"Starting WWII aviation gaming" Topic

I'm a dad with a 7 year old who's keen to play a WWII aviation wargame (or rather, I'm keen for him to play a WWII aviation wargame!!!).

We both like the Battle of Britain, not to many tokens or complicated rules. Fast action. Fun.

We've looked at 'Axis and Allies Angels 20' and 'Wings of Glory' and like the sound of both.

Relative to cost, do the great and the good of this forum have any recommendations for us?

Check Your Six.

That'll do ya.

Easy to pick up, fun, lots of dice and a good feel to it.

Also a good set of Battle of Britain scenarios in the 'Over The Channel' scenario book.

Google it and you'll find all you need. Also a Yahoo group.

Is Check Your 6 not too complicated for a 7 year old?

I would look at Wings at War link There is a Battle of Britain game.

There is a free version of the rules focusing on airbattle of the Israeli war for independence but the aircraft are WWII so you could do WWII if you like. link

If you buy the rules from Tumbling Dice they come packaged with 1/600 aircraft.

Check Your 6 should be ok for a 7 year old.

The planes move according to a graphical move chart – quite easy.

Combat is rolling lots of dice. 7 year olds should love that

I think CY6 might be a bit much for a 7yo to play and feel a sense of achievement – in my experience (and I like the game, and play Jet Age) even adults tend to careen around the sky when they first play. Being pre-plotted it can be frustrating to see your great plan fall apart because of your opponent's move – fine for adults, a 7yo could lose interest.

I'm not familiar with either of those rule sets, but since WoG also shares the X-Wing engine (I think that's right), that may be a reason to take a good look at it.

Check Your 6!, the Blue Sky series, and Wings of War/Wings of Glory or whatever it's called this year are all doable by a 7 year old.

I would recommend Wings of Glory.

I'm going to recommend Wings of Glory. I think the card movement system will be the simplest game approach to flight physics, best suited for a 7 year old. CY6! involves a lot of looking up moves on a chart and writing them down, I think a little too much paperwork for a boy that young.

Wings also features pre-painted 1/200 models. I think painting 1/300 models is also too advanced for 7 years old. Wait till he's 12.

Oh look. There's a guy selling off a WoG WWII starter set on Bartertown this minute. Not a bad price. Better grab it.

link

Do you want to do small,2-8 planes a side or larger? If you want to do the smaller sized CY-6 might be the way to go, I must confess I have never liked it, I don't know why it just doesn't work for me, however it is HUGELY popular so….. I also think it is a bit to complicated for a 7 year old.
I would suggest the Blue Skies system which would allow you to start at 4 planes each and advance to larger numbers.

Surprisingly not mentioned yet are the Too Fat Lardies "Bag The Hun" which are full of period flavour and the sort of fun which a 7 year old should enjoy.

I would also think that Tumbling dice Wings at War sets mentioned above would be suitable.

I presume you are going to be using models? If so tumbling Dice 1/600th scale are great with a large and expanding range which allows you to build large forces at a reasonable price. Don't be put of by their small size the are a lot easier to paint than you think. Hope this helps. as you may have guessed I am an Airhead at heart!

Fatman

I forgot to mention that the CY-6 scenario books are great. Despite not usingthe set I own them all. ;-)

Fatman

I would start with the Wings of War. As he gets better, introduce CY6 and you can still use the WoW planes. CY6, being pre-plotted mvt, can be frustrating because you could potentially not get a shot off.

Go to the Junior General Website. There are two sets of WWII aerial rules that are simple and free. They also have downloads you can use to print off airplanes so you can start gaming quickly. See how he likes them, and if more detail is needed you can then look to more complex games. Wings of War has a nice look and feel to it and it is fairly easy for children to pick-up the game basics as long and someone in present that has read the rules.

juniorgeneral.org

I recommend Wings of War (Glory) also. I have successfully run games with a boy that young playing. I would also say to get several other adults involved and you help your son. The game works by plotting two moves and your speed. You simply determine which two cards you are gong to play on this turn then proceed to play them on two phases one card at a time. Don't be surprised if he loses interet in the game rather quickly. Kids that young just don't have the patience for a long game. And since you mentioned it be sure this is something HE wants to do and not something YOU want him to do. I made that mistake with my son and it was years before he would play wargames with me.