Re: Wings of War / Wings of Glory Support Group

This Saturday is due to be another mega-WofG game session with the youth education group. I'm hoping for 20+ so we can really get some nice photos taken for bragging rights.

S.

Alas, only 12 players today, which is par for the course during the summer. Tim had some prime opportunities for photos though, especially on the bombing run scenario where three bombers had to turn in one corner of the play area after dropping their bombs. Six fighters assaulting three bombers with three escorts made for a serious pile of planes trying to occupy the same space at the same time.

Two big long games with a lot of scrums in the mix.

S.

Looking forward to some photos!

I stopped into Half Price Books here in town and I still haven't had any luck with that Pocket Encyclopedia so I'm going to have to hunt online.

But I did come out with Dog-Fight: Arial Tactics of the Aces of World War I and Aircraft versus Aircraft: The Illustrated Story of Fighter Pilot Combat from 1914 to the Present Day both by Norman Franks and for less than $10.

By the way, for the record -- Flying an Italian Hanriot for 45 moves, took eight damage cards, seven of the eight were zeros, the last was a one. Halfway through I laid them face up on the table and started crowing about how my fifteen foot white scarf wasn't even dirty yet.

After that the conversation oddly turned to cup-holders in World War I aircraft, and what each country's planes would have in them. As the lone Italian plane I at first declared espresso outbound and cappuccino home, but the other adult in the room was of the opinion that perhaps a guinea red would be a more likely choice. It's cold up there so I'm thinking a hot beverage would likely be the best choice.

S.

CoolStuffInc is having a sale...Which means the newest series (Series 5) is now inbound to my house. The entire series of 12 planes shipped for less than a C-Note.

Killer price on the Bombers as well...$16.99 (MSRP of $34.99). I might end up going back for a pair of those before the sale is over.

The bomber prices are about the best I've seen them. I've seen better on the fighters.

S.

Keep me posted if you see them again...I'm still looking for some out of Series 3.
The two-seaters have a MSRP of $19.90, so $8.99 is hard to beat.
The MSRP also went up by a buck to $14.90 for the newer single seat planes with the last wave.

Cross-posting this from the What Games Are You Buying thread so the true believers can find the link to this episode of NOVA on the aircraft of World War I --

VonTush wrote:

Sagrilarus wrote: Years ago we played SFB but "organized play" meant everybody showing up and building a scenario that was technically interesting and challenging for all involved.

Months (over a year perhaps) when there was that TrashDome XWing vs Attack Wing vs WoW/G I ended up with a vote for WoW/G...And thinking about that a year later I still stand by that vote because that's the spirit that is captured with the game. I think not having points, not trying to quantify the quality of something by assigning it a point value has made it the better game overall. And I say that while admitting that it is my least played game of that group by a country mile.

Just grab a few planes and slug it out, whatever happens, happens. Of course though the better game doesn't always equate to better sales.

Oh and speaking of WoW/G...I just heard that NOVA aired "First Air War" last night and I believe my DVR caught it, so I know what I'm doing tonight!

www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/first-air-war.html

Watched the NOVA show last night and it was a good overview of things. The focus was on this group in New Zealand who builds replicas from scratch from original blueprints. Seeing full HD color images of these planes in various stages of construction and performing, rather than grainy black and white photos or movies, was really a joy to watch.

For me being able to watch these guys fly these planes, seeing the engine oil splatter onto windshields and goggles, watch as they struggle to take areal photos, attempt to shoot opposing pilots and observers with rifles...I've read about all that, but I'm very much a visual person so being able to see what they were up against just gives me more appreciation for these Knights of the Air.

My gripe is I wish they would have gone on for a second hour. The last 1/3 it seemed like they just had to compress and condense to fit into the allotted time. And they didn't even touch on the tri-planes.

Isn't Peter Jackson real big into WWI dog fighting? Is he part of that group?

Did y'all catch that Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickenson staged a WWI dogfight prior to a show last summer? Pretty cool.

www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/27637906