In my opinion, winning initiative and being the aggressor is generally a very bad thing. I have seen people say that its good because it gives you the chance to get off the first attack, but that's not true. Higher speed gives you the chance for a first attack, initiative is just the tiebreaker. If you are the aggressor, you must set your speed first, which means your opponent gets to know what speed she needs to go to beat you to it, and can avoid redline rolls that you may have to make. If there is a tie in speed, the aggressor is at a disadvantage for having to play cards first, giving the opponent a hint of what they are doing. Now, it doesn't give away a whole lot, but it does let your opponent know a whole bunch of things you AREN'T doing. But when two planes are moving at once it is the least likely time to be able to line up a shot with that plane. So the initiative only helps in the very rare case when two planes are going at the same time, and happen to end so that one of them is able to shoot at the other, and the other plane has a shot to some target.

This brings up the question, did WK INTEND for Fast Draw to be a virtually useless skill, or did they actually think adding 1 to initiative was good?

its a doubleedged sword. In many games the planes do go at the same time in the 4 to 6 block. you point out the drawbacks. there are advantages as well, which you touch on , but disagree with. Its all in your play style, and when u can go last one tirn get a good shot, and then go first next time, its remarkably sweet

Plus as more planes come out that can either match the highers speeds or fall into the average range. You might see more of an advantage of being able to shot first. Which is the over riding advantage. I mean right now mostly the Bloodhawks run speed 6 and above, but wait until the Fury, Vallent, and Defender come out and there should be more planes running at the higher speeds. Then it will come down to who is the agressor.

-ape2020

am i right that the damage from the aggressor is resolved first (thats the way we played it)? thats why winning the initiative is great. i dont see the big disadvantage in laying out my manouver card first. either i guessed my opponents manoveur right before he layed the cards down or i was wrong anyway. initiative saved me one game i had a firebrand and a bloodhawk left while my opponent had two avengers left. i knew showstopper was going for a shot in the rear arc of my firebrand. both had the same speed and i played my manoveur to be right behind the showstopper. since i had the initiative i shot first and shot down the avenger and saved my firebrand
procF

ProcF that is correct,
aggressor sets speed, then other player
aggressor chooses move cards, then other player
aggressor resolves movement, then other player
aggressor resoves combat, then other player

I think it probably boils down to your play style, but I would say in general it's better to be the one reacted to, then to be the one doing the reacting. It allows you to control the flow of the game. I don't know if it makes a huge difference in the game, but it might be just enough to squeeze out the win. I don't know about anyone else, but all of my games have been pretty close, so winning the initiaves might be the difference between a win and a loss.

I think rather than who gets the initiative it's who manages their speed best. There are times when it is best to go second and times when it is best to go first. Correct management of the throttle and knowing when to throttle up and down is the key IMO.

in our games, being the agressor is great for Charlie, because her plane can always go faster than the opponents, unless they redline which then affects their planes adversely. I dare my opponent to match my 7 speed for the whole battle.

For now, I have a tough time coming up with strategies for slower planes....they are at a serious disadvantage.