Wow, so much interesting gaming history and so many obnoxious replies all together.

For what its worth I got interested in X-wing because it seemed similar to a game idea I was working on, and I wanted to see FFG's approach. Not the flight path, but the idea of basic, 4 stat ships that could be upgraded, and a symbol based attack/defense dice. Otherwise it was a hex based strategy and resource game, inspired by Dai Senryaku VII, and meant to be a simplified and streamlined tabletop version that didn't take 12 hours to play.

I'd be interested to see the OPs templates.

Don't know why he posted here, but whatever.

Interesting.

I had game rules pre-mtg days that were very similar to the Wings of War Model that was in 1988 or about with pre-planned moves and templates. It was based on FASA's battletech engine with Futuristic fighters and such. I had even played a ww2 fighter game pre-dating Wings of War that used pre-planned moves and plastic fighters on stands nicked from the science lab that was about 1996(Think current Xwing with notepads for movement planning and 3D bases to do height). When I saw Wings of War, it was a moment of awesome, someone put our game in a box.

I doubt anyone can claim the original idea, its pretty derivative to use templates for movement and have pre-planning steps. Been in games going back into the 70s in one way or another.

And here I thought only the rules forum was having a sudden rash of extreme necros. Interesting to learn some history, for sure, but how did Angiolillo even find the year-and-a-half old thread?

And here I thought only the rules forum was having a sudden rash of extreme necros. Interesting to learn some history, for sure, but how did Angiolillo even find the year-and-a-half old thread?

Wow, hadn't even noticed the age. I just assumed it had gotten a lot of responses overnight because it was a contentious topic.

Anyway. Having played both X-Wing and Wings of War/Glory, I find it interesting that the 2 games sound almost identical from a casual description, like to a new player, but (IMO) the actual gameplay "feels" totally different. Both are excellent games and a lot of fun, but Wings of Glory feels like a historical, detailed wargame; while X-Wing feels more like a so called beer and pretzels casual boardgame.

Thanks a lot for your comment. My goal and my big effort was exactly to design a simulation that "feels like a historical, detailed wargame" while being able to be explained in 90 seconds and to be played by 6 years olds and their grandmothers, as well as to be appreciated by real wargamers. A game where the effort to make a Fokker Dr.i different from a SPAD XIII, with the same differences of their historical counterparts, is all made by me when I design, not by players when they study rules or play - in the end, they just take a different deck of cards and then feel these differences playing, with no charts and tables and rule exceptions and bookkeeping and points expenditures and whatever.

A little step further from the simulation games of previous decades. To which I again pay my tribute of gratiutude in this interesting thread. Especially to Leonardi's Ace of Aces, that did the same in a totally different way.

anybody ever play "Sopwith" it has a sort of similar movement PANEL and firing arc kind of thing that you do before each turn.

Yes I did.

Of course I had played a lot of games that have influenced me and my design. I'd name at least Air Force, Ace of Aces, Gunslinger, Blue Max, Wings, Sopwith , Droids, WRG's War Game Rules: 1000 B.C. to 500 A.D. In no particular order.

But it had not a real firing cone. If I remember well, you could fire to a row of hexes: forward, 60° or 60°, up to 4 hexes away. Not, as an example, to a plane that was 3 hexes away at 30° on your left.

Blue Max has the same problem: you fired to rows of hexes, But there are "blind spots" between the possible directions in which you can fire. You can have an enemy almost ahead, at 2 hexes of distanc,e and not being able to get a facing that allows you to hit it since you do not have a linear row of hexes connecting your hex to his.

This is why in Wings of War I put a firing cone. If you could turn of any number of degrees, you would not need it.
Steambirds, a game that has been programmed by somebody who had just played Wings of War the day before, is a strange case: turning is free, and still keeps a firing cone. I see it as a clear hint (one of the several) of WoW's influence on it - a game developed from scratch would not have used any firing cone for fixed, forward-firing machineguns. As we saw, even several hex-grid games do not feature a cone.

This was a great topic with interesting historical input and responses.

Unfortunately, it was also bogged down in the typical badmouthing that seems so rampant on the net. This really distracts from a good discussion. I just do not understand why people (Hida77, and zreef) have to resort to that type of response.

Very illuminating. As someone who plays both X-Wing and Wings of War/Glory (and greatly enjoys both) its interesting to hear about the history of the "Flight Path" system and about the people behind it.

Ace of Aces... wow. I wish I still had those books. I literally wore them out I played so much.

Thanks a lot for your comment. My goal and my big effort was exactly to design a simulation that "feels like a historical, detailed wargame" while being able to be explained in 90 seconds and to be played by 6 years olds and their grandmothers, as well as to be appreciated by real wargamers.

I really enjoy your game mate. I run a school games club (10yrs to 16yrs old), and the kids love the Wings of Glory campaign I run through the year. Points for kills, surviving, mission accomplished etc. The winner gets a Duel set. I describe the game as being easy to learn, harder to master.

Thanks

RoV

Thanks a lot to you for that! If you are somehow interested in putting some history teaching in your debriefing please contact me in private (let's not go OT) because I had some exchange of toughts about that with a few teachers.

Disclaimer: I am not speaking about the history of the Flying Path. I just told Wings of War's history since some posters wondered about it. Thanks!

Boo!

Random necro!

There was Dawn Patrol from TSR back in the 70’s. Classic dogfighting game

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4014/dawn-patrol