Unsure about using the minis

[Fokker Ace]

Hi I'm new to the site and have been playing WoW for a few weeks now on a very casual level with my girlfriend (who wins as often as I do!) and am unsure about the miniatures.

While I have six of them (four fighters and a couple two-seaters), we find them a bit awkward to use and harder to move around than the cards. The pegs don't hold well and the bases seem just as likely to slide out of position as the cards.

I think the biggest issues have been picking them up (the pegs come out too easily) and the problem of overlaps as we play on a rather small table and dogfighting is naturally a close-in affair.

So maybe there are ways around these issues but my girlfriend won't even bother playing with the minis at this point as the cards make for more enjoyable games with less hassle. Maybe its just the shape of the base I have issue with.

They do look great, don't get me wrong.

[Oberst Hajj]

Steve, I have some suggestions for you. Will post them when not on my cell later tonight.

[WilliamBarkerVC]

Wow, that might be the first time I found someone who prefers the cards over the minis!
My tips:
For sliding, get a mat, either the awesome Wings of War ones, or a piece of felt, around 3x5 is fine.
When doing overlaps, we let one player move first, and mark positions with a card to the side of the base.
We don't usually pick the minis up, mostly drag them into position. We also only use a maximum of two pegs. Just enough to get the plane airborne.

Hope this helps. I wouldn't go back! :)

[Setarius]

So far I have used my cards more than my mini's. Biggest reason is I am showing people how to play.
A friend of mine has played against me using his mini's and we picked them up by the base rather than the pegs. If we had any overlapping we let the plane on top move first to try to minimize the overall sliding.
Mini's can be fun but, cards are a lot easier to transport for me at this point in time. I do not have a carrying case large enough for my planes, 76 WWI and 12 WWII.

[Oberst Hajj]

Steve, this game is always going to have some card/plane sliding going on. It is just a fact of the game and the sooner you learn not to care to much about it, the more fun you will have.

As for the pegs on the miniatures coming apart when you try and move your plane, there are are several things you can do.

First, test fit different pegs together to find ones that fit tightly with each other. If you own a few minis like you stated, you should have plenty of pegs to do this with.

Next, put a small drop of white glue into each of the pegs and stick them together. The glue will help hold them together, but you can still pop them lose if you need to. Combine this with using 3-6 pegs for each plane. With them glued together, having the planes up a little higher makes it easier to move them just by grabbing the pegs. The planes tend to not come lose from the pegs if you are not picking every thing up by it.

Finally, look into getting the Litko flight pegs (http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/showthread.php?t=133&highlight=Litko) and peg toppers. You can drill out the hole in the Wings of War bases with a 1/8 drill bit so these pegs fit. They will be pretty snug, so taking them back apart require some care, but they will not come apart during your games.

Overlapping is not as big an issue if you handle it the right way. If you keep each plane at a different height via the pegs, it makes the "fit together" better when they overlap because the wings are at different levels and such. Setarius' method of letting the top plane move first works well. If some planes are really going to be right on top of each other, we pick one plane to hold it's position. We place that rounds maneuver card next to it face up. If needed, you can easily work out where the plane should be for any firing that round. We then play the next round's maneuver card and let the plane that did move last round, move again. Then we let the plane that was held move both maneuvers as planned. It sounds a lot harder then it is!

These methods have worked very well with my group... even with 8 players on a single table.

Setarius,

For transporting your planes, I highly recommend this system (http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/showthread.php?t=15). It gets a little pricey for large amounts of planes, but it's the best way to go. Not sure if you could get all 88 of your planes in one case, but how often do you really need to carry them all with you?

And you should being using the minis to teach people how to play... everyone loves these little planes and you would probably get more converts to the game!

[sniperscout]

Minis are the way to go I think.

I come from a wargaming with minis background rather than aboardgaming one. WoW does allow a qiuck game or two in an evening (especially if you play on the dining room table - fast and furious in a small area !)

I was at a wargame show in the UK last weekend and the game seemed very popular. Could not resist picking up a few more planes.

Regards

Sniperscout

[Setarius]

Setarius,

For transporting your planes, I highly recommend this system (http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/showthread.php?t=15). It gets a little pricey for large amounts of planes, but it's the best way to go. Not sure if you could get all 88 of your planes in one case, but how often do you really need to carry them all with you?

And you should being using the minis to teach people how to play... everyone loves these little planes and you would probably get more converts to the game![/QUOTE]

I plan on carrying no more than 30-36 planes at a time when I do go to use the mini's. But, I would need trays to hold everything safely.

And as far as using the planes to teach, I wanted to start out quick easy and simple. The next step in my plan is to introduce the planes along with altitude rules.
By the way, I heard today from one of the guys I gamed with, and taught, last weekend and he has purchased the game and he says a few mini's as well. I have also given him this sight to join for more fun and info.

[KirkH]

I usually play with the cards simply because I have far more variety with the cards as opposed to the five minis I own. Maybe once the number of minis starts to equal the variety of cards I'll start using them more.