Wings at War

This entry was posted in Gaming and tagged Miniatures on (updated 4491 days ago)

I have previously mentioned aerial wargaming in 1/300 scale. I think that 1/300 is a great scale for air wargaming, as it offers plenty of detail at affordable prices. Still, amassing planes for larger engagements can be expensive, especially when using large jet fighters or bombers. Many rules sets are also built for smaller dogfights and can be slow with many planes on each side.

I then stumbled upon the Wings at War set of rules.  These are made specifically for gaming larger engagements, including ground attacks, using 1/600 miniatures (though they would be perfectly suited for larger miniatures as well). The website provides free rules for the Arab-Israeli war of 1948-49, which give a good idea of how the system works. They are just 6 pages.

The rules currently available are Duel of Aces (WW I),  Scramble for Britain (WW II Battle of Britain), MiG Alley (Korean War), Wings over Suez (Suez 1956), Thud Ridge (Vietnam War), and Flames above Falklands (Falklands War). All are availabe from Tumbling Dice as set with a couple of miniatures for £ 9.50, and include campaign rules.
Future releases will hopefully include more WW II rules sets (late war western front and the Pacific). Thud Ridge could be used for playing the Six Days War, the War of Attrition, and the Yom Kippur War. I’m also hoping for a set of rules using third-generation jets like the F-15, F-16, MiG-29 and Su-27 in a hypothetical cold war setting.

A large collection of miniatures is available from Tumbling Dice. Most fighters come in packs of four or six for £ 1.80, making assembling a force of several squadrons quite affordable. They also have  ground forces suitable as objective marker.
A young, growing, and promising range of miniatures (aircraft and ground forces) is produced by Oddzial Osmy. They are distributed by PicoArmor in the USA and Fighting 15s in the UK. Prices are just £ 2.50 / US$ 4.25 for a pack of eight aircraft.

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