| S3#96 – Shidens In The Clouds; Japan Islands - Spring 1945 Game Settings
Basic Rules Initial Format - changes after in bold italics. 1. Arena Entry - When you go online you will see two logins to the S3 arena. The regular one is for fighter pilots and the other is for bomber pilots. Bomber pilots are those flying any eligible bomber aircraft that can take AI drones. 2. Start Times - each frame uses the following schedule;
3. Operational Restrictions - each side may only conduct operations in the area outlined in the game map. There are two designated target areas, the Naval Operations Area and the USAAF Operations Area, only one of which can be attacked during a frame. Before each frame the Allies must announce which area they will conduct operations against. Only surface targets in that designated area may be attacked during the frame but flight operations and squad basing can take place outside that area. Heavy bombers may only attack targets inside the USAAF area. This applies to the Japanese as well. Each area must be attacked at least twice in the series. 4. Ord\Aircraft Restrictions - there are no ord or drop tank restrictions. All aircraft may fly any loadouts available. 5. Aircraft Minimum Fuel - all aircraft must take at least 75% internal fuel with or without drop tanks. 5. Squad Aircraft - each pilot may fly the At Start Aircraft listed for their squad in the A/C table. After each frame any pilot that is listed as a confirmed kill in the frame summary must fly a different aircraft from the one they were shot down in for next frame. Variants of each type count as a different aircraft(ie J2M2 and J2M3). It is up to each individual pilot to be aware of and to follow this rule. 6. Squad Basing - each squad must start at a designated airfield or CV but can then move to any other airfield during play. Only the initial deployment is based upon the following step allowances;
7. AI drones - every player that uses an eligible bomber in a frame may take up to 3 wingman with their lead aircraft. To do so they must use the bomber\GV login so they can jump between their drones making them more effective and immerse. All bombers both player flown and AI will have the same damage strength and count the same as regards to points. It is best to keep your AI with you and not have them attack targets as they are prone to get lost and then are easy targets for enemy aircraft. Proper formations need to be flown while using these AI drones. For take-off it is recommended to put your AI in trail as close as possible so they dont wander. After you are airborne the minimum distance between AI is 100 ft. Players need to be aware of their AI when running formations and try and not stack them against each other. Using slightly different altitudes helps in this overlapping. Any formation deemed to be too clustered will be asked to shake out their separation a bit. With lag and such it is difficult but please try and make your formation look as realistic as possible. All bombers and strike aircraft may take drones. 8. Shipping Targets - static shipping at ports and moving AI ship routines are important targets with their general locations\routes indicated on the game map. The circled areas only indicate the start point of both sides ship routines, ships may move outside these areas during the frame. Expect a range of DDs, CVs, FRs and boats in these routines. FRs are notorious for lag collisions so use stand off weapons on these. Boats are the difficult to hit with ord so usually need to be strafed down. 9. Allied CV Task Force - the Allied CV task force will have two groups of CVs with escorting DDs and supply FRs. Their speed will be 30 mph to facilitate take off. Before each frame their route will be posted by the CM so pilots will know which group to launch from and when the CVs are going to turn. Only USN aircraft may use the CVs for launching. USN aircraft that land at allied airfields may replane from there. USAAF aircraft that land CVs are done for the night. 10. Japanese Operations - Japanese aircraft may only attack US shipping. This is indicated by the Carrier Task Force circle in the designated area assigned by the Allied Commander for that frame. The Japanese commander may assign one Kamikaze mission during the frame. Any pilots that are done for the night and cannot fly again may have their lives reset by the CM prior to taking part as Kamikazes. The Japanese Commander must gather his pilots and must tell the CM when his Kamikaze mission is a go. Once the Kamikaze mission is launched no more pilots may take part. Pilots must only fly the G4M1 as a Kamikaze. All deaths as a Kamikaze will be removed from the log by Phenix. 11. Field Damage - all field locations closed during play will remain so for the series. 12. Engine Overheat - a random chance of engine malfunction will occur if you run your engine beyond the specified 145 degrees. Use the various WEPs wisely. 13. Safe Ditch - if you run off the field and ditch within 2 miles(10560ft) of the tower the ditch is NOT awarded a kill. It is assumed that aircraft and pilot can be salvaged. 14. Ditch Forced Exit - you have 5 seconds to exit a ditched aircraft. This stops trying to outlast a kill message, drawing ack fire or passing along intel at a nearby field. 15. Penalty Planes - players that commit errors in basic rules and do not attempt to correct the error during play will have a penalty plane assigned to them to conduct a hair-raising mission behind enemy lines. If they survive they can teleport and replane in their regular ride. Examples of penalty plane errors include flying different a/c during a frame, teleporting fields when not allowed by special rules, gunning from ships or flak positions. If a player immediately addresses the error they will not be assigned a penalty plane but always inform the CM so the log entry will be ignored. It is up to each squad to make sure the penalty planes are flown.
16. Victory Points - points are awarded for e/a losses, enemy pilot KIAs and POWs as well as destruction of surface targets. Japanese points will be higher in aircraft\ship kills while Allied points will have ground damage to outweigh this. Relative points for objects is available in the summary for this event. 17. Victory Conditions - The side with the most VPs at the end of the series wins. BDA, ships sunk, closing fields, planes shot down and pilot losses all score points. S3 Clarifications - the S3 staff reserves the right to make a ruling on questions or game situations not answered completely or missed by the rules. For further clarification please post on the S3 forum or email Jabo. [ Aircraft - Series Map - Player Rules ] |