Squadron Dispatch #6
- Phil Yates
- Jul 24
- 8 min read
Updated: Aug 7
Dear Squadron Pilots,
Have you looked at the Angels One Six rulebook? The response to last week's release has been fantastic, with downloads flooding in from around the world. If you haven't grabbed your copy yet, head over to AngelsOneSix.com/downloads for the complete rules, cockpit samples, and quick reference sheets.
For those diving into the mechanics of the game, you can join the discussion at facebook.com/groups/AngelsOneSix or discord.gg/6WFTv9m3HD. Let us know how your games are going and ask any questions you have.
This week, we're exploring what happens when the unthinkable occurs—when your aircraft takes that fatal hit and you're going down. But as some of the Battle of Britain's greatest aces discovered, being shot down wasn't necessarily the end of the story.
New to the Squadron? You can read all the old Squadron Dispatches on the blog at AngelsOneSix.com/blog.
Nine Lives and More
Contrary to Hollywood’s portrayal, being shot down, even being shot down in flames, is not always the end for a fighter pilot.
Source: Imperial War Museums C188
Edgar "Cobber" Kain was New Zealand's (and the whole British Commonwealth’s) first ace of WWII, but his war was far from smooth flying. In early 1940, after bringing down a Dornier Do 17 bomber in 1939, Kain attacked a Heinkel He 111 bomber, but instead of shooting it down, he limped back to his airfield where his Hurricane was irreparable and scrapped.
Over the next six months, Kain shot down another 15 aircraft, but was shot down twice more himself, once in flames with splinters in his legs. Despite these incidents, what got him in the end was a crash while performing stunts as he departed to Britain for a much-needed rest.
Alan Deere, another New Zealand ace whose Spitfire graces our box art, earned the nickname ‘the pilot with nine lives.’ Shot down seven times during the war (not to mention several serious flying accidents), he survived everything from mid-air collisions to crash landings in hostile territory.
In an effort to improve his luck after losing Kiwi I through Kiwi III, Deere stopped naming his aircraft. Unfortunately, his fourth Spitfire didn’t last two weeks before being shot down by another British aircraft.
These weren't failures of skill—they were the realities of aerial combat in 1940. Even the best pilots got bounced, ran out of ammunition at the wrong moment, or found themselves on the wrong end of a perfect enemy setup.
Source: By Cuthbert Orde, for Air Ministry of UK Government - Pilots of Fighter Command, 1942,
The Intelligence Officer’s Dilemma
On returning to their airfield, pilots report their claims to the intelligence officer. Once confirmed, these go into the official record of the number of enemy aircraft shot down.  However, comparing claims of aircraft shot down with enemy records of actual losses, there is always a discrepancy—often quite a large one. How does this come about?
In the brilliant TV series ‘Piece of Cake’ based on Derek Robinson’s book of the same name, there's a scene where the squadron intelligence officer, frustrated by over claiming, reviews gun camera footage with his pilots.
One of the examples shows a pilot’s claim to have downed a bomber. He points out that the physics of the shot mean his shots couldn’t possibly have hit.
He then shows another aircraft’s footage successfully shooting down the same aircraft at the same time.
In other historical cases, pilots, having shot at an aircraft, glance away to check their six, then back again to spot it going down streaming smoke. Convinced they’ve shot it down, they lodge the claim—as do a bunch of other pilots identifying it as the aircraft they’d been shooting at.
Source: warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/waves-of-murderous-assault-the-battle-of-britain/
Even if it was your aircraft going down streaming smoke, it might not mean much. The engines of the day often oiled up if throttled back. Then, when opened up overspeeding in a dive, they emitted clouds of black smoke like a poorly tuned diesel, giving the impression of being on fire.
One Polish pilot was even convinced he’d been shot down when his aircraft started streaming clouds of white coolant after being hit. Expecting his engine to cut out at any moment, he dived hard. Away from the fight, he pulled up. The engine was running fine, but a jagged bit of metal on his damaged wing had made a contrail of condensing water in the atmosphere. No doubt his assailant thought he’d been shot down.
Between two pilots claiming the same aircraft, pilots mistaking an aircraft going down for the one they shot at, or simply thinking an escaping fighter was in more trouble than it was, the number of claims exceeded the number of losses.
Shot Down?—What Really Happened
As we discussed in Squadron Dispatch #4, Angels One Six has a ‘still flying or shot down’ philosophy.  When their aircraft took hits from enemy fire, pilots at the time didn’t really know what the damage was.
They might have a few clues to go on—flames coming out of the cowling are a good indication that the engine is in a bad way—but mostly, it was simply a matter of gut feeling. If rounds hit the engine area, they might check the coolant temperature or oil pressure to see if things were still working, but not before they finished evading their opponent’s fire.
Its pilot, Unteroffizier Leo Zaunbrecher, was captured.
If things were still working fine, and a glance at the instruments showed no obvious problems, they had an urgent decision to make. Was the aircraft going to hold together and keep them in the fight, or was it going to be touch and go if they even got back to base? Or, was it time to bail out and trust to their parachute?
Most, when in doubt, put discretion ahead of valour and broke off the fight, figuring they’d be back tomorrow for another go at the enemy anyway—if they got home.
That’s where the Shot Down Table comes in. Your pilot broke off the fight, and your opponent claimed the kill, but what actually happened? Roll two dice, one for the first digit and one for the second, then look up the result.
The results range from spectacular to mundane, heroic to tragic.
Roll 11-15: Mid-air Explosion: Your aircraft simply disintegrated. Cannon shells in the fuel tank, structural failure under stress, or catastrophic engine failure. No parachute, no goodbye—just gone.
Roll 21-23: Caterpillar Club: The silk saved you. Parachuting to safety makes you a member of the exclusive ‘Caterpillar Club’—named after the silk worms that spun your chute. If over home territory, you're back in action next mission. Over enemy territory? Welcome to Stalag Luft.
Roll 45-46: Write Off: A brilliant piece of flying brings you home alive, but the aircraft is fit only for scrap. The ground crew shake their heads in amazement as you walk away from what should have been certain death.
Roll 66: Eventful Flight Hom: You broke off with minor damage but encountered several more enemy aircraft on the way home. Dodging, weaving, and learning, you arrive back with valuable experience and new skills.
Each result tells a story, creates consequences for future missions, and explains what the enemy pilot actually witnessed when they claimed their victory.
Replacements and Veterans
Not every pilot survives to become an ace. Squadron rosters constantly changed as fresh-faced replacements filled the gaps left by casualties. In Angels One Six's campaign system, this cycle of loss and replacement drives the narrative forward.
New Arrivals
If the system’s working well, and casualties haven’t been too severe, you’ll quickly get replacements for your losses. Replacement pilots arrive with basic skills—adequate flying ability but little combat experience. They're dangerous to themselves and others until they learn the harsh lessons of aerial warfare. Some adapt quickly. Others become statistics. Can you keep them alive long enough to learn?
Equally important, will you get enough replacement aircraft? Can you maintain full flight strength, or will you be flying short-handed?
Learning from Survival
Pilots who survive multiple missions gradually improve their Courage and Ability ratings. Courage determines how well they handle the stress of combat, whether they stay calm or panic at the first sign of trouble. Ability affects their tactical options, with the old lags knowing many tricks that the new chums have yet to discover.
The Cost of Experience
But experience comes at a price. Some pilots return with injuries that affect future performance. Others develop nervous conditions that make them unreliable under pressure. A few, like Cobber Kain and Alan Deere, seem to lead charmed lives, surviving crash after crash to become legendary.
Rest Phases
The campaign is broken into four phases: Dunkirk, the Channel Battles, the Airfield Battles, and the Blitz. Between each pair of phases, you get a rest phase.
For the British, that means a full replacement of pilots and aircraft while the squadron enjoys a couple of weeks recovering in Scotland, away from the battle.
For the Germans, it means more combat, with a chance to improve their skills and gain a few more replacements.
For both sides, it means a brief interlude before the next set of missions and more dogfights.
Upgraded Aircraft
The rest phase also provides a time to rebalance the game. Everyone has the opportunity to upgrade their aircraft with the latest models or heavier armament. New engines give your aircraft more power, perhaps an upgrade to the new Spitfire II. On the other hand, you might value increased firepower more. The Hurricane Ib replaces your standard eight. 303 Browning machine-guns with a potent battery of four 20mm Oerlikon cannon.
Desperate Measures
When things are going badly, it’s time for desperate measures. If that new F-model the Messerschmitt factory has been working on tends to throw a piston after twenty to fifty hours of operation, normally that’s a sign it needs more work. If you are on the back foot, running out of pilots and aircraft in the face of a superior enemy, you might just think the edge in performance is worth the problems.
In the campaign, this is reflected by extra aircraft upgrades if you are falling behind. As well as keeping the game fun, it can reduce the possibility of the outcome of the campaign becoming a foregone conclusion.
Campaign Consequences
The beauty of this focus on your pilots’ individual stories allows you to create squadron narratives through emergent storytelling. You'll remember the rookie who became an ace, the veteran who finally ran out of luck, and the mission where everything went wrong but everyone somehow made it home.
Next Time: Tactics and Formations
Squadron Dispatch #7 will explore how historical tactics translate into Angels One Six gameplay. We'll look at the evolution from vic formations to finger fours, examine how altitude advantages develop, and see why the best pilots thought three moves ahead.
We Want to Hear From You
What's your favorite book or movie about the Battle of Britain — or other aerial battles? Whether it's ‘The Few’ by Alex Kershaw, ‘Piece of Cake’ by Derek Robinson, or classic films like ‘Battle of Britain’, we'd love to hear what inspired your interest in aerial combat.
Have you started working through the rulebook? Any questions about the Shot Down table or campaign mechanics?
Join the discussion at facebook.com/groups/AngelsOneSix or discord.gg/6WFTv9m3HD where fellow pilots are sharing their favorite aviation books and planning their first campaigns.
Until next week, may your landings be as good as your takeoffs!
Red Leader, Out.
Phil YatesDesigner, Angels One SixSavage Mouse Games