Fantasy Flights: X-Wing Miniatures Game really appeals to me. It’s a fast and fun game, with stuff to collect, a massive universe to play games in and a large community of gamers. You can play with adults, kids and big kids alike. Skill counts for a lot, but there is still a place for relying on the Force.
I started to think about the whole movement mechanic to the game, which I had assumed was a new concept. Turns out I assumed wrong... Wings of War is a game that has a very similar approach and was first released in 2004 and has been published by a few different companies.
There have been versions of the game that are totally driven by cards whereas some versions have small detailed models like X-Wing.
It’s almost the same concept as X-Wing with a World War 1 or 2 setting (which I have opted to try WW1). Basically, if you’ve played X-Wing you’d pick the rules up very quickly. Rather than have a dial and a movement template there is a set of manoeuvre cards specifically designed for each classification of aircraft. You designate a sequence of orders to your force and watch the game unfold. Predicting your opponent and their movement can be tough. The combat is driven by cards, rather than dice. You inflict a certain number of hits depending on range and firing arch. You take a damage card for each hit, which can be minor or critical damage. As these cards are only seen by the pilot player that received the damage, there is an interesting element where you never really know how badly your opponent is hurt.
So far I have picked up these two duelling packs:
Pack 1 - Fokker Dr.I Vs. Sopwith Camel Duel Pack;
Piloted by the aces Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen and Roy Brown
Pack 2 - Albatros D.Va Vs. Spad XIII Duel Pack;
Piloted by the aces Paul Bäumer and Frank Luke
Each pack has two model airplanes and all the cards and counters you need to start playing a one on one dog fight. The box also includes some scenery cards that add to the missions and scenarios you can play. Example, there are cards that represent tranches and anti-aircraft artillery. The rules are basic enough to be fast and furious, but with enough scope to build on the basic rules to make this a very engaging game.
From what I can tell, it’s a little more tricky to expand your collection than X-Wing. If you buy an additional plane you’ll need to be sure you have enough movements cards and the right damage decks. And I’d also suggest that as there is such a reliance on cards to play the game, it could become unmanageable if there are a lot of models in play on the same table. Between 2 and 4 each side seems right to me.
