← scenarios · an idea that is not yet part of the regular game — this page exists to try it out, not to play
Scenario devised by P. Dols
In the early years of World War I, Zeppelins played a role as bombers. They did not do much damage, but the British government was so alarmed by the raids that it kept over a hundred planes around London for home defence — planes that were sorely missed at the front. Because aircraft in those early years were only poorly armed, Zeppelins were not shot down very often, even though they were extremely vulnerable: the hydrogen gas they were filled with was perilously flammable. Later, by mid-1917, it had become nearly suicidal for Zeppelins to fly.
The rules below belong to the zeppelin scenario from the list of plans. They are not yet part of the regular game and are therefore not included in the regular rules either — this is the only place where you can read them at the moment. Version 2.5.1.
Size and damage points. One or more zeppelins appear at a starting position that the game master decides in advance, along with their length: one or two hexes. A zeppelin of one hex can absorb 12 damage points, a zeppelin of two hexes 20. Those are two separate totals per length, not damage points per hex: the zeppelin always has one shared pool, and every hit — on whichever of its hexes — comes off that same pool.
Movement. Without the optional rules below, a zeppelin moves every turn like a cloud: it drifts, not controlled by a player. If it drifts off the edge of the board, it reappears on the opposite side — just as clouds do.
A zeppelin always has a clear front, even when it is two hexes long: at any moment it is clear which hex is the nose and which is the tail. Its heading — the direction the nose points — stays the same the whole time, including while it drifts off and comes back: a zeppelin pointing north at the moment it disappears over the western edge still points north when it reappears at the eastern edge.
On reappearing, the zeppelin appears, in that fixed heading, as far as possible on the outermost edge hexes of the new side. If it lies crosswise to the edge — its two hexes side by side, level with the edge — they appear together on the edge in one go. If it lies lengthwise, with one hex a step behind the other, and one hex drifts off the board, the other hex remains on the board for the time being. Such a zeppelin therefore never appears in two separate pieces on two opposite edges of the board: play waits until it has drifted completely off the board — unless the wind happens to blow it back exactly in the meantime, which can only happen while it has not yet fully left the board — before it reappears elsewhere on the board.
Damaging and destroying. The first hit on a zeppelin earns the gunner 2 points. If the zeppelin is then destroyed, that earns 5 points — for the destroying hit itself, not again for the first hit. No points are awarded for any other damage, meaning hits that are neither the first nor the killing blow.
Explosion. On its destruction the zeppelin explodes, and the crew's anti-aircraft fire goes off one last time in a desperate final act. All aircraft nearby take damage as a result:
| Distance to the zeppelin | Damage |
|---|---|
| Same hex | 5 damage points |
| 1 hex away | 4 damage points |
| 2 hexes away | 3 damage points |
A landed aircraft cannot be damaged by this explosion.
When it explodes (clarification). The explosion takes place immediately at the end of the move in which the zeppelin is destroyed, not at the end of the turn. Distance is measured from the nearest hex of the zeppelin, with the aircraft where they are after that move.
Line of fire and sharing a hex. An aircraft cannot shoot straight through a zeppelin: it blocks the line of fire. An aircraft can, however, simply fly into the same hex as the zeppelin, without either of them taking damage from it. An aircraft occupying the same hex as the zeppelin is considered to be at a different altitude — exactly as applies when two aircraft share a hex.
Start. Should the game master want a zeppelin that does not simply drift but is controlled jointly by the players, the following rules apply instead of the basic scenario above. There is then exactly one zeppelin, of one or two hexes — with the same damage points and the same rules for reappearing at the edge as in the basic scenario above. It starts in the middle of the board, with its nose pointing in a randomly determined direction.
Orders and voting. On every move, every player may send in a movement order and a fire order for the zeppelin. A player is not required to send in an order:
| Order type | Possible orders | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Movement | A / L / LS / R / RS / 0 | forward / left / hard left / right / hard right / hold position |
| Fire | f-A / f-L / f-R / f-B / f-0 | fire forward / left / right / backward / hold fire |
| Fire, at an airfield | d-B | drop a bomb instead of firing |
Of all the orders sent in, the order chosen most often wins each move — it does not need an absolute majority: if two players pick the same order and the other four each pick something different, that order still wins with two votes. If two or more orders are tied for first place, nothing happens that move: the zeppelin does not move, or does not fire — movement and firing are counted separately.
Movement on the board. For a zeppelin of two hexes, each movement order works as follows (with hex A the nose and hex B the tail):
For a zeppelin of one hex, simply the same movement rules apply as for a lone aircraft.
Who may give orders. Even a player who is no longer flying themself — shot down, blown off the board, or out of the game for any other reason — may keep giving orders for the zeppelin until the game ends. Those no longer fighting themselves thus still keep some influence over what happens on the board. One exception: if a player is removed from the game because they sent in no order for their own aircraft for three moves in a row (three times NMR), they may from that moment on no longer order the zeppelin either. Not sending in an order specifically for the zeppelin does not count towards that — see "Not voting" below.
Firing. Unlike a regular aircraft, which can fire in three directions at once in a single move, the zeppelin fires in exactly one direction at a time. It fires at most once per move, so up to three times per turn, spread across its three moves — never several directions at once within the same move. Its ammunition supply is inexhaustible. For a zeppelin of two hexes, it fires with f-A, f-L and f-R from the front hex (A), and with f-B from the rear hex (B) — just as with a lone aircraft.
Dropping bombs. Players may, on any move, send in a bomb order (d-B) instead of a fire order, to bomb an airfield — even if at the moment it is sent it is not yet known whether the zeppelin will actually reach that airfield, since the movement order is voted on in that same move. If the zeppelin's movement does not bring it to an airfield, the d-B order has no effect: the zeppelin simply does not fire that move. A player sends in at most one fire order per move: a d-B can therefore never be combined with a regular fire order. Unlike firing, where A/L/R can only come from the front hex and B only from the rear hex, d-B has no separate hexes: the bomb can be dropped from either the front or the rear hex, so bombing is possible as soon as at least one of the zeppelin's two hexes is on an airfield.
If an aircraft is landed on the airfield at that moment, the bomb does not damage the airfield itself: instead, that aircraft takes as many damage points as there were votes in favour of bombing — the more players who vote for a bomb, the harder the hit — with a maximum of 3 damage points. The idea behind it: a landed pilot who sees a zeppelin approaching knows they need to hurry to take off. If no aircraft is landed on the airfield at that moment, the bomb hits the airfield itself: it cannot be repaired or restocked for the next 2 turns. After a drop, the crew must wait three turns before a new bomb is ready; during those three turns no further bombing is possible. If an aircraft loses points to such a bomb, they are lost as usual, but no player earns victory points for it.
Airfields and drifting off the board. If the zeppelin drifts off the board at an airfield, the normal rules for drifting off and reappearing at the edge simply apply, as described above — there is no separate rule for the airfield itself. On a board of hexagonal hexes it stands to reason that the zeppelin will fairly often end up at an airfield on the opposite side of the board, but that does not have to happen: it is simply a possible consequence of ordinary movement, not a fixed result.
Storm damage. A thundercloud damages the zeppelin the same way it damages an aircraft. If the zeppelin is lost as a result, no points are awarded.
Not voting. A player can simply choose to hold position (0) for the zeppelin, or to hold fire (f-0): those are just as valid orders as any other, and so count in the vote as well. Only a player who sends in no order at all for a move — neither movement nor fire — does not count: their vote then silently supports whichever order gets the most votes from the others. As soon as a player sends in anything, whether for movement or for fire, that does not count as NMR for the game. This form of NMR is separate from NMR for a player's own aircraft: however often a player fails to send in an order for the zeppelin, that never leads to exclusion from the game or from giving orders for the zeppelin.
Copyright. tweedekker1916 itself is an original take on the game concept of Sopwith — the board game David Dyer designed in 1978, later adapted into a play-by-mail version. This zeppelin scenario is not part of that: it is an independent variant, entirely conceived on its own and not derived from Sopwith or any other source. The copyright on this text belongs to Tweedekker1916. © 2026. All rights reserved.
The same setting as the regular demonstration game — the same six computer pilots, the same turns, the same wind — but with a two-hex zeppelin drifting along separately from their own fight. Every turn each of the six casts a vote on a movement order (A/L/LS/R/RS/0); the order with the most votes wins, or nothing happens if there is a tie. This sample is fixed: unlike the regular demo, it is not fought out afresh every day, so you will find the same turns here each time.
The cream-coloured hull is the zeppelin; the little triangle marks the nose.
Tied vote — the zeppelin held its position this turn.
| Pilot | Vote |
|---|---|
| Rode Baron | left |
| Zwarte Valk | forward |
| Lone Wolf | hard right |
| Kiekendief | right |
| Staartschot | left |
| Downing John | forward |
Back to the scenarios page for the other plans, or to the regular rules for the game as it is already being played.
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