Came from out of the blue but looks a cracker!
The back of the box….
….including the aircraft types covered. It is not complete but there is certainly plenty of variety contained therein!
I am a sucker for aerial games although I should qualify that by saying that for the most part I am a sucker for aerial board games. In recent years my dabbles with miniatures have been largely indifferent affairs , perhaps with Axis and Allies: Angels 20 being the high spot - certainly the Wings of Glory WW1 collection never really took off with me (pun intended!). I was a huge fan of Air Force/Dauntless and the Expansion Kit produced by Battleline and then Avalon Hill but these days they lurk in the recesses of my collection, stubbornly refusing to be sold, despite being at a very low price. I digress.
My aerial activities these days are still largely board game based (with the exception of the aforementioned Axis and Allies: Angels 20) but with the occasional thought about using models. I have some 1:300th aircraft for Mustangs - the de facto successor to Air Force - that require some TLC but for now the counters will suffice. The two big scores for me were the full kickstarter versions of Fighters of the Pacific and Fighters of Europe. There is heaps of potential with these two and as soon as I get the time I will do something with them. I was toying with my flying base idea for both of these but the counters are aircraft shaped rather than squares so my Dawn Patrol WW1 idea would not really work. I will think some more about when I get the time.
The full colour 36 page rulebook. The rules themselves are 15 pages with the rest being mission and theatre specific campaigns, oh and solo rules as well no less!
Pocket Air War: Definitive Edition, is a tactical WW1 game produced by WBS Games (WBS meaning We Build Smiles) and I must confess it had completely passed me by. I had never heard of it until a local chap listed it for sale (the full KS version) and so after some extension research (yeah right!) I snapped it up. I am absolutely delighted that I did!
The turn template in use. The aircraft counters have a small line on either beam that is lined up with the marks on the device.
The game components are top drawer. There are some 70 aircraft represented covering the everything from the Battle of Britain to the Fall of the Reich via the Mediterranean and the Pacific and with a dabble in the Korean War no less. Each aircraft has a ‘dashboard’ or as I prefer to call it, a stick. This contains all the aircraft’s characteristics required for them to fight and fly. The aircraft counters are double sided with the reverse indicating a damaged machine.
The RAF, Luftwaffe, USAAF, USN, Reggio Aeronautica, Japanese Air Force and the Red Air Force are all represented but sadly no French. There is an extra set of counters available that expands the numbers included in the game - there are only pairs of aircraft so with the extra counters you can field fours. Hopefully some additional types will be made available in due course.
The game is all about maintaining energy which is where the yellow discs come in. Essentially the more extreme the manoeuvre, the greater the loss of energy. Manoeuvres are limited to turning, wingovers, sideslips, climbing and diving. Combat is based on the use of a D20 and fire is modified by target aspect, size, range and pilot quality.
As befits a kick starter there are some rather nice goodies that come with the game in the shape of four 50cm by 70cm neoprene gaming mats. These look something like this.
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