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Thread: How did you come to Wings of War

  1. #1

    Hunter's Avatar May you forever fly in blue skies
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    Default How did you come to Wings of War

    I really can not get enough of WoW! We were flying against the enemy last week when, during a break, I asked some of the others what brought them, or, how did they learn of WoW. It was a wide assortment of reasons from me, where my Pastor and his adult son turned me on to it, to a young man who was watching us play at the game store and we invited him in and loaned him a plane. This got me to thinking about how this game reaches across all social strata, ages, ethic, and national bounderies to play as respected equals, just our planes are maybe more advanced!

    Then I got interested in how you became interested. Perhaps this has already been addressed in another forum that I have not read yet. I'm new and haven't read all the forums so forgive me if you've already addressed this. Just curious!

  2. #2

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    I have always loved the planes of WWI. I have also been a gamer since high school. These two things made it inevetable that I would start playing WoW.
    I had seen Famous aces at our local game store for quite some time and was curious. Then the mini's were released and I had to give it a try.

  3. #3

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    Brian, we had a similar experience. I grew up on a wheat farm/cattle ranch in Kansas and to break the winter drudgery I built airplane models. Then in college I started playing RPG's but my favorite RPG game was "Dawn Patrol". I was hooked on WWI after that. Fast forward 30 years and last month my Pastor and his son do Flames of War and were in our local game shop where he purchased it and was telling us men in Bible study about it. I was the only one that bit and has brought back all the thrills, excitement, and danger of my "Dawn Patrol" youth. It is so much more enjoyable, especially the miniatures and the third dimension in the game.

  4. #4

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    Sorry, I left out the key point. My Pastor purchased the Revised Deluxe Set of WoW, not FloW, and he showed it to me that what got it going for me.

  5. #5

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    I've always loved planes and aerial combat and I looked at Famous Aces at my local game store for years, but never picked it up because I was not crazy about the idea of the cards. Once the minis came out, that was it.

  6. #6

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    Used to make the Airfix and Revell kits as a lad. Then grew out of it !!! A friend brought a set of WoW along to a re-enactment for something to do in the evenings. One game and I was hooked.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  7. #7

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    I have been fascinated by the aircraft of WW1 since my early teens, and by the Biggles books as well. Being a long-time wargamer I had tried some 1:72 dogfighting, but found it a bit clumsy, and had played AH's Richthofen's War as a boardgame in the past. Then came across the WoW models at Cavalier (our annual Open Day) and "had" to buy them and Burning Drachens on the spot!

  8. #8

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    Similar route for me - Biggles captured my imagination as a lad & a game system I saw in Military Modelling in the 70s which utilised 1/72 planes on sticks but I could never afford to dabble in any of it. I saw WoW as the card game in 2009 which piqued my interest but it wasn't until I saw the minis that I was truly hooked. Goerings D.VII was my first purchase on evil-bay - Ł5.69 I think he was - Ł7.18 with p&p ! Ahh, those were the days

    "He is wise who watches"

  9. #9

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    Always been interested in WW1 aviation since I was a kid, when the world was still in black and white. Then Airfix (when they still came in plastic bags, cost 2 bob each and the Fokker DR1 was cutting edge) and Revell and Renwall kits, later WW1 aerial wargaming in 1/300, 1/72 and 1/144 scales, using Airfix/Skytrex/TJ models stuff 25-odd years ago. Still got a lot of 1/300 scratch-builds somewhere, including an 0/400 and Felixstowe.

    Ah, those were the days - bring me my pipe and slippers and a packed lunch nurse, we are going on a trip to the land of nostalgia.

    Oddly enough I've never read any Biggles books
    Run for your life - there are stupid people everywhere!

  10. #10

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    I'd never even heard of the Biggles stuff until landing here. I'm tempted to read them to my kids as bedtime stories.

    My foray into WoW is much like Col Hajj's, except I don't know if I even took note of the game until the miniatures came out. At that point, whenever I saw them in the game store I'd ooh and ahh, but the fact that they lacked pilots turned me off. My wingman Flammenkopf and I had mused about playing for a couple years now, but it wasn't until the Man in the Red Suit brought him a copy for Xmas this year that I played. I've been hooked ever since.

  11. #11

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    I pretty much follow John's path here. I loved the models, but did not know anyone else that played and decided that I was not going to buy a bunch of little planes just to look at them. All to often I'll buy a game "on speculation" and then never get a chance to play it, or finally play it and decide I don't like it.

    I played with jbmacek and flammenkopf after xmas, and liked it enough that I bought in.

    Zach

  12. #12

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    A friend of mine brought it over one night and showed it to me. We played a few games and I had a blast, this was before the mini's came out, playing w/ just the cards. When the mini's were released I started buying my own stuff.

  13. #13

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    It was the models. I bought some because they were such a great value. Then months later I played the game and had a great time. Now I am addicted.

  14. #14

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    Interest in aviation and military history in general Some short experiences of boardgame many years ago but the encounter with WoW was casual.

    Love at first sight!

    Attilio

  15. #15

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    I collect games -- wargames in particular. When I heard _WoW_ had a "simultaneous" game mechanic, I wanted to see if it worked. It did. The clincher was: My non-wargame-oriented SO actually enjoys playing it (and she's getting better every day, damn it! :) ).

  16. #16

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    We found WOW in a round about way. While at our local LGS one day, my son Hunter noticed the little minis hanging on the wall. He loves planes so we bought him one. Had no idea what WOW was or how to play. Just bought the mini because it was cool. Heck, we didn't even realize it went with a game until my friend clued me in. He saw us checking out more minis one day and offered to teach us the game. One sortie and we were hooked! The rest is history.

  17. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by Skullduggery View Post
    I have always loved the planes of WWI. I have also been a gamer since high school. These two things made it inevetable that I would start playing WoW.
    I had seen Famous aces at our local game store for quite some time and was curious. Then the mini's were released and I had to give it a try.
    My experience was identical to Brian's. even down to the same local game store - except I worked there, and he lived a couple hundred feet away.

  18. #18

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    Loved WWI planes since playing dogfight as a kid in the 60's . Built tons of models and played Richthofens War and Luftwaffe in the 70s and 80s. Then to Red Baron in the 90s. Fast forward to 2010 for WOW and Rise of Flight (which I really suck at but love the planes and skins)

  19. #19

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    I have been a gamer since I was a kid, and always loved WW1 Air Combat games...I started with Ace of Aces and it has been down hill since then. I was browsing Boardgamegeek.com and found WoW there in a post...read up on it and set out to find it. Have been hooked ever since. I started playing before miniatures were introduced to the game, but they added a HUGE dimension to the game. I orignally started messing around with mini's for the game with 1/300 mini's on a plastic backed card, and just about then Nexus announced they would be releasing their own minis. Im looking forward to the game expanding even more, and hoping that eventually all the fighters, observation, and bombers of ww1 will be included (yes, im still waiting for my Sopwith Pup and Dolphin!!!).

    Jim

  20. #20

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    Bought the boxed sets out of curiousity and what looked to be a nice break from rules heavy wargames. This is my preferred escape for that because the game is incredible, the community here is excellent, and once my SO and friends saw the minis....it was on like Donkey Kong.

    One of the things that so greatly appeals to me is the ease of teaching that this game has going for it. You can sit someone day, play and within a few turns let them loose with the basic rules. On a similar vein, once you get people hooked, you can customize the chrome you want to add into it. 90% of the chrome has it's own tokens and makes logical sense once you grasp the basic rules.

  21. #21

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    Funny how a lot of us came in on the same routes.

    I was into the whole WWII thing as a kid, that and Napoleonics. I've been gaming in one form or another ever since with a big soft spot for air combat. I was introduced to WoW a couples of years ago at our regular games weekend which are every 6 weeks or so, life permitting.


  22. #22

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    I found Wings of War on a local Games Fair. It looked interesting as i have a strong interest in history but the game i found to expensive at that time
    For some time i read alot of WWI stuff and just found the game and supplies for a more reasonable price than on the Games Fair.

    Well now i'm hooked

  23. #23

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    This is great reading all the stories from you guys. I wanted to let you all know that yesterday while we were playing WoW at our local game store, the owner came over and asked me to show him how to play WoW next Wednesday (our next mission where he is in the store)! I thought he already knew how to play, as he sells WoW (although a small corner amidst all the 40K, Warcraft, Steam Punk, D&D, etc), but he did not. He's watched us grow from two of us to any where from us two to 4-5 playing with many bystanders, plus we play twice a week there that his interest is piqued. He said he carried WoW box sets and blister packs for several years but when the mini's came out he can't keep them. With all of them he's selling some people must be buying them to collect. Well I've purchased alot though!

    In my ow experience the mini's garner alot of attention, but it was when I purchased the two game mats and played with them that people really started take a serious look. This is exciting because we play there twice a week and garnered a following just since March 1, 2011!

  24. #24

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    Nice to see that you are spreading the word Hunter. There is nothing better than the shadow of the gardener to make things grow.
    keep up the good work.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  25. #25

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    LOL.... I've had the game so long I don't even remember how I came to possess it!! Maybe an Xmas gift from my missus? I doubt she expected the dollars I poured into minis when she bought me the original cards!


    ...yep, all three original boxed modules as a Xmas gift a few years ago. An eye roll from my missus confirms that the purchase of miniatures was my idea a few months later...

    Last edited by tailz; 03-19-2011 at 05:29. Reason: update!

  26. #26

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hunter View Post
    In my ow experience the mini's garner alot of attention, but it was when I purchased the two game mats and played with them that people really started take a serious look. This is exciting because we play there twice a week and garnered a following just since March 1, 2011!
    It's interesting that you mention this. Has anyone else noticed that playing on plain green felt vs. on a patterned mat (not necessarily the WoW ones) increased your interest level at demos?

  27. #27

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    I hate to admit it, because I dislike the mats inordinately, but they do seem to work in the display environment. The fact that they are garish, do not depict the front line trenches because of the vivid green, and blatantly advertise the game, seems to work extremely well. I would not entertain them for a private game, but that was not your question. I would have used the word vehemently opposed but I can't spell it.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  28. #28

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    My lovely missus bought me the three original boxed sets as a Christmas present. It was a bit lucky really, she never dares buy me anything like that usually as even I don't know what I've got stored away! She would probably regret that kindness if she knew what I'd spent after that (I have a KR case that holds 80 and that's full, plus some 2 seaters and 4 WoW game mats. No balloons yet though. Hmmmm...)

  29. #29

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    Quote Originally Posted by Danrit View Post
    My lovely missus bought me the three original boxed sets as a Christmas present. It was a bit lucky really, she never dares buy me anything like that usually as even I don't know what I've got stored away! She would probably regret that kindness if she knew what I'd spent after that (I have a KR case that holds 80 and that's full, plus some 2 seaters and 4 WoW game mats. No balloons yet though. Hmmmm...)
    Well, that's your Birthday present sorted then!
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  30. #30

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    Quote Originally Posted by Danrit View Post
    No balloons yet though. Hmmmm...)
    I am getting my first balloon in tomorrow. I'm stoked to see one in person. I've never even seen a box on the shelf with one. When my local store had one it was gone in the 2 days before I could get there to buy it. Then they never restocked!

  31. #31

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    About 8 years ago, I stumbled across the lonely small box called in a games store for only $40NZ and thought it sounded fun for the boys. We was all hooked and still don't use models a lot (only have 7). I actually had to specially order each expansion as they were released overseas and for about 6 years I thought I was the only player in the country till I bumped into a newly formed gaming group in Tauranga (Kiwi Ace) There's still very few NZ's out there though...

  32. #32

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    I played it a while ago, the game store owner had a campaign going (this guy knows a great game when he sees it) and I played a couple missions. It was great, it was fun. Then I moved away.

    I was invited by one of my friends (a pastor at my church that I played basketball with, and now volleyball too) to a smelt fry for his birthday. I walk in a little late and catch them all in the middle of an 8-player game of Settlers of Catan. I'm really into board gaming in a general sense, not just a WoW guy, so I was psyched. But 8 people playing Catan? It's just not built for that. Yeah, you can do it, but so much downtime! I knew something needed to be done.

    After I was successfully able to split the group up into Acquire and Puerto Rico (neither of which I own by the way) I found that the guys just enjoyed games. All kinds of games. But, it took some serious doing to split them up into two groups. I realized two things.

    1. I'm dealing with a group of people of a large size that like to play a single game together.
    2. Most guys didn't like the length of time it took to play huge games like that.

    Well, thank you Larry, I knew exactly what game could solve those problems. As soon as I had money, I ordered Famous Aces, Watch Your Back, Burning Drachens, and several blister packs. I think Immelmann, Recon Patrol, Top Fighters and Dogfight.

    If you've followed my other posts, not only was it a huge hit, it ended up being the Main Event for game night for several months. It still would be, but my lovely wife had a lovely baby that wasn't letting us sleep. I'm hoping to pick it back up next month though, and have an Epic Campaign Finish!

    It was a lot of money to put out without being sure they would like it. But, scratch that, I was sure. Also, it's accessible to EVERYONE. Wonderful game, glad it exists, because it fit right into my collection as a go-to game.

  33. #33

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    I've always loved WW1 and WW2 aircraft and saw the original starter on the used rack at my LGS. Bought it, tried it and was hooked.

  34. #34

    J.B. MacAdam
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    I was actually designing my own WWI air combat game. While checking out a game shop in Concord, CA. called Black Diamond Games, I saw these beautiful WWI aircraft models. I was hooked!!!

  35. #35

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    I kind of "backed" into this WoW thing. I have been a board wargamer for years. My main areas are 18th and 19th century land warfare, especially colonial periods. Also, I much prefer "the big picture" i.e. stategic overviews over tactical. WWI was a little stretch out of the late 1800s; but I always enjoyed ST's WWI and the GMT reprint. Popped into the local game store one day about 4 years ago and saw "Burning Drachens"...bought it on the spot. Within a week, I ordered the rest of the available boxed games and boosters. Lt. Col., SWMBO and I played a few games with the cards and liked it. Finally picked up some minis and we both liked that even better. It's about the only tactical game I ever really enjoyed.



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