GMT Wing Leader

[danjay]

Interestingly I have played many of the scenarios and light is not a term I would use. Yes the rules are easy to absorb and apply. But the interplay between all the variables makes for a complex game. The interaction of energy (climb/dive markers) the position of the sun and clouds can lead to wildly variable situations.
So I think what I am saying is that on the surface this is "light" for rules, really there are only 18-20 pages if you take out the notes and examples. The result is a much more subtle game than it first appears after a cursory look.
More importantly the feel is correct. Sometimes with air games the complexities remove the sense of speed and danger involved in air combat. For example Avalon Hills Air-force, which I played to death when it first appeared. This was a well researched playable game but the constant referring to charts for information made the game mechanical and focused on minutia and the thrill of air combat got lost somewhere. Now, Check your Six is a great dogfight game fast easy to learn with plenty of feel but although it can handle bombers the game can bog down with large numbers of them. Wing leader has managed to, in my opinion, hit the sweet spot for Raid Vs Interceptor fights. Dogfights are abstracted  because this is not about dogfights, the real meat is taking out the bombers and defending against the escorts. Chewing up a bomber is hard, as it should be, until you get the larger gun packages.
If you have any other questions I would be happy to try and answer them.
Dan

[Barthheart]

Argh! Still waiting fer my copy. I got a mailing notice on Tuesday which means it will probably show up late next week... while I'm out of town fer work!  >:(

[mirth]

I have a copy of this coming too. Looking forward to it.

[Nefaro]

Genesis has supposedly walked back from a mounted map to a heavy cardstock one.  Buyer beware...

Sadly, even worse, I confirm that Genesis is paper board.

I'd rather have paper than that in-between thick card stock that GMT has used for a few maps. 

[Double Deuce]

Sill looking to pick this one up. I'm thinking about magnetizing the board and counters to play. That way I can put it on the wall and keep it up and away from the cats. That and I think it would look really cool playing that way given the game's side view layout.

[danjay]

That is a really nice idea I would like to see pics when you get that done

[TacticalWargames]

Once I found out casualties are taken at an individual basis my interest shot up ten fold. Really wnat to see more AAR's first though to see 1. What's it's long term appeal\playability and 2. How much of a story it can create.

I can imagine some games could be the foundation to a War Novel. Esp when units become personal. I think maybe Wing Leader is one of those games.

[danjay]

1) Long term replay ability. Well with what is in the box 23 Scenarios, 2 more as printables. After that scenarios are heading to the next C3i with more aircraft counters. Once done with those I can definitely see player created scenarios and beyond that DYO (not a specific system just read a story and try it)
2) Narrative dripping in story and those moments you can see in your minds eye almost movie like scenes.

To clarify I am not a fan boy but it is rare that I find a game that grabs me this quick. The only other systems that have done this to me have been Combat Commander and Musket and Pike Series.
Dan 

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Have you played Night Fighter?  If so, would you say the two titles are comparable?

[danjay]

Yes I have played nightfighter but these two tiles are a completely different scale. With nightfighter the aircraft are individuals. Wing leader has Flights 2-6 Aircraft and Squadrons 7-12 Aircraft as the individual piece. Yes you track individual losses but the flights/squadrons act as single units. The Tactical Flexibility rules allow for some Squadron units to be broken into two flights. It gives a feel of a large engagement. Nightfighter is a more intimate scale of the lone hunter searching out and downing one of if they are lucky two bombers. Here the Interceptors are trying to break up bomber formations and force them to abort as well as losses. Disrupting the raid rather than just shoot downs. The escorts are trying in their turn trying to disrupt the interceptors.
Dan

[TacticalWargames]

1) Long term replay ability. Well with what is in the box 23 Scenarios, 2 more as printables. After that scenarios are heading to the next C3i with more aircraft counters. Once done with those I can definitely see player created scenarios and beyond that DYO (not a specific system just read a story and try it)
2) Narrative dripping in story and those moments you can see in your minds eye almost movie like scenes.

To clarify I am not a fan boy but it is rare that I find a game that grabs me this quick. The only other systems that have done this to me have been Combat Commander and Musket and Pike Series.
Dan

Sounds superb. Do you play Solo or against someone? If have played solo is it still fun?

[danjay]

I have played both solo and FtF both of which work well. Because there is no hidden information and the turn/ initiative order is very detailed playing solo poses no problems.

[TacticalWargames]

Excellent..thanks mate. This sounds like the perfect WW2 air warfare game I've been waiting for then. It has gone onto my must buy list.

[danjay]

Where are you Tac? Might have a FtF time is we are close enough.
Dan

[Double Deuce]

So while waiting for my copy to arrive I started playing around with working on Polish Campaign stuff. Haven't worked out the scale yet or anything just wanted to see if I could make something that looked similar to the current counter layout (technically these should should probably be tagged as PZL P.7a's).