WW1 Board Games

[WitchyWoman 48]

I am just curious if anyone else is a geek here and played any of these games?

I may be outnumbered by the boys here but you can thank my dad and older brother for getting me interested in military history many years ago. I have fond memories of my older brother john playing Squad Leader or Mosby's Raiders. My dad was into Avalon hills Air Force and Richtofen's War. My first board game experience was with RPG's like Shadowrun and Battletech in the FASA days but I got  into Dawn Patrol which is a WW1 air war board game and RPG. I even rolled up a Snoppy flying Camels. (laughs)

Dawn Patrol is so much fun that it can still be seen played at many Gamecons. I also got into several  games like AMBUSH!  and a WW1 Zeppelin solitaire game that came out a few years ago called

Zeppelin Raider........... https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/256939/zeppelin-raider-imperial-german-naval-airships , this company is also working on a WW1 aircraft version of this game as we speak.

 

There are a few women out here who appreciate these board games and simulators.

Edited August 24, 2021 by WitchyWoman

[+whiteknight06604 935]

I havn't played in decades but Dawn Patrol is still sitting on my bookshelf. Next to my Battletech, D&D and Warhammer stuff.

[MigBuster 2,887]

5 hours ago, WitchyWoman said:

There are a few women out here who appreciate these board games and simulators.

Do you think you will ever meet the other one? ;)

Have never seen these board games myself - what year were they released?

 

 

 

[+DoctorQuest 125]

If you are a boardgamer and have not visited Armchair Dragoons, please stop by and say "hello". I'm not much of a boardgamer myself but it is as good a community as we have here at CA but with a definite focus on boardgaming.

https://www.armchairdragoons.com/

 

[+streakeagle 871]

Until I had to move in a hurry and didn't have room to store my games any more, I had nearly every board game/miniature rules set ever sold covering air combat at a 1:1 scale from WW1 to Modern. I didn't have time to give them away or sell them, so I just took them to work and threw them in a dumpster. I didn't have TSR's Dawn Patrol, but I did have their release of Air War (a modern jet game originally published by SPI).

I did have several WW1 games/miniatures rules. My favorite WW1 game was the Nova Game Designs' Ace of Aces series. Each player used a book that showed photos or drawings of aircraft from various ranges/angles and the combination of the chosen maneuvers determined which page each player turned to. It was fast and fun, anyone could play with very little training. Yet, it was almost like playing a flight sim because you didn't waste any time plotting moves or take turns on a map. The most complex rivaled Air War in its attempt to model the physics of flight: Avalon Hill's Knights of the Air.

The closest I had to Dawn Patrol was GDW's Blue Max. I can't remember the names of the WW1 miniatures rules that I had.

The only air combat game I ever got any friends to play on a regular basis was Avalon Hill's Air Force/Dauntless series for WW2 (originally published by Battleline). It was fairly easy to learn to play and used pre-plotted moves. The Avalon Hill version had colorful, attractive aircraft data cards that turned boring tables of numbers into colorful bar charts that were curved to somewhat resemble instruments.

Only a handful of people ever tried my more complex jet games, like Air War, GDW's Air Superority/Air Strike series that morphed onto Clash of Arms Speed of Heat series. Avalon Hill's Flight Leader was a much simpler jet combat game that anyone could play like Air Force/Dauntless. Despite its simplicity and speed of play, it was almost as realistic as the other games with combat results comparing well with historical results.

If you want the ultimate tactical air combat game, it is Birds of Prey. Tony Valle, a long time Air Superiority fan, also has a PhD and wrote pc simulations. He came up with a nomograph solution for board game flight modeling that allows players to fly the aircraft almost as realistically as a PC flight sim with the game turns taking no longer than the older complex sims and only requiring the ability to add and subtract. It is a jet era game. The time/distance scale doesn't have sufficient resolution to handle WW2 fighters very well and can't even come close to modeling ultra slow WW1 biplanes. It is an amazing achievement and represents what I was hoping to find when I bought all of those other games and miniatures rules. Unfortunately, there aren't many people who actually own and play it. I have no interest in playing online/by email and I don't know anyone who will play face to face. As it stands, in the time it took for someone to develop the best possible game mechanics for dogfighting, PC simulations became the best way to get that kind of experience and with the advent of VR, I have little interest in studying and applying board game rules when I can feel like I am really flying inside any kind of airplane I choose from WW1 to the present. 

But if someone near Orlando, FL was actually interested in playing tabletop air combat games face-to-face, I would be interested in doing so.

Edited August 25, 2021 by streakeagle

[jerhear 50]

GEEKS!!!!   MY GOD...EVERYONE HERE IS A GEEK OF ONE STRIPE OR ANOTHER!

I was...in my long ago youth, an avid miniatures gamer, ACW and Napoleonics.  Played Squad Leader, Richthofen's war and Panzerblitz back in the day.

Oh...by the way...welcome.

Jerbear

[CastelEtzwane 23]

I grew up a military brat so we had access to the Avalon Hill and SPI games, but TSR was strictly about Dungeon & Dragons stuff.

Or so I thought.

[WitchyWoman 48]

Oh no TSR made quite a few war and sci fi games, they remade a lot of SPI games. Made the counters more colorful, upgraded rules, etc. Its nice to know we got some board gamer's here, I thought we did.Me and  few other women here in my state get together at a few gamecons (before the pandemic ruined everything) and on some weekends for a glass of wine and gaming. Its far from a  dead hobby,  Felicia Day is a big board gamer. Whil Wheaton from Star Trek fame hosts a board game show called tabletop which can be found on popular video sites and sometimes Felicia appears on the show. Simulators and video games are great but they don't give your brain as much of a workout and nothing beats a table of friends so I still do it.

Here is another solitaire WW1 tactical air war game coming out soon that I have had my eye on. If you haven't got people to play those two player board games, there are tons of solitaire ones out there now for one player. Also battletech is going stong, Fasa was bought out and the new company has made modules and streamlined some bad rules. Multiman bought out Avalon Hills ASL system and continues to make modules.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/294112/western-front-ace-great-war-air-1916-1918

 

Edited August 26, 2021 by WitchyWoman

[VFC_Baxter 19]

Yes I have Dawn Patrol. I had the map scanned and printed larger. I sometimes use that for Wings of Glory scenarios. I have lots of Wings of Glory miniatures, mostly WWI with 20 or so WWII planes together with the Battle of Britain set. I also have the last Blue Max boxed version. I have Sails of Glory and 60 ship miniatues and have just ordered Oak & iron core set.

I am lucky enough to have 3 friends with similar interests and we meet up once a week for a game. Unfortunately they do not like anything other than WWI Wings of Glory so for the time being Nelson stays in hix box.

[Rick Rawlings 139]

I had no idea these games existed until I joined forums like this!

[mandrews_2 11]

I've been wanting to get back into some of the WW1 air war board games (I played Richthofen' War a lot in my earlier years) , and I've recently gathered a few more I want to try.  Unfortunately, my wife's cats make game play bit of an issue.  I have a small collection of Wings of Glory models, joined the kickstarter for Age of Dogfights, and picked up a copy of Knights of the Air.  There are also some Print and Play games out there.

[WitchyWoman 48]

On 8/25/2021 at 3:24 AM, CastelEtzwane said:

 

 

Edited August 28, 2021 by WitchyWoman

[WitchyWoman 48]

5 hours ago, mandrews_2 said:

I've been wanting to get back into some of the WW1 air war board games (I played Richthofen' War a lot in my earlier years) , and I've recently gathered a few more I want to try.  Unfortunately, my wife's cats make game play bit of an issue.  I have a small collection of Wings of Glory models, joined the kickstarter for Age of Dogfights, and picked up a copy of Knights of the Air.  There are also some Print and Play games out there.

LOL My dad used to get so pissed off having a week long squad leader battle all over the dining table, huge battle 100's of counters, only to have one of the cats get up on top and nuke the table.

[+streakeagle 871]

The only air combat game I have left is Birds of Prey. I have giant felt hex maps that can be placed on the floor to support using miniatures. I built several stands and a collection of 1/350 miniatures to play, but I have no one to play with. I tried to sit down and re-learn the rules to play solitaire, but it is a time-consuming chore. Without anyone to play it with me, I would rather spend the time flying DCS World.

[+streakeagle 871]

My 1/350 miniatures for Birds of Prey.

[+streakeagle 871]

For WW1 games (and just about any other type of game), there are lots of miniatures available on Shapeways: 3D Printing Service in various scales. The models tend to have a bit of a rough texture, but overall the detail and shapes are correct.

[WitchyWoman 48]

What did that aircraft fleet cost? The old blister packs of ral partha and other branded  metal miniatures were not cheap.  I'm sure there was a lot of repetitive painting but it pays off. I used to volunteer time at a game shop, painting War hammer and DUST miniatures. I've seen a few places that offer 3d printed stuff, I may have to look into that for some of my needs. I been thinking about investing in a 3d printer as well. I have a few friends that make models and DIY household stuff with theirs, pretty handy. They aren't that expensive.

Edited August 29, 2021 by WitchyWoman

[WitchyWoman 48]

There is a play-test of Western Front Ace, from the looks of the beta it looks nice. This one is out pretty soon, I think before the end of the year. Its a solitaire game (1 player) and uses rules like AH's old B-17 game.

 

https://theplayersaid.com/2019/08/19/interview-with-gregory-m-smith-designer-of-western-front-ace-the-great-war-in-the-air-1916-1918-from-compass-games/

[+streakeagle 871]

The old B-17 solitaire game had a really good feel to it. It was more like a role playing game than a tactical board game. I was always attached to each of the crew members and rooted for the gunners to become aces. As in reality, it felt like a tragedy when any of my crew died and especially when the whole airplane was lost. I got Hornet Leader when it originally  came out so many years ago, it is amazing that it is not only still being sold, but expanded into several similar games centered on other aircraft, such as Phantom Leader. But I didn't enjoy playing it. I didn't feel like I was flying. I felt like I was just setting up dominoes and then watching them fall at the whims of the cards and the dice. Two player games that alternated turns (i.e. no secret plotted moves) and that had fast/easy game mechanics are what I preferred for solitaire. I had some 1/285 GHQ miniatures covering 1980s armor (M60A3, M1A1, M2/M3, M113, T-80, BMP-2, and a whole bunch of tiny infantry). I used the modern "Combined Arms" development of the Command Decision WW2 miniatures rules to play it. It was fast playing and fun even by myself. I also had the complete GDW Assault series, which was essentially the same game but with hex maps and counters. I hardly played Assault. I find the adaptation to miniatures made it both visually more pleasing and played faster/easier. I didn't even have terrain to play on, just an open floor. When I threw away all of my games, I threw away my 1/285 miniatures. GHQ is still in business and I have been tempted to buy them again, but I know they will just sit in a case and collect dust. I already own and store more stuff than I want or need between books, model airplanes, old PC games, etc. So I have maintained spending discipline to save my money for things I will actually use.

[+streakeagle 871]

As for the cost of my fleet of 1/350 aircraft: most are old style plastic injection molded aircraft. Tamiya has some nice 1/350 aircraft sets intended for their 1/350 CVA-65 Enterprise. My F-4's that have glass canopies, the Su-33s, and MiG-29s are Trumpeter's 1/350 naval jets for carrier models. The F9Fs, A-4s, and F-8s are from Corsair Armada.

The Shapeways models aren't cheap, but they aren't expensive either. Pricing in standard materials is almost the same as Trumpeter kits. I always buy them in the best material to get the best quality, so that doubles the price. The MiG-21s and MiG-17s are Shapeways.

[WitchyWoman 48]

Its funny you mention Phantom leader because I bought Apache leader (pilot ah-64's, ah-6, OV-10, etc) earlier this year which uses the same kind of rules but enhances them for helicopter combat. Got it during a Covid sale, plus two of the expansions. Was really happy to see some women in the pilot cards in the mix. I have yet to put some time into it and learn the system.

I think my dad had piles of GHQ minatures. His tanks and halftracks an stuff came in blister packs, like platoon size (4-6 vehicles). That stuff cost a fortune and it was tiny.

Edited August 30, 2021 by WitchyWoman

[WitchyWoman 48]

I had to pre-order this one. It's solitaire and  looks really good. There are previews of counters and the map... This was originally a buy and print yourself game but its gotten an update and been picked up by a publisher.

 

https://www.legionwargames.com/legion_AOV.html

[Janzen 5]

Played Avalon Hill board games as youth such as Richtofen’s war, Axis & Allies, Blitzkrieg, Panzer Blitz, Panzer Leader, & Tobruk.  I sold  most of these games in my mid 20’s but I still have Axis and Allies & Richtofen’s war.  I also ended up locating and purchasing Bloody April-Air war over Arras 1917 plus the expansion pack Eagle of Lille.  Unfortunately I don’t have room or a table to set up the maps with the counters to play.  My kids have long left the nest and our 17 yr old cat has moved on to greener pastures so there would be no interruptions of that nature.  None of my friends have any interest playing these boardgames unfortunately.  The new game Witchywoman speaks about sounds very intriguing.  Looks like another game to add to the collection. Cheers!

[WitchyWoman 48]

8 hours ago, Janzen said:

I also ended up locating and purchasing Bloody April-Air war over Arras 1917 plus the expansion pack Eagle of Lille.

This game you mention has gotten really good reviews. I have had my eye on it for awhile.

[jeanba 1,920]

I played a lot Air Superiority / Air Strike, that was real fun, especially The Speed Of Heat (the VN extension) and Desert Falcon

Good game, but on some occasions, I find the Tomcat slightly overmodelled:

Edited December 6, 2021 by jeanba