A more mature game?

[afilter]

I have taken it on as my duty as a good father (so I tell my wife) to introduce my children to gaming. They love it!

Sure they like video games and all that stuff as well, but all three seek out traditional gaming as a form of entertainment as well. I was gone one weekend and came home to find my boys playing Axis and Allies on their own. My 10 yr old daughter loves playing WoW as well as Battle cry.

Youth are very keen to visual simuli, so minis definately have caught their attention. Recently I pulled out one of my old Avalon Hill board games(Gettysburg) with cardboard counters and played with my son...he was amazed that a game with out minis could be that fun.

There is just so much that competes for their time these days that being exposed to gaming is more and more of a challenge.

[sparty]

We had a summer routine.

Any day that was sunny in the summer, we played "Guns" outside in the woods near our neighborhood. Any day that was decent in the winter we played hockey on the pond.

Every night in the summer that was good we taunted the bats with tennis balls that had warm water on them. Every night in the winter we played, "bloody murder."

And every day that sucked outside... We played boardgames inside.

Best routine ever. One of the few things I got totally right as a kid.

[Carl_Brisgamer]

I have taken it on as my duty as a good father (so I tell my wife) to introduce my children to gaming. They love it!

......

There is just so much that competes for their time these days that being exposed to gaming is more and more of a challenge.

Aaron,

I think it is a time thing. Despite the thinking 40 years ago that we would have more leisure time now I think it has proved the opposite. Video games require very little set up - tear down time, they can be played in 15 minute chunks. But playing face to face board games with parents and peers, either competitive or cooperative, teaches kids so many useful skills they just can't get from a video or computer screen.

We try and have a family game night each week. My two kids, my wife and I all pick a game and we all play each one in turn. The kids learn how to win with humility and how to lose graciously, how to read when someone is trying to bluff them (my 8 year son tells me I put on the "no mate, they have run out of fries at McDonalds" face I used on him when he was 2), taking turns, listening to and following instructions, negotiating problems, understanding and compehending narrative, and the list goes on.

Not to mention the warm inner glow you get during a Wings of War game when you send some other poor sap down in flames!

Cheers,

Carl.

[sparty]

...I put on the "no mate, they have run out of fries at McDonalds" face I used on him when he was 2....

I had no idea that this was a standard face around the world...

[SgtWaka]

I was surprised when i started in to A&A minis that the age groups were fairly diverse. All kinds from many ages. Seeing this poll, it looks like at 47 i am in the mid to "old Fart" group

[Cruthers]

Aaron,

...I put on the "no mate, they have run out of fries at McDonalds" face ...

That made me laugh. A bit like when I tell my son that when the ice cream van plays their jingle, it means they've run out of ice cream

[CappyTom]

I was surprised when i started in to A&A minis that the age groups were fairly diverse. All kinds from many ages. Seeing this poll, it looks like at 47 i am in the mid to "old Fart" group

Up in Toledo we play that game a lot. We have many high-school students that like the A&A minis as well as the WoW.

Tom

[sparty]

A&A Minis had a REALLY strong start here, but it is nearly dead. I mean they had 2 league nights at the same store for it and it was full. Now...I don't even think it runs any more.

Now...Heroscape...that's another story. Tons of Heroscape gamers are around and about.

[CappyTom]

The kids like to play Star War minis if not A&A minis. They are so fickle.

Tom

[Lowell Throttle]

48 here
I started board gamming in 1976 with an old SPI title of "Up Scope" the hunting of U-boats in WW2.
From there on to Panzer Leader/Blitz and then took up F.I.T.S. or for
those who don't know Fight in the Skies - which later became Dawn Patrol.
I've played a number of WW1 games like Aces High, Blue Max and Richthofen’s War.
I do like this "incarnation" as a mix between simplicity and some good action...the mini's are really nice to boot. Model building and collecting…two big vices for me.
I have played many other types of war games but always seem to come back to my
favorite subject of WW1.

[sparty]

There is definitely something engrossing about WW1 since it's such an undercovered modern war. The WW1 books at my bookstore include about 5 titles are are all sweeping retellings of the whole thing...so they're general and overall not that great.

[Jythier]

Historical? Who cares?

Miniatures? No money for those for sure!

I just love games, and I recognize this one for it's elegant design that makes it easy for anyone to play right off the bat, easy to understand yet completely customizable to whatever complexity you want. Also it's a FUN game.

I'm 25. If I have nobody to play with, I'll play on the computer or the X-box or Playstation 2. But if there's someone to play with, I break out the board game collection because they are so much more social.

[CappyTom]

Historical? Who cares?

Miniatures? No money for those for sure!

I just love games, and I recognize this one for it's elegant design that makes it easy for anyone to play right off the bat, easy to understand yet completely customizable to whatever complexity you want. Also it's a FUN game.

I'm 25. If I have nobody to play with, I'll play on the computer or the X-box or Playstation 2. But if there's someone to play with, I break out the board game collection because they are so much more social.

Very nicely put, very nicely. If your ever in the area send me a pm and we will play some board games.

Tom

[richard m schwab]

At 57 i have been playing organized since i was 16. The people who introduced me and my teenage friends to the hobby were in their early 50`s.
I learned chess in 5th grade from my teacher a WW2 vet.
I learned early that history was a mandatory course in school. I am a historian
without portfolio. I read my way through every history book in any school i attended in grade and high school. That still goes on.
Here is a bit of history. If you want younger gamers in Historical gaming you have to involve them. That means public displays whenever and wherever you can.
At the local Gaming convention this month, the average age was 45 by my guess.
I also do N Scale model railroading with the T-Trak module system. At my last public display at Thanksgiving last year i displayed some of my 144 planes and took DOW with me. I ran three quick demonstration games while running my trains. This year i am going to run some games at the same event. see link. http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/album.php?albumid=139
Go out and enjoy the hobby with others!

[Von Deekin]

.Here is a bit of history. If you want younger gamers in Historical gaming you have to involve them. That means public displays whenever and wherever you can.

I couldn't agree more. (Just turned 51, & have been gaming for 35 years.) I find the games with the most 'eye candy' bring out the geek in would-be gamers of any age. Example; I attended our monthly gamer gathering last sunday & brought W.o.W. with to dazzle any on lookers. It worked! While two of my experienced gamers were present we did manage to convince six 'green pilots' to try their hand at it. Ages of the greenies were, 13, 18, 19, 22, 35ish & 47. All had a fantasic time, & all talked about signing up for my W.o.W. events at local conventions that I run this event at.
I've found it helps if you explain the situation & give the players a breif history lesson. It also helped that I've revised the control panel & incorporated various home rules to help make the game run smoother (altitude rules, I think the original rules SUCKED) & to make it a little more bloodier. (critical hits reivsed, reduced aircraft performance from damage, RPG-effect, ammo supply, limited communications, etc.)
You've got to make the game your playing/running as interresting, realistic, player interactive & FUN if you want to see it stay around for a long time.

(GOSH!! Am I long-winded, or what.)

Anyhover, there's my opinion. Gettin' off my soapbox now.

[luckrider]

Sorry for not responding to my predessor but in general, as I have not been aware of the age thing, but it does reflect my group, which used to play the well known Tabletop games but has got completly bored of it and laughts now a good flight a night. And we are all over 35+ max.

But we have demoed the game at Games Fairs in Germany and it has also always been a big success with all age groups I have to say.

[Ookami]

Quiet interesting Votes especially when you see the domination of the 30 - 50 year old. In game Stores nearby, like GW for example the average age seems to be between 16 and 25.

[gregbond77]

Just turned 51(my right knee is 112 my left is 87 thanks to football, soccer to most Americans; go Forest). Did the Avalon Hill, Strategy and Tatics route. Does anyone remember the American Heratige game Dogfight? The mini's for WoW are the main attraction for me.

[The Juggernaut]

Setarius is right, computer games dominate the younger generations but I think it has more to do with a lack of parents sitting down with their kids and playing board games. I believe kids today see their computer games as "Thinking" games because no one has shown them anything else. I happen to love chess but I doubt I would have ever played it if my Dad had not taken the time to teach and play chess with me and my brother.

Absolutely true, I make it a point in my house to have lots of fun board/tabletop games lying around and play them often with my family. Even though it's really just my wife at the moment as my kids are too young to really spend time with this way (my son is a toddler and my daughter is just a few months old).

I personally think most parents these days don't spend enough time with their kids anyway.

As far as age goes though, I'm a mere 20, and my gaming buddies (including my wife ) are all around that age range as well.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Looks like there are only a few old pilots here. How many bold pilots are there?
Rob.

[leadpusher]

Being retired, I finally have the time and money to indulge in my hobbies. I like the 1/285-1/300 planes for the ease of painting and relatively low price. I can build up an armada relatively inexpensively. Not only that but serve a dual purpose. I can use them for the Check your Six game as well as DoW.

[Kashirigi]

I'm in my early forties, and I just introduced the game to my neighbour in his sixties. He really took to it, and he fondly recalled all the games he used to play in his 30s.

The people I usually game with (in their mid- to late- 30s) seem to have no interest whatsoever in historical games, which is a disappointment. But luckily I can play historical games with my wife. . .

Which sounds like innuendo but actually isn't.

[Gray Wolf]

Just turned 51(my right knee is 112 my left is 87 thanks to football, soccer to most Americans; go Forest). Did the Avalon Hill, Strategy and Tatics route. Does anyone remember the American Heratige game Dogfight? The mini's for WoW are the main attraction for me.

Hi Greg,
I'm 58, and yes, I remember Dogfight. Also Battle Cry (the civil war), and Broadsides (ships during the revolutionary war). I think Broadsides was the best of the three American Heritage games. A few years ago I was able to score a copy for one of my brothers. Still fun to play. I was never quite satisfied with Dogfight even as a kid. Seemed like it could have been cooler. WoW fills the bill. Wish it would have been around then.
Thanks for the reminder,
Gray Wolf

[rapier1642]

My view on the "maturity" of WoW is split, in so much as the "core" players and "hardcore" players tend to be a more mature group who enjoy it for its history and air simulation. However I also think that the simplicity of WoW makes it a perfect introduction game for younger players, and non-gamers to get into boardgames/miniatures games.

I think that this diachotomy of the game is one of the things that appeals most to me. Much like Go, minutes to learn a lifetime to master.

I will say the path I have seen a lot of players take, watching them grow with the game over a few years is that a younger player who sees a group of us playing will usually buy a single miniature, so they can join in the fun.

After a period of time, if they are interested in WW1/2, flight in general, or the game hooks them, they will usually ask about a custom paint job on the model or they will start looking into planes that cards exist for but no mini. Just so they can have a plane that they are particulary into, that is unique to them. About this time they usually also get the base set.

It is really interesting to watch the levels to which the various local players I have introduced to the game get into it.

[Biggles downunder]

Well I'm 62 so must rate as a real oldie! As a kid my dad was a keen aeromodeller (even though he was a stoker in WW2) so I grew up living and breathing aeroplanes.

I learnt to read with 'Reach for the Sky', 'Enemy Coast Ahead', 'The First and the Last', 'I flew for the Fuhrer' etc. All since added to my bookshelf since dad passed away.

Had the inevitable Airfix models hanging from my ceiling and discovered Avalon Hill, S&T etc in the early seventies.

Family and work severely curtailed my modelling until the late nineties and then last year I discovered Wings of War. I now have all three WW1 boxes (Aces, Watch your Back, Drachens), nearly all of the miniatures and a balloon-busters set - hence my need to still work.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Neglected to say in my last post that I'm 63 going on 18. Been war gaming and re-enacting forever.
Rob.

[RBREE]

Got this game for my 47th birthday (last year) and tought my 11 year olds son to play it. He then took it to a friends house and introduced it to 6 more boy who all play it now.

[Wingman Fran]

I gravitated towards Wings of War primarily not so much because I'm 40 and grew up with this type of stuff but because being a parent of a young daughter and a home owner I just don't have the disposable income to do alot of 40K or WHFB (nor the space in some cases). The expenditure, simpl set up and pl;ayability are more of an attraction to me.

[Greywolf]

I gravitated towards Wings of War primarily not so much because I'm 40 and grew up with this type of stuff but because being a parent of a young daughter and a home owner I just don't have the disposable income to do alot of 40K or WHFB (nor the space in some cases). The expenditure, simpl set up and pl;ayability are more of an attraction to me.

I am in the same boat. couldn't afford the prices they are asking for WH40k these days and still do my other hobbies as well. So I have recently decided to "Reduce my hobbies". So I could afford WH40k and have room to store them....

Wings of War
Blood Bowl
Morheim
Space crusade
Necromunda

it was a tough decsion but I have dropped everything except my favourite game: Wings of War!!!!

So I was all set to get back into WH40k when I stumbled onto another game:

DeathSquads.

Its a skirmish based game set in the WH40k universe. ALL fan based, and has been worked on by three guys[Mordheim, DoZer, & Da Bank] for the last 2 years.Very mathmaiclally driven with alot of formulas and calculations to make it balanced.

these three guys are the main development team. They have around 6 more guys who are contributors that help write rules, make new squads and equipment etc.

I am one of those guys [Lord GreyWolf] I am currently designing the Adeptus Arbites for Deathsquads. next project will be Genestealer cult and tyranids. We currently have Kroot, Space Marine scouts, & Chaos Cults in various stages of construction. Some will be out very soon others will be awhile away. [NB:Space Marines will be coming, when not really sure]

There are four current offical squads: Imperial Guard, Eldar, Orks and Imperial Rengades. [NB: the IG have five diverse variants to choose from]

So Now all I have time for is WoW and Deathsquads. Everything else I have either sold or converted into Squads for DS.

You will need to register to download the rules but it only take a minute or two to do this.

come over and have a look see what you think...

Cheers
GW

[flash]

I would play this game at any age - certainly would have jumped at it if it had been around when I was younger but probably couldn't have been able to afford it then (struggling now !)

[Gord]

I have a somewhat unique (there may be others but I haven't met you yet) perspective in that I am 55 years old and own a Slot Car racing track, Game and Hobby store.
I would have to say that games are the biggest area of potential growth and I get a lot of kids on game nights, mostly under 20. I am usually the oldest gamer (although friends in a nearby town keep threatening to come out and join us).
I have a "Stay and Play" philosophy rather than the "Buy it and Bugger Off" attitude I encountered so often as a kid and sadly still do more often than not. A lot of store owners are bloody rude to kids in spite of the fact that these are the future customers they need to start training.
I have game nights every Friday and of course the kids are welcome to come in and play other times as well. I don't charge the kids to play games (OK I sell a lot of pop and Ice Cream sandwiches; I am not that noble). I buy extra copies of games I want to introduce or extra materials to make gaming more fun.
We play a lot of miniature based games like Heroclix and Star Wars Minis. I just got them (and myself) playing "Zombies" (hilarious) and I am just exposing them to Wings of War. Honestly, they are fascinated by Wings of War and once I get all the elements I need I doubt that I will have much trouble finding people who want to play.
Miniatures I think are great for promoting gaming. Warhammer; even though I think it is a bit of a rip-off, is hugely popular with kids (parents hate the cost) because of the Miniature figures and the fun of painting your own army (are you listening Nexus?).
Miniatures are uniquely tactile in a way that Wii or XBox will never be. Playing your opponent face to face (with a little friendly trash talking) adds just that little frisson of danger (like a punch in the nose) that Internet gaming will never have.
I think kids would love to get into gaming but for two things; They need a place to play and people to play with.
Games like WoW are a great way to teach a little history and can be used as "gateway" (Tipper alert) games to other historical and tactical games and maybe they will even learn something along the way.
BTW I understand that the local library is playing "Ultimate Werewolf next week. I think I will check it out.
Gord

[CappyTom]

I have a somewhat unique (there may be others but I haven't met you yet) perspective in that I am 55 years old and own a Slot Car racing track, Game and Hobby store.
I would have to say that games are the biggest area of potential growth and I get a lot of kids on game nights, mostly under 20. I am usually the oldest gamer (although friends in a nearby town keep threatening to come out and join us).
I have a "Stay and Play" philosophy rather than the "Buy it and Bugger Off" attitude I encountered so often as a kid and sadly still do more often than not. A lot of store owners are bloody rude to kids in spite of the fact that these are the future customers they need to start training.
I have game nights every Friday and of course the kids are welcome to come in and play other times as well. I don't charge the kids to play games (OK I sell a lot of pop and Ice Cream sandwiches; I am not that noble). I buy extra copies of games I want to introduce or extra materials to make gaming more fun.
We play a lot of miniature based games like Heroclix and Star Wars Minis. I just got them (and myself) playing "Zombies" (hilarious) and I am just exposing them to Wings of War. Honestly, they are fascinated by Wings of War and once I get all the elements I need I doubt that I will have much trouble finding people who want to play.
Miniatures I think are great for promoting gaming. Warhammer; even though I think it is a bit of a rip-off, is hugely popular with kids (parents hate the cost) because of the Miniature figures and the fun of painting your own army (are you listening Nexus?).
Miniatures are uniquely tactile in a way that Wii or XBox will never be. Playing your opponent face to face (with a little friendly trash talking) adds just that little frisson of danger (like a punch in the nose) that Internet gaming will never have.
I think kids would love to get into gaming but for two things; They need a place to play and people to play with.
Games like WoW are a great way to teach a little history and can be used as "gateway" (Tipper alert) games to other historical and tactical games and maybe they will even learn something along the way.
BTW I understand that the local library is playing "Ultimate Werewolf next week. I think I will check it out.
Gord

Hello, I use to race slot cars in Georgia U.S.A. the 1/24. There were 3 hobby shops that had tracks and to keep the cost down we races stock cars. Every thing in the car was stock. The total car cost about 19.00 bucks and a stock controller was around 13.00 so for 32.00 bucks any one could race and be competitive. Everyone helped everyone so the racing was always close. When I moved away that was one thing I missed the most. I have a large collection of ho cars and a ton of track. Every now and then I get it out and build a 4 or 6 lane track and have friends over making a day of it. So what scale do you race up there?

Tom

[Biggles downunder]

...
Miniatures I think are great for promoting gaming. Warhammer; even though I think it is a bit of a rip-off, is hugely popular with kids (parents hate the cost) because of the Miniature figures and the fun of painting your own army (are you listening Nexus?)...
Gord

I agree, being able to purchase miniatures moulded in a white or maybe grey colour would enable players to create their own squadrons/Jastas without the pain and agony of stripping off an 'official' colour scheme. Maybe the 'virgin' miniatures would even be cheaper!!!

Wayne

[Gord]

Hello, I use to race slot cars in Georgia U.S.A. the 1/24. There were 3 hobby shops that had tracks and to keep the cost down we races stock cars. Every thing in the car was stock. The total car cost about 19.00 bucks and a stock controller was around 13.00 so for 32.00 bucks any one could race and be competitive. Everyone helped everyone so the racing was always close. When I moved away that was one thing I missed the most. I have a large collection of ho cars and a ton of track. Every now and then I get it out and build a 4 or 6 lane track and have friends over making a day of it. So what scale do you race up there?

Tom

Hi Tom,
We are pretty exclusively 1/32. In the 60's and early part of the 70's there were still a lot of public tracks in and around Vancouver BC.
I/24th, as you probably know, got waaaay out of hand both in cost and in the amount of cheating going on. AFX were really cheap and popular with the new kids and those factors started to kill off the public tracks.
Since the resurgence of Scalextric in the last 10 years or so, 1/32nd slot cars have gained a more solid footing and I thought it was about time to re-open a public track.
We are having a blast! The club guys are pretty much all over 40 and for the most part I try and keep a lid on the spending wars. Most categories of racing are either Ready to Run box stock or allowing urethane tyres.
Of course you always have a few who want to race "unlimiteds" and I let them go at it hammer and tongs but stay out of it myself.
When kids discover the track they just love it (I also do Birthday parties) and parents are finding out that this can be a great place to bring the kids.
There are probably a few club tracks in your area, it would be just a matter of finding them and wangling an invite.
Gord

[HardRock]

Gord,
Now that's the way to run a shop. The gamestore I used to work in had free tables and the night guy kept things open if he could play, didn't help with the shoplifting, but the owner figured that was a price of business. Soda's and chips helped pay for the space, and we hosted games we wanted to push, that always increased sales.

Henry

[Doug]

Gorden I can only echo what others have said, which is basicly you have a real good set up. Now if all other store owners could follow your example!

[Gord]

Gorden I can only echo what others have said, which is basicly you have a real good set up. Now if all other store owners could follow your example!

Thanks Doug and Henry,
I appreciate your feed back and encouragement. Funny thing about the shoplifting is that there really isn't any. In three years of business I have only ever had one thing stolen and that was a slot car controller. It was stolen by a guy who later got arrested for stealing womens underwear (which he was wearing).
I also tell the kids that I am the meanest man in town. I don't know if that helps but it does allow me more gloating time when we play Zombies.

I have a feeling Wings of War could be very popular with my crowd but I have had trouble getting enough mini's etc from my wholesaler, Lion Rampant.
They are out of most items including "Famous Aces" and most of the mini's. Frankly I don't see this game having the same impact without them. Unfortunately most of these items are sold out and I could either wait for re-prints or go hunting. When I decided to invest in this game I did not realise how important the "A" damage deck was and one only gets the 'B" deck in Watch Your Back. Too bad the decks are not available separately.
I have done a lot of scrambling to pick things up from other sources (evilBay, BoardGame Geek etc. So now I am twiddling my thumbs waiting for all the bits to arrive.
Again this where we need more unfinished models. I think Nexus/Fantasy Flight Games could do very well by selling unpainted models and decals, either generic or flight based.
The kids love the minis and if we want to get them off the computer we have to put things in their hands and give them a place to play.
Gord

[CappyTom]

Hi Tom,
We are pretty exclusively 1/32. In the 60's and early part of the 70's there were still a lot of public tracks in and around Vancouver BC.
I/24th, as you probably know, got waaaay out of hand both in cost and in the amount of cheating going on. AFX were really cheap and popular with the new kids and those factors started to kill off the public tracks.
Since the resurgence of Scalextric in the last 10 years or so, 1/32nd slot cars have gained a more solid footing and I thought it was about time to re-open a public track.
We are having a blast! The club guys are pretty much all over 40 and for the most part I try and keep a lid on the spending wars. Most categories of racing are either Ready to Run box stock or allowing urethane tyres.
Of course you always have a few who want to race "unlimiteds" and I let them go at it hammer and tongs but stay out of it myself.
When kids discover the track they just love it (I also do Birthday parties) and parents are finding out that this can be a great place to bring the kids.
There are probably a few club tracks in your area, it would be just a matter of finding them and wangling an invite.
Gord

Thanks for the feed back. Sounds like a great place you have there.

Tom

[Gord]

Thanks and good luck in finding a track to race on.
Gord

[CappyTom]

Your welcome. In God's time.

Tom

[RobH]

The 2-4 people I play with are all around 40 but my 10 year old son also plays. I just started WoW this week having played Dawn of War for about 6months and my son seems to like WoW more, I have yet to intoduce WoW to the rest of the local pilots here.
Robert

[Ducalutra]

Nice to see I'm on the young side of the players for once. I'm 32, and I have to say that most of my players are between 30 and 35.

[Air Battle Mgr]

Nice to see I'm on the young side of the players for once. I'm 32, and I have to say that most of my players are between 30 and 35.

I was happy to see the cutoff was 31 - 40, it was the only time this year I was happy to be 40.

[Gray Wolf]

I agree. I would play this game at any age. Would have loved it as a kid. I'm 58 but still feel like a kid and sure like this game. Having designed my own I can appreciate the thought and care put into this one. Flew a couple of sorties last night against my wife and one of her friends and we all had a swell time. Didn't survive the first mission, but got the photos and safely back over the lines on the second mission.
Gray Wolf

[Flying Officer Kyte]

How do you think all this makes me feel. There are only eight of us over 60. I have to console myself with the thought that this belies the saying " there are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots". There are eight of us split ar**ing about.
Rob.

[Snowy]

Lest we forget.....

It is our responsibility to pass on the torch as it were regarding this hobby. I think the youth are interested, but don't know what to do. They need to be introduced to this over time. Fathers and sons have a natural link, but let me ask those out there without if they have taken any fledglings under their wing? This is critical to the long term popularity of our hobby.

That's my 2 cents...

[Olt^Jones]

in my usual gaming group we are around 30 years old.im the oldest...

but sometimes we join other groups of players(anykind of bg players,not only wow fans) and the average of our age raises up

[Gord]

Had a great night of WoW in my store last night. It was Barker and Barker (Camels) vs Udet (DVII) and Richtofen (DR1)! Thrills! Kills! Collisions! Fun!
Actually it was myself (Gordon), friend Phillip (48) his son John (my wingman and 21) and his friend Harrison (Phillips wing and 21) and 4 observing. No "Table Talk" allowed while flying.
Because the boys were brand new to the game we played it simple (no altitude or special damage and no need for a straight before Immelmanns), any collision cost two damage cards and NO explosion card.
Impressions:
-Playing with miniatures instead of cards really makes this game come alive. Even the kibitzers remarked on the intensity of the game.
-Playing without the stupid explosion card was GREAT!
-Too many zero's in the A damage deck! In one combat I had laid 12 damage cards on Harrison (as Udet) for only 5 pts of damage!!!! He had 7 zeroes in his hand. John crashed into me for the 2nd time and I was down. aaaaargh Honestly, this was very frustrating and we all agreed that the damage assessment needs work. As I recall, in Ace of Aces damage was automatic: 2 for close range, 1 for long range and 1/2 for extreme range. I will propose that for next time.
-The new players picked up the game very quickly and we will definitely play the Immelman as written from now on! LOL
-The DVII is frighteningly good, the DR1 is amazingly agile but not very robust. Poor Richtofen (Phillip) didn't have a chance against his son's propensity for collision fighting.
-I love the Camel, I adore the Snipe. If you can keep your opponent to your right side the Camel is deadly.
-Playing on the mats really improves things both visually and tactilely. The minis are much easier to handle on the mats.
-In practice the 3 turn planning phase works remarkably well, especially in multiple a/c engagements.
- This is a great game. We played for three intense hours. After which we took a much needed break and played Munchkins until closing time.

We had quite a range of ages watching. Most were fascinated. Our youngest regular player for games night (10) got bored and left because nobody wanted to play Heroclix.

Gord

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Ran the school war game club for many years until I retired five years ago, so I guess I've done a bit for the hobby.
Rob.

[Attila57]

I 'm 53. I discovered the game and play it with 3 colleagues, one 40+ and two <30. Not on-the-job, of course

A.