Fri, 05 Nov 2004

All pilots begin as Green.  Experience will be awarded by the GM either 
individually or as part of a flight or squadron.

It's fairly simple to advance pilots to Good quality.  They just need a little 
practice.  This can be accomplished in two ways.

Training: Pilots may be trained.  Build a fighter base (any size) for double 
the EP cost and label it as a training facility.  Green pilots may be 
transported (with their fighters) to the facility.

Each training facility may train as many pilots as it has fighter slots each 
turn.  It costs 0.5EP per pilot trained, and all emerge with a Good rating in 
their particular class of fighter.


Combat: Pilots also gain experience by participating in combat.

A Green pilot becomes Good if he destroys an enemy fighter of his fighter's 
BPV-class or better in a dogfight.  He must cause more damage to his opponent 
than his opponent causes him.  An assist (whether giving or receiving) counts 
as half.  This tally is also counted toward Ace status (see below).

All Green pilots in a flight become Good if all score damage on the same 
shield of an enemy ship, base, or PF and at least one scores internals.  All 
damage counted toward this must be under the control of the flight (ie. 
fighter-launched drones controlled by the carrier don't count).

Any Green pilot who flies three or more sorties in a single combat becomes 
Good.  Any Green pilot who flies five or more sorties in multiple combats 
becomes Good.  A sortie must include weapons fire (given or received) in order 
to be counted.

Any Green pilot who flies a sortie against the Souldra and is either damaged 
by them or deals damage to them becomes Good.

A Good pilot becomes an Ace if he destroys five enemy fighters of his fighter's
BPV-class or better in a dogfight.  He must cause more damage to his opponents 
than his opponents cause him.  An assist (whether giving or receiving) counts 
as half.

A Good pilot becomes an Ace if he causes the last damage point that destroys 
an enemy ship, base, or PF.  Fighter damage is always counted after ships and 
bases for this purpose, and only one pilot may rise to Ace status for each 
ship destroyed.  Damage from drones counts for the unit that controlled them 
at the moment of impact.

The GM may also award Good or Ace status based on individual situations, and 
more methods for advancements may be added as well.


Fighter Terminology:
Flight: 2 - 4 fighters of the same class operating in tandem (one counter)
Squadron: 12 fighters of the same class based on the same unit
Group: 2 or more squadrons based on the same unit, usually of the same class
Wing: All fighters permanently assigned to operate together

Fighter Class is based on the fighter design, regardless of armament (or EW 
pod) loadouts.  BPV-Class is based on a fighter's BPV.

The standard unit of measurement for a number of fighters is the Squadron.  A 
half-squadron is six fighters, and a partial squadron is 7 - 11 fighters.