WW2 in the Skies

Taking to the skies over Europe. The base game covers the Battle of Britain whilst the Battle of France and Defending the Reich are covered in the expansion pack The stretch goals fleshes out the main protagonists and introduces the Belgians and Italians

A reminder of the Pacific version

The ‘sea side’ - the neoprene version is unsurprisingly identical - 40mm across the flat sides of the hexes

The reverse side of the seascape - the clouds and islands for the neoprene version are on a separate strip and require cutting out which is far more sensible as they can be deployed where needed.

Small counters - in this case from the Pacific version, mainly because I have yet to unseal the Europeans!

Aircraft data cards

Following on from previous post I am delighted to relate that I am now the very proud owner of the full kickstarter versions, including all the extras, of Fighters of the Pacific and Fighters of Europe! Fighters of the Pacific I now have two copies of - at least of the base game, the two scenario packs (Coral Sea and Midway) and the stretch goal expansion (see the previous post for details) - but only one set of the other stretch goals extras which is why I acquired the additional set. The kickstarter extras include an extra copy of the playing board, a neoprene version of the same, a pack of Aces for both sides, some bespoke storage boxes and a limited edition coin. The latter is a nice to have from a collection perspective but serves no game function.

The neoprene mat is a plain hexed seascape (hexes being 40mm across the flat sides) with a separate strip of neoprene onto which are printed some cloud formations and a couple of islands - these would need to be cut out to use but have the advantage over the map boards as you can place the islands and clouds where you want whereas they are printed in place for the basic playing board. Both the board and neoprene versions are ideal for naval games using models although the 40mm hex size would mean smaller models than I am used to.

No matter, there is a plan of sorts….

I do not need two copies of the Pacific version so will have a think about what to do with it.

Fighters of Europe is the real prize for me in all this. Covering the Battle of Britain in the base game with the Battle of France and Defending the Reich (US daylight bombing raids) as expansions along the stretch goals expansion that includes a whole heap of additional aircraft and extra scenarios. 

European countryside - 24 by 17 and again, 40mm across the flat sides of the hexes

The coast and clouds - these need to to be cut out 

The contents of the base game - luckily the Battle of France expansion expands out the Luftwaffe as it includes Bf110s, Ju87s and Do17s

Lots of extra aircraft….

….and even more! 

I am absolutely delighted to have these two games and all the extra bits and bobs in my collection. The aircraft counters are lovely and I will certainly look to devise some kind of flying base for them in due course. As is my usual modus operandi with a board game I am already thinking about what other rule systems I can use the components for. The map boards for the Pacific version I have already earmarked for use with ships (they would need to be small though!) and the European landscape could also serve for the Great War.

The rules for this system do not use dice or indeed, anything random to determine combat outcomes. It is all about initiative and maintaining formation. This may not be to everyone’s taste - the element of luck in aerial combat has been mentioned in many books (at least the ones I have read!) - and I would probably include myself in that but I will reserve judgement until I have a few hours flying time under my belt before changing anything.

Although you can read the lists of aircraft included in the pictures I shall type them out in full at some point but that will be for a later post.