Air Show

Air Show Rulebook

Table of Contents

Set-Up
Game Sequence
Final Scoring
Terminology

Set-Up

Extract from the plane deck all the cards with the grey background. These cards are in periods A2, A3 and A4 only. Divide the planes cards into 3 decks by period. Shuffle each deck and place it face-down on the table.
Shuffle the remaining white background plane cards into a single deck and place that face- down on the table.
Shuffle the air show deck and place this face-down on the table.
Shuffle the event deck and place this face-down on the table. Then each player:
Takes two of the plane cards, these are taken in any combination from across the A2, A3, and A4 decks of grey-backed cards and are placed below the player's airfield.
Is dealt five air show cards.
Receives 40K of purchase flags, the bidding tokens of the player's chosen colour, and an airfield board. Then:
Put the unselected grey background plane cards back in the box.
Arrange the development tokens into stacks by type (Museum, Stands etc.). Consult the deployment table to determine the number of tokens that should be in each stack. E.g., in a four player game there should be three tokens in each of the yellow development token stacks (Press Office, Maintenance Crew, Control Tower, and Air Show Staff).
Randomly choose a starting player.

Game Sequence

1. Determine First Player (Skip on first turn).

First player is the player with the lowest number of planes.
In case of a tie the first player is the tied player to the right of the previous first player. The game then follows the phases given below in sequence. A phase may involve one or more players. A new phase must not be started until the current phase is completed.

2. Auction Bidding

Players get the opportunity to bid on available planes and an event.

Turn over cards from the plane deck so that the number of displayed cards to be auctioned equals the number of players (Note: There maybe face-up plane cards remaining from the previous auction).
For each plane card drawn from the deck draw one air show card. Assign the number of indicated breakdown markers (shown by the red broken spanner icon) to the plane. Place the drawn air show card onto the discard pile.
Draw one card from the event deck. Place it face-up on the table next to the plane cards.
Starting with first player each player places one of their bidding tokens face-down below a displayed plane card or the event card and behind any previously placed bidding token.
Bidding continues in successive rounds until all players have placed three bidding tokens. Placing a bidding token is mandatory.
A player may place their bidding token below a card which they already have placed a bidding token or a different card.

3. Auction Resolution

The auction is resolved and players pay for their winning bids.

At the end of the auction bidding all of the bidding tokens are turned face-up.
For each of the auctioned cards the players add together the values of their bidding tokens placed below that card. The player with the highest value wins that card. In case of a tie the card will go to the player who first bid on it.
The winning player is obliged to buy the card they have won. They must pay the K value on the card plus the value of their winning bid. The player must pay using purchase flags.
If the player cannot afford the price they must sell to the bank one or more of their undamaged plane cards. The price they receive is the K value on the sold plane card. The sold plane is returned to the box. If no planes are available to be sold the player forfeits the purchase and the next highest bidder must buy the card.
The player places the bought planes below their player display along with any breakdown tokens on the plane.
The bought event card can be played immediately or saved to be played later at any time. Whenever an event card is played it is discarded. There is no hand limit for the number of event cards a player can hold.

4. Buy Development Token

The players have the opportunity to buy a development token to add to their airfield.

Starting with first player each player can choose one development token to buy.
A player can only have one development token of each type (e.g. Press Office), and so cannot buy a second token of a particular type. The only exception to this is the Hangar.
The price to be paid is indicated on the development token and is either purchase flags, prestige flags, or purchase and prestige flags.
The bought token is placed on to the player's airfield board in an empty square. When all empty spaces are filled by one or more players then then the game will end at the completion of this turn.

5. Check Hangar Space

After each player has either bought a development token or passed then each player checks that they have enough hangar space. Each hangar can hold a total of seven planes. If they do not have enough space then, in player order, a player can buy an additional hangar (if available) or sell planes until all the player's planes can be hangared. A player always sells to the bank, and the sold plane is returned to the box. A player can only buy a hangar if it is needed to store planes. If the hangar is the sixth development token the player has bought then place the token on top of the pre-printed hangar space on the player's airfield board. Otherwise place it an empty development token space on the airfield board.

6. Repairs

Players are able to repair their planes using development tokens and event cards in preparation for the upcoming air show.

Each player adds up the number of repairs they can perform based on the development tokens they have (indicated by the green spanner on the tokens) and any event cards they wish to play. Played event cards are placed on the event card discard pile.
Repairs can then be applied to the player's planes. Each one repair value allows the removal of one breakdown level from a plane. The repairs can be distributed among the planes as the player desires.
Unused repair values from either development tokens or played event cards cannot be saved for future turns.

7. Air Show Cards

The player fills their hand with air show cards.

Each player draws air show cards from the deck up to their hand limit (Usually five, but is seven with the Control Tower development). With the Air Show Staff development the player may discard three of their air show cards and draw three new ones.
Should the air show draw pile run out then immediately shuffle the discard pile to form a new draw deck.

8. Air Show Preparation

Players decide which planes they wish to fly and enters them into the show. Once selected they may play air show cards onto their groups of planes.

Simultaneously players place undamaged planes they wish to show above their airfield, grouping them by period (A1, A2 etc. as indicated on the top edge of the airfield).
For each period group of planes in the show the player may play one air show card. They must place the selected card face-down on top of the plane group.

9. Determine Master Weather and Mechanical Stress Check

The base weather and mechanical stress for the air show is determined.

The first player turns over the top card of the air show deck. This is considered the master card and is applicable to all players. Shuffle the discard deck if a new deck is needed.

10. Resolve Air Show Performance

Players resolve the affects of the weather and the mechanical stress for each player.

All players then turn over the air show cards they have played onto their plane groups.
Each player calculates the weather effects using their played air show cards and the master card to determine which of their planes fly (Note: due to a misprint check the weather symbol itself and not the colour of the image):
- Add the values of the player's bad weather cards together.
- Subtract from that value the combined value of the player's sunny weather cards.
- Apply to this value the master card weather value (subtract a sunny weather value, add a bad weather value).
- Compare the result to the weather effects table. (The older the plane the less likely it is to fly). All of the player's planes in the period are affected by the weather.
Each player calculates the mechanical stress effects using their played air show cards and the master card to determine which of their planes breakdown (Note: this includes planes that did not fly due to the bad weather):
- Add the values of the player's red spanner cards together.
- Subtract from that value the combined value of the player's green spanner cards (ignore any minus signs printed, this is a mistake).
- Apply to this value to the master card mechanical stress value (add red spanner values, subtract green spanner value).
- Compare the result to the appropriate row on the mechanical stress table. (The older the plane the more likely it is to incur mechanical stress). All of the breakdown tokens are applied to one plane in the player's air show. The affected plane is determined by checking the period, or periods, under the spanner icon on the master card in the following order:
  - The oldest plane (the plane with the lowest year) of the period on the left.

11. Air Show Results

The players calculate and receive their rewards for flying in the air show.

For each period in which planes flew a player can choose whether to score prestige or purchase flags.
If the player chose prestige then they should sum the P values of the planes and the air show card, if one was played, in that period and take that value of prestige points from the bank.
If the player choose purchase flags then they should sum the EX values of the planes and the air show card, if one was played, in that period and take that value of purchase flags from the bank.
Note: The EX or P value of the air show card is only applied once for the period it was assigned and NOT per plane in the assigned period.
For each card that a player played showing a aerobatic value then they will receive a flag for each aerobatic plane flying in that period.
Move all planes to below the airfield along with any breakdown tokens.
Place all played air show cards into the discard pile.

12. End Of Turn

Check for the end of game condition and if needed start a new turn.

All players ensure they have all their bidding tokens face-down in front of them.
If a player has built a fifth development token this turn then the game ends otherwise it's the start of a new turn (Go to 1. Determine First Player).

Final Scoring

Calculate points as per the little scoring booklet.

Terminology

Breakdown Level – The value of the red breakdown tokens placed on a plane. Damaged – A plane is considered damaged if it has any red breakdown tokens placed on it. A damaged plane cannot participate in an air show. Mechanical Stress – The determination of breakdown levels to apply to a plane. Period – The planes are divided by age into periods. The periods are A1 through to A6 with A1 being the oldest planes and A6 being the youngest. The periods are indicated on each of the plane cards and along the top and bottom edge of the player's airfield board. Repair – The removal of damage from a plane by reducing the breakdown level. A plane with no breakdown tokens is fully repaired and is undamaged.