A Great WWI Aerial Game

Well, this is a great game!  Wings of Glory (WW1) has really captured my imagination and it is pretty popular at our FLGS here in New Hampshire.  I have gotten several new planes over the past week and one of them is the massive Zeppelin Staaken VI R.   All of the Ares models are beautifully painted making them really fun to collect and use on the game table.  For only 

$16 - $20 for a single engine fighter and less than $30 for the larger single engine bombers, they are really affordable.  Even the huge Zeppelin bombers at around $70 not that bad.  Don't forget, for that price you are not only getting a wonderfully painted aircraft, but the decals are historically accurate and they well applied.  

So, with the pandemic going on around here (were is it not going on?) I had to play a solo game to get my new Zeppelin on the game table.  The scenario was simple - a Zeppelin moving in to bomb dockyards at a small Belgian city.  Two American aircraft in the area (Rickenbacher in a SPAD XIII and Hartney in a Nieuport Ni. 28) spotted the German mammoth flying through their zone and move to intercept.

There were no German fighters available to escort the bomber so the defending gunners had to be really on their game.

Here are some photos of the game:

The end of the first turn with everyone charging straight ahead in an effort to close the range and get within fighting distance.

The first phase of Turn 2 and here is the damage dealt out in the first round of firing in the game.  This is devastating for the Zeppelin as it suffers 19 points of damage!  The charge has cost Rickenbacker

as he no longer can shoot.  But Hartney hasn't even gotten within range yet.   From this point on the bomber is doomed.  Now it is a question of whether or not bombs can be effectively brought onto the target.

End of the second impulse of the second turn.  The Zeppelin has taken an additional five points of damage and is heading into a final run on the docks.  Rickenbacker at the top has taken a jammed rudder and damaged machine gun.  He is effectively out of the fight.  Hartney at the bottom of the photo dealt out the damage to the bomber but is now suffering from a smoking engine.

The bomber moves away from the target during Turn 3 as the docks are pulverized by the entire bomb load.  Rickenbacker is headed back to base to have his machine guns and aircraft repaired.  Hartney turns around to take his revenge on the bomber.

Rickenbacker flies off the board.  The docks burn.  Hartney puts the final five points of damage on the bomber and it slowly falls into the fields just outside of the Town.

The final damage cards for the bomber.

Final damage records for the two fighters.

   As I said, I really like this game and I look forward to many more games in the future.