Sopwith Sopwith Stats 34 - March 2002
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Sopwith Stats reports on games of Sopwith played by post, via e-mail and on the web.  There are at least two places where the latter type of game can be played, on another part of this site (For Whom The Web Rocks) and on Tom Tweedy's site (Diplomacy 2000).

Once again this is later than planned.  The excuse is that I've been planning to bring the full history of the stats to the web, but realised that waiting for this to actually get done was simply delaying the publication of up-to-date stats, so decided that I had to get this issue out. One other thing I want to address is the variety in rules for the game. This includes repairs to planes, the damage that Aces inflict and how cloud movement is done. But one thing at a time. This issue includes a proposal to change the way that Ace status is gained and retained - see Calculating Aces. Let me know what you think, and keep playing the game!

WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE

CALCULATING ACES

The standard calculation for Ace status is for a pilot to accumulate 40 points. This is over any number of games and any time period. As a result, we now have a list of 95 Aces, a list which grows ever longer, with pilots rarely losing that status. New players can find it difficult to survive their first games if they are up against a number of Aces, which may tend to put them off playing again.

One solution is to offer games without Aces, where anyone who has the status does not get any benefit. I would prefer to change the way that the status is gained and retained. Rather than counting all results, how about just counting the most recent completed games. This has two effects.

• Firstly, it stops prolific players from gaining Ace status by drip-feed, i.e. scoring small amounts in lots of games. That will frustrate some, but the benefits of being an Ace should come from playing well rather than playing a lot.
• Secondly, Aces must continue to play reasonable well to retain their status.

A three game history should be enough to allow good players to retain Ace status. It also adds spice to the game, as the Aces have more to lose from a bad game than they do at present. I shall canvas opinion on this proposal to see if it has any support, and will post the results on the web site.

AIRBORNE

These games are the ones known to have started since last time. Last time there were nine new games, this times we have twenty two.  That is partly due to the longer period that this issue of the stats covers, but if it was just that there would have been thirteen new games. This shows an increase in Sopwith games, mainly due to the more immediate opportunities offered by e-mail and the web.

Ref	Zine	Name	GM	Status
T258D2	Diplomacy 2000	Snakebite	Tim Lomas	Complete
T259D2	Diplomacy 2000	Slammer	Tim Lomas	Complete
T260SG	Strangitude	Ozric	Paul Sands	In progress
T261FR	For Whom The Web Rocks	e71	Keith Thomasson	Complete
T262FW	For Whom The Die Rolls	-	Keith Thomasson	In progress
T263D2	Diplomacy 2000	Kittywake	Tom Tweedy	Complete
T264D2	Diplomacy 2000	Lynx	Tom Tweedy	Complete
T265FR	For Whom The Web Rocks	e82	Keith Thomasson	Complete
T266D2	Diplomacy 2000	Tequila	Tim Lomas	Complete
T267D2	Diplomacy 2000	Tomahawk	Tom Tweedy	Complete
T268D2	Diplomacy 2000	Black & Tan	Tim Lomas	Complete
T269FR	For Whom The Web Rocks	e102	Keith Thomasson	Complete
T270UM	Underneath The Mango Tree	-	Alex Bardy	In progress
T271FR	For Whom The Web Rocks	e110	Keith Thomasson	Complete
T272FR	For Whom The Web Rocks	e120	Keith Thomasson	Complete
T273D2	Diplomacy 2000	Vampyre	Tom Tweedy	Complete
T274D2	Diplomacy 2000	Whisky Sour	Tim Lomas	Complete
T275D2	Diplomacy 2000	Blackbird	Tom Tweedy	Complete
T276FF	Flights of Fancy	Vostok	Philip Honeybone	In progress
T277D2	Diplomacy 2000	Blackhawk	Tom Tweedy	In progress
T278FR	For Whom The Web Rocks	e144	Keith Thomasson	In progress
T279FW	For Whom The Die Rolls	-	Keith Thomasson	In progress

LOST IN THE CLOUDS

Three games are consigned to Abandoned status this time, all Quartz games that were showing promise last time.  If any of these games should get revived then I'll gladly retrieve them from the abandoned bin and make them current once more.

Ref	Zine	Name	GM	Status
T219QZ	Quartz	Albatross	Geoff Kemp	Abandoned
T239QZ	Quartz	Duck	Geoff Kemp	Abandoned
T242QZ	Quartz	Firecrest	Geoff Kemp	Abandoned

STOOGING AROUND

These are the games known to be active, including those that started since the last issue.

Ref	Zine	Name	GM	Status
T246HP	Hopscotch	Hudson	Rob Cullender	In progress
T248SG	Strangitude	ELO	Paul Sands	In progress
T249HP	Hopscotch	Indus	Rob Cullender	In progress
T250FW	For Whom The Die Rolls	-	Keith Thomasson	In progress
T252UM	Underneath the Mango Tree	-	Alex Bardy	In progress
T260SG	Strangitude	Ozric	Paul Sands	In progress
T262FW	For Whom The Die Rolls	-	Keith Thomasson	In progress
T270UM	Underneath The Mango Tree	-	Alex Bardy	In progress
T276FF	Flights of Fancy	Vostok	Philip Honeybone	In progress
T277D2	Diplomacy 2000	Blackhawk	Tom Tweedy	In progress
T278FR	For Whom The Web Rocks	e144	Keith Thomasson	In progress
T279FW	For Whom The Die Rolls	-	Keith Thomasson	In progress

DOWN TO EARTH

These are the games that have been reported as complete since the last issue, twenty two compared with five last time. Click on the game number for full details of each game.

Ref	Zine	Name	GM	Status
T230QZ	Quartz/For Whom The Web Rocks	Crow	Geoff Kemp/Keith Thomasson	Complete
T241QZ	Quartz/Strangitude	Eagles	Geoff Kemp/Paul Sands	Complete
T243AZ	The Asylum Zone	Emma	Tony Dickinson	Complete
T247FF	Flights of Fancy	Wright Flyer	Philip Honeybone	Complete
T254D2	Diplomacy 200	Mercury	Tom Tweedy	Complete
T256FR	For Whom The Web Rocks	e44	Keith Thomasson	Complete
T257D2	Diplomacy 2000	Typhoon	Tom Tweedy	Complete
T258D2	Diplomacy 2000	Snakebite	Tim Lomas	Complete
T259D2	Diplomacy 2000	Slammer	Tim Lomas	Complete
T261FR	For Whom The Web Rocks	e71	Keith Thomasson	Complete
T263D2	Diplomacy 2000	Kittywake	Tom Tweedy	Complete
T264D2	Diplomacy 2000	Lynx	Tom Tweedy	Complete
T265FR	For Whom The Web Rocks	e82	Keith Thomasson	Complete
T266D2	Diplomacy 2000	Tequila	Tim Lomas	Complete
T267D2	Diplomacy 2000	Tomahawk	Tom Tweedy	Complete
T268D2	Diplomacy 2000	Black & Tan	Tim Lomas	Complete
T269FR	For Whom The Web Rocks	e102	Keith Thomasson	Complete
T271FR	For Whom The Web Rocks	e110	Keith Thomasson	Complete
T272FR	For Whom The Web Rocks	e120	Keith Thomasson	Complete
T273D2	Diplomacy 2000	Vampyre	Tom Tweedy	Complete
T274D2	Diplomacy 2000	Whisky Sour	Tim Lomas	Complete
T275D2	Diplomacy 2000	Blackbird	Tom Tweedy	Complete

KILLS TABLE

This is the place to find out which pilots have made the most kills. This is based on completed games, as opposed to the previous habit of including current games. Rob Cullender actually lost a couple of kills due to the games abandoned this time. The list is limited to pilots with five or more kills to their credit, the 'real life' requirement for Ace status.

Kills	Pilot		Kills	Pilot		Kills	Pilot
23½	Tony Dickinson		9½	Sandra Bond		5½	Paul Hunter
20	Rob Cullender		9	Marc Priest		5½	Chris N Jones
17	Mark Boyle		8	Mark Wightman		5	Alan Burton
14½	Andrew Whiteley		7½	Len Lorek		5	Brian Dolton
14	Dave Lomas		7	Steve Allen		5	Frederick Fall
14	Dave Tant		7	Lee Paddon		5	Geoff Kemp
13	Tom Tweedy		7	Ian Winstanley		5	Andy Mayfield
12	Nick Parish		6½	James Hardy		5	Richard Noakes
11	Mikey Lamont		6	John Bycroft		5	Ian Smith
10½	Andy Bate		6	Ryk Downes		5	Colin Turner
10	John Miller		6	Mike Eddleston		5	Stuart Tweedy
10	Brian Moore		6	Sandy Peters		5	Kevin Wallis

ACES HIGH

Seven pilots gained Ace status since the last issue. There may be some minor changes to the list, as I am now only counting completed games or games where the player has been eliminated. The following list is now presented in points order rather than alphabetically. For an alphabetical list of current Aces, rather than this snapshot for issue #34 of the stats, see the separate Aces page.

Points	Games	Pilot		Points	Games	Pilot		Points	Games	Pilot
449	23	Tony Dickinson		93	3	John Norris		58	4	Chris N Jones
406	12	Rob Cullender		93	4	Andy Mayfield		57	3	Darren Murphy
295	10	Dave Lomas		92	10	Rob Moore		57	4	Ian Smith
281	7	Andrew Whiteley		89	10	Jonathan Ridley		55	3	Nick Edwards
276	13	Mark Boyle		84	4	Colin Turner		53	3	Larry Edgar
247	9	Tom Tweedy		83	5	Ian Winstanley		53	4	Nick Hoyle
220	10	Sandra Bond		81	3	Terry Dibden		52	3	Michael Woods
220	10	Dave Tant		81	3	Toby Harris		52	7	Pete Smith
202	7	John Miller		81	7	Mike Eddleston		51	1	Mick Brennan
201	10	Nick Parish		78	4	John Bycroft		50	1	Martin Potts
193	8	Mikey Lamont		75	3	Ian Tillson		50	2	Graham Holmes
190	9	Marc Priest		74	3	Steve Wells		50	2	Tony Whitfield
165	7	Nick Taylor		72	2	Martyn Ives		49	2	Colin Stronach
154	9	Brian Moore		72	3	Brian Dolton		49	3	Dave Carter
152	5	Andy Bate		72	5	Kevin McGowan		49	7	Stuart Tweedy
152	8	Steve Allen		72	5	Sandy Peters		48	6	Clayton Colwell
145	9	Len Lorek		71	4	Mark Telford		47	1	Jill Hitchcock
138	12	Mark Wightman		71	6	Frederick Fall		46	2	Nick Stokell
134	5	Richard Morris		71	6	Steve Turner		45	1	Terry Pope
131	5	James Hardy		71	7	Alan Burton		45	5	Denis Arnold
128	3	Paul Hunter		71	9	Martin Gilbey		44	2	Kim Head
123	5	Lee Paddon		70	2	Allan Gordon		44	6	Alex Bardy
113	11	Ryk Downes		69	5	Roger Rose		44	8	Mick Antrobus
110	6	Dave Rowley		68	2	Frank Dunn		44	8	Keith Loveys
110	6	Kevin Wallis		68	2	Constance Hackett		43	2	Stephen Woods
109	3	Jim Stewart		63	5	Frank Cheung		43	4	Stephen Othen
102	5	Pete Mason		62	3	Chris Raye		42	3	Steve Gregory
99	6	Geoff Kemp		62	5	Gary Wilkes		42	3	Steve Mellors
96	4	Mike Lay		59	1	Paul Ford		41	1	John Mills
96	4	Richard Noakes		59	5	Alan Parr		41	7	Eric Knibb
94	4	Nicholas Clifton		58	3	Rob Chapman		40	2	Dave McCrumb

WINNERS

This list shows all those who have won more than one game of Sopwith. The half points are gained when a game is tied. Ties usually occur when the last two pilots shoot each other down at the same time, and some would say that in this situation, nobody wins...

Wins	Pilot		Wins	Pilot		Wins	Pilot
8½	Tony Dickinson		3	Mikey Lamont		2	Pete Mason
7	Rob Cullender		3	Jim Stewart		2	Richard Morris
7	Tom Tweedy		3	Mark Wightman		2	John Norris
6	Dave Tant		2½	Frank Cheung		2	Lee Paddon
6	Andrew Whiteley		2½	Kevin Wallis		2	Roger Rose
5	Dave Lomas		2	John Colledge		2	Mark Telford
5	Marc Priest		2	Terry Dibden		2	Ian Tillson
4	Sandra Bond		2	Frank Dunn		1½	Andy Bate
4	Mark Boyle		2	Len George		1½	Brian Dolton
4	John Miller		2	James Hardy		1½	Martyn Ives
4	Nick Taylor		2	Paul Hunter		1½	Rob Moore
3½	Nick Parish		2	Geoff Kemp		1½	Steve Wells
3	Steve Allen		2	Keith Loveys		1½	Stephen Woods

AFTERWORD

The ability to produce statistics relies on the co-operation of everyone involved in the games. Without feedback from the GMs and the players, the information wouldn't be available.

If you run a game of Sopwith, I would like to know the details of scoring and kills. In fact, I need this detail to maintain the statistics. There are a number of games where the only details given are who won and how many points/kills the pilots had, which doesn't allow full positions to be given. Please consider me for your circulation list. For paper zines, trade with For Whom The Die Rolls is always an option.

If you're interested in running Sopwith in your zine, the rules explain the game. You don't really need anything else other than six willing volunteers, but you might like a copy of my playing area graphic (17kb) to include in the game reports. This includes the necessary graphics for the planes and player numbers, which you can cut and paste over the relevant hexes.

Thank you.

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© Keith Thomasson March 18th 2002