Free Challenging Tabletop Wargame Rules For WW2 Air Combats

STURMOVIK COMMANDER

VERSION 1.5 www.sturmovik-commander.com

by

Marcin Gerkowicz Iain Werry

INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Sturmovik Commander a wargame which deals with air combat during World War Two. The game is based on a manoeuvre system and, unlike most wargaming systems, isn't based on alternating turns. Before you start, remember one important thing: this is just a game, not a dull simulation, and so many aspects are simplified or a little abstracted. Our main idea was to write a fast and easy system, with few tables and with a minimum of book-keeping and overdone rules. On the other hand, not everything is perfectly balanced, as Sturmovik Commander is based on historical factors. Sturmovik Commander is an open system the squadron lists or rules presented here are not finalised, and later we will add more plane types, ships or ground targets. For this game you will need a table to play on (around 4'x6' for medium battles) a couple of D6 dice, a measuring tape and, of course, miniatures to represent aircraft and ground targets. We recommend the use of 6mm or 10mm scale aircraft, mounted on round or hexagonal bases (about 30mm in diameter). You may use this same scale to represent the ground targets in the game. In case of ships or other large objects, use 1/1200 or 1/2400 miniatures (as no wargame keeps consistent scale). Before the game, print the counters from the pdfs and cut them out carefully you will need them to represent speed, altitude and other information about the aircraft. This will save bookkeeping during the game. Alternatively you may use green and blue D10 dice to represent speed and altitude. And one last note: you may consider the text style of this document a little crude, but this is intentional. Simple text is much easier to interpret, and much more understandable for non-English players, and simple formatting makes the rules printer friendly.

Living system
Sturmovik Commander is designed as a living system, with new or corrected rules published on our web page. The current rule version status will be clearly marked on our official portal. We are very grateful for any comments or new rules suggested in our forum we may even use them!

Modules
Sturmovik Commander is a modular system. There are many modules, bringing in optional rules, which may be used in your games. The players may customise their games by choosing the modules which fit them best.

Version 1.5
This revised version of the core rules was written to make the game even more cinematic, the dogfights even more wild, and bullets more deadly. It was based both on players suggestions and our gaming experiences. All 1.0xx squadron lists and modules are compatible with version 1.5 of the core rules, but we cannot guarantee that newer ones will work perfectly with version 1.0 of the core rules.

Ranges
The game uses inches to measure distances. In the case of planes, measure from base edge to base edge. Players may use different bases as this does not have much influence on the game. In such cases, measure distances from base stem to base stem, and add +1 to all ranges. If the enemy is up to 4 away then they are in close range, if they are over 4" and within 8 then they are at medium range, and if they are more than 8 away and within 12 then they are at long range. In game, premeasuring is forbidden until it is time to actually make the shot/move/etc.

The squadron
In Sturmovik Commander, both players command a group of planes, which consists of between one and twelve aircraft. We will name this group later as a squadron, although it isn't always historically accurate. Squadrons are composed using the squadron lists, up to an agreed points value, which are included both in this publication and on our web page.

Sturmovik Commander core rules ver. 1.5 (05.07.2009), page 1/ 15

Plane statistics
Every plane is described by the following statistics: 1. Points value. All planes (and some ground objects) have a points value, which must be spent when a player fields the aircraft. 2. Type. The type of the plane is important to determine in which scenarios it may be used. There are three common types of planes: fighters, bombers, and recon aircraft. Some multi role planes may belong to a few categories, such as fighter/bomber or bomber/recon. Ground defences and objects are a special category and are described later. Additional types of the planes/other objects may be added by modules. 3. Hits. Hits represent the damage which an aircraft may take before it is shot down. When the number of hits are reduced to 0, the plane is destroyed. Bigger or well armoured planes tend to have more hits. A typical fighter has two hits, while heavy bombers may even have eight hits. 4. Manoeuvrability. Manoeuvrability represents how agile the plane is and which manoeuvres it may perform. Planes with a low manoeuvrability may perform manoeuvres 1-3, medium manoeuvrability aircraft may perform manoeuvres 1-6, high manoeuvrability aircraft may perform manoeuvres 1-9, and very high manoeuvrability aircraft may perform manoeuvres 1-12. 5. Max speed . This represents how fast the plane may move. 6. Min speed . This represents how slow the plane may move before it stalls and crashes. 7. Altitude. The altitude value indicates how high the plane may fly. 8. Thrust. Thrust describes by how much the plane may accelerate or decelerate. 9. Special rules/options. Some planes have special rules, which are described later. Some planes may be fielded in two or more variants (like common field modifications), which may vary in points values. 10. Weapons. Most of the planes are armed. Weapons are described later. 11. Ordnance . Planes may have one or more additional weapons (such as bombs, rockets or gun pods), described as 'weapon loads', which may be bought for them.

Weapon statistics
Every weapon is described by the following statistics: 1. Weapon type. A general description of the weapon. 2. Fire arc. This is the fire arc in which the weapon may be used. 3. Firepower . Firepower has three numbers. First is the firepower at short range, second is the firepower at medium range, and third is the firepower at long range. 4. Damage. Different weapons have a different chance of doing serious damage to the target. A lower value means that the weapon has more hitting power. 5. Ammo. This indicates how many times the weapon may be fired in the game (including tailing fire). Sometimes it will be marked as unlimited (ul), especially in case of heavy bombers or ground defences. 6. Special rules. Some weapons may have special rules.

The game turn sequence

The 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. game turn has the following phases: Determine initiative. Both players roll D6. The winner has the initiative in this phase. Reserves phase. In these phase the planes hold in reserve arrive. Orders phase. In this phase both players secretly write down the orders for their aircrafts. Tailing. In this phase resolve tailing fire. AA fire. In this phase resolve AA fire. Moving. In this phase both players move their planes and perform manoeuvres. Firing. In this phase planes may fire their weapons. End phase.

Alternate activation
Most actions in SC are made using alternating activations, which means that one player makes an action for his first plane, then the second player makes actions for his first plane, followed by the first player activating his second plane, and so on.

Sturmovik Commander core rules ver. 1.5 (05.07.2009), page 2/ 15

THE TURN
Determine initiative
Both players roll a dice. The winner holds the initiative in the current turn. In case of a draw, the player who did not have the initiative in the previous turn is the winner (re-roll draws in the first turn). Initiative has an effect in the Reserves, Tailing, AA, Moving and Firing phases. The player with initiative for the turn have to declare who goes first in all phases, so only one decision is made for whole turn (so you move, shoot,etc. either first or second).

Reserves phase
In this phase the planes hold in reserves arrive to the battlefield. The conditions and details of arriving from reserves are written in the scenarios (or sometimes in other document like squadron list). The players alternate the rolls for arriving from reserves and put the planes on the table immediately after successful roll.

Orders phase
Each player secretly writes a manoeuvre for every aircraft. Planes with low manoeuvrability may perform manoeuvres 1-3, planes with medium manoeuvrability may perform manoeuvres 1-6, planes with high manoeuvrability may perform manoeuvres 1-9 and planes with very high manoeuvrability may perform manoeuvres 1-12. If a plane is given a manoeuvre which it cannot perform, or if it does not have any manoeuvre assigned, count it as having Manoeuvre 1.

Manoeuvrability
1. Move straight The plane moves in a straight line.

Allowed manoeuvres
2. Turn The plane turns up to 30 degrees. Low may: -1 alt; +1 speed 3. Dive! The plane move in a straight line. Must (all): -(D3*+1) alt; +D3* speed

Low manoeuvrability

Low may: +1 alt; -1 speed OR -1 alt; +1 speed Medium+ may: +2 alt; -2 speed OR -2 alt; +2 speed 4. Sharp turn The plane turns between 30 and 60 degrees.

Medium manoeuvrability

High manoeuvrability

Very high manoeuvrability

Medium may: -1 alt; +1 speed High+ may: +1 alt; -1 speed OR -1 alt; +1 Must: High+ may: speed -1 speed Turn up to 30 degrees. 7. Barrel rolls 8. Loop 9. Half loop/Wing over The plane may turn up to 30 The plane may turn up to 30 The plane turns 180 degrees (no degrees. It is counted as a hard degrees. The plane does not more, no less). target until next moving phase. change speed, but moves D6" less. Must: Must: +1 alt; -2 speed -1 speed Minimum speed 4 OR -1 alt; no speed change 10. High-G turn 11. Chandelle 12. Spin The plane turns between 60 Put the plane facing any Put the plane facing random and 90 degrees. direction. direction Must: Must: -1 speed +D3* alt; -D3* speed * - roll the dice once and apply the result both to speed and altitude Must: -(D3+1) alt

Medium+ may: Medium+ may: +1 alt; -1 speed OR -1 alt; +1 Turn up to 30 degrees. speed 5. Side slip 6. Sharp climbing Move the plane up to 1/3 of its The plane moves in a straight movement left or right, but do line. not change it's orientation. This move is taken from the normal Must: move distance. +(D3*+1) alt; -D3* speed

Sturmovik Commander core rules ver. 1.5 (05.07.2009), page 3/ 15

Tailing Fire
In this phase, planes which are tailing the enemy may make an additional, bonus, shot which uses ammunition as normal (see Firing, later). A plane counts as tailing the enemy only if he has the enemy in his front arc, is also in this planes rear arc, is within 8, is at the same altitude, and has at least medium manoeuvrability. Players should alternate firing with eligible aircraft. In addition, if the attacking plane, after resolving tailing fire, passes a crew skill roll (see later), then it may force the opponent to reveal their order for the attacked plane, and then secretly change its own order. Also the planes with ground attack plane special rule may strafe in this phase (check Firing later). It is counted as bonus shot with also uses ammunition as normal. Of course the plane which strafe the enemy may not tail the enemy plane.

Watch your six! rule

During the Tailing Fire phase, if the attacked plane has a gunner(s) who may shoot at the attacker, and it passes a crew skill roll (see later), it may open fire on the attacker first. That is what rear gunners were for! Only one attempt to shoot attacker is allowed every tailing phase.

Keep firing, lads!

If the AA cannon is strafed by ground attack in tailing phase is may return fire in the analogous way as tailed planes in Wach you six! Rule.

Sturmovik Commander core rules ver. 1.5 (05.07.2009), page 4/ 15

Anti-aircraft fire
In this phase, resolve AA fire. Declare the AA gun and resolve fire using the Firing procedure below. If both players have AA artillery, they resolve it by alternating attacks.

Moving
In the movement phase, both players alternate moving their aircraft. For every speed point, the aircraft must move 2 - no more, no less. If a manoeuvre changes the speed of the plane, it will not take effect until after the current turn. Altitude represents how high the aircraft is above ground. Altitude varies from 0 (ground) to 9. Altitudes levels from 1-3 are counted as low, from 4 to 6 as medium and from 7 to 9 as high. Bombing attacks depended on the altitude, and some planes performance may vary depending on the altitude which they are at. When a plane's altitude is 0, then it has hit the ground and crashed. Remove it from play. When the plane's altitude is higher than the maximum altitude marked in its stats, it stalls and crashes. Remove it from play.

Adjusting thrust
Every plane may accelerate or decelerate up to its thrust value. Change the aircraft's speed before moving it, and this has an effect in the current turn. Remember that some manoeuvres change the speed, but these changes are made after the move and therefore they will affect the movement distance next turn. The plane may not decelerate below its minimum speed. If it does, the plane stalls and crashes remove it from play. The plane may not accelerate beyond its maximum speed. If it does, the plane can either simply stay at its maximum speed or use the 'Exceeding maximum speed' rule below. These are general rules, which are used through the whole game.

Moving procedure
1. 2. 3. 4. Adjust thrust Move the plane any distance in a straight line, up to the current speed limited distance. Perform manoeuvre. Apply speed and altitude changes if needed. Move remaining distance in a straight line.

Sturmovik Commander core rules ver. 1.5 (05.07.2009), page 5/ 15

Firing
In the firing phase, planes may (surprisingly!) fire their weapons.

Fire Arcs
Weapons may have the following fire arcs: Front 600 directly forward Rear 600 directly rear Left 1200 in the left Right 1200 in the right All round 3600 Up May fire on targets at the same altitude or one altitude higher Down May fire on targets at the same altitude or one altitude lower If the enemy plane is in two fire arcs (remember you measure from base to base) you may choose which fire arc to use. Note: Mark fire arcs on the aircrafts base if using round ones. This makes the game much smoother!

Firing procedure
1. 2. 3. Declare the firing aircraft. Of course the plane has to have ammunition left. Declare the weapon(s) and the target(s). The aircraft may shoot only at one target within its fire arc. You may shoot at different targets in different weapon arcs with the same weapon (i.e turrets), if you declare it before rolling the dice. Guns and cannons may be fired once, but the plane may shoot any number of rockets or bombs. Resolve fire. To resolve fire, roll one D6 for every point of firepower at the current range (if the enemy is out of range, the hit automatically misses). To hit the target you have to roll equal or more than the required value (see 'to hit rolls', below). Then, roll a D6 for every hit, to damage the target. If the rolled value is equal to or more than the Damage value of the weapon, the target is damaged and one Hit point is lost. Every salvo from the weapon costs one point of ammo, whether successful or not. Resolve critical hits. Repeat from point 2 until all declared weapons are fired.

4. 5.

To hit rolls (gunfire)

Shooting at enemy aircraft at the same altitude: 5+ on D6. Shooting at enemy aircraft one altitude point lower or higher: 6 on D6. Shooting at ground target (strafing): +5 (plane has to be at altitude 1)* on D6.
* Planes may strafe ground targets only with forward-fixed guns. Shooting at ground targets by gunners has no effect.

Critical hits
It is possible that the hits cause some very nasty damage to the target plane, for example disabling the engines, hitting the ammunition, pilot or fuel tanks, ripping off the wings or simply turning the plane into the ball of fire. To represent this, after resolving fire, roll a dice for every point of damage the plane suffers. On each result of a 6 the plane suffers an additional D6 points of damage (the result of 6 is always counted as instant kill). Designer note: this rule makes larger planes easier to shoot down. On other hand, it allows a particularly lucky gunner to defend a bomber with their puny light machine guns even against a heavy fighter!

Strafing runs
A player may decide that the plane instead of concentrating on a single ground target, will make a strafing run. In such situations, the firepower is halved (rounding up), but resolve the attack against every ground target (D3+1) behind original target (measure base to base as normal) in a straight line from the attacking plane. Strafing runs may be made only with guns and cannons. Note: count all hit targets as being in the same range as the initial target.

Sturmovik Commander core rules ver. 1.5 (05.07.2009), page 6/ 15

Hard targets
Some targets are very difficult to hit, or some weapons are less effective in certain situations (i.e. due to a low rate of fire or being difficult to aim). If one or more of the conditions below are fulfilled the target is counted as hard and the attacker has to re-roll any successful to hit rolls. Shooting at enemy aircraft in a head-on position (both aircraft are in the others forward arc) Shooting any target at night Shooting any target in, or from, clouds other situations clearly marked in the core rules or module documents

Anti-aircraft guns
AA guns follow the same procedure as standard weapons, but hit on 6s. The guns shoot at planes at low altitudes as normal, at medium altitudes as one additional range band, and at high altitudes as two additional range bands. Check the table below for clarification. Distance from target Close (0-4) Medium (4-8) Long (8-12) Target's altitude Low Resolve as close range Resolve as medium range Resolve as long range Medium Resolve as medium range Resolve as long range Target out of range High Resolve as long range Target out of range Target out of range

Rockets
Rockets are resolved as gunfire but count any air targets as hard targets. All rockets are also heavy weapons.

Bombing
In game terms, bombing is resolved in a similar way to attacking targets with gunfire, and is performed in the same phase together with firing other weapons. There are a few ways to bomb ground targets, depending on the attacking bomber type, which is clearly marked in its special rules.

Ground attack planes

Ground attack planes may drop bombs from low altitude only and hit on 5+. Also the planes with this rule may also strafe ground targets or make strafing runs (but not drop bombs) in tailing phase.

Dive bombers
Dive bombers may drop bombs from low altitude like ground attack planes, but hit on 6+. When a dive bomber drops bombs from low altitude after performing a Dive! manoeuvre in the movement phase it hits on a 4+. Note: despite the Dive! manoeuvre is performed in movement phase the dive bombing is resolved the shooting phase as normal.

Low level bombers

Low level bombers may drop bombs from medium altitude and hit on 5+, or from high altitude and hit on 6+. They may not drop bombs from low altitude. In the turn when bombs are dropped, the low level bombers have to perform Manoeuvre 1 and may not change their altitude, otherwise they will count all ground targets as hard targets.

Other planes (i.e. fighters armed with bombs)

Other planes may drop bombs only from low altitude and hit on 6+.

Blasts
Some heavier bombs have a Blast (x) value (ie. Blast (2)). This represents the chance to destroy or damage more than one target with a single drop. Roll to hit for every ground object within x of the target.

Torpedoes
Torpedoes are described in the Water&Fire module, which outlines the rules for anti-ship actions.

Sturmovik Commander core rules ver. 1.5 (05.07.2009), page 7/ 15

Types of ground targets

There are a few general types of ground targets. Ground units (tanks, trucks, infantry, guns, parked planes, etc.). These are hit using the standard rules. Strategic targets (railway stations, stockpiles, camps, factories etc.). These usually may be harmed only by 'ground attack only' weapons, or rockets. Strategic targets are immune to instant kill, but may suffer extra damage as normal. Ships (warships, transports, submarines etc.). Rules for ships are described in the 'Water and Fire' module.

End phase
In the End phase, check if the victory conditions for the scenario have been fulfilled, or if the game has ended (the game length may vary depending on different scenarios, but is never more than 15 turns). Roll for a dangerous situation for every plane which exceeded its maximum speed through descending.

Sturmovik Commander core rules ver. 1.5 (05.07.2009), page 8/ 15

OTHER GENERAL RULES

(in alphabetical order)

Aces
A pilot (or crew) with 5 or more kills (ground or aerial) becomes an Ace. An Ace has +1 to his crew skill rating. A pilot with 10 or more kills is a Double Ace. A Double Ace has +2 to his crew skill rating. A pilot with 15 or more kills is a Triple Ace. A Triple Ace has +3 to his crew skill rating.

Bailing out
When a plane is destroyed, make a crew skill roll. If this is passed, the crew manage to jump with parachutes or crash land safely. In practice, this only has a consequence in campaign games and allows the player to save experienced crews, or when calculating victory points in some scenarios.

Clouds
Any targets which are attacked in, or from, clouds are counted as hard targets, whatever the weapon type. Before the game, roll a dice: on the roll of 4+ the sky is cloudy. Altitude levels D6+1 and above are cloudy.

Crew skill
Crew skill ratings determine how good the crews are from the current army, and their values are clearly marked in the squadron lists. The best crews have a crew skill value of 2+ (a roll of 1 is always a fail) and the worst have a crew skill value of 6+. To pass the crew skill test, the plane has to roll the same or higher number on a single D6 dice.

Dangerous situations
In a dangerous situation, the plane must roll a D6. On a roll of 1 (or on the roll of a 1-2 if at night) it must pass a crew skill test or is destroyed and removed from play. Dangerous situations are as follows: 1. Two planes pass each other at the same altitude (they contact bases). Note: both crews have to make a crew skill roll, but if both fail then both planes are destroyed. If at least one crew passes the test then no plane is destroyed. 2. Moving with speed 5 or more at altitude level 1 (test after adjusting thrust). 3. Performing (not finishing) manoeuvres 4-12 at altitude level 1. 4. Being within a bomb's blast range at altitude level 1. 5. A glider which lands. 6. Landing on a damaged runway. 7. Exceeding maximum speed by descending.

Exceeding maximum speed

The plane may (but does not have to) exceed maximum speed by 1 point (and only 1 point, up to a maximum speed of 9) by descending during a manoeuvre. Such a plane may stay at this exceeded speed, but has to test as a dangerous situation in the end phase. In the next turn, it may move with this extra speed (or reduce it using its thrust value) and after its move must reduce speed by at least one point, unless exceeding maximum speed again by descending. Note: maximum speed is always calculated by taking into account the limited performance rule.

Sturmovik Commander core rules ver. 1.5 (05.07.2009), page 9/ 15

Gaps in the rules

Using gaps in the rules is forbidden. If you wish to do something which is not covered by these rules, you must consult with your opponent before the action, or you will accept to his/her interpretation of the consequences. Remember always choose the most logical and realistic solution. If you still cannot agree, roll a dice. And remember to let us know about any gaps!

Landing
To land, an aircraft has to make a move at altitude 1 at minimum speed (after applying thrust) and perform manoeuvre 1. If it moves along the axis of a runway (within a 300 tolerance) it lands successfully remove it from play and put one stationary aircraft near the runway. If the plane lands it may not take-off again.

Limited performance
In some situations, a plane may not fly as well as it should, and is therefore marked as 'limited performance'. It then has one level worse manoeuvrability (with a minimum of 'low') and reduces its maximum speed by one. A plane has limited performance in the following situations: 1. The plane is at the wrong altitude (check the altitude bad performance rule). 2. The plane is damaged (has its hits total reduced to half or below the starting value). 3. The plane carries ordnance or tows a glider. All these penalties are cumulative. So even the best plane in some situations may be nothing more than a sitting duck! If a plane's maximum speed is below its minimum speed, it stalls and crashes. Note: if the plane has a basic speed of 2, any ordnance does not limit it's speed (although it may limit its manoeuvrability). Other factors have full effects as normal.

Night
Any attacked targets (whatever weapon type) are counted as hard targets during night missions.

Ordnance
Many planes may carry bombs, rockets, gunpods or other uncommon weapons all these weapons are marked as ordnance. A plane with ordnance has a limited performance until the ordnance is used (i.e. bombs are dropped). Gunpods limits the performance even after all ammo is used.

Drop tanks
Drop tanks have an effect in specific scenarios. They have no effect in the standard game (we consider that they were used and dropped before the battle) and are not marked in squadron lists. Check the other rules (especially the short range rule) and the scenarios section for details.

Gunpods
Gunpods follow the standard rules for gunfire and are counted as forward firing guns.

Emergency drop
Bomb and rockets may be dropped at any point during the game they do not hit any target, but cease limiting the planes performance from that point. Gunpods may not be emergency dropped.

One re-roll only

There are no multiple re-rolls possible. No re-rolled dice may be re-rolled again whatever the source of the re-roll is. Also, if one or more dice from a multi-dice roll are re-rolled, all dice are counted as having been re-rolled, and no further re-rolls are allowed. If a few different re-rolls are allowed (although we try to avoid such situations being possible), there is the following priority of re-rolls possible: re-roll from core rules, from modules, from squadron lists, from plane special rules and then other sources.

Sturmovik Commander core rules ver. 1.5 (05.07.2009), page 10/ 15

Overkill
In some situations it is really hard to survive being shot down, especially if the plane is torn into pieces. In the following situations the crew has to re-roll any successful bail-out test: 1. If the plane suffers more hits that it has damage points left. 2. If the plane is destroyed by an instant kill 3. If the plane is destroyed by a failed dangerous situation test. 4. The plane hits the ground.

Pain! rule
There is no base stacking in Sturmovik Commander. If your plane finishes its move on another planes base, the opponent may decide if it stops before or after the other planes base.

Random direction
When determining random direction (i.e. in a spin manoeuvre) you may use either a scatter dice, or a D12 dice and change the plane orientation to correspond to the hour rolled (with 12 oclock being the original direction/facing). Whatever method you choose it do not has meaning until you use it during the whole game.

Save our...
When a plane's speed drops below its minimum speed, it's altitude goes above its maximum, or a plane hits the ground due to an unfortunate manoeuvre, the situation may be saved by passing a crew skill roll. If passed, the plane remains respectively at minimum speed, maximum altitude or Alt1. But, if this test is failed, the crew is counted as killed in action, along with their plane, which finally spins or crashes to the ground. On the other hand, the player may decide that the crew bails out and automatically pass their bail out test in such situations.

Taking-off
When taking-off, a plane is put at the end of the runway, facing in the direction of the runway, with minimum speed and at altitude one. Remove one stationary aircraft from the airfield.

Sturmovik Commander core rules ver. 1.5 (05.07.2009), page 11/ 15

AIRCRAFT SPECIAL RULES

(in alphabetical order)

Dive brakes
A plane with the dive brakes rule may roll two dice when rolling for altitude and speed during a 'Dive!' manoeuvre, and the player may choose which result to apply.

Durable
Some planes are especially well armoured and/or have a very sturdy construction. Planes with the durable special rule may ignore damage on the roll of a 5+ on a D6 (roll for every damage point separately). Results with cause extra damage may not be saved. For example Il-2 is hit once by a 20mm cannon (damage 3, extra damage 6); a result of a 1-2 causes no damage as normal, a result of a 3-5 causes one damage point, which may be saved on 5+, and a result of a 6 cause two damage points as normal, which cannot be saved. Durable planes also roll 2 dice when suffering a critical hit and discard the higher.

Excellent climbing
A plane with this rule may roll two dice when rolling for altitude and speed during a 'Sharp Climbing' manoeuvre, and the player may choose which result to apply.

Fragile
Some planes lack armour, self-sealing fuel tanks, have engines very vulnerable to damage, etc, which makes them very prone to enemy hits. When they receive damage, it is doubled on a D6 roll of a 5+ (roll for every damage point separately). Fragile planes also roll 2 dice when suffering a critical hit and discard the lower.

Gliders
Gliders are towed by other aircraft and count as separate targets. Until released, they move just behind the towing aircraft with the same speed and altitude, and perform the same manoeuvres. A glider may be released at the beginning of any movement phase, before adjusting for thrust. From this moment it moves separately, and has the same starting altitude and speed as the towing aircraft. Gliders have thrust -1 which means that they must decelerate by 1 point per turn. They land as normal, but need not have a minimum speed, nor be on a runway to do it. If the plane towing the glider is shot down, the glider is released immediately.

Heavy
Planes with the heavy special rule (i.e. 4-engine heavy bombers) are easier to hit but more difficult to damage. When shooting at heavy aircraft, the attacking player may re-roll any failed to hit roll and the opponent may re-roll any damage rolls (the second result stands, even if it is worse). Heavy planes are hit as normal when they are hard targets.
Note: this rule makes large aircraft vulnerable to cannon fire and resistant to light machine guns fire, which is historically accurate.

Night bomber
Night bombers do not count ground targets as hard targets when attacking them at night. Note: they do count them as hard targets if other conditions apply.

Night fighter
Night fighters do not count aerial targets as hard targets when attacking them at night. Note: they do count them as hard targets if other conditions apply.

Sturmovik Commander core rules ver. 1.5 (05.07.2009), page 12/ 15

Recon
To take a recon photo of an object (see the Scenario section), a plane with the recon special rule has to be within 4 of it at medium altitude, or within 8 of it at low altitude. Put a marker near the object with the letter (A, B, C, D) associated with the recon aircraft. If this aircraft survives the battle, you gain points for photographed targets. One target may be photographed by several recon planes (put appropriate markers near it) to cover the loss if one of the recon planes is shoot down. Each target scores a maximum of only once for gaming purposes, no matter how many times it is photographed.

Short range
Short ranged planes (like the Bf-109 or Spitfire) may not be used in some scenarios unless they carry drop tanks which cost more points and which often limits the other payload options. It will be clearly written in a scenario description if such aircraft may be used.

Sturmovik Commander core rules ver. 1.5 (05.07.2009), page 13/ 15

WEAPONS SPECIAL RULES

(in alphabetical order)

Extra damage
Some more powerful weapons may cause more than one point of damage. This extra damage consists of two numbers (i.e. 6/- or 4/6). If the roll to damage is equal to or higher than the first number, the target suffers two damage points. If the roll is equal to or higher than the second number, the target is destroyed immediately (instant kill).

Ground attack
Ground attack weapons may be fired only against ground targets or ships.

Heavy
Some weapons are marked as heavy, which means that they are quite difficult to aim (but they usually cause terrible damage) due to a low rate of fire, huge recoil or similar causes. When heavy weapons are fired against airplanes with a manoeuvrability of medium or better, after counting the limited performance rule, they hit on a 6 instead of 5+.

Recoil
Some weapons, especially the extremely heavy cannons carried by some ground attack planes, had huge recoil! Every time the weapon is fired, the speed of the plane is reduced by one immediately.

Sturmovik Commander core rules ver. 1.5 (05.07.2009), page 14/ 15

PREPARING THE BATTLE

Before you start to play, follow the steps below: 1. Choose the year of the war/theatre of war and agree which modules you are using. 2. Determine the scenario and the points value. 3. Determine which player is the attacker. 4. Determine the time of the battle.* Roll D6: 1-5 its daylight; 6 its night-time. Some armies, in certain situations, may choose the time. 5. Determine the weather.* Check the Clouds general special rule. 6. Choose your squadrons. The aircraft you may choose are determined by the scenario and the year of the war. The details and profiles of the planes are found in the relevant squadron lists. 7. Start playing!
* - players may ignore these points if they wish

Theatres of War
For gaming purposes there are two theatres of war Europe (including Eastern front and North Africa) and Far East/Pacific, and some lists have two availability tables. We know that it is little simplified, but is done to avoid countless variations of squadron lists. Highly historically orientated players may add some additional limits if they wish.

Squadron lists and plane availability tables

Every squadron list has a table included, which indicates which planes the player may use according to the specific year of the war. Check the column for the year and plane which you wish to include in your squadron. If there is in the intersection you may use the plane without limits for that year. If there is 'max' value you may use this maximum number of planes as indicated. If there is an X mark at the intersection, you may not use this type of plane at all in this year. The squadron lists are neither closed or definite. They may be upgraded or additional planes may be published on our web page. If you think that some planes are missing, do not be afraid to add them as a house rule and let us know we will gladly improve the lists!

Sturmovik Commander core rules ver. 1.5 (05.07.2009), page 15/ 15