Books and Games.

[dansls1]

Shrike - you ever play 'Toon' then? Very silly roleplaying game, but can be a lot of fun - especially with the aid of an adult beverage or 6

[Ashrunner]

Back in the 60s, a friend of mine and I got so involved in Stalingrad, it was scary. It was the first wargame I bought and I still have it here. Submarine was the second one I purchased. Another good game I still have.

However, my flying wargames are (were) my favorites. No one wants to play them anymore what with computer flight sims 8v)

[dansls1]

I've never played a good flying wargame that had rigs and rules to handle heights adequately. I looked at a few and they always ended up lacking and seeming too linear to me. (That includes quite a few spaceship variations as well). Any recommendations?

[Ashrunner]

Any board game based on a three dimensional idea will lack something and seem linear. When I first started playing flying board games, I had a hard time getting used to seeing the linear aspect of the playing board and relating it to the altitude chart I was keeping on the aircraft. I would see a target aircraft passing a hex away from me, fire at it, only to learn its altitude put it outside the shooting parameters of the weapon used. It was one of those things I had to get used to. When I realized I could use the same visualizations in the flying games as I did in Submarine, things improved.

But the games. I have no idea which are still available, but I think the best jet game is a TSR entry, called Air War: Modern Tactical Air Combat Game. Very in depth rules from what I remember, a decent way to maintain the flying parameters your aircraft are operating in and varying capabilities of aircraft. TSR's WWI based game, Dawn Patrol, was simple, fast and fun. I enjoyed it.

I also have the three Avalon Hill games, Richthofen's War based on WWI, Air Force based on WWII and Flight Leader, a game of air-to-air jet combat. I acquired them during the waning days of board game playing and never was able to find someone to enjoy them with.

When I was flying computer combat flight sims, everything was so fast, as it should be, that I was constantly being overwhelmed by some dogfights. They were still fun, but I was missing my board games...hehehehe.

However, my favorite "board games" aren't really board games. They are book games from a company called Nova. I have five versions of the flying games titled "Ace of Aces" for WWI, and a WWII and Jet version which I don't recall the titles. I also have a Western Dodge City style version called Bounty Hunter. You can read more of these games here.

I think which playing flight based board games requires a new way of thinking to be able to "get into them." Once you do, they are fun, although they do take some of the spontaneity out of the reality.

[shrike]

I've seen Toon, but by the time it came out I no longer had a group available to play with.

"Ace of Aces" is a great portable little time waster. I've got the first four sets, although I could never get into the Balloon Busters. The interchangeability really brought home how you don't want to get into a tight furball with a slower more maneuverable opponent .

Wooden Ships and Iron Men was another great title. Sure to teach you forethought with the logging rules

[avro202]

Its always a bit of a problem when you are trying to create a 3D environment in a 2D boardgame form. Its a trade-off of realism vs playability. I have played a fair number of these, and it seems to me that games like AirWar go too far into the realism. They end up with such massive numbers of tables to look up and roll on, or to check for speed, fuel consumption, and rules to check for sighting, diving etc...that the game bogs down under its own weight.

Games that use a lighter touch on the realism end up being more fun and more playable. Ace of Aces is certainly a great one, but out of print, I believe.

[Stev0]

Board games are awesome. I think for simplicity sake, I love Axis and Allies. Then we move onto Flight Leader and Star Warriors.

I made up a deck of special events cards for Axis and Allies. The sad part is the Illustrator files are stuck on a drive with a dead controller card. Heck knows where my notes are for them, because I want to recreate them.

[avro202]

Lets see...of the games mentioned so far, I have Ace of Aces (love it), Axis and Allies (great with 5 players), Wooden Ships&Iron Men (good solid game), and Submarine (owned by not played). I have heard of Stalingrad but not seen or played it...but I do own its big brother: The Russian Campaign. That is a truely excellent game of the Russian Front. I have tried Flight Leader and thought it very good. But the guy who owned the game dropped out of the hobby and I only got to try it once. Air Force is probably my fav. air-to-air combat boardgame. It has its problems, but its still the best overall WWII air to air combat game, IMO.

I"ve never gotten much into the role-playing type games...which I believe Toon is one.

Its great to hear so many other people have played these, and are still interested.

[Stev0]

I sooooo wish I had time to play those beer and pretzel games of yesterday with friends. The bad part about computer games is the fact that people are not all together in one room when they play and DnD 4.0 edition is evident of that.

[Ashrunner]

Originally Posted by Stev0

I sooooo wish I had time to play those beer and pretzel games of yesterday with friends. The bad part about computer games is the fact that people are not all together in one room when they play and DnD 4.0 edition is evident of that.

DnD 4.0 isn't played with a group of people huddle around a DM, with tankards of mead and Coke (no Pepsi) within reach of everyone and the sounds of dice rolling across the table? There goes my Dungeon Master career for after I retire 8v(