Hey guys, I'm new to both the forum and the game so take it easy on the newbie. I love the game and my pilots are dropping like flies, so I've got that good World War I feel. I do have a question about something that seems to be an immersion killer.

I've had two HAs that I witnessed being shot down and then were reported as being 'Mortally wounded' and then these two guys were in the next morning's flight. I know the people back then were much tougher than we are today, but I thought that mortally wounded generally meant you were dead. Could someone explain how the historical aces work and maybe the thought processes behind them. Thanks in advance for any help with my question.

First welcome to the forum !

This is a choice made by the dev team that the historical aces cannot die before the date they died in reality. The good thing is that you can shoot them down several times ! Normally they are reported as lightly wounded, even if their plane crashed and is utterly destroyed.

Drinks are on the new guys

It can be interesting to Df with an opposing ace, kill him, and do it again another day.

They seem more out to get you after the first encounter

I guess what I don't understand is how would allowing them to die really change my experience as a WWI flier. I remember in the old Red Baron you could kill the aces and it was quite an accomplishment when you did.

Yeah, there's been some discussion of this already, with some feeling it's an immersion killer and others arguing that having them die any other time would be a history killer, because you'd likely never get to meet Richthofen or any number of historical aces. There was a wish list thread with a bit of contentious debate on this, but I don't think in the end it will be changed unless someone spends quite a bit of time modding it (assuming their death dates aren't hardcoded).

Wish List..
http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3889485/1 if you skip through that you'll find a discussion on it

Welcome to the world of WOFF, Griffin!
You will soon realise: it is NOT a game - it is a deadly sky with lethal enemies.

I find they have achieved the best compromise with the hisorical aces.
You actually CAN shoot them down, and he was in your case even booked like a real kill -
so that's your achievement - and OTOH they will never die before their historical death
date - which lets you have the aces around like they would have been in real life.
So WOFF is re-flying history rather than changing it.

Oh, you may not have heard it: the new lad buys the drinks!
I think I'll have a pint of the best bitter!

The question is not to understand it, but to accept it as a fact that will no change and move along with it...

It starts on page 9, Griffin, if you want to get right to it.

Welcome to the Meat Grinder

Yes, welcome to the meat grinder! I'm relatively new myself, and have found this to be a very helpful, open community.

These guys are the best, and very respectful of the history, as well as the courage and sacrifices made, of the whole brutality of it all.

Welcome to you both, SOGriffin and CatKnight!

As all kills are tracked you could get to the point where alot of the aces will be dead. I think they don't fly for a couple of weeks after. Fine by me, they survived the crash..fair enough.

Actually, once, in band camp, I shot down the same guy two days in a row:
Same guy!

Well, the British as well as the German aces were a VERY tough lot, you know?
They hit the ground, crawl from the wreckage, escape enemy ground troops,
overcome all further obstacles like 4 miles of mud with dozens of enemy trenches and thick rows
of barbed wire; then friendly fire, cause their own men couldn't know who was approaching them...

...and after all this (and more) they would report back to the CO and say something like:
"Ah, it was only a graze shot and a rough landing, Sir - can I have a new fighter plane?
I'm on the board for evening patrol."

You forgot to mention that it was uphill both ways in a freezing rain storm!

Haha - yeah, there was definitely a lot more under "further obstacles", Rick!

Put a +1 on my "Aces Can Die" Add-on Pack idea in the Wish List if you agree