14 October 2019

1/600 Jet Games: Wings at War Recommendation Request



This post is a request for information to any reader out there with experience with the Wings at War rulesets.  I tried writing the Wings at War folks directly but their email server bounced my message back as undeliverable...

Now, I'm still working on the rewrite of my own jet game, Our Space Age Air Force, and hope to have it done and posted here before November. I designed my game specifically for solo play and I'll allow myself a little immodesty and say it's one of the only rulesets I've created that actually work.

All that being said, I'm a big fan and proud owner of many Tumbling Dice jets and I've recently discovered the Wings at War website. I'm intrigued by the various Wings at War rulesets, mainly because of slightly discounted starter set of minis that come with them but also because they look like solid rules. I downloaded the free Desert Spitfires game from the WaW website and really like what I see, at least for a multi-player game. The designer obviously has some knowledge of air-to-air combat theory, especially with regards to energy management.

So, anyone out there have any experience with WaW games, especially solo-play experience? If so, how exactly did you modify it for solo-play? The rulesets look like they would play well solo with simply a random movement order.

My other question is: which ruleset should I get?

I'd like to play out some "what if" scenarios based on a Cold War-gone-Hot premise, set around 1960. Basically I really want to use all those Cold War interceptors and early missiles.

I like the aircraft complement included with the Wings Over Suez game better than those provided with the Thud Ridge game but I'm concerned the missile rules in Suez may not be as detailed as Thud, or even non-existent. Flames Above the Falklands would probably have the most options that I could "dumb-down" for earlier decades but I'm not enthused about the aircraft included the Starter Set.

Based on my objective above (1960 WWIII, NATO vs. Warsaw Pact) which ruleset do you recommend?
Posted by at
Labels: ,

3 comments:

  1. Chris15 October, 2019 02:46

    I really like the Wings at War system. It took me a little while to understand the system, but once I did, it played really well. Over time, I ended up with both Thud Ridge and Flames Above the Falklands. I "think" the aircraft stats from one game can be used in another game, but I'm not 100% sure. I'm not sure that would be the case in Wings Over the Suez. Also, I am not sure what aircraft stats you would get other than British, Soviet, and maybe French. Thud Ridge is clearly mid to late 60s, early 70s.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. pahoota15 October, 2019 03:48

      Thanks Chris! Did you play it solo or multi-player as designed? If solo, any tips on how to get the best solo plays?

      Delete
  2. Chris15 October, 2019 03:58

    I played it solo. The opposing sides both had MIG 21 jets, so I used the Thud Ridge rules. As I recall, the rules say that the Americans always go first, so I designated the camo MIGs to go first and then the bare-metal MIGs. I have an AAR on my blog if interested.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)