Scramble: Battle of Britain - simultaneous turn-based WW2 dogfighting - now in Early Access

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://www.slitherine.com/game/scramble-battle-of-britain

Scramble: Battle of Britain is a simultaneous turn-based dogfighting game. Set in a 3D airspace, the game features fast-paced, tactical combat with dynamic flight physics.
Luftwaffe and RAF fighter squadrons go head to head over The English Channel. Competing players simultaneously issue control inputs for multiple aircraft while time is paused.

The planned orders are then played out simultaneously: shots are fired, loops are looped, colliding planes collide.

Each turn is divided into three phases: planning phase, action phase, and review phase.

Survey the aerial battlefield, plan your flight paths, execute spectacular manoeuvres, scrub through time to assess battle damage, and defeat your enemies through masterful tactics and captivating aerobatics.

PLAN YOUR FLIGHT PATH

The two squadrons simultaneously set input controls for each of their Aircraft, adjusting their flight path and attempting to bring them into attacking positions. Setting the flightpaths works like flying planes in a real-time combat game: you're not choosing from set manoeuvres or levels of altitude, you're adjusting pitch, roll, yaw and throttle to create your path.

The Planning Phase is time-limited: you need to think fast and act quickly.

EXECUTE YOUR ACTIONS

Time is unpaused and your planned actions are played out. All aircraft move and shoot according to the inputs from the Planning Phase.

REVIEW THE TURN AND PREPARE FOR THE NEXT ONE

Time is paused once again. You can move back and forth through the timeline, reviewing the events of the Action Phase to plan for the next turn.
Once both squadrons are ready, the turn is over and you jump to the next one.

MANAGE YOUR SQUADRONS

Scramble: Battle of Britain allows you to manage your Royal Air Force and Luftwaffe squadrons and to fly with your favourite planes. All the key aircraft that took part in the Battle of Britain are represented.

Featured Royal Air Force Aircraft:

• Supermarine Spitfire
• Hawker Hurricane
• Boulton Paul Defiant
• Gloster Gladiator
• Bristol Blenheim

Featured Luftwaffe Aircraft:

• Messerschmitt Bf 109
• Junkers JU87 “Stuka”
• Messerschmitt BF110
• Heinkel He111
• Dornier Do17
• Junkers JU88

GAME MODES AND SCENARIO BUILDER

You can play Scramble: Battle of Britain with your friends or against the AI. The game features single-player and co-op missions, as well as quick skirmishes and competitive scenarios. Do battle in pure fighter-versus-fighter dogfights or engage bomber formations in objective-based missions. Up for something different? Use the scenario builder to create custom single-player missions or multiplayer matches for endless fun.

CUSTOMIZE YOUR SQUADRONS

Make the squadrons your own: the game features in-game tools to customize your fighters with unique camo patterns and decals.

 

[zool]

Simultaneous turns =

Planning phase is time-limited =


Also, I didn't see any mention of a campaign mode, or did I miss something?

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

I wonder if the time is only limited in the multi-player version or if its also in the single player version? Was not clear if there was a campaign mode or not, hope so.

 

[Parsimonious cook]

Simultaneous turns =

Planning phase is time-limited =


Also, I didn't see any mention of a campaign mode, or did I miss something?

Honestly there has to be a time limit in any MP turn based game (other than PBEM of course), otherwise people would just troll. Especially if this is primarily focused on 3-4 planes on each side type of combat a limit of 60-90 seconds per player turn will not be a problem (it worked pretty well in Battle Tech for example).

There is going to be an SP campaign with "squadron management" mechanics (as was mentioned in the video), but it is unclear whether or not the time limit will be there too. I can see it being tied to difficulty for example. There is an older Russian tactical game Alpha: Anti-terror which had the same setup (simultaneously executed turns) and IIRC the time limit for player´s planning phase was something you could enable in the settings. Though as I said, its not like you need unlimited time in a game where you need to manage four units - this is definitely not a Panzer General.

Anyway, I liked Achtung Spitfire back in the day, and games of this sort come out only very rarely, so I will definitely keep an eye on this.

 

[Kwota]

Mite be cool but whats with german plane markings? Jagdgeschwanders only used numbers and colors and not letters.

 

[spectre]

I admit, it looked like some neon-colored mobile abortion on static screens, but looks a bit better in motion.
Couldn't watch the vid with audio this time, but looks like the simulation will be more on the simplistic side.
I mean, if they don't feel the need to sperg out which variants of the Spitfire will be represented and ammo counts are given in single digits,
while it may be an alpha thing, I wouldn't hold my breath on stuff like slipstreams affecting your flight.

Squad customization only talks about visuals, but I hope there's some representation of pilot skill.

Anyway, I liked Achtung Spitfire back in the day, and games of this sort come out only very rarely, so I will definitely keep an eye on this.

Yeah, it's been some time this that game had a serviceable replacement.

If you want an ersatz, what worked for me is X-wing miniatures game. Been playing it with my kid and it was a blast. SW space fights is pretty much WW1-2 dogfights in pretend-vacuum, so it's not that far off the mark here.
The system is loosely based on Wings of War / Wings of Glory (the boardgames, there are games with the same names, but seem to be rather unrelated), but the system looks much cleaner after it went through all the iterations.
There's a freeware computer version available featuring a barebones 3D table which lets you play hotseat, vs. AI and multiplayer, called FlyCasual.
https://github.com/Sandrem/FlyCasual/releases
You still need to read up the rules from a pdf or watch a few yewtube vids.

 

[Norfleet]

ammo counts are given in single digits

I'm guessing that it's a count of how many "shoot" actions you have, rather than an exact number of bullets.

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

ammo counts are given in single digits

I'm guessing that it's a count of how many "shoot" actions you have, rather than an exact number of bullets.

I don't think WW2 pilots knew how many 'bullets' they had left either I am guessing, I could be wrong. But I think they knew about how many seconds of firing they had based on their ammo type and gun type (e.g. cannon or MG), and so tried to sort of keep track that way maybe.

Perhaps there was a gauge though, or maybe some types or later in the war there was, but I have never seen one or heard it spoken about, mostly I have heard them speak about seconds of firing time....I am basing this on listening to them talk about it in interviews and in books.

Maybe people who play flight sims would know better, I don't play them.

 

[spectre]

I don't think WW2 pilots knew how many 'bullets' they had left either I am guessing, I could be wrong.

In short, it depends on the airplane and the nation, if they felt equipping detailed counters was worth it. Like you say, a lot of the time they leave the pilot to guesstimate how many seconds of dakka time they had left,
or just fill the final section of the belt with tracers to show you're about to run dry; on the other hand, the Germs were pretty anal and would put counters for every gun on pretty much every fighter plane.
The MG counters obviously weren't accurate down to a single bullet, but there were numerical shot counters which could count down every shot, like with the 30 or 60 drum mag cannons which had a much lower RoF.

Good video to see how it worked for some models:

as you can see it's not only useful as a counter, it also shows malfunctions.

Still, it boils down to this, seeing the big ass "Ammo:6" under the yellow-nosed emil made me scratch my head a bit.
I don't want to shit too much on it, cause it's not exactly trying to be a flight sim and it's nice to see them going for full 3D, but if it's trying to represent a 4v4 sortie, I would expect them not to cut too many corners
with individual plane handling because at this scale, it's the little details that will make the game interesting in the long run.

I'm guessing that it's a count of how many "shoot" actions you have, rather than an exact number of bullets.

Yeah, seems like it. While I recognize there's very little functional difference between indicating an actual (or close to actual) ammo count vs. just the number of bursts you have left,
what it tells me is they probably won't account for aircraft having different kinds of guns on board, like the Bf 109 E-3 (I'm guessing they'll be using this one as the default Bf for Battle of Britain) which had both 7,92 mm
and 20 mm cannons.

I'm still wondering how shooting is going to be handled, player input will probably be minimal, though perhaps we could set some behavior presets, e.g. to conserve ammo or only aim for certain things,
not just blaze away whenever the silhouette passes the reticle. Would be rather wasteful if they want us to shoot down bombers.

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

I don't think WW2 pilots knew how many 'bullets' they had left either I am guessing, I could be wrong.

In short, it depends on the airplane and the nation, if they felt equipping detailed counters was worth it. Like you say, a lot of the time they leave the pilot to guesstimate how many seconds of dakka time they had left,
or just fill the final section of the belt with tracers to show you're about to run dry; on the other hand, the Germs were pretty anal and would put counters for every gun on pretty much every fighter plane.
The MG counters obviously weren't accurate down to a single bullet, but there were numerical shot counters which could count down every shot, like with the 30 or 60 drum mag cannons which had a much lower RoF.

Good video to see how it worked for some models:

as you can see it's not only useful as a counter, it also shows malfunctions.

Still, it boils down to this, seeing the big ass "Ammo:6" under the yellow-nosed emil made me scratch my head a bit.
I don't want to shit too much on it, cause it's not exactly trying to be a flight sim and it's nice to see them going for full 3D, but if it's trying to represent a 4v4 sortie, I would expect them not to cut too many corners
with individual plane handling because at this scale, it's the little details that will make the game interesting in the long run.

I'm guessing that it's a count of how many "shoot" actions you have, rather than an exact number of bullets.

Yeah, seems like it. While I recognize there's very little functional difference between indicating an actual (or close to actual) ammo count vs. just the number of bursts you have left,
what it tells me is they probably won't account for aircraft having different kinds of guns on board, like the Bf 109 E-3 (I'm guessing they'll be using this one as the default Bf for Battle of Britain) which had both 7,92 mm
and 20 mm cannons.

I'm still wondering how shooting is going to be handled, player input will probably be minimal, though perhaps we could set some behavior presets, e.g. to conserve ammo or only aim for certain things,
not just blaze away whenever the silhouette passes the reticle. Would be rather wasteful if they want us to shoot down bombers.

thank you, that is an interesting video, I never knew that or had seen that in a ww2 plane before...

edit: that is really cool how they actually designed it to 'count' the ammo..in that it did not, but the line on the reader was set to decrease when the trigger was held down at the exact rate that the particular gun dispensed ammunition.....so it did not actually need to be electronically attached to the actual gun in question or be measuring any actual bullets themselves...very cool..

 

[Mefi]

Just on the timer for the planning phase, asked in chat on the announcement and one of the devs said it could be set to what you wanted or turned off entirely.

 

[Galdred]

Anyway, I liked Achtung Spitfire back in the day, and games of this sort come out only very rarely, so I will definitely keep an eye on this.

Yeah, it's been some time this that game had a serviceable replacement.

If you want an ersatz, what worked for me is X-wing miniatures game. Been playing it with my kid and it was a blast. SW space fights is pretty much WW1-2 dogfights in pretend-vacuum, so it's not that far off the mark here.
The system is loosely based on Wings of War / Wings of Glory (the boardgames, there are games with the same names, but seem to be rather unrelated), but the system looks much cleaner after it went through all the iterations.
There's a freeware computer version available featuring a barebones 3D table which lets you play hotseat, vs. AI and multiplayer, called FlyCasual.
https://github.com/Sandrem/FlyCasual/releases
You still need to read up the rules from a pdf or watch a few yewtube vids.

Actually, I was hoping for a PC WW2 X-wing when I saw this.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

 

[Alter Sack]

Reminds me a bit of that one:

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

 

[Ol' Willy]

As much as I love TB, but having dogfights in TB looks like the absolute insanity

Commanding units (aka operational level) would be far more fitting and interesting

 

[Parsimonious cook]

It works pretty well tbh fam, Achtung Spitfire was p. gud. I guess it is an acquired taste though.

 

[Hoodoo]

Does anyone know of any similair games? I used to play a space version of a game like this except it was much older (top-down perspective) when I was younger. Could equip different starfighters with different weapons and your pilots leveled up. Never could remember name or find it though.

 

[spectre]

GigaShitxXapocalypseXx apart from Achtung Spitfire which was name-dopped several times, you have Wings of Glory which started off as a boardgame, which also inspired the X-Wing boardgame
that can be played on the PC through the Fly Casual project.

 

[Hoodoo]

I found Achtung Spitfire on an abandonware site and gonna give that a go. Still wondering what the space one was though, was cool had asteroids that you could splinter and different space considerations with levelling up, etc. Did i dream this? There seems a shortage of these type of game.

 

[Parsimonious cook]

Honestly I had no idea there was a TB space dogfighting game, no clue what it could be, but it sure sounds cool.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

 

[Parsimonious cook]

Dayum - there is a demo?!

*downloads demo

OK nigguhz, I will need to play this a lot more but here are some first impressions:

- you control the planes with WASD, which is kinda surprising in the genre (in other titles you just use mouse like in any other TBS)
- you also control throttle and can issue orders to fire
- in general I guess the control scheme is OK though it will take some time to get used to it
- high G maneuvers can cause pilots to black out, pilots also have stamina stat that gets deplated in dogfights (ie the longer the dogfight takes, the less tolerance pilots have for high G maneuvers - this is a nice mechanic IMO)
- damage model is p. decent, parts of aircraft can get shot off etc, which has impact on their performance
- AI seems decent as well, it aint easy to line up good shots in dogfights

Demo has a whole lot of content, which is cool. I am much more optimistic about this now, hopefully there will be a good campaign to go along with this on release.