Wings Of War (Distributed in the US by Fantasy Flight Games)
Back in the day one of the most clever and innovative games on World War One aerial combat I played was the Ace of Aces series by Nova. Ace of Aces was a deathmatch flight sim between two fighters without the need of a computer.
Each game came with two books, one for each aircraft, that through line art depicted what the pilots saw. At the bottom of the page were a variety of maneuvers that could be performed, with page numbers for each one. Each player would choose a maneuver and tell his opponent the page number. You’d then go to that page and then find the maneuver again and this time turn to the page yourself (it’s been awhile since I’ve played so it’s possible that I’ve gotten this backwards). When you were in position to shoot the art would show your aircraft firing. In the basic game you had to shoot your opponent X number of times to down him. Advanced rules adding more complexity to the game, including specific hit locations and airframe stress.
Since you only needed two books to play besides the portability of the game, it had no set up time. “Here, take this book and open it up to page…” Factor in the basic game could be learned in about two minutes, and you had a perfect game to suck even non-gamers into the world of dog fighting.
The series eventually moved away from World War One into World War Two, the jet age, and even an Old West gunfight! Needless to say, the further away from the days of canvas and wood the more the game suffered (it definitely failed as a game of modern fighter combat). It did also inspire the development of the Lost Worlds fantasy fighting books, which are still being published today, and a Battletech combat series.
The Wings of War series of games reminds me a lot of Ace of Aces. Like Ace of Aces its roots are in the daring deadly aerial ballet of combat over the war torn fields of Europe in the First World War. And like Ace of Aces it’s clever, fresh, and innovative. The basic game is also dirt simple to learn, and while not quite as portable as Ace of Aces there is very minimal set up and break down time.
At its core Wings of War is a miniatures aerial combat game that instead of miniatures (although you can now buy nicely crafted plastic minis) uses cards. Ideally each player controls one aircraft, although more than one is entirely possible.
The aircraft is depicted from a top down view on a small card. Each aircraft is rated for the number of hit points, the type of damage it does, and a maneuverability rating. This rating is tied into a deck of cards that players will use to decide how their plane is moving. The top of the card has a small line dead center of it, and the bottom of the card has a small arrow, also dead center. Both of these will become important when the discussion of movement comes up. Additionally, the firing arc for weapons is shown.
A turn consists of the players choosing three maneuver cards from their maneuver deck and placing them face down on the table in the order they will be performed. There are a few simple rules here; some moves cannot be performed back to back, and there is a specific move order one must perform to make an Immelman Turn. The game is also considered to be running continuously, so while you choose three cards at a time the next set is considered to be performed right after your third card, meaning you must adhere to the special movement situations as you go into the next turn.
Once everyone has chosen their cards the turn proper begins. Players reveal the first card and perform the move.
Maneuver cards physically show, by way of an arrow originating from the base of the card, where the plane is moving. A player takes the card and matches the bottom of the card to the top notch on their fighter card. Holding the maneuver card in place you then take your fighter card and match the bottom arrow to the end arrow on the maneuver card. Remove the card, and presto, your fighter has moved. This continues for two more cards, after which three more are chosen. Play then goes on and on like this until the chosen victory conditions have been met.
After each player moves there is always a combat phase if anyone is within firing range. Firing consists of taking a small measuring stick (included with the game) and connecting it from the firing dot at (usually) the center of your plane, and seeing if it can reach any part of your target while falling within your firing arc. If you’ve ever played a game in which you needed to check LOS with a string you’ll feel right at home. If all the parameters are met then damage is dealt out.
Damage type is decided by two factors. First, the stick is divided by a line in the middle. If the target falls beyond this line then it will only suffer one attack. If the target falls within this line then it suffers two attacks. Next, there can be a variation in the type of damage suffered due to the attacking aircraft type. In the first games of the series there isn’t a great deal of variation in damage type, but there is when the series moves into the Second World War.
The targeted player then draws from a damage deck one or two cards, depending on where they fell on the targeting guide. Damage is expressed by a numerical rating, a symbol that represents specific damage (i.e. engine fire), or an insta-kill explosion. The most common damage cards are the numbered cards, representing loss of hit points.
Players who take damage keep the effects secret from their opponents, unless the effects are something that must be revealed, like a thick plume of black smoke now trailing from their fighter. Since players keep the damage secret there is never any way to tell exactly how much damage someone has taken, although the number of cards they’ve accumulated can give some idea. At the same time there are a number of zero rated damage cards, so looks can be deceiving. When the damage points equals or exceeds the plane’s hit points, the aircraft is shot down.
That’s the system in a nutshell. Choose how you want to move, move, and hopefully get some shots in.
Advanced and optional rules can be layered onto the basic system, such as altitude and ground attacks, although in our experience these rules come at the expense of taking more time with not enough return in enjoyment. Usually just throwing the gauntlet down and having a melee in the sky is entertaining enough, although purists may balk at the 2D world.
Recently the series moved into the early days of World War Two. Pretty much the gameplay has stayed the same, although to represent both the better responsiveness of plane and pilot players don’t choose three cards, but rather only have two cards at a time out. New cards are chosen after each move, so players are constantly cycling between these two cards. Speed changes are also introduced in the World War Two version, which impacts an aircraft’s maneuvers, and damage is no longer done by cards but rather by counters. Oh, there are also a number of new optional rules, such as pilot qualities and fuel consumption. Again, while they sound good in theory we’ve just always found the optional rules to bog the game down without an appreciable return.
There are a couple of minor issues with the game series. While the game can be played by two players expect it to be a turning duel. You really need at least four or more players to make it interesting. Unfortunately those four players cannot choose the same type of aircraft, as there are not enough maneuver card decks in a base set.
If you’re interested in aerial combat gaming, but have no interest in the complexities of earlier air combat games, the Wings of War series of games is a good place to look for your needs. It’s easy to learn, easy to teach, and offers up plenty of tabletop goodness in a small package.
Now all we need is for someone to take the system and convert it into ancient naval warfare…
War Is Hell is a five part mini-series published by Marvel under their Max imprint (there was also another series in the early ‘70s under the same name), written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Howard Chaykin. Ennis has become the go-to guy for war tales in the industry, and for the most part he’s written some really good stuff. Note “for the most part”. He does have his fair share of misses too, and unfortunately so far War Is Hell is a whiff.
