Best WW2 air game for Battle of Britain

[Bellerophon]

Hey all,

I've been really into reading about the Battle of Britain lately - what's the best set of rules to run around in a Spitfire shooting up Me-109s?

[SJWi]

The ones that seem to have stood the test of time are Warlord's "Blood Red Skies", Two Fat Lardies " Bag the Hun" and "Check Your Six". My little group found "Bag the Hun" a tad slow but they are popular. "Bag the Hun" and "Check Your Six" both have Battle of Britain scenario books.

Plastic Soldier Company also have a more "strategic level" Battle of Britain boardgame which is currently on sale at £15 reduced from £60.  It is probably worth getting if only for the plastic aircraft playing pieces. None of their boardgames ever seem to have sold well but this one is quite good, and I've played it a few times.

[SteveBurt]

Blood Red Skies is excellent. It abstracts a lot into the ‘advantage’ system but the game plays very well and replicates accounts of air combat. Bag the Hun is good, but does play quite slowly

[SJWi]

Bellerophon, if you opt for Blood Red Skies I'd investigate using 1/300 aircraft rather than the Warlord 1/200. For instance Heroics and Ros British fighters are £1.10 each vs Warlord's at £5 each. Yes the latter come with decals but a sheet of 1/300 decals is easy and quite cheap to source. What I don't know is what other game aids you might need (eg cards and "special" bases).   

[Thargor]

Blood Red Skies is a good "beer & pretzels" game - easy to learn, not necessarily easy to master.

In the past I've played a game on Axis & Allies map boards - Think it was Axis & Allies Air Combat.

[Cholmondely Percival IV]

I remember some enthusiastic reviews of this game from 2010, which unfortunately is long out of print:

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/50764/black-cross-blue-sky

I believe the rule system itself may still be available as it has had a number of iterations. (I own the one for the Russo-Finnish war, but haven’t played it).

[Tommy20]

I’ll cast a vote for Wings of War/Glory.  If you can find a copy, that is…. It’s also more of a beer and pretzels game, but that makes it perfect for quick pick-up games.  At my local game days, I usually set it up on a side table, for people to play a quick dogfight between longer games. It takes all of two turns to figure out the rules.

[Martello Towers]

AirWar:1940 should allow you to field quite a few planes and not require special bases or cards.

[pauld]

In the past I've played a game on Axis & Allies map boards - Think it was Axis & Allies Air Combat.

Axis and Allies Angels 20

My favourite WW2 air combat game - you can most likely find the rules and cards online by now and substitute your own models.  Plane cards are in the files section of Boardgamegeek https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/121657/axis-allies-air-force-miniatures-angels-20/files

It helps if your models are able to show attitude (nose up and down, bank left and right).  I use 1/300 planes and a steel ball on the top of the flight stand with a magnet on the underside of the plane.  Job's a good'un.

Fast, intuitive and not being able to always do what you want adds the friction.



EDIT:  In fact the fan made version of the game FLAC (Fast, Large Air Combat) is most likely what you need as it has rules and cards all in the document.

https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/101968/flac-fast-large-air-combats

[Thargor]

^^^ That's the one ... Axis & Allies Angels 20.

[Jemima Fawr]

I've always been a big fan of Check Your Six!  It does a good job of representing the 'third dimension' in air warfare and a VERY good job of simulating the conversion of energy into manoeuvres.  It's also a very simple game system to understand and play; so much so that I used to use it as a training aid for non-wargaming teenage air cadets.

[snitcythedog]

Another out of print oldie but it is real cinematic is Mustangs and Messerschmidts.   If you can find it it is outstanding. 

[Hu Rhu]

Have you tried Wings of Glory? 

[Johnny Boy]

Morning All, anyone got experience of the Undaunted Battle of Britain game? I was given it but as to yet haven't opened the box. To be fair I'd never even heard of it so if anyone out there has played I'd appreciate their views.

[pauld]

Morning All, anyone got experience of the Undaunted Battle of Britain game? I was given it but as to yet haven't opened the box. To be fair I'd never even heard of it so if anyone out there has played I'd appreciate their views.

I got this for Christmas but have not played yet (I stupidly started to paint the central stairwell in the house so hobby time is limited at the moment)

I suppose you could class it as a 2D miniatures game but it's really a deck builder in board game parlance with a tactical edge, but ...

I own and have played it's sibling game Undaunted Normandy which is very good
This gets plenty of great reviews
The art is great
The hex terrain boards would make a great map for 1/300 miniatures any way
And it's WW2 aircraft so it's cool by default