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(NEW) Tiger Wings and Campaign Study #2

Martin Caiden's "Ragged, Rugged Warriors" took us into the early days of WW2. Starting with air battles in China in 1937, the book was actually "pre-early days." It was fascinating stuff, where--compared to the Japanese Zero-- the best the Allies could muster was "obsolescent" and then it got worse.

But tactics helped balance the technology, and those early air battles are wonders to explore.

Which brings us to Tiger Wings. The Fighting Wings series of games was designed by J.D. Webster and covers air combat in World War II. The series goes into great detail in attempting to model all aspects of the air war as realistically as possible, which results in a fair amount of complexity. (See Buffalo Wings below, which tried to help.) Tiger Wings is a stand-alone game and also an expansion module of tactical air combat in the Far East in WWII between the Japanese and the Allies from 1941 to the end of 1942.

Each of the games focuses on a particular place and time period and includes a large number of scenarios, Aircraft Data Cards (ADCs), and historical background. The aircraft cards and scenarios in Tiger Wings are fully compatible with the rest of the FW series games. The game is played in three dimensions. Aircraft may be in level, climbing or diving flight. Some may be at higher or lower altitudes than others. Players must mentally visualize the vertical altitude relationship between AC but horizontal relationships will be clearly visible on the map. The rules also allow players to recreate important aspects of WW-II tactical air combat beyond simply the technical aspects of the aircraft involved.

The series began with Over the Reich on the air war over Germany from '43 to '45, followed by Achtung, Spitfire for early European War planes and scenarios, and followed with mid-war Pacific, air battles over the Soviet Union, and our own Buffalo Wings, which covered the struggles between Finland and the USSR and served as a kind of 'intro' to the series, while being fully compatible with everything else. We launched Buffalo Wings with a Kickstarter and added a full print run beyond those backers and still sold out quickly. Let's do it again with an 'on ramp' for Fighting Wings.

Let's take the system to those early war in Asia battles.

Early Japanese air combat doctrine was based on the theory of decisive individual air combat. Formations were merely the means of getting a group of fighters to the combat area rather than a tactical tool. Once there, it was expected that the highly trained Japanese pilots in their very maneuverable aircraft would engage and defeat opponents one by one in individual dogfights. If numbers allowed, wingmen were trained to alternate attacks with their leaders on targets, but if outnumbered, each pilot was expected to pick his own target and engage it. This was very much in the mindset of ancient Samurai warrior duels and the method strongly appealed to the Japanese pilots. Their training emphasized the dogfight and their aircraft were designed for agility. Allied pilots played right into their hands.

Allied pilots held to the standard leader with wingmen concept, wherein an inexperienced wingman (or two if in a flight of three), followed a more experienced leader around. This was both for survival and to cover the leader who was the main shooter during a fight. In principal, this was a better system than the Japanese style of individual fighting, since the shooter had protection. But this was only true if combined with proper tactics. Against a numerically superior enemy, this should involve hit and run diving passes a la the Flying Tigers in China.

Back to the game. Designer J.D. Webster explains:

Tiger Wings is targeted both at my existing fan base, in terms of adding new planes to the game system and dozens of new scenarios to explore, but also to entry level players, who want to try the system for the first time, but without the extra details and complexity of the “full” level Fighting Wings rules. As such, the Tiger Wings rules are the Buffalo Wings beginner’s rules, cleaned up, and revised slightly, with all the second printing Buffalo Wings expansion rules for air-to-ground combat added in. We also plan to include a “quick start” player’s guide to facilitate understanding how to play the game. So Tiger Wings is a passport into the Fighting Wings game system. Players who like Tiger Wings may want to delve further, trying the full rules products for even greater realism, but if not, I’m pretty sure they will be fascinated with Tiger Wings as a stand alone item, just as it is.

Is there a WW2 Aviation squadron more famous than the "Flying Tigers?" They are just one of your characters, as you explore the early air war, over China, over Burma, and Malaya, and the Dutch East Indies. You can see lots of possibilities for challenging fights and interesting airplanes.

Of course, you'll find the famous P-40 in multiple types, and the Japanese Zero and its often confused cousin the "Oscar." But you'll also explore the capabilities of a wide range of early Allied types-- Demons, Hawks, Buffaloes, and other 'critters'-- and find out if they can stop the Japanese Sally and Kate bombers.

Tiger Wings captures a cool, unusual period in WW2 history (with great historical articles in the magazine!). It's a great addition to one of the most popular air combat games, and brings with it upgrades to the rules, art, components, and more. It's not an appetizer, but we think Tiger Wings is very appetizing! Hope you agree!

Tiger Wings and Campaign Study #2 from ATO
Maps - One full color 22"x34" double-sided mapsheet
Counters - 280 full color 1/2" die-cut pieces
Cards - 9 Bomber cards
Main game rules length - 24 pages
Main game charts and tables - 4 pages on separate cardstock sheets
16 Aircraft Display Charts on separate cardstock sheets
Quick start/Intro rules - 8 pages
Quick start charts and tables - 2 pages on a separate cardstock sheet
Complexity - Medium
Playing time - Up to 2 hours
How challenging is it solitaire? - Good

Design - John D. Webster
Development - Terry Simo
Graphic Design - David Friedrichs and Ian Wedge