Aces of the Western Front is a free browser-based WWI aerial combat game for one or two players. Pick a 1917 fighter — the British Sopwith Camel, French SPAD XIII, German Fokker DR.I triplane, or Albatros D.V — and engage in a one-on-one dogfight over the Western Front. Challenge a human opponent online or fly against an AI adversary. No download required: runs in any modern desktop or mobile browser. Both pilots plan their orders in secret, submit simultaneously, and live with the result.
CHOOSE YOUR MACHINE
Sopwith Camel
RFC / USAS · Allies
A wilful, rotary-engined killer with a vicious right-hand turn. The gyroscopic torque that can flip a novice becomes a weapon in trained hands — the Rotary Snap reversal flows from the engine itself, effortlessly natural, and almost impossible for the enemy to predict.
SPAD XIII
Aéronautique Militaire · Allies
France's answer to German air superiority — fast, stable, and built to take punishment. Structural damage slows it down but cannot catastrophically destroy it — a part hit twice holds rather than fails. Choose your moment, commit to the dive, and make the burst count.
Fokker DR.I
Germans
The triplane of the Red Baron — compact, climbing, and devastating at close quarters. So long as the tail holds, the Dr.I Weave chains into an unpredictable defensive pattern almost impossible to break. Once the tail is hit, every option narrows. Guard the tail.
Albatros D.V
Germans
In spring 1917, the Albatros D.V made every Allied fighter obsolete overnight. Britain rushed the Camel to the Front. France accelerated the SPAD. Every machine in this guide exists as a direct answer to the Albatros — the benchmark for fast passes, heavy fire, and boom-and-zoom discipline.
TAKE TO THE SKIES
Plot Your Move. Commit. Live With It.
Sealed Orders
Both pilots select their next manoeuvre in secret. When both submit, the orders resolve simultaneously. No reactions. No take-backs. You live or die by what you committed to.
Aim and Fire
Guns fire automatically if the enemy falls within your arc. Closer range hits harder. The cockpit view shows the enemy's bearing and distance; the tactical map shows the geometry. Both matter.
Tailing
Get directly behind the enemy and the engagement becomes a pursuit — the tailed pilot moves blind, the tailing pilot watches and responds. Breaking out requires patience, creativity, and nerves of steel.
FROM THE FIELD REPORTS
Recent Sortie Logs
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FLY SOLO
Challenge a Tactical AI Pilot
A computer opponent built for the same sealed-order dogfight as you—watching the geometry, weighing the risk, and committing before the sky reveals the result.
Position · Heading · Damage · Tailing · Firing Arc
Tactical, Not Scripted
Every turn, the AI evaluates firing opportunities, exposure, relative heading, and damage. It chooses among strong manoeuvres with enough variation to remain unpredictable.
A Rival With a Voice
Your opponent reacts over the radio to hits, near misses, collisions, and reversals—with dialogue shaped by the nationality and character of the pilot.
Every Sortie Remembered
After the fight, the game writes a first-person field report grounded in the aircraft, engagement, Western Front location, and period weather.
BEFORE YOU ENLIST
Questions From New Pilots
Is Aces of the Western Front free to play?
Yes. It's a free browser-based game — no download and no install. Enlist with a username and password and you're in the air.
Which planes can I fly?
Four WWI fighters split across two factions: the Sopwith Camel and SPAD XIII for the Allies, and the Fokker DR.I and Albatros D.III for the Germans. Each has its own handling — the Camel and DR.I are nimble rotary-engine types with a signature snap turn, the Albatros trades agility for a hard-hitting boom-and-zoom attack, and the SPAD is the only airframe immune to structural failure.
Can I play against another person, or only the computer?
Both. Invite a specific pilot by username for a human-vs-human dogfight, open a game for anyone to join, or fly against the AI opponent if you want to practice or nobody else is online.
How does combat actually work?
Both pilots plot their next move in secret — a "sealed order" — and the moves resolve simultaneously once both are submitted. There's no reacting to what your opponent just did; you commit to a manoeuvre and live with the outcome. Get on an enemy's tail and the engagement shifts into a pursuit, where the tailed pilot moves blind and the tailing pilot reacts.
Is there an AI opponent, and is it any good?
Yes — the computer pilot evaluates position, heading, damage, and whether it has your tail every single turn, and picks manoeuvres that score well for firing opportunity while staying unpredictable. It also talks to you over the radio in character, and writes a first-person field report when the engagement ends.
Do I need to download anything?
No. Aces of the Western Front runs entirely in your browser on desktop or mobile — nothing to install.
CHOOSE YOUR AIRCRAFT
AlliesGerman
AIRCRAFT — FIELD GUIDE
Royal Flying Corps & USAS — Allies
right profile
Sopwith Camel
Britain · 1917 · 130 hp Clerget 9B rotary
The Camel's Clerget runs at full power constantly — there is no throttle, only a blip switch and mixture control. Its gyroscopic torque makes right turns snap faster than any aircraft on the Front and left turns sluggish in comparison. In trained hands, the Rotary Snap reversal is effortlessly natural — as much a product of the engine as of the pilot. No Allied type scored more aerial victories in the war.
✦Rotary Snap — tight slow reversal; does not count against advanced maneuver limits
✓High agility — up to 4 consecutive slow turns
○Standard firepower — twin synchronised Vickers
right profile
SPAD XIII
France / USA · 1917 · 220 hp Hispano-Suiza 8C inline
France's definitive answer to German air superiority, built around the liquid-cooled Hispano-Suiza 8C. Faster and more stable as a gun platform than any rotary-engined opponent — and its close-timbered wooden fuselage absorbs punishment that would destroy a lighter machine. Eddie Rickenbacker flew one from his first victory to his last.
✦Structural resilience — airframe criticals affect handling but do not cause catastrophic failure; pilot hits still force the SPAD down
✦Weave — inline-engine replacement for Rotary Turn
✗No rotary maneuver — inline engine; no Snap reversal
○Moderate agility — up to 3 consecutive slow turns
○Standard firepower — twin synchronised Vickers
Germans
right profile
Fokker Dr.I
Germany · 1917 · 110 hp Oberursel Ur.II rotary
Three stacked wings generate exceptional lift at low speeds, letting the Dr.I hold turns that drag opponents into overshoots. Von Richthofen flew one until his last sortie; Werner Voss kept seven SE.5s at bay for ten minutes over Poelcappelle. Modest top speed — irrelevant when you refuse to fly level.
✦Rotary Snap — tight reversal maneuver available at slow; counts as advanced
✦Weave Turn Chain — Weave Turn moves may be chained back-to-back (tail damage disables this)
✓High agility — up to 4 consecutive slow turns
○Standard firepower — twin synchronised Spandau
right profile
Albatros D.V
Germany · 1917 · 180 hp Mercedes D.IIIa inline
When the Albatros D.V appeared over the Front in spring 1917 it forced an immediate crisis in Allied aviation. The RFC's best machines were obsolete overnight; France accelerated the SPAD programme; Britain rushed the Sopwith Camel to the lines. Every aircraft in this field guide exists in part as a direct answer to the Albatros — the benchmark against which all of them were measured.
○Inline engine — 180 hp Mercedes D.IIIa; no rotary torque or quirks
✗No rotary maneuver — inline engine; no Snap reversal
✦Weave — inline-engine replacement for Rotary Turn
○Moderate agility — up to 3 consecutive slow turns
✦Boom-and-zoom — extra damage chance increased by 50% after non-advanced cruise or fast maneuvers
RFC / USAS
ACES OF THE WESTERN FRONT
Germans
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Open Games
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Pilot Leaderboard
Pilot
Record
Win %
Damage
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Waiting…
NESW
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HP
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Fuel
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Speed
EngineOK
WingsOK
FuselageOK
TailOK
RADIO
Mission Briefing
Western Front
Time
Weather
Sortie
Western Front 1916-17 map, NZHistory / Manatu Taonga. Map produced by Geographx with research assistance from Damien Fenton and Caroline Lord.
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Sortie Log
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RULES REFERENCE
Game Overview
Aces of the Western Front is a two-pilot air combat game based on
the original book-based game Ace of Aces, released in the 1980s.
Both pilots secretly choose
maneuvers, reveal them together, move at the same time, then guns fire
automatically if a target is in the firing line. Win by shooting the
enemy down, forcing a crash, exhausting fuel, or leaving the enemy with
no legal move.
Battles start with the aircraft 3–5 hexes apart. Each
aircraft starts with 6 HP and 60 fuel.
Turn Sequence
Both pilots choose one maneuver in secret.
Maneuvers resolve simultaneously.
If both aircraft enter the same hex, check for collision.
Both pilots fire simultaneously if the enemy is in arc.
Apply fuel costs, damage effects, stalls, and end conditions.
If one pilot has the tail, the next turn enters a tailing sequence.
Movement
Three speeds: 1 — Slow, 2 — Cruise,
3 — Fast. Speed may change by at most ±1 per turn.
Slow Speed Restriction
Slow turns are capped by aircraft: Camel and DR.I may fly 4 in a row;
SPAD and Albatros may fly 3.
Advanced moves cannot be used back-to-back — exceptions:
Immelmanns may be used twice in a row to complete a loop, and alternating
sideslips do not trigger the restriction.
Tail damage blocks all advanced moves for that aircraft.
Rotary planes (Camel, DR.I): access to
Rotary Turn (advanced for the DR.I, not advanced for the
Camel). Inline planes (SPAD, Albatros): access to
Weave Left and Weave Right.
Firing
A pilot will automatically fire at an enemy that is
1–3 hexes directly ahead of their aircraft.
Damage = 4 − range: 3 HP at range 1,
2 HP at range 2, 1 HP at range 3.
Damage Effects
Gun hits can cause extra damage to structural parts.
Extra-damage chances are 40% at range 1, 20% at range 2, and 10% at range 3.
Effects trigger on a first hit to each part; a
second hit to the same part causes structural failure.
Part
First Hit Effect
Second Hit
Engine
Slow moves allowed; one cruise in a row; fast blocked
Structural failure
Wings
Cruise slashes, fast hard turns, and barrel rolls blocked
Structural failure
Tail
All advanced moves blocked
Structural failure
Fuselage
Fuel drain doubled
Structural failure
Pilot
Forced down (immediate loss)
—
Tailing
Tailing is checked after movement, firing, damage, fuel, and stall checks.
A pilot has the tail when the enemy is in the pilot's front 120° arc, both
aircraft have similar headings, and the enemy's tail aspect is exposed.
During a tailing sequence, the tailed pilot chooses first. The tailing
pilot then chooses after seeing only whether the opponent went
left, right, or straight.
Fuel & Collisions
Fuel drains by maneuver speed: slow costs 1, cruise costs 2, and fast
costs 3. Fuselage damage doubles fuel drain. During planning and tailing
phases, inactivity costs 1 fuel every 2 minutes.
When both aircraft land on the same hex after a turn, there is a
25% chance of collision. Collision damage equals the
sum of both aircraft's speeds at the moment of impact,
applied to both pilots.
End Conditions
HP ≤ 0 — aircraft destroyed
Structural failure — any part takes a second hit
(SPAD immune)
Pilot hit — aircraft is forced down
Out of fuel — fuel reaches 0
Stalled — no valid moves available
Separation — aircraft more than 6 hexes apart results
in a draw
Aircraft Special Rules
Aircraft
Faction
Slow Limit
Traits
Sopwith Camel
Allies
4
Rotary Snap
SPAD XIII
Allies
3
Weave maneuver; airframe criticals cannot cause catastrophic failure; pilot hits still force it down
Fokker DR.I
German
4
Rotary Snap (advanced maneuver); may chain Weave Turns
Albatros D.V
German
3
Weave maneuver; boom-and-zoom gives 1.5× extra-damage rolls after non-advanced cruise or fast maneuvers
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