Squadron Dispatch #4
- Phil Yates
- Jun 13
- 6 min read
Updated: Jun 19
Dear Squadron Pilots,
Welcome back to Squadron Dispatches! This week, reader Andrew raised an excellent question about combat information and pilot awareness that gets to the heart of how Angels One Six handles the fog of war. We'll dive into the mechanics of shooting—how deflection shots work, where you can attack from, and how the flight stands make it all crystal clear, then see how this relates to Andrew’s question.
New to the Squadron?
You can read all the old Squadron Dispatches on the blog:
Squadron Dispatch #1: Box Art Reveal and Game Origin
Squadron Dispatch #2: The Story Behind Angels One Six and Movement
Squadron Dispatch #3: Aircraft Armament and Shooting
What Does the Enemy Know?
The last Dispatch looked at how different weapons are modelled in Angels One Six, with their different To Hit modifiers and Firepower.
In response, Andrew wrote: ‘My only point of concern is players knowing more about the combat outcome than a real pilot would. So for example I like the Wings of Glory method where the player of the aircraft taking damage knows what has happened but the firing player has no idea how effective his/her fire was unless there is smoke streaming from the engine and the pilot bails out, etc.’
The question is, does Angels One Six give the players too much information? Let’s look at how shooting works and answer the question.
Deflection Shooting — The Art of Leading Your Target
Aerial gunnery wasn't about pointing your nose at the enemy and pulling the trigger. As Squadron Leader 'Sailor' Malan explained to new pilots: ‘You don't shoot at the aircraft—you shoot at where it's going to be.’
Deflection shooting—firing ahead of a moving target—separated the aces from the also-rans. A crossing shot at a Messerschmitt doing 300 mph required placing your bullets where the enemy would be by the time they arrived. Miss the deflection, and your rounds streamed harmlessly behind your target.
The Flight Stand Solution
In Angels One Six, the flight stand solves this elegantly. The target’s flight stand is divided into quarters by the yellow lines. The quarter you're attacking from determines the deflection and the score to hit is printed right on the stand.
Where you're shooting from—and where your target is heading—determines your chances of success. No charts. No arguments. Just look where your aircraft's nose is pointing relative to the target's flight stand and read the number.
Front Quarter (Head-On)
The classic head-on pass hits on a roll or 4+ (4, 5, or 6). With both aircraft closing at combined speeds of 1000+ km/h (600+ mph), you have limited engagement time but good hit probability as you're shooting directly into the target's flight path.
Side Quarters (Beam Attack)
The dreaded deflection shot hits on a roll of 5+ (5 or 6). With maximum deflection required as your target crosses your fire, this is the hardest shot to hit, but often the only shot available in a swirling dogfight.
Rear Quarter (Tail Chase)
This preferred attack position hist on 3+ (3, 4, 5, or 6). With enemy aircraft flying predictably ahead, minimal deflection is needed. This is why altitude and position matter—getting on someone's tail is the key to victory.
Range and Height
‘Unless you take a tremendous grip on yourself on operations, you're certain to fire at twice the range you ought to … the contrast between the size of the enemy aircraft from the speck it was when you first saw it, and the size of it when you feel close enough to shoot makes it look as if it is two hundred yards away when it is six hundred. It is only by kicking yourself that you won't shoot out of range. Sheer determination alone will make you hold your fire.’
Sailor Malan
http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol013dt.html
https://acesofww2.com/safrica/aces/malan/malan-cockpit.jpg
Range
It’s not quite as simple as just deflection. You also need to get close enough to ensure a hit. The ruler is divided into three range bands: +0, +1, and +2. The score needed to hit the target increases by this amount as the range increases. At long range, even a relatively easy shot from the rear quarter increases in difficulty from 3+ to 5+.
Height
Height differences also make for trickier shots. Each level of height difference adds +1 to your target number, whether shooting up or down. Diving for a head-on pass against an opponent one level lower would increase the normal 4+ to hit to 5+, even at point-blank range.
There are a couple of extra caveats to height as well. You can’t shoot up while diving, nor down while climbing, and you can’t shoot while performing a Split-S or Immelmann turn.
Weapons Matter Too
As we covered last week, your aircraft's armament further affects these basic shooting chances. While the eight .303 Brownings of a Spitfire have no to hit modifier, the big 20mm MG/FFM cannon on a Me 109 have a +1 modifier, making it tricky to score a hit—although they are devastating when they do land a blow.
Tough Old Birds
Once you’ve scored a hit, the big question is, can you bring the enemy down?
The opposing player rolls an airframe save for each hit you scored. The score they need to be able to ignore your hit depends on just how tough their airframe is. For the thoroughbred Spitfire and Me 109, that score is 5+. For the rugged Hurricane and big twin-engined Me 110, it’s 4+.
If they make their save, any damage your shot did wasn’t sufficient to have an immediate effect. The aircraft might need some repairs when it gets back to base, but for the moment, it’s still flying well enough to continue the fight.
Still Flying or Shot Down?
Now we get to the critical moment—is the enemy still flying or have you shot them down?
For every hit that your opponent failed to save, you now roll a firepower test. Heavy weapons like 20mm cannon have a firepower rating of 4+ or even 3+, while light machine-guns have a firepower of 6. If you manage to pass any firepower test, you shot the enemy aircraft down. If you fail all of them, it’s still flying.
It’s as simple as that. There’s no damage recording, no hit points, just flying … or not.
A Bit of a Scare
If they are still flying, every hit you landed still has an impact on the enemy pilot, giving them a point of fright. Then, in their turn, your opponent must roll a die for each point of fright to see how brave the pilot is.
Every failure will cost them an action in that turn. Whether it is from damage to the aircraft or just the shock of being hit, they lose a little control at that critical moment.
Flying or Shot Down—Nothing In Between
So, in Angels One Six, aircraft have just two persistent states: flying and shot down.
Flying represents the aircraft still having sufficient capability to keep fighting. Any damage it has suffered is insufficient to prevent the pilot from continuing the fight, so it's irrelevant to either pilot for the immediate time frame.
Shot down represents any level of damage sufficient to prevent the pilot continuing combat. There are relatively few accounts of pilots continuing a fight after taking sufficient damage to significantly impair their aircraft—and those few occasions usually resulted in a Victoria Cross (often posthumous!).
To me, this is the ultimate in keeping players' information to what's immediately available and relevant. The pilot on the receiving end can evaluate the damage at their leisure later (assuming they survive). Meanwhile, if nothing's too broken to keep going, they keep going.
The other half of the assumption is that pilots suffering sufficient damage to make continuing unviable will put discretion ahead of valour and bugger off home if they can. The actual damage isn't determined until the pilot leaves the action, at which point they roll on the Shot Down table to see what really happened.
Next Week: Campaign Consequences
Next time, we'll explore how shooting affects campaign play. When pilots are shot down, what actually happened? How do injuries and aircraft damage affect future missions? And why might a pilot choose to disengage rather than fight to the finish.
We Want to Hear From You
What's your preferred attack approach—patient stalking for the perfect rear quarter shot, or aggressive head-on passes? Have you had experience with other air combat games that handle deflection shooting differently?
Hit reply or join the discussion at Angels One Six Gamers. Every tactical insight helps refine the final game.
Until next week, lead your targets and check your six!
Red Leader, Out.
Phil Yates
Designer, Angels One Six
Savage Mouse Games
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