Flying the Unfriendly Skies with Angels One Six
By Tom Gall
Last time we looked at what’s all in the box for Angels One Six, now let’s rev up the engine and take to the skies and play a few games. Incoming Bogeys!
The Mechanics
In Angels One Six, you find yourself in the cockpit of a WWII airplane. The initial game is set during the Battle of Britain and thus you’ll see ME-109s, Spitfires, and other hardware that was using during that time period. Angels One Six, keeps things historical.
Jumping in, engine on, let’s work through the rules, what it means to activate your plane during a turn. First, you’ll roll three dice and for each 4+ result, you add in action. You start with two actions by default so you could have a maximum of five actions.
Now you’re ready to fly! Looking at the top of the cockpit you work from left to right on the variety of things you could do. Most things are optional however a few are not and no matter which you pick, you can only perform it once. For instance “power” adds three speed to your plane, up to a maximum of seven. You can’t go faster than your maximum speed unless you’re in a dive. “Power” is marked as “auto” so it’s not optional, you have to do it. Next is “drag” which applies if you’re going over your maximum speed, if you are, you lose two speed. Moving along, you could spend an action to shoot, presuming you have a target lined up. No? Then you move on.
Following are two types of breaking maneuver, either a break which costs both two actions and two speed, but you can turn up to one facing either to the left or the right. Next is a split-s which for a hefty cost of four actions and three speed (which you might not even have), allows you to dive one level and come out facing any direction.
A climb or a dive are two special maneuvers, they are the only ones you can perform more than once! Presuming you have the actions, you could dive twice, and gain +4 speed. Likewise if you have plenty of extra speed, you could climb more than once.
This is a good time to remind you that on the spitfire you can not let your speed fall lower than two. Stalling would be deadly. Hopefully by now it’s getting to be obvious you have to manage the number of actions you have, the speed of your plane to try and put yourself in a position either be defensive or line up a great shot. Save an action for that shot.
You’ll notice on the panel is “move” which at the time you reach that maneuver, whatever the current speed of your plane, that’s how far you’re going to move. If you elect to do no maneuvers up to that point, you might move a full seven.
Two maneuvers, the split-s and Immelmann, if performed, do not allow you to shoot afterwards. One slight head scratch is with the text for an Immelmann. To quote:
An Immelmann turn is a climbing, rolling half-loop. Named after its inventor, First World War ace Max Immelmann, it burns lots of speed, but lets an aircraft turn to face any direction.
To execute an Immelmann, you pull your aircraft back into a loop, rolling as you climb until you come out heading the direction you want to go. Rolling upright, you dive again to regain airspeed.
An Immelmann doesn’t allow you to come out facing any direction. It’s a solid 180, though turning to the left or to the right after the change in the direction could be reasonable. The rules as written do not include any change in altitude and cause a Spitfire to lose five speed, yet if it’s assumed there is a dive to regain speed, a drop in five speed isn’t exactly regaining speed. The other thing to consider is there are two ways to approach an Immelmann in real life, either diving or climbing. Since the maneuver is such a cost in action (and speed), in all the games I’ve seen or play in thus far I’ve not seen anyone try it.
Last I’ll mention you don’t want to end up landing on someone else’s base because if you do, you gain fright which can remove actions on your next turn. Thankfully you roll at the time you active a plane to remove fright, (4+ per fright) but any still on your plane will result in a loss of actions.
Now that’s good flying, or was it luck?
Shooting
Let’s talk about shooting! Lining up a shot as your opponent is doing their best to get you in their sights is both a stressful and absolute blast. The dramatic twisting, outflying and hopefully out maneuvering (you did roll well on your # of actions right?) you’ll get to fire.
The base for the plane includes a red line down the silhouette of the airplane. That line when extended must intersect with the target you want to shoot at. If it doesn’t cross their base, it’s not a shot. If it does, depending on where it touches on the base will determine your base to hit score. A deflection shot is a 5+, a head on 4+ and a tailing shot a 3+.
Next if there is a difference in altitude, it’s +1 for each level. Next you have to measure the range, so you could be looking at as much as a +2 modifier due to the range. If there is a value needed above a 6 after modifiers, it’s also not a shot.
The spitfire we are flying has eight .303 Browning machine guns so if we line up a valid shot, we get to roll eight dice.
If hits are scored, the owner of the plane that is hit, rolls an airframe save for each hit. An ME-109 has an 5+ airframe save. If successful each save results in a hit that can be ignored. The remaining hits result in one fright for each unsaved it. Next the shooter performs a firepower roll for each unsaved hit. In the case of the Browning .303 machine guns their firepower value is a six. Again for each unsaved hit, we roll a dice against our firepower. If successful, it shoots down the target. The cannon on the ME-109 has a 4+ firepower, is very deadly, but given it has a low rate of fire it does balance out.
Playing
For all the games, we’ve been playing on a 4×6 surface which is a huge area. A 4×4 should be comfortable. Don’t be surprised if you have to “move” the world from time to time as the action moves across the table. Especially in scenarios involving bombers, Here the Germans are starting at the higher altitude and have the advantages against the spitfires.
Climb! Climb Climb! The Germans have plenty of options as their skill rolls are going well, while the British pilots are doing their best to match the ME-109s but with but three actions per plane, it’s limiting what they can do.
For new players the big challenge is getting an idea of what gets you where on the tabletop. As players take their first steps trying to match altitude, flying in formation or covering their wingman goes right out the window. which we can see right away.
After a pass on turn three taking a shot at each other, the ME109 is unscathed but the Spitfire took on some fright.
One of the spitfires is shot down and the Germans start to re-engage the lone airman. Can the odds be evened or is it time to get out of there?
But what happened to the plane shot down? In the back of the rulebook there is a table to roll on to determine what happened. You might be able to limp your plane back, make a belly landing. You might have to take to the silk in which case capture can be in your future depending on what side of the lines you’re on.
There isn’t a way to accumulate experience as of yet. I look for that as part of a future campaign system.
Closing Thoughts
Angles One Six is an excellent WWII flying game. It’s easy to learn but difficult to master. The mechanics capture the tension of frantic maneuvering to line up a deadly shot, but even then you’re still rolling dice. Beautiful planes, great hardware, and well done supporting rules add up to a fun experience. I recommend this game and think it has a bright future.
The kickstarter will be opening up very soon. This is one to get in on. We have an experienced game designer, Phil Yates, to get this project fully delivered. I have full confidence he and his company will be successful. While what I’ve shown you is the initial game, additional aircraft like the ME-110, Hurricane are more than on the drawing board. The cockpits for those planes are already on the website.
There is talk of a campaign which will be yet another great addition to a wonderful start.
Last, if you’re in the midwest, there will be demos at AdeptiCon 2027 in April. Additionally TundraCon and CasteCon in January there will be chances for you to see the game in action and play.