What other WWI airplane games have you played?

[usmc1855]

I'm asking about table top games.. not computer games.

I started WWI airplane games many years ago with Avalon Hill's Richthofen's War, then Wings by Yaquinto Publications.

For Miniature gaming, about four years ago I was introduced to Blue Max. SInce then I've played a little with Dawn Patrol as well.

The group I've been gaming with for the past few years have been wargaming historical and fantasy miniatures for many years (some for 25+ years), and after I picked up the rules and minis for Wings of War, we haven't gone back to any other WWI airplane miniature rules. No Hex based gamemats, and using the maneuver cards to plan and execute your maneuvers seem to be the most popular reasons amongst our group for staying with WoW. The simplicity of the rules (we use all optional and altitude rules) along with the different maneuver decks for different planes have also been attractive features to the members of my group.

[WilliamBarkerVC]

For me, there was only one: Dawn Patrol. I played that game until it was worn out. Sadly, I sold my copy on ebay in about 95, for crazy money, but still it was gone.

Then I found an unpunched copy of Fight in the Skies! about three or four years ago. And I was happy again. Never punched it, just take it out once in a while, and enjoy the nostalgia.

[kaufschtick]

Richthofen's War was my last real serious WWI areal combat game played, but we used the maneuver cards with it that you could get from AH, and that made a nice addition to the game. That was a long, long time ago though!

I had Knights of the Air by AH, but never played it! Way too rules heavy for the group of friends at the time I had that one.

WWII areial combat games: AH's Air Force & Mustangs saw a lot of game play with my friends and I. I also played quite a few games of Luftwaffe way back when, "in the day"! I think I had that game when I was like 9 or 10! They had a neat "Tactical" system for resolving air combats for that one too, as an added extra they had in one of the issues of The General.

Flight Leader was a cool jet combat game, although again, I never played it.

I had about 120 games or so back in my HS & early college days. Too many games, and not enought time to get game time in with all of them.

[Oberst Hajj]

Wings of War is surprisingly the first game that I've really played. I’ve played a game or two of some local home grown rules based off of Blue Max. I thought it was really cool and fun, but the hex movement turned me off a little. So did painting all the planes and building the antenna bases for them all.

I did play a lot of Crimson Skies, but that's not a WWI game

[Slamdunk]

BattleLine's Air Force / Dauntless / and Expansion Kit. The Avalon Hill bought it and dressed it up. I sold my original BattleLine set and then bought one on ebay.. It was my original set. Had my kill records still in the bottom of the box. There was much joy in mudville. I've sworn to never let it leave again. LOL. Played a ton and a half of Crimson Skies. Great customizable game. I loved it and still play it. Blue Max is good. And the Red Baron Mini's rules are fun to play as well. I really enjoy Wings of War. A fun good time.

Mark

[WilliamBarkerVC]

I sold my original BattleLine set and then bought one on ebay.. It was my original set. Had my kill records still in the bottom of the box. There was much joy in mudville. I've sworn to never let it leave again. LOL.
Mark

That's... AWESOME! I wish I had been able to find my Dawn Patrol box...

[Starfighter]

Played lots of Tactical air games:

Richtofen's War and Dawn Patrol for WWI.

Air Force, Dauntless + the expansion kit, all in the Battleline boxes, GameScience's Basic and Advanced Fighter Combat, Battle of Britain and Flying Tigers for WWII.

Air Superiority, Air Strike, Flight Leader, Foxbat and Phantom, Air War, Rolling Thunder and MiG Killers for jets.

I cut my teeth on Dogfight! by Milton Bradley

Still have copies of everything but MiG Killers> Need to get ahold of the buddy I let it to.

[Slamdunk]

Mustangs and Messersmits was another mini rules set that was much fun if you had a basketball court to set up on and play on.
With Air Force I was nails with the Mosquito. Loved all that extra power to snap about on sideslips and roach the bad guys with the cannons. Wonderful aircraft in those free for alls.

[Angiolillo]

I started with Richthofen's War and went on with Ace of Aces, Aces High + Red Baron, Dawn Patrol, Blue Max, Wings, Sopwith. I stopped when Knights of the Air came, but I got Flying Circus and Dogfight later on.

Air Force was the main game for WW2, together with a few strategic games as Luftwaffe and the peculiar Rise of the Luftwaffe. Here too I then got Spitfire, B-17 and other games for my collection.

Never loved the jet era, I got Top Gun and Foxbat&Phantom and Air War and Flight Leader more to have them.

For nostalgic people, here a few lists:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/1302
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/2965
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/2966

I also designed a few air games before this one, even fantasy ones: Cacciatori di Viverne, La Squadriglia degli Assi and even a gamebook on WW2 torpedo Bombers, Il Gobbo Maledetto. Some notes here if you are curious:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/2063

[rapier1642]

Ace of Aces was always my fave till WoW came along, but have also played Richthoffen's War, Blue Max, and Dawn Patrol. Oh and Canvas Eagles

[Setarius]

I started with Dogfight. A board game with 12 plastic planes that you moved around a board that I think was roughly 24x24 inches. On one side you had 3 planes from the Hat in the Ring Squadron and the Squadron that used the donkey kicking as their symbol. On the German side you had 3 planes from one Jasta and 3 from another. The planes were Red and Black for the Germans and Blue and Green for the Americans. Then I found Dawn Patrol and really enjoyed that until it was damaged in a house fire. I offered to buy a friends copy that he had never opened or used but he refused saying he wanted to try to play it. We tried a game and he did not like it but still refused to sell it. Oh well.

[twotone]

Way back when, I stated out with Avalon Hill's Richthofens War. Still got the copy of it which was my first ever wargame purchase (I think we still used groats back then!!). Lovingly dog eared and battered it still sits on my bookshelf. I used the information book from it when I purchased WOW to get service dates and other useful info.

[bsmith13]

I still have my Ace of Aces booklets. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, it's for two players, and the game consists of two booklets, (one british, one german). The booklets are about 200 pages each, and show the opponent's plane from various angles relative to your cockpit view. Underneath the picture is a grid consisting of maneuvers and numbers. You both choose a maneuver, and then look at the corresponding number. Simultaneously, you tell your opponent the number of your maneuver, and he does the same. This number is the intermediate page number. Then you look up the maneuver you performed, and it gives you your final page number. Both of you then go to your final page, and voila! your new relationship to each other is shown in the pictures. You repeat until one of you is shot down.

As I recall, there is a set for a DH2 vs Eindecker, DR1 vs Camel, Spad vs DVII and Mustang vs FW190.

It was my favorite until Wings of War came along.

[Oberst Hajj]

Yep, I have Ace of Aces as well! I also have the Spad vs. DVII as well. A great and very interesting game. To bad nobody knows about them or plays them any more... damn video games!

[rapier1642]

I have a compete set of Ace of Ace, and use them alot with friends (that is the Handy Rotary - Art work, Deluxe Rotary - Photos instead of art, Power House - Spad v D.VII, Flying Machines - D.h2 V Eindekker, and Ballon Buster - Ground AA v Hanriot. There used to be a Ace of Aces group on yahoo where people would play by email but it died a few years ago. If anyone wants a go via email, drop me a line

[Doug]

I started of with a home written set of rules for the Airfix WW1 aircraft, but the problem was we kept on putting in two much stuff and the more we wrote the more complicated it got, so in the end we forgot about them. I got a copy of the skytrex rules but never got around to playing them as I was not any good at building the models:

[Bixby]

This is my first World War I game and my first aerial combat game. I have quite an extensive collection of games that we play but this was the first in the genre.

[WilliamBarkerVC]

This is my first World War I game and my first aerial combat game. I have quite an extensive collection of games that we play but this was the first in the genre.

I really like the name of your group - BoWoW!

My group is Greater Red Deer Organisation of Tactical Silliness - GROTS

[Bixby]

GROTS rolls off the tongue quite nicely.

[Big Al]

I started with Paragon's Dogfight over Flanders miniatures rules (now by Skytrex as Red Eagle) using 1/300 miniatures attached to 3ft dowel poles marked for altitude levels. Heroics and Ros make just about every airplane that took part in WW1. I then played Blue Max, which was very good, but the miniatures rules mentioned earlier doesn't require a hex mat so I always preferred it. You did have to write your orders for the turn in a similar way to Blue Max, in fact so similar that I don't know who copied who (I'm not sure which game came first).

As I come from a miniatures gaming background, I didn't pick up too many boardgames, so I played things like Angels One Five and so on. I did like AH's B17 though! I also tried Air Superiority but there was too much to get your head around, so I gave it up.

[Desaix]

I am not a hard core air-fight wargamer, more like a Napoleonic grognard hex and counters player...

For air combat game I have played:
- Ace of Aces
- Flight Leader (AH)
- Blue Max/Canvas Eagle (a lot)
and WoW of course hehe...

[Carlos Lopes]

Wings of War is the first game that I have played.
Carlos
TAF

[KirkH]

My first game was Milton Bradley's dogfight! which was great fun. Then in the early 70's I bought Richthofen's War and played the heck out of it. It was that game that really solidified my interest in WWI aviation. In the early 80's when I was in college the school wargame club (of which I was the president) played a lot of Battleline's Dauntless/Air Force. About six or seven years ago I was looking for something more as far as WWI was concerned and bought Dawn Patrol on eBay. I couldn't find any opponents (one needs four players for an official game) so a friend of mine created a VASSAL module for it. There were a couple times when we had regular foursomes playong online every Thursday, but it fizzled out each time. I really enjoy DP, but it's frustrating not being able to drum up the four people necessary for a game. A couple months ago I started looking at Wings of War as a way to get my WWI aviation fix and have been having a great time ever since. I've borrowed the role playing aspect from Dawn Patrol and keep track of every mission and write after action reports (AAR)'s to record each mission for each of my pilots.

BTW: Should anyone care to give Dawn Patrol a try online, just let me know. It's great fun when one can get the necessary four players together.

[Smokeme]

Aces of Aces! I was trying to remember what it was called. I played this alot in school with some mates of mine. It was great fun

This was the only WWI flying 'board game' I played until WoW

[Cujo8-1]

I still play on occasion Richthofen's War with all the added rules per issues of The General Magazine. I have played Ace of Aces as well.

I also own (and would also like to sometime play) Aces High, The American Aces, Dawn Patrol and both versions of Wings (Yaquinto and Excalibre).

[brasidas]

I've played Richtofen's war (pretty good differentiation in plane types, but silly alternate move system), Blue Max (simple and fun), and Ace of Aces (unique concept).

WoW is my favourite.

[Greywolf]

WoW will be the first Ariel game that I will play. mostly been doing the other fluffy table top games and a few board games [Blood Bowl]...

done my order my box sets and planes will be heading my way soon...[rubs hands gleefully ]

cheers
GW

[Heckmac]

Hmm, my air gaming weaves back and forth 'tween boardgames, table top and PBEM:

Richtofen's War back in the 70's was worn out by me and my brother. I've never played a WWI air game since! I have read and own quite a few including Canvas Eagles, Stringbags, Air War: 1918, Aces at Dawn, and Knights in the Skies.

In ~1979, we moved on to Air War, Avalon Hill's 'modern' jet warfare game. Again, we wore it out. Since then I've played quite a bit of Flight Leader, Air Superiority, Fox Two Reheat, Clash of Sabres, Phantoms, Mig Hunters, Mach Speed Hunters and Air War C21. I've also playtested Birds of Prey.

Though I did not get into WWII air games until the 21st century, this is now, by far, my preferred air combat era. I've played Air Force / Dauntless (both versions), Hunters in the Skies, Scramble, Whispering Death, Duel of Eagles, Mustangs, Luft Krieg, Bag the Hun, Blue Sky, Luftwaffe 1946, Spitting Fire, Check Your 6 and Wings of War, Dawn of WWII. Preferred games at the moment are: WoW for it's broad appeal, Blue Skies for larger games and Check Your 6 for the perfect mix of reality and playability, IMHO. I am looking forward to the release of the new version of Blue Skies scheduled for 2010 last time I checked.

[Dathbain]

WoW WW1 is the first for me, Ive watched Canvas eagles being played as well as Dawn Patrol and always thought "thats neat! But do I need another game?" Apparently I did! You just cant beat the mechanics of WoW.

[Poliorketes]

I tried Blue Max once, it's a nice game but it lacks the simplicity of WoW and thus makes it harder to find opponents.

[Oberst Hajj]

it lacks the simplicity of WoW and thus makes it harder to find opponents.

I think that is what makes Wings of War such a great game. My 6 year old daughter understands how to move the planes around... if not the tactics needed to shot one down.

[Pooh]

I played and loved Richtofen's War long ago.
More recently Bag The Hun and CY6. That's it unless you count Crimson Skies.
I pretty much hooked on WoW now although we do occasionally play BtH & CY6 when we want to do senarios not yet covered by WoW.

Pooh

[The Blue Baron]

None. I played Crimson Skies (the Wizkids Version). That's not WW1 but it was a great game! Very little rules, maneuvers are planned using cards...not that different from WoW...

[Gauntlet]

I'm nother one who played Richthofen's War in the early 80's. I've always been interested in the WW1 air war but haven't played anything relevant since and my copy of Richthofen's War is long gone. WOW and the fantastic miniatures have re-kindled my interest.

[AndyT]

I bought a used copy of Flying Circus from a bring and buy stall a couple of months ago but I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. Other than that I've always been put off aerial wargames by the problem of how to represent altitude but of course WoW solves that problem quite nicely.

[Jureweah]

WoW is my first WWI game. For the WWII I have Check Your 6 too. Great games both of them.

[richard m schwab]

I played Richtofen's War in 70`s. Had and played Blue Max. Played Air Force / Dauntless Expansion Kit using 1:285 planes. Played a home grown set of WW1 rules using 1:285 planes. Even a set of Modern Air to Air rules published by Tac Force in the 80`s. The most recently a friend in North Carolina makes his own 144 scale WW1 planes the name of the rules i do not remember. Plus many different games over the 40 years or so of Board and miniature gaming. I forgot that classic Vietnam board game Thud Ridge! I always tell this story. I was at
the last Historicon in Camp Hill in the the 80`s and got into a massive WWI game of 25 or 30 players. The game was going to start when some last minute players jumped in. One of them said it was his first flying game and asked me what to do. I gave him the classic instructions. Do what i do and and stick to me like glue. I told him i would get us both a kill get home in one piece. That worked for three turns while we maneuvered in a target rich environment. He went on his own on turn four, i made my kill and got a chunk of the plane that could have been his and made like a tree for home. On the same turn he went chasing a plane to low to hit, but right into the path of three opponents. He went west. Enjoy them all.

[afilter]

I had a copy of TSR "Dawn Patrol" as a teen, but it never took off (pun intended) with my gaming friends.

I then aquired AH Airforce and Dauntless which we did play several times. I still have my copies with our old score sheets. It is in pretty good shape for over 20 yrs old and only partially punched. I a considering selling them as now that WoW has arrived I cannot see going back to them even for a trip down memory lane.

[Papavader]

Hi ,...

Wings of War is my first aerial combat Game....

And I Loveeee it


Greet's

Andreas

[Grinneth42]

I was given a copy of 'Dawn Patrol' as a christmas gift about 20 years ago. I only played it a few times before D&D got in the way... and then I honestly didn't think about it again until about 4(?) years ago, when I was standing in a game store and this new game 'Wings of War' had just come out. I had to have it. Took it home, played it, didn't love it (I know... Blasphemy), put it in a trunk. Then about 4 months ago I see the miniatures online and decide to dig it out and give it another try... turns out I was a fool 4 years ago...

[Arendal]

I played Blue Max some years ago... and I've been always looking for a good WWII planes game. Wings of War is that game

I play Flames of War and always take some planes... but I think that's not the poin.

[phililphall]

MB's Dogfight would have been the first. Then an S&T WWI air game who's name I can't recall. I still have it though. Then Dawn Patrol. Two Brisfit's flying in tandem are world beaters. Then Richthofen's War. Ace of Aces. Then Blue Max, of course. Now WoW.