Nice review gives a good feel for the game. I was at Cold Wars 2017 and watched a couple friends play this. I looked up what I had written as a first impression back then. Yes, generally favorable. Here it is, I guess an introductory scenario, sans photos.
Thursday Night Wing Leader
by Russ Lockwood
I wandered into the frigid Lampeter Room (open gaming area) that lacked heat all weekend. Not too bad with lots of gamers, but a literal Cold Wars area.
I sat down to watch Bill Rutherford and Roger Taylor play a board game called Wing Leader. This GMT product uses a side-scrolling game board that is far different than the usual top-down look. Their particular scenario pitted the Flying Tigers against a Japanese bomb run and escort. Scale is flight (single aircraft image) and squadron (two aircraft on counter), not individual planes.
It's a bit odd to use side-scroll flying like some 1980s videogame, but that's how it differentiates itself from other air games. Since it's up scale from plano-on-plano dogfighting, there's less movement than usual. In this, presumably introductory scenario, the Ki-21 Sally bombers plodded along at two rectangles per turn (although they actually had a top speed of three rectangles per turn), while the P-40 and Ki-43 Oscar fighters went at three or four or so. Lots of stats about each aircraft type feed into this chart-heavy game.
Spotting with a d6 comes first, with success gaining a 'tally' counter -- only one counter per unit at a time. If not, the bombers drone on, the escorts drone on, and the interceptors head towards a Vector counter (which can be moved at the end of a turn). If in range of firing, then you consult a variety of charts, roll a d6 for a hit, roll more dice for damage, and then roll more dice for courage -- no that's not the right term. Conviction. Continuation. Dang, I forgot the exact term. It's a morale test by any other name, and thus quite sweet if made. Otherwise, the counter (flight or squadron) boogies.
My guess is that solitaire would be pretty easy, given the programmed-style moves of bombers and escorts. Components are top-notch. Counters track flight/squadron status on a separate display. For a first-time playing, it seemed to move along OK. Like any other game, more counters will slow down play while greater familiarity with the charts will speed it up.
