus, firing 'FA' in each of the three moves of one turn would be legal, as would firing 'FA+FR+FL' in a single move. However, 'FA+FA+FA' in the same move would not be legal!
4.4) Damage Table
| Range | Normal Damage | Aces Damage |
| 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 3 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | 0 | 1 |
4.5) Aces get an advantage in firing, as shown in the table. They do one more point of damage at each range and can also score hits at a range of five.
4.6) When zero damage points is reached (or passed) a plane crashes. A damage point can also be lost by flying into a cloud hex (those planes were FRAIL, and probably weren't called 'kites' for nothing). A Plane loses 1 hit point for each cloud hex moved into.
4.7) Richards ACE's modifications - these rule modifications are designed to negate some of the advantages ACE's have - refer also to section 6) on Victory Points
.......a) Non ACE Players get 2 VP's for each hit they score on an ACE. ( increase in reputation )
.......b) ACE's lose 1 VP for each hit scored on them by Non ACE players. ( Loss of reputation )
.......c) ACE Vs ACE combat is as standard combat between Non ACE players ie 1 VP for each hit on an opponent and no loss for taking damage.
5) Clouds
5.1) Clouds are placed randomly on the board at the start. They should be at least one hexagon away from any of the airstrips. The exact number and shape of clouds is up to the GM.
5.2) Clouds are blown one hex in a randomly chosen direction at the end of every Turn. Planes take one point of damage if they move into or remain inside a cloud. Having a cloud moved onto your plane in between turns will not do any damage, but failing to fly clear will.
5.3) There can be an advantage to flying into a cloud, however. A plane in a cloud cannot be hit, but on the other hand, it CAN fire out!
5.4) There is one exception to the rule about damage done by flying into clouds. If a plane is landing or taking off then, while it is on the ground, it is not damaged by clouds. A plane is considered to be 'on the ground' while on the Airbase ( the corner hex ) or on one of the two hexes of the airstrip.
6) Victory points
6.1) Victory points are awarded for the following events. ( see also rule 4.7 )
| 1 VP | For each point of damage inflicted on another Plane |
| 5 VP | For shooting a Plane down |
| 10 VP | For shooting down an Ace |
| 5 VP | For winning a game ( ie being the last plane flying ) |
| -5 VP | For being shot down or crashing |
| -10 VP | For being shot down or crashing if you are an Ace |
6.2) The qualifying mark for gaining Ace status is 40 points however this does not occur untill the end of the current game.
6.3) Note that it is possible that more than one player may score hits on a plane during the move on which it is shot down. In this instance the VPs are shared equally amongst the players scoring hits. ( round fractions up )
6.4) If a pilot's last damage point is removed by a cloud, he still loses 5 (or 10) victory points, but no-one gets the points for shooting them down.
6.5) Planes may also crash by flying 'off the playing area', usually by failing to send in orders (NMRing). If this happens, any damage points they may have had left are divided up amongst the survivors as victory points, rounded up to give a whole number each. The culprit still loses his 5 (or 10) points. It is traditionally considered as 'unsporting' to deliberately fly off the board so as to prevent an opponent getting a 'certain kill'.
7) Game Positions
7.1) Note that the finishing positions are not based on the number of victory points gained, but the order in which pilots leave the game. The first pilot to be shot down or crash will be sixth, the last pilot left in the game will be first. Pilots who leave the game in the same turn and move will share a position, irrespective of the number of points each has gained.
8) NMR (No move received)
8.1) If a pilot NMRs, their plane will fly straight ahead, without landing or firing, until they either resume sending orders, crashes or is shot down. GMs should therefore refrain from dumping pilots from the game after too many NMRs (saying they've crashed, for instance), as they should be left flying peacefully, straight and narrow, for the others to blast to bits.
8.2) If I receive illegal orders I will attempt to notify the perpetrator. If however no corrected orders are received the I will adjudicate things as follows
8.3) Illegal Move orders will be replaced with an 'A' or 'o' order depending on the preceeding move. ie. a 'o' order must follow another legal 'o' order and a 'A' order would be substituted as the first move of a turn and all succeeding orders would then be 'A'.
8.4) Illegal fire orders will be ignored. In the case of too many fire orders being received then those earlier in the turn will be enacted and the latter ones ignored.
9) House Rules
9.1) Unless otherwise noted Deadlines for games will be 6.00pm on the day of the deadline. If I do not receive orders from a player then they will get a 'yellow card'. I'll probably e.mail to let them know and if I receive the orders on the following day then I will accept them however further infractions from the same player will result in a 'Red card' ie they will get the dreaded NMR.
9.2) Deadlines will normally be on a Friday and I would hope to be able to update the web site with the new positions by Sunday at the latest, however this will depend on how busy I am over the weekend. Despite the rather strict tone of rule 9.1 it is quite possible I may be out all Friday evening and orders arriving before I do the adjudication on saturday may be accepted. The question you have to ask yourself, of course, is 'Do you feel lucky..................Punk'
9.3) Due to popular demand I will notify the players by e.mail that the web site has been updated with the latest adjudication. It is then up to the players to log onto the website and forward orders for the next turn.
9.4) With respect to the map displays, I am using the following system. Five maps will be shown, One will show the position at the start of the turn, 3 will show the positions after each of the moves ( including showing the Firing ) while the final map will show the position after the clouds have moved ready for the next turn.
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