Wings of War Fire From The Sky

I found a copy of the second WW2 variant of Wings of War in a model shop in Tavistock before we left for France, so thought I'd get it for the inevitable rainy holiday afternoons. I've played quite a lot of the WW1 version with my kids but haven't played the WW2 version at all, so thought it would be fun.

I set up a couple of quick games this morning to learn the basic rules, which are similar in essence to the WW1 rules but with a few new twists. The biggest difference is the substitution of damage counters instead of damage cards and the use of speed counters, which give you the choice of fast or slow manoeuvers.

The two games ended after no more than three turns or so, with my Stuka being blown to smithereens at close range by a P40 Tomahawk in the first game and both my P39 Airacobra and the opposing Kawasaki Hien blowing each other up in the second, again at close range.

The lesson to be learned by this is that close range is absolutely deadly, especially against fighters with cannon. We didn't use the advanced damage rules but, even so, it didn't make for a very long lasting game experience! I like the speed options, however, as it adds an element that's missing from the WW1 game.

The biggest problem with this set is that the range of aircraft is fairly limited, there being no German fighters for a start and a restricted number of historically compatible options from the rest of the set. Some of the types are a bit obscure as well, although I suspect they'd be useful for particular scenarios.

I'll have to see if I can find some extension card sets, or even the first boxed set in order to even things out a bit, although I'm pretty sure that both are out of print. There's a game shop in Quimper that might have some stock and I can always have a look at ebay as a last resort.