Game Play in a nutshell... DiF is a game that has the feel and flavor of dogfighting in a simple to learn but hard to master card game format. Gameplay is a fast, action-packed, and centers around the unique blow-by-blow Action/Reaction game system . Because of this, you get to maneuver on enemy aircraft, shoot them down, watch as they react to your actions, and get to respond with your own maneuvers and reactions, all in an intriguing easy to play and yet realistic game system. However, DiF is not a flight simulator. While aircraft capabilities and movement are modeled, the focus of the game is on the immediate action and excitement of dogfighting, not the excessive number crunching and flight physics. Each aircraft fighter has several ratings: Performance: How many maneuvers its pilot can have at any one time. Horsepower: How many new maneuvers the aircraft gains each turn. Bursts: How much firepower the plane has. Airframe: How much damage the plane can take before being shot down. You get to command both a Leader and a Wingman aircraft. Your Leader is in charge and your wingman is there to help cover the to Leader and allow him to get better fire angles and to keep the enemy planes off his tail. Wingmen are rated for their offensive and defensive maneuvers. DiF uses five Altitude levels: Very High, High, Medium, Low, and Very Low. Aircraft have their Horsepower adjusted according to altitude. Aircraft gain +1 Horsepower at Very Low and Low, get –1 Horsepower at High, and –2 Horsepower at Very High. Each turn you are able to adjust your altitude by one level. You can also use Vertical Roll maneuvers to adjust altitude during your turn. Every time you dive you get one new maneuver, every time you climb you have to discard one of your maneuvers. Leaders use maneuver cards to hold one of five positions relative to an enemy Leader. Tailing: You are on their tail. You get 3 extra Bursts and they can’t shoot at you. Advantaged: You are behind them. You get 1 extra burst and they can’t shoot at you. Neutral: Neither planes holds a better position. You can shoot at each other. Disadvantaged: He is behind you and gets 1 extra burst. You can’t shoot at him. Tailed: He is on your tail and gets 3 extra bursts. You can’t shoot at him. The heart of the DiF system is its Action/Reaction maneuver system. Some maneuvers will initiate an action such as improving your position or shooting at an enemy, other maneuvers will react, and still others can do both. Attacks are measured in how many bursts are used to make the attack and how many points of damage the attack will inflict if successful. An “In My Sights 1:2” uses 1 burst and will inflict 2 points against the target’s Airframe rating if not countered. An “Out of the Sun 1:2” would do the same, but is much more difficult to counter by the targeted plane. Aircraft have an undamaged set of stats and a damaged set of stats. A plane starts out undamaged and at its full capabilities. After it has suffered some damage it is reduced to using its damaged stats. If it suffers still more damage it is shot down. Extra Features... In addition to the dogfighting we have added With time, pilots gain experience. You get to command several pilots from each of the four different nations: United States, Germany, United Kingdom, and Japan. Each of your pilots gains experience points for damaging and shooting down enemy fighters. They also get points for escorting friendly bombers and shooting down enemy bombers. You get to spend these points on skills for the pilot. Skills will give your pilot advantages by giving him special abilities, extra cards, more bursts, or even reduce the capabilities of the enemy pilots he is facing. Experience points also “unlock” the more advanced aircraft from that nation. Every pilot starts out by flying the lowliest planes and can earn enough points to fly the best that nation had during the war. As your pilots rack up successful missions they will also go up in rank, which is a great means of determining how successful a pilot has been in his career. By performing heroic deeds in a mission your pilots can also earn medals specific to their nation.