Pilot Rosters

[yoodle]

Are there any written rules for keeping pilot rosters? I've heard the rule that you have to have a four player game for a mission to count toward your official roster. Are there other rules? What planes can a single pilot fly? Can a pilot "go back in time" (i.e. if I have him fly a mission in 1918, can he later fly a mission in 1917?)

I believe one group I played with also started all their pilots as second missions pilots so that they could always do tailing. I never liked this idea myself, but I was just wondering if anyone else did it too?

[kevan]

As far as I know, nobody worries about a realistic timeline for their pilots. So it's quite likely that an experienced pilot will die on a mission during a month that precedes several or even most of his previous missions. Maybe someone with more experience can give a history of this, but I've always figured it's because it would be too difficult to track pilots or to gain pilot experience otherwise.

[AP]

Yeah no need to track time line.. although some people like to track that kind of stuff!!
There is a nice progression outline in the rules if you want to build a pilot and have him naturally progress.
We have had a number of new players recently here in MN, and we have adopted the idea of flying by nationality, where you can fly a 'German' or 'British' pilot in any aircraft so you can build up some experience, and then when he reaches 6 missions he gets plugged into a particular type.
Some like to group types, like 'early Alb' or 'late fokker' pilots... its really a matter of preference.

[kirkh]

I had wondered the same things myself and I guess the answer is "it depends on what you want to do". If someone is not going to play that much, they might want a smaller roster and handle things as AP mentioned. If you're a face to face player and can rack up lots of missions in a short time you can probably do things exactly by the book. Personally I have 15 active pilots and each has only a couple missions. My best guy is an 8/2 and that's because of the campaign we played earlier this year. I like having a large roster of pilots because I am more inclined to be aggressive if I have less to lose. If I had only a few pilots with a lot of missions for each, I'd be less inclined to put them in harms way.

[albpilot]

yoodle said:

Are there any written rules for keeping pilot rosters? I've heard the rule that you have to have a four player game for a mission to count toward your official roster. Are there other rules? What planes can a single pilot fly? Can a pilot "go back in time" (i.e. if I have him fly a mission in 1918, can he later fly a mission in 1917?)

I believe one group I played with also started all their pilots as second missions pilots so that they could always do tailing. I never liked this idea myself, but I was just wondering if anyone else did it too?

I've got a Pilot grouping list given to me when I first started that is how my pilots are organized. For Example, I have a "Late War Fokker/SSW" group and a "Late War Pfalz/Roland/Junker" group. Some planes are their own grouping, such as the Alb D-Va and the Fokker Dr-I.

I have absolutely no idea who came up with this grouping method I'm using but I've always been a bit curious about it, especially if anyone else uses it.

I know Stephen flies the same pilot in the Camel, the Snipe, and the Dolphin. In my grouping, the Dolphin is by itself.

So I'd be interested in hearing how anyone else group theirs.

[noski]

In my "official handout" Dolphin pilots are by them selves now. DH-5 pilots transfer to Dolphins.

[albpilot]

noski said:

In my "official handout" Dolphin pilots are by them selves now. DH-5 pilots transfer to Dolphins.

Mine has DH-5 and SE-5 grouped together but SE-5a as a group by themselves...


Ah, if only the mythical 8th edition would ever appear and answer all our pressing questions....

[noski]

Yeah, you're right Andrew. In any case, Camel pilots can't fly Dolphins anymore.

[Stephen]

albpilot said:

I know Stephen flies the same pilot in the Camel, the Snipe, and the Dolphin. In my grouping, the Dolphin is by itself.

That's an interesting story... we'd been flying under 7th Ed. rules for some fifteen years and then people suddenly started goofing around with the a/c groupings.

So all of us were like... okay, how do we break down our pilot rosters? We've been flying them in these groups for years... what do we do now? Some pilots had no grouping to go to, and others had two or three that they could go into.

So we decided to let folks choose for themselves. They can stay with 7th Ed rules and simply add an "Early War" category, or they could go with the newer groupings (whatever the latest grouping happens to be).

Seems to have made everyone happy. It was never an issue again.

[albpilot]

admin said:

okay, how do we break down our pilot rosters? We've been flying them in these groups for years... what do we do now? Some pilots had no grouping to go to, and others had two or three that they could go into.

So we decided to let folks choose for themselves. They can stay with 7th Ed rules and simply add an "Early War" category, or they could go with the newer groupings (whatever the latest grouping happens to be).

Seems to have made everyone happy. It was never an issue again.

I say just stick with what you are doing. In the long run, it doesn't really matter to me if you have an ace you can throw into a Dolphin where I don't. NBD.

Interesting historical question though. Were there situations where someone in a plane type could fly other types? I thought most of the Allied squadrons were more or less homogenous and there would be minimal chance to cross train if you will. Anyone know how often that occured?

[Stephen]

In American squadrons there was no choice at all. You flew what you were assigned.

The same rule held for British squadrons as well, but since they were in the war for a much longer period of time, they had more a/c types being flushed through the system. It was common for a squadron that flew, for instance, Sopwith Camels, to still have a Pup or Strutter parked around the hangars. They were mostly used for transportation between airfields, but they were there nonetheless.

German units had a little bit of everything. Was a nightmare for their mechanics... always trying to get parts for two or three different plane types. US squadrons could use part interchangeably between a/c, but Germans had a tougher time doing that.

For instance, even the parts within the Albatros series were different. The wings of a DII would not fit on a DIII. The wings of a DIII would not fit on a DV, but they would fit on a DVa. Go figure.

[yoodle]

A somewhat related question that came up in a FTF game we played Friday night:

Are first mission pilots limited in the types of maneuvers they are allowed to perform? I seem to remember in the past that first mission pilots were not allowed to do fancy maneuvers, but I wasn't able to find anything in the rules about it. Was that maybe just a house rule that someone was using? I think it's a bit too restrictive myself.

[Stephen]

I don't think so... at least not that I'm aware of. You guys know? A first mission pilot can't tail - that I'm sure of. Maybe that's what you're thinking?

[kazorm]

That is an Arizona house rule. The only restriction to 1st mission pilots is no tailing.