Dogfights- The Combat Phase

After the Squadron Roll’s resolution, the Combat Phase begins. PCs and important NPCs take turns performing actions much like a regular combat turn. Instead of rolling initiative, the aircraft belonging to the squadron which won the Squadron Roll perform their actions first, followed by the planes of the losing squadron. Ties break in favor of the side with the biggest dice pool in the previous Squadron Roll (which makes the Defend Maneuver a little more appealing). Players decide the order of friendly actions in the Combat phase as does the Gamemaster for the Enemy. The very first character to act each round receives the usual Initiative bonus.  Just like a combat round on the ground, combatants may take multi-action penalties to perform more than one action a turn.

Obviously, aircraft are constantly in motion. Pilots may position their craft and speed through the dogfight freely, although the Gamemaster may rule that it takes several turns to reach an objective. Characters piloting aircraft perform Pilot Actions, while characters operating other stations aboard an aircraft perform Crew Actions. While characters may perform other actions than those listed with Gamemaster approval, most actions fall within the following categories.

Pilot Actions

                Attack- The pilot chooses a target to attack with one of their aircraft’s pilot armaments and rolls a Gunnery + their aircraft’s Handling test against a black dice pool consisting of their target’s Handling +3. If the target’s Handling is black dice, they are added to the attack pool as bonus dice. On a success, the pilot rolls damage. Ties go in favor of the attacker.

                Defend- The pilot attempts a test using their Aviation + their aircraft’s Handling. Until the start of their next turn, they add the test’s net successes to their aircraft’s (or another friendly aircraft’s) Armor Value.

                Escape/Chase- The pilot tests their Aviation + their aircrafts’ Handling with 9 black dice if the enemy squadron outnumbers their friendly squadron. If the friendly squadron equals or outnumbers the enemy squadron, the Escape test suffers no black dice.  On a success, their aircraft leaves the dogfight. If unsuccessful, they remain in the dogfight and an enemy aircraft chosen by the Gamemaster makes a free attack against them.

This action may also be used to chase escaping aircraft. The pilot follows the same procedure to Pursue an enemy aircraft that successfully performed the Escape (or Chase) Action since the start of the Pilot’s last turn. If unsuccessful, the pilot loses his target and remains in the Dogfight. If successful the pilot and the target begin a vehicle chase as described starting on page 32 of the Victoriana Sourcebook Marvels of Science and Steampunk.

                Tactical- The Pilot attempts a test with their Aviation or Tactics skills + their aircraft’s Handling. If successful, their Squadron adds a number of dice equal to the number of successes to their next Squadron Roll. If multiple pilots in the same Squadron perform the Tactical Action in the same Combat Phase, only the highest counts towards the next Squadron Roll.

Crew Actions

                Attack- The gunner chooses a target to attack with one of their station’s armaments. They roll a Gunnery + their aircraft’s Handling test against a black dice pool of their target’s Handling +3. If the target’s Handling is black dice, they are added to the attack pool as bonus dice. On a success, they roll their armament’s damage. Ties go in favor of the attacker.

                Drop Bomb- The bombardier rolls a Gunnery test with 6 black dice. For each 500lbs worth of bomb weight (rounded down) dropped during a Drop Bomb action, the bombardier adds 2 dice to their pool.  If successful, the bombs fall right on target. With a failure they miss entirely, causing massive devastation to a random spot below. On a partial success, the bombardier rolls a d6. On a 6 or a 1, the desired target still sustained extensive damage but remains standing. On a 2 or a 5, the bomb causes savage destruction elsewhere.           

Repair- Any crewmember may attempt an Ad Hoc Repair test with 3 black dice to return lost health pips to their aircraft. Each success restores 1 health pip up to a maximum equal to their aircraft’s Armor Value.

Spot- Any crew member may attempt a Perception or Gunnery test and choose another member of their aircraft’s crew or pilot. That crew member reduces the black dice penalty of their next action by the number of successes generated by the test.

With all that out of the way, next week we’ll taste the frosting of our Dogfighting cake: Optional Rules