From: david.richtmyer@UM.CC.UMICH.EDU Subject: Solo air games (long message) Lambourne Game's Wings over France. Lambourne is a small game publisher out of England that specializes in sports replay games (they have a Statis- Pro type of soccer game, for instance). Their only wargame to date is a little solo air game based on the Allied offensive in April of 1917--Bloody April to the unfortunate souls who had to participate. This game is an operational level modeling of an actual RFC squadron that took part in the 21-day offensive: you have to fly a minimum of 2-5 missions for each of the 21 days. You get three different flights of planes for the squadron you control, which include both fighter and observer aircraft. You can run one flight, or if you really ambitious, you can run all three each day. Planes in the game include Spad VIIs, Nieuport 11s, and Sopwith Pups for the fighters, Be2cs, Re8s, etc. for the 2-seat observer planes. Just like Hornet/T&A Leader, you also have pilots for each flight to manage; they have great names, like 2nd Lt. Albert Strichey-Jones, etc. They also have role playing stats that can go up and down; these include flying, shooting and bravery skills. The bravery rating is not handled quite as well as GMT's Leader series does, however. Like B-17, there are no graphics for these stout fellows, and, with the exception of the plane counters (about one by one and a half-inch sheet plastic), there are no graphics to speak of whatsoever in this game. Rest assured, though, you don't need them: this game produces such a distinct illusion that your mind's eye doesn't need any props. At any rate, into this stew you must meet the opeational demands of each day. Your missions will include photo-recon, long photo-recon, artillery spotting, balloon busting, offensive and defensive patrols, morning and evening patrols, etc. And where this game really shines is *how* you fly those missions. The game board (which is merely an 8 1/2 X ll sheet of cardstock with a hexgrid superimposed, with crude ink-marker lines to show the areas of no-man's land, friendly and enemy trenches, enemy targets, etc.) is used in conjunction with a squadron marder to show the location of your flight as you take off, proceed to altitude and on to enemy territory, and hopefully, back. The planes have ratings, modified by the pilots you choose. On of the ratings entails AFT, or air flying time. It costs so many AFT to climb, so many to take off or land, to move to an adjacent hex or to stay in the same hex and 'patrol', etc. So you have to manage your 'petrol' efficiently so that you can accomplish your mission and get back to base. There are forward bases just behind no-man's land on your side; you can land an out-of-fuel or badly battered machine at one of these sights, but the aircraft will not be able to take part in the rest of the day's missions (and, or course, you only get six aircraft in your flight). Decisions like what altitude to climb to (which varies for each type of plane, if you are escorting observer/bomber planes on a mission, you must keep them together, as the 2-seat planes are usually capable of greater altitudes than the fighters and also carry much more fuel) are quite important. For instance, you can sail right over the anti-aircraft installations on anything but a bright blue sky day (yes, weather is taken into account in this game; you'll pray for concealing clouds and rain!) at high altitudes, but will the fuel you use to do same eat up so much time that you will not be able to make it back to friendly territory? Of course, not only do you have to watch out for the 'Archie' fire, but also the German Luftstreitkrafte. Each hex has an encounter number; you must beat this number (modified by the current weather, if it's raining or snowing you probably won't see anybody) each time you enter a new hex. Needless to say, those numbers get very hard to beat once you are behind enemy territory. If you do meet up with the Huns, which can include members of von Richthofen's Jasta, you transfer to another track on a mounted board. This track is merely a tilted ladder, with numbers from 1-24 or so, each number representing an altitude level. If the Huns spot you from above (determined by a dice roll and how high you have decided to go with your flight), they will usually go on the attack. If you happen to spot them below you, you can choose to ignore them or dive to the attack yourself. Once battle is encountered, you bring out the individual plane counters and spot them on the ladder track. Where they end up on said track depends on a 2d6 roll, modified by the plane's rating (for maneuverability and power) plus the pilot's flying skill. Observer planes usually end up towards the bottom, von Richthofen and his boys usually at the top. Oh yes, there is one thing I forgot to mention in the introduction to this game: the German Albatross D-II and D-III were more powerful, faster planes than anything the RFC had at the time, and each Hun plane mounted 2 machine guns to the skimpy 1 that you are faced with in the Allied planes. And here is also the crux of this review: the way the dogfights are played out. Depending on where the planes are put on the track, the higher planes will attack the lowest planes. Eadch space above the lower plane gives the attacking plane an edge on where the attack takes place from: a frontal attack, deflection attack, or coming from the rear. Depending on what type of attack it is, the pilots shooting skill and the plane's modifier (reflecting its ability to be a gun platform), you will get a series of numbers that if you roll on 2d6, will cause some serious damage. Depending on the results of this first round, the planes are rolled for again and placed on the track once more, and will do same until the DFD (dog fight duration) number is reached. At that point, survivors will automatically break off and head elsewhere. Of course, the dog fighting takes up AFT, so if you get into too many dog fights you will use up so much precious AFT that even if you are totally victorious (not bloody likely, old chap) you can still end up miles from your own lines with only fumes to fly on. You've got to do all of this for 21 days. By the end you will *know* how one of those flight commanders felt. I loved this game so much that it spurred me to do some research on the topic; one book in particular I recommend is the late Sir Gordon Taylor's "Sopwith Scout 7309". Taylor, an Aussie, flew for the RFC, took part in Bloody April, and survived to tell the story. Besides loving aviation, he went on to become an accomplished writer; this is a wonderful book not just for an inside account of aviation history, but also the story of a person who deals with the inhumanity of war and comes to a resolution at the book's end about his fallen comrades, both Allied and German. A wonderful read. Well, I've rambled on quite enough. Play this wonderful game, you will groan every time you do realizing that Avalon Hill turned down its nose at this one. --David david.richtmyer@um.cc.umich.edu Lambourne's address is: Lambourne Games 15 Mill View Close Woodbridge Suffolk IP12 4HR tel: 0394 388102