"What Period?" Topic

I'm not a newbie to aerial wargaming, but I suspect some are, or will be.

So, the obvious question is, what period to choose, e.g.:

WWI
Spanish Civil War
WWII – multiple theatres and combatants to choose from
Korean War
Vietnam War
Indo-Pakistani War
Greeks vs. Turks
Iran vs. Iraq
Taiwan vs. China
Brits vs. Argies in the Falklands'
Cold War – pick your favorite countries and aircraft
Ultra-Modern – again, lots of flashpoints and nations to choose

Lots to choose from, in addition to the above, but that's a good start, and a nice round number of one dozen, so if you can't decide, you can roll 1D12 to select a period, randomly.

Arabs vs. Israelis from various periods may be substituted for the above, in various wars and skirmishes too, or perhaps add a few more and roll 1D20 instead – 1948, 1956, 1967, early 1970s, 1973, and 1982.

;-)

Feel free to discuss the relative merits of the periods, if you'd like, for newbies.

Depends what you want from the game. For me I would stop at the early 80s before missiles become too effective. From the periods I've played these are my thoughts for what they are worth.

WW1 – plenty of variety as aircraft develop, try to be period specific so that you only pitch aircraft against each other that would have met.
Spanish Civil War – lots of weird stuff early on, but rapidly boils down to German/Italian late 30s v Soviet late 30s. Also battles tended to be between quite large numbers.
WW2 – from bi-planes to jets, fighter v fighter, fighter v bomber, cold weather, hot weather and everything in between. Pick an era and focus on it, different theatres of war had different types of aircraft and different tactics. Also don't forget the likes of Finland v Soviet Union where the Finns had aircraft from both Allied and Axis powers.
Korea – pretty much Sabres v Mig 15s for the most part but still dog fighting.
Vietnam – early missiles which are not particularly effective. A smaller variety of aircraft but position becomes even more important.
Indo-Pakistan – you name it, it was probably there! Well not quite, but a vast range of early jets on both sides, especially for the 1965 war. Vampires, Gnats, Sabres, Starfighters, Canberra, Migs, Mirages plenty of fun to be had considering the 2 main conflicts (1965 and 1972) only lasted a total of 5 weeks combined.
Falklands – limited range of attract, Sea Harriers for the Brits, Mirages and Skyhawks for Argentina (Canberras if you want a target, the Super Etendards operated too far away to be included). Main difference is in missile capability with the Brits having later Sidewinders available which had all round capability.

I've played and enjoyed all of them. Also there is plenty of scope for "What if" fights during the cold war, or even "imaginations" using aircraft from any period you like.

I think people who want to get into aerial wargaming already have a period in mind, so I see the issue more as a "where can I find planes for the Indo-Pakistani War?" problem that needs to be solved.

No missiles. Wimps. As a long time ago Air Superiority addict this is akin to blasphemy.

Its tons of fun watching your opponent taunt you as he disengages only to notice the flash of a successful missile launch. The taunt turns to fear instantly as a pair of aphids launched from a "seemingly" pathetic Syrian MiG 23 track true on his vaunted Israeli Kifir. Sure he deaks the first which puts him out of position and there goes another invincible IDF pilot down in flames over the Bekka in '80.

Also the manly man anguish of trying to maintain missile and radar parameters using early 1950s beam riding technology to allow your primitive slightly guided rockets to punch holes in the wave of Commie atrocity committing flying junk heaps. Ah, the memories!

Stephen

Don't forget the 1969 Football War – Honduran F4U Corsairs vs. Salvadorian FG1 Corsairs and P-51 Mustangs!

I would go for Iran – Iraq

Bi-planes

79thPA try Tumbling Dice 1:600 scale, they pretty much cover both sides.
Stephen M please read what I wrote! I said stop at the early 80s, not altogether. I agree entirely with the difficulties regarding the earlier missiles.

Even more fun with missiles, when the pilot fires them, and they either plummet to the ground, or go stupid and sail clear past the target, without tracking it properly.

Well, at least fun for the evil GM…….

Choose a period that interests you-I think I started with Battle of Britain, and there are loads of great miniatures for this. Pacific War, especially 1941-2 features lots of great planes for Japan, the U.S., UK, Australia, Dutch (Indonesia,) China, you name it.

Lots of great historical and hypothetical post war conflicts, again with lots of great miniatures, you just need to decide.

One more thing I'd also suggest is that when I order planes I get six of them, unless they are uniquely needed for a scenario. Six means you can have three players on a side each commanding a pair.

Let me also add that I game in 1/285 and 1/300 scale. I suspect more models are available in those scales, though they are no longer fashionable. Try Raiden, C in C, Scotia/Collectair for the best miniatures. MSD and Heroics and Ros can fill in. Some pretty good stuff on Shapeways too. Good luck.

Don't forget the Helicopters!

Jumped in on a game of Hind Commander on a whim a couple of years back. Although for other reasons it was not a great game (game master tried to do too much and was not well prepared), the rules had some neat opposed die roll mechanics for radar lock and missile/cannon fire that made for a fun, if quick and deadly, dog fight. Would not mind playing it again sometime.

There are plenty of WWII games available,Red Sun Blue Sky is one for example. I have plenty of 1/285th scale aircraft from Scotia/Collectair Germans, Japanese,and American. I may have some Spitfires too…

WW2 43-45 Med is quite interesting, a lot of teh lder planes keep going as new ones come in – quite a large variety.

For jets gotta be Cold War "incidents", so much variety of potential aircraft to choose from.

Korea is fun. It's also good for players of mixed abilities. Give the newbies MiGs to fly, and let them get good with one type of plane before trying something different. More experienced players can try their hands at one of the myriad early jet fighters on the UN side.