Air Force (game)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Air Force is a board wargame published by Battleline Publications in 1976, and subsequently re-released by Avalon Hill in 1977, that simulates air combat during World War II. Several expansions for the game were also published.
Components
Air Force is a complex multi-player wargame that allows players to simulate air combat over Europe during World War II. Thirty airplanes from the Luftwaffe, RAF and USAAF are included. Each airplane has a corresponding card with numerical data that tracks maneuverability, speed, armaments, ammunition, damage, altitude and attitude.
The game box of the 1976 Battleline edition contains:[1]
- plain hex grid mapsheet
- 270 die-cut counters
- rulebook
- cards with numerical data for each airplane
- player aid chart
The 1977 Avalon Hill edition has all the same components. The 2nd edition published by Avalon Hill in 1980 replaces the numerical data on the airplane cards with colored diagrams.
Gameplay
Each player controls one or more airplanes and uses the data on the corresponding airplane card to plot out each airplane's maneuvers. The sequence of events in each turn is:[2]
- First Movement Plotting Phase and Execution Phase
- Second Movement Plotting Phase and Execution Phase
- Third Movement Plotting Phase and Execution Phase
- Adjustments and Changes Plotting Phase
Each plane may attempt to fire at the end of every Movement Phase.[2]
Publication history
Battleline was a subsidiary of Heritage Models that produced various games in the 1970s. Battleline game designer S. Craig Taylor designed Air Force, which was published in 1976. The following year, Battleline published a game expansion, Dauntless, that added thirty Japanese and American airplanes from the Pacific Theatre as well as a six-piece geomorphic map. In 1978 Battleline published a further expansion titled Air Force Dauntless Expansion Kit.[1]
Avalon Hill often bought Battleline games such as Circus Maximus and Wooden Ships and Iron Men and republished them under the Avalon Hill marque. They did the same with Air Force and Dauntless, republishing them in 1977. When Battleline published Dauntless Expansion Kit, Avalon Hill immediately bought it and republished it in 1978.[1]
Three years later, Kevin Zucker revised the game for Avalon Hill, replacing the numerical data on the airplane cards with colored diagrams. It was a controversial change,[3] although some reviewers noted there were both advantages and disadvantages to the new cards.[4] An expansion titled Sturmovik that would add airplanes from the Russian Front was promised[4] but was never published.
Foreign language versions of Air Force were published by both Hobby Japan (Japanese) and Wargames Research Centre (Chinese).[1]