Module:Dawn Patrol: Role Playing Game of WW I Air Combat

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Visit The Dawn Patrol website for everything Dawn Patrol. The community forums are active and can answer any questions you may have about Vassal Dawn Patrol. It's also the best place to find other players and set up games.

NOTE: you need to have a copy of the board game in order to play VDP.

Popular WWI Air Combat system

Dawn Patrol by TSR; Created by Mike Carr:

Vassal Game Engine: Created by Rodney Kinney

Vassal Dawn Patrol Module v.1.0 by George Long

Vassal Dawn Patrol Module v.1.1 by Kevan Sumner and Rex Morton

Ownership of Dawn Patrol by TSR is required for play. The rules, charts, A/C spec sheets, etc are not provided with VDP.

Currently VDP v1.1 contains the following:

Central Aircraft: AEG, AGO, Albatros C,  Albatros, Berg D1, DFW CV,  Fokker Dr1,  Fokker DII, Fokker DIII, Fokker DVI, Fokker DVII, Fokker DVIII, Fokker EI, Halberstadt, Hannover, Junkers CLI, Junkers DI, LVG, Pfalz DIII, Pfalz XII, Phonix DI, Roland CII, Roland IIa, Roland DVIb, Rumpler, Siemens-Schuckert DI, Siemens-Schuckert DIII, Siemens-Schuckert DIV, Zeppelin-Lindau, Drachen

Allied Aircraft: Ansaldo, A-W FK8, Breguet, Bristol, Caudron, DH 2, DH 4, DH 5, DH 9, Dorand, Elephant, FE 2b, FE 8, Hanriot HD-1, Morane-Saulnier AI, Nieuport 12, Nieuport 17, Nieuport  28, Pomilio, Salmson, SAML, RE 8, SE-5/5A, SIA, Sopwith 1 1/2, Sopwith Camel, Sopwith Dolphin, Sopwith Pup, Sopwith Snipe, Sopwith Triplane, SPAD, Balloon

(Additional counters to be added in upcoming patch). AA Units: AA, Onion, MG with "AA Destroyed" counters.

Zoomable DP Tactical Map (3 levels) with Square Grid and Overview Map. All Maneuver Cards and a "Card Display Table"

After becoming familiar with the following conventions, playing DP with the Vassal engine is as easy as using the boardgame but offers more graphical options and the ability to play anyone, anywhere in real time or PBEM.

GETTING STARTED:
 * 1) Open Vassal and Click "Play Module"
 * 2) Point Vassal to your "Dawn Patrol" folder and left click on the "DawnPatrolv11.mod" file.
 * 3) When DP opens, you will see a "Dawn Patrol controls" window, an "Aircraft" window and a "Maneuver Cards" window.
 * 4) To begin a game, go to the "Dawn Patrol controls" window and click "File", then "New Game" and wait for the mini map to load.  Click OK and the full map and "Cards" display board (image of Farman 40 aircraft) will come up.  Bring up the "Aircraft" panel and drag your selected aircraft and units onto the map and locate in the desired starting positions.  Right click on the counters to set desired starting Altitudes and rotate to desired facings.
 * 5) To move aircraft, Left Click on counter and drag to desired Hex.
 * 6) Double click to open and close a "Stack" of A/C in same square.
 * 7) When you must display Maneuver Cards, bring up the "Cards" display board and your "maneuver Cards" panel. Right click on cards and "Mask" your cards before placing on board (drag and drop) so your opponent cannot view them.  Right click and select "Mask" again or use Cntrl M to show your card to your opponent.  (See "Playing Cards" and "Masking" below)

AIRCRAFT (A/C) STATUS OPTIONS:

For displaying Aircraft (A/C) status on the map board, the following aircraft counter commands can be utilized or Right Click on aircraft counter and select from the Drop Down menu:
 * *In the Clouds: Cntrl I	Makes your aircraft invisible to other players.
 * Change Altitude: Cntrl A       When the box pops up, type in your current Alt and then Left click on you're A/C counter on map to update altitude.  Perform after every alt change.  Will show as a blue box with white lettering at bottom of A/C counter.
 * Rotate Clockwise:     Cntrl  ]          Changes the A/C facing by 45 degrees
 * Rotate Counterclock:   Cntrl [     Changes the A/C facing by 45 degrees
 * *Tailing:  Cwisentrl T               Denotes that your A/C is Tailing another.  Black  "Ta"
 * *Being Tailed:  Cntrl B    Denotes that your A/C is being Tailed.       Red "T"
 * *Nose Up:    Cntrl U        A/C attitude is Nose Up.    Blue Border front of A/C
 * *Nose Down: Cntrl D      A/C attitude is Nose Down.    Red Border front of A/C
 * *Escape:       Cntrl E       A/C is attempting to Escape combat.    Green "E"
 * *Smoking: Cntrl S           A/C is Smoking
 * *On Fire:   Cntrl F           A/C is On Fire
 * *Spin: Cntrl P                 A/C is in Spin
 * *Glide: Cntrl G                A/C is Gliding
 * *Explosion: Cntrl E         A/C has Exploded
 * Delete:       Cntrl Z          Delete Counter from game board
 * Select the same command again to deselect graphic option.

The "Aircraft" Panel is the tabbed panel that lists A/C available and shows the counter images. Left click and drag a counter to the game map to put it into play.

AA Counters: The Onion, AA and MG counters are included with the following graphics options:
 * *Invisible:  Cntrl I      Counter image not visible to other players.  Select again to reveal counters.
 * *Destroyed:  Cntrl D   Unit is destroyed    Red "AA Destroyed" overlay.

Game Map Board: The map board has "+" and "-" buttons on the left upper top to zoom and and out to 3 levels. (Also see Note below)

PLAYING CARDS:

When you bring up the "Maneuver Card" panel, you will see a list of Regular and Advanced Maneuver cards. To place a card on the "Cards" display board, select your card in the right hand column then Left Click the card image and "drag' it to the Cards board. Cards dragged on top of each other will stack.  Double click on a stack to separate cards and double click again to restack.  Stacks and cards can be moved around board by Left clicking and dragging.

"Masking" allows you to see your cards face up while your opponent only sees the reverse of your card. ***Any card that you do not wish your opponent to see must be "masked" before you drag it to the "Cards" board. To show your opponent your card, Select "Mask" again and the card will be unmasked and visible to all. (Currently Vassal locks in the "Mask" image so it obscures part of the face up card. The next Vassal build is supposed to improve the "Cards" aspect of the engine.)
 * *Face Down: Cntrl F     Places the "Dawn Patrol" back of the card image around the outside of your maneuver card, which denotes that the card is now masked.
 * Delete: Cntrl Z    Deletes the card from the board
 * Select the same command again to deselect graphic option.

You can also drag an Aircraft counter of your type from the "Aircraft" panel and place it near your card stack to identify which stack belongs to which A/C in cases of multiple player simultaneous tailing resolution.

SERVER CONNECTION

For a live game, bring up the "Server" window and connect. Navigate to the room where the game will be played. Host of game: Start a new game from the file menu and load a map. Players: Right click on the host's name in the server window and select synchronize to join the game.

The "Dawn Patrol Controls" window allows players to communicate in real time before, during and after a game.

Note: Slower computers may take time to load the maps. Please let me know if you have any comments, suggestions or recommendations to improve this module.

Update history

V1.1 Added Many new Aircraft counters. Added Invisibility (in the clouds) option to all aircraft counters. fixed aircraft right click menu to include rotation commands changed 2d6 button to report total of both dice changed 2d10 to report 0-9 instead of 1-10 added Image captre tool to main map window. Added "Aircraft Number" text label option to all aircraft counters. (Similar to Alitude indicator) created updater file that will update from basic v1.0

Players

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