Wings of War

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Review by Jody Nixon

Playing Time: 20+ minutes
Designers: Andrea Angiolino and Piergiorgio Paglia.
Publisher: Nexus/Fantasy Flight.
2 or more players.
Ages 10 & up.
2005 Runner-Up Best Historical Simulation Games

100 Colorful WWI biplanes fight each other in the foggy sky over the front. Can you manage to shoot down your enemies and become an ace, following in the steps of men such as Manfred von Richthofen, Eddie Rickenbacker, Georges Guynemer and Francesco Baracca?

Each Wings of War set is a complete card game which may be combined with other sets to play larger and richer scenarios.

Each set allows 2/4 people to play; the number can increase using more than one set.

Starter Sets

Famous Aces Box

Famous Aces includes a selection of fighters with personal colors of the most renowned aces of WWI: the planes are Fokker Dr.I and Albatros D.Va for Central Empires and SPAD XIII, Sopwith Camel and Sopwith Triplane for the Allied. Contents: 132 cards, 5 game boards, 36 counters, 2 rulers, 1 rulebook.

Watch Your Back Box

Adds other fighters and some two-seaters allowing bombings, recon missions and other special scenarios. Can you escort your planes to their targets and safely back home? Or can you prevent your opponent's planes from striking at the heart of your forces? Contents: 1 deck of airplane cards, 4 decks of maneuver cards, 36 counters, 5 gameboards, 2 rulers, rulebook.

Burning Drachens Box

Burning Drakens is the latest in the popular Wings of War aerial combat game. Wings of War: Burning Drakens can be played by itself or mixed with Wings of War: Famous Aces or Watch Your Back! to play larger scenarios. It includes drachens, AA guns, machine guns, air-to-air Le Prieur rockets, trench systems, and optional altitude rules. Contents: 140 cards, 4 balloons, 2 game boards, 85 counters, 2 rulers, 1 rulebook.

Aircraft Booster Packs

Wings of War Miniatures adds war game miniatures to Wings of War by introducing model airplanes on 1/144 scale. Booster pack miniatures are made of pre-painted pewter and plastic and come with a gaming base and a set of maneuver cards. 12 different WWI model planes are available in series one. The painted model planes are what really sets this game apart. Each plane is historically accurate, down to the actual pilot which adds even more flavour to the game.

The boxed starter sets mentioned above use cards to represent your WWI fighter planes and work fine however I highly recommend you invest in 3-4 plane miniatures as they add a lot more realism to the game.

There is so much to like about Wings of War. Its fun, fast paced and addictive. It has a quick setup time and the basic rules are very easy to learn. No game board or special playing surface is needed.

Wings of War can be played on any flat surface such as a table or even the floor. Beware! Flying your plane off the table is possible which results in your plane crashing and burning due to pilot error!

You will want to test your piloting skills out using a number of different planes because they all handle slightly differently as they have unique flying capabilities. Once you have a few planes to lend your friends large dogfights are possible.

Altitude rules introduced in the Burning Drakens boxed set adds more strategy for experienced players.