WWI Air Combat Games Reviews?
David Vander Ark
American Heritage game. We've played it before, and he asked when we
were done if we could play a WWI air combat wargame. My favorite one of
these for sentimental reasons is Dawn Patrol, TSRs "Role Playing" game
of WWI air combat. So we worked through a scenario and...wow, it still
has the same old zing for me. Even the "you move, I move" system still
felt OK, despite the endless hours I wasted playing Red Baron on my old
386. (I was surprised how many of the rules I remembered as if I had
played yesterday, even though I haven't played it since probably 1985!)
So I'm wondering what WWI air combat games are "better" than Dawn
Patrol? Can anybody give me a mini review on the following, ideally
comparing them with Dawn Patrol, a game I am very familiar with?
Blue Max (GDW)
Richthofen's War (AH)
Ace of Aces (Nova)
Knights of the Air (AH)
Plus any other WWI Air Combat games that I can't think of.
Thanks,
David
Remove the NOSPAM to email me directly
Erich Schneider
> Can anybody give me a mini review on the following
> Ace of Aces (Nova)
Ace of Aces is an excellent little game with no board. I believe it
was the first really popular game of its type. Each player has a book,
which shows a scene from their point of view (in _AoA_, a view from
their plane towards the enemy plane). On the page is a list of
maneuvers with a corresponding page number. Both players pick a
maneuver, then tell the opponent the number under their maneuver; each
player goes to the page they were told and looks under their maneuver,
to find a final page (which is the same for both players). In _AoA_,
the maneuvers are things like "fly straight", "turn", "sideslip",
"Immelman turn", "barrel roll", etc., represented by icons. If the
scene to which you turn shows one or the other players shooting, that
gets resolved.
That's pretty much all there is to basic Ace of Aces. The intermediate
and expert games add things like tracking altitude, hit location
charts for guns, specific characteristics of each plane, etc.
Ace of Aces is great fun to play - you can use as much complexity as
you like. For me, the greatest endorsement comes from about 20 years
ago, when the game first came out. My family lived in San Diego then,
where my father worked as a test pilot at a Navy facility that
converted F-4J fighters into F-4S figheters. My family would often go
camping with the families of the other pilots in the squadron. I
remember, soon after the game first appeared, being on camping trips
where a half-dozen real live fighter pilots would be sitting around
the campsite playing _Ace of Aces_ and having a great time doing so.
That's good enough for me!
--
Erich Schneider er...@caltech.edu Caltech Information Technology Services
Richard Rognlie
> Blue Max (GDW)
I've not played Blue Max, but Canvas Eagles is a game that appears to
be based on the Blue Max rules and adds altitude and miniatures to the
mix. It is great fun. And the rules are freely available.
http://www.generalissue.com/canvas.html
--
/ \__ |
\__/ \ | Richard Rognlie / Sr. Technical Consultant / Sendmail, Inc.
/ \__/ | http://www.gamerz.net/rrognlie/ <rrog...@gamerz.net>
\__/ |
Allan Rothberg
Blue Max would be the next logical step up from Dogfight. It is
mechanically simpler than the rest, both easier to teach and to play. You
still get plenty of historical flavor and all the color and pagentry (for
lack of a better word) is there. Maybe best of all, you can easily finish a
dogfight in a relatively short amount of time.
Allan
The Maverick
> Blue Max would be the next logical step up from Dogfight. It is
> mechanically simpler than the rest, both easier to teach and to play. You
> still get plenty of historical flavor and all the color and pagentry (for
> lack of a better word) is there. Maybe best of all, you can easily finish a
> dogfight in a relatively short amount of time.
I'll second the recommendation for Blue Max. An old Space Gamer article
on games for kids talked about one father who had 5 and 6 year olds
playing a slightly modified version of Blue Max. Highly recommended for
the excellent counter art. The second edition rules add altitude, but
the components are slightly different (I prefer some of the accessories
from the first edition so you may want to track down both.)
the Mav
The Maverick
> So I'm wondering what WWI air combat games are "better" than Dawn
> Patrol? Can anybody give me a mini review on the following, ideally
> comparing them with Dawn Patrol, a game I am very familiar with?
[snip]
> Plus any other WWI Air Combat games that I can't think of.
Below is a list of WWI games excerpted from my air combat games page at
http://www.volcano.net/~themaverick/acg.html. As noted in my previous
post, I think Blue Max is your best bet, but get a copy of the Yaquinto
edition of Wings too as the next step!
If you end up enjoying Blue Max, you might want to look into the similar
Clash of Eagles from Camelot Games (Italy) which uses a Blue Max style
system for WWII.
the Mav
ACES HIGH (3W)
ACES HIGH (SIMULATION GAMES/WWW)
ACES HIGH, WARGAMER 12 (WWW)
World War I game from 3W/WWW which spawned a small number
of related games. Originally published as a magazine game
and later released in two boxed editions. Other releases
in the series include an expansion: Blue Max (not the GDW
game), a stand-alone expansion: The American Aces, and
another magazine edition: Red Baron.
ACE OF ACES BALLOON BUSTER EDITION (NOVA)
ACE OF ACES FLYING MACHINES EDITION (NOVA)
ACE OF ACES HANDY ROTARY EDITION (NOVA)
ACE OF ACES POWERHOUSE EDITION (NOVA)
The Ace of Aces series use a pair of books to recreate
WWI dogfights. The books consist of pictures of views from
the cockpit of your aircraft showing the location of the
enemy aircraft. Permitted manuvers are listed across the
bottom of the page. Each player selects a manuver and
the game system leads you to the appropriate page showing
your respective positions. The basic game is that easy.
Advanced rules allowed for further complexity but the
basic game is so fun and fast it's hard to give it up.
A favorite of gamers and non-gamers alike since anyone
can learn to play the basic game in a matter of minutes.
ACES OF ACES HANDY ROTARY DELUXE EDITION (NOVA)
ACES OF ACES JET EAGLES (NOVA)
ACES OF ACES WINGLEADER (NOVA)
These later "deluxe" editions came boxed with two books
that used black and white photographs of the actual aircraft
rather than drawings. In addition, charts and cards are
provided adding additional detail and some realism to the
game. Wingleader expanded the series to WWII fighters
(P-51 and FW-190) and Jet Eagles dealt less successfully
with jet fighter combat. Deluxe edition of Wingleader includes
additional aircraft and campaign rules.
THE AMERICAN ACES (3W)
Aces High series, see above for details.
BLUE MAX (GDW)
BLUE MAX, SECOND EDITION (GDW)
WWI air combat game that has very accessible rules and is
quick playing while still retaining a good feel for the
period. In addition, this has the BEST looking counter
art for any air combat games (Mustangs is a close run for
the money.) Note that the first edition did not have any
altitude rules (!) but these were added in the second
edition. Another preference note: the manuver cards in
the first edition are heavier duty, but the second edition
damage/movement log sheet looks better.
DAWN PATROL (TSR)
Re-release of Fight in the Skies with some improved components
but the same old creaky game system. See below.
FIGHT IN THE SKIES, FOURTH EDITION (GUIDON GAMES)
FIGHT IN THE SKIES (TSR)
Old, creaky WWI air combat game that TSR called an RPG because
of some bare bones rules for campaigning and characters.
Not what one would consider an RPG today, and not what one
would consider a decent air combat game today. But it had a
large following in it's time (before many air combat games
existed) and is supposed to be good fun. Re-released as
Dawn Patrol.
FLYING CIRCUS (SPI)
FLYING CIRCUS, S&T 31 (SPI)
Classic SPI design which became the basis for Spitfire
and Foxbat and Phantom. Simple, playable game which
explored concepts adopted in many later air combat games.
KNIGHTS OF THE AIR (AVALON HILL)
More complex than most of the other WWI board games.
Attempts to reflect flight dynamics in a board game (a
mean feat which can rapidly reach a point of diminishing
returns, eg. Air War.)
RED BARON, WARGAMER 48 (3W)
Aces High series, see above for details.
RICHTHOFEN'S WAR (AVALON HILL)
Simple WWI air game, the third tactical air combat board
game (following Fight in the Skies and Flying Circus.)
Undeniably fun, and there are several variants out there
to address some of the simulation related failings.
WINGS (EXCALIBRE/YAQUINTO)
WINGS (YAQUINTO)
Highly rated WWI air combat system. Features a few different
rule systems in one package allowing a range of play from
highly detailed combat recommended for only a few aircraft
at a time to simplified rules allowing for mass air battles.
dave...@bestspamfoiler.com
card-driven Down in Flames system:
http://www.gmtgames.com/p500/gmtp5ww1.htm
The game has passed the 500 mark in preorders, but GMT has a backlog of
stuff to publish so who knows when it will finally appear. The Down in
Flames games are really war-themed cardgames rather than simulations, but
they're quick to play and can be a lot of fun.
I also vaguely recall that somebody is working on a WWI adaptation for JD
Webster's "Air Power" series, to be called "Canvas Falcons", but I'm not
aware of any plans to publish it yet. A lot of people seem to regard the
Air Power system as being the state-of-the-art in boardgame air combat
simulation, so this may become the one to get if you can handle the
complexity. Some info. about "Canvas Falcons" is here:
http://www.tne.net.au/njh/Airpower/AP.html
--
Dave Kohr <dave...@bestSPAMFOILER.com> Be sure to remove the SPAMFOILER!
Bay Area Games Day XVI is coming soon! May 5 at 10 AM in Los Altos, CA
See http://www.best.com/~davekohr/gamesday for all the details.
Allan Rothberg
system. I downloaded them and stuck them inthe game box, but never had a
chance to use them. I will post the URL for this stuff as soon as I can
figure out where I indexed it. I will also give due credit to the kind soul
who put in the work to make it.
Allan
Steffan O'Sullivan
>Can anybody give me a mini review on the following,
>
http://www.io.com/~sos/bc/bluemax.html
--
-Steffan O'Sullivan | "True words aren't charming, charming words
s...@panix.com | aren't true. People who know aren't learned,
Plymouth, NH, USA | learned people don't know."
www.io.com/~sos | -Lao Tse (trans: Le Guin)
Allan Rothberg
Okay, here are three links for Blue Max. The first contains additional units
for the game, the 2nd is a nicely written synopsis of play and the third
contains the WW2 variants I mentioned earlier. The author of these variants is
Ian Clarence. Thanks again, Ian.
http://pease1.sr.unh.edu/1/bluemax/
http://www.io.com/~sos/bc/bluemax.html
http://freespace.virgin.net/ian.clarence/
Allan
Alan Hauk
<dvandera...@usxchange.net> wrote:
Ace of Aces is to be (has been?) reissued. This is probably the best
game to play with your son. It's easy and a lot of fun.
My favorite WWI air combat game is Red Baron, found in the magazine
Wargamer #48 (if you can find it). This game was later remade into Aces
High, published by 3W, but despite the better counter and map art I
thought that Aces High was not as good.
Clash of Arms at one point had plans to publish a game called Canvas
Falcons. This was to be a WWI variant of the excellent Over the Reich
WWII game. However, it appears to have been shelved, which is a shame
as it would have probably been the best game of the genre.
Alan
Jeff
I am a fan of WWI airplanes, but think that you can over do the rules
load for such games.
My greatest recommendation for such games is Blue Max.
It has a great deal working for it.
1. Simple.
2. Simulateous movement.
3. Works with miniatures.
1/72 or 1/48 scale models makes for a great collection :) Making the
models and such might be a great thing to share together.
My son is due on July 4th. Can't wait to have someone to game with ;-)
JP
The Maverick
> My favorite WWI air combat game is Red Baron, found in the magazine
> Wargamer #48 (if you can find it). This game was later remade into Aces
> High, published by 3W, but despite the better counter and map art I
> thought that Aces High was not as good.
Actually, Jim Hind's Aces High (from Wargamer #12) was the genesis of
the game system. There was also a boxed release of this magazine
version of Aces High. The boxed game included a "Blue Max" supplement.
Red Baron was an adaptation of Aces High written by the same designer.
After Red Baron came the second boxed edition of Aces High which you
refer to (it had a full-color cover.) Finally, The American Aces was
the last WWI game to use the Aces High rules system.
BTW Wargamer #48 shouldn't be too hard to find -- it generally doesn't
seem to sell for all that much. With a little looking one should be
able to find a new/unpunched copy for under $10...
the Mav