What boardgames have you played recently?

Sand Bar Bill

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Really looking forward to my first print-and-play game: Canvas Falcons. A WWI aerial combat game that looks to be in the mold of the old Air Superiority game from the late 1980's but looks much more sophisticated in this sample Air Data Card.



Apparently this system will cover up to through the modern jet era but for now only WWI is available.
 

horseshoe

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Really looking forward to my first print-and-play game: Canvas Falcons. A WWI aerial combat game that looks to be in the mold of the old Air Superiority game from the late 1980's but looks much more sophisticated in this sample Air Data Card.



Apparently this system will cover up to through the modern jet era but for now only WWI is available.
D@mn, do you need a degree in aerodynamics to play it ????
 

Steven Pleva

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No...just a pilots license :)

But I had the same initial thought...that's a lot of info coming at ya. Makes pulling the three flight cards in Wings of Glory look pretty damn simple.

Bill
I play Fighting Wings and the cards look almost as intimidating, but once you have a game or two under your belt it plays pretty easily...

Steve
 

Bill Cirillo

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I play Fighting Wings and the cards look almost as intimidating, but once you have a game or two under your belt it plays pretty easily...

Steve
I bet all three games come with the same machine gun mouth noises though...plus the Wings of War/Wings of Glory miniatures are just so cool to fly around. It's like the old Dog Fight on steroids.
 

Bill Cirillo

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That game is okay, but the 2-D flight thing just doesn't do it for me. I need 3-D...
It's a pretty good beer and pretzels game. We once had 3 or 4 of my son's non-wargaming buddies and their dads all having a blast one night in an 8 on 8 dogfight around the dining room table. Total blast and the paint jobs were wild!

The best was the one kid who kept screwing up his left from his right and kept flying off the table. We still bust on him for that display of flying expertise. :)
 

horseshoe

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No...just a pilots license :)

But I had the same initial thought...that's a lot of info coming at ya. Makes pulling the three flight cards in Wings of Glory look pretty damn simple.

Bill
Its the thrust and drag vs takeoff speed that got me. I'll skip this one..:nuts:
 

Steven Pleva

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Its the thrust and drag vs takeoff speed that got me. I'll skip this one..:nuts:
I think it is thrust and drag vs start speed. It changes by elevation. That part looks pretty simple. Just cross reference your altitude to your speed and it tells you how much thrust and drag you have. Glancing at this chart tells you most of what you need to know regarding the flight characteristics of the A/C. That part is probably pretty straight forward. Maneuvering is probably a little trickier...

Steve
 

horseshoe

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I think it is thrust and drag vs start speed. It changes by elevation. That part looks pretty simple. Just cross reference your altitude to your speed and it tells you how much thrust and drag you have. Glancing at this chart tells you most of what you need to know regarding the flight characteristics of the A/C. That part is probably pretty straight forward. Maneuvering is probably a little trickier...

Steve
You're right. Still clueless as to what it means and how you would have to use it during the game..
 

Paul M. Weir

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I used to be a big fan of SPI's Air War, back in the day, despite its limitations. Once PC combat flight simulations came out then the cardboard variety lost their appeal for me. While there are many First Person Shooters around the FPS holds little appeal to me as real ground combat is so much about groups rather than individuals. The CFS type is as close to FPS while being fairly close to real life (yeah I know that aircraft were supposed to operate in pairs, Vics of 3 or 2 pairs for 4, but it didn't always work out that way). I still regard IL-2 Sturmovik 1946 as the best, something like 15 years old and still patches being produced every year or two.

Apart from the obvious graphical advantage, I always felt that the experience of flying a FSP, IE climbing, loosing speed and maybe stalling, diving, trying to get a bead on a rolling target, etc gave me a much intuitive grasp of the problems facing a real pilot, almost a magnitude greater than a cardboard version. You can note your plane slowing down in realtime as opposed to looking up a table and saying "what does that mean?". The CFS genre is, to my mind, one of the few that come close to real combat.
 

Houlie

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Played Wir Sind Das Volk! (We are the People) a bit ago and really enjoyed it. Focused on the Cold War years in East/West Germany from 1945 to when David Hasselhoff rocked down the Wall in 1989. Focus is on economics and unrest. Plays in a couple hours.

View attachment 48121
 

Srynerson

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Really looking forward to my first print-and-play game: Canvas Falcons. A WWI aerial combat game that looks to be in the mold of the old Air Superiority game from the late 1980's but looks much more sophisticated in this sample Air Data Card.



Apparently this system will cover up to through the modern jet era but for now only WWI is available.
Yikes! I used to play Air Superiority and Air Strike (and I own a copy of Speed of Heat, which I haven't had a chance to play), but this looks even more convoluted.
 

Glennbo

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ESG continues our campaign game of The Third Reich started upthread.

WINTER 1940
View attachment 48122 ..... View attachment 48124

These first pictures are from the German winter turn, 1940. France was conquered in the fall, and here Eric as the Germans prepares to invade both Yugoslavia and Denmark, which he took with the loss of only one air factor over Belgrade.

Scott's Britain got all of the French colonies as Free French possessions, and invaded an unprotected Sardinia after conquering Libya, so the Italians are left with only Albania, and the Mediterranean Sea is a big British lake.

My Russians, having conquered Turkey in winter of '39, spent three seasons - spring, summer, and fall - trying to conquer Greece. I just could not take Athens, getting two attacker eliminated drs on my two 1-1 attacks, until I finally got serious in the fall with a successful 2-1 attack. Aside from the troop losses, I wasted 55 points in offensive options and the declaration of war, so my BRP growth in 1941 was minimal.

SUMMER 1941
View attachment 48123

This second picture is of the beginning of German summer, 1941 turn where we stopped for the night. They have declared war on Russia, and chosen the offensive option, although we haven't started moving yet.

Britain is choosing the pass option every turn, even though I have been exhorting Scott to invade Italy. I have also begun to beg for Murmansk Convoys, but he says he will not give me any BRPs! The lousy miser! Norway is still neutral, and I also suggested he invade that. But nothing. He seems to enjoy just gloating over the Mediterranean, and shuffling troops around. Having to guard Turkey is draining my Russian front, but I'm hoping to hold it and Greece at least until spring of '42 to get the BRPs for both.
 
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Randy Strader

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You're right. Still clueless as to what it means and how you would have to use it during the game..
This has to due with density altitude. In basic terms, the altitude the plane "thinks" it is at rises with a combination of true elevation plus higher air temperature. At high and hot airports, e.g. El Paso in the summer, air pressure is reduced, and an airfoil will generate far less lift. The result is that the airplane will need a longer runway (or higher takeoff speed holding runway length constant) to get off the ground, and if already in the air will climb at a lower rate. Climbing at a lower rate = not good for air combat :) It's pretty neat that this game incorporates this aspect of aviation.
 

Blackcloud6

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My Russians, having conquered Turkey in winter of '39, spent three seasons - spring, summer, and fall - trying to conquer Greece.
Must... not... make... joke... about Glennbo... taking it Greek...
 

Cult.44

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ESG continues our campaign game of The Third Reich started upthread.
... snip
Looks like a good game. The Germans still have chances but need to make hay if they want to win, otherwise they're slugging it out for a stalemate. Russia taking Turkey can be a mixed blessing but does open up interesting possibilities for both sides.
 
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