I have played wargames for a few years now, mainly Games Workshop, but I have played one or two others - Celts for example. And this - Wings of War - is by far the easiest and fastest to play. Usually you have to wade through a rule book, and even if you find a friendly sort to teach you such as the local vicar, it can get a little too tedious for words. All that measuring, dice rolling, looking up tables, and then throwing saving throws. Allow me to explain the tedium to the not-yet-initiated reader.
You know there is nothing more irritating in wargaming than setting up an army, 'rolling to hit', reading the rule book to find the modifiers which will either add or take away the ability to hit your target, then deciding if they are in cover - a total time of around 15 minutes for one shot sometimes - for your opponent to role one dice as a saver throw and escape damage.
It's rubbish. And boring.
And that is why I only dabbled until now in the seedy world of table top strategic generals. But something about wargaming keeps pulling me back. Perhaps it is the love of rules, or maybe the way you aren't restricted to a board, as in chess. Or how in your imagination you can re-create what is going on. Well I do anyway! I always enjoyed the painting and craft side of it more than the dice rolling. It's quite a geeky sport.
The other problem I have faced is no regular opponent. Until now that is.
I have waited for 8 years until my youngest son was old enough for me finally to have a regular opponent to face across the battle field.
Only thing was, I didn't want him to play anything that would mean all that looking up and stuff. It would bore him stupid - like me, he is dyslexic. Then as I discussed my dilemma with another occasional player he asked if I had seen Wings of War. He had two kids, around the same age as my son, and he said it was really easy to get into.
So with great trepidation I went and bought it. Fifty pounds in the UK!
And boy was I surprised. It has really easy basic rules which are sufficient for a lot of fun flying around the table. You move at the same time as the other players (of which you can have up to however many planes you have), and as soon as you move you are either shooting or planning your next move. There's no hanging around, no looking up tables, no examining the rules to see if Thral the ork slayer can hit Zoink the Ork with a level two spell because Zoink is wearing mistral silver and has the bone of Zubu through his nose. It's straight in, fly, 'dacdacadaca' (the sound, as every school-boy knows, which a machine gun makes) and then you pick a small 'chip' from the bowl to tell you what damage you have inflicted on each other. A couple of maneuver cards later to turn your plane around and it's back into the fray!
But then there are all the additional rules. Cool - it's not a just a five minute wonder game! They are logically organized, and build on the basics. You can choose which one's you want. Add in some altitude rules and you can perform a Split-S turn, which gets you back into the fray even quicker, for example. All in all I am hooked already, and my 8 year old son is too.
If you would like to know more about what's in the box, what the game is all about, and how much damn good fun Wings of War Deluxe set is, then please do read my hub. |
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