Kickstarter Ace of Aces Kickstarter is LIVE!

[Some Dude]

Classic "picture book" WWI aerial combat game Ace of Aces is getting a new edition, which is now crowdfunding on Kickstarter. I am not in any way affiliated with the game, or any company producing or promoting it. I'm just a fan since the 1980s, and am thrilled that the game is seeing a new release.

It might seem quaint now, But Ace of Aces was a revelation when it was released in 1980. It was a game of WWI dogfighting, for two (though more could play if you combined sets) players. Each player had a small book, and on each page was a cockpit view. Players maneuvered to get in firing position, and shoot the other player down.

At its core, it was very simple and replayable. One never needed to progress beyond the Basic game, as described above. But there were Standard and Advanced rules included. These covered everything from altitude to ammo, and added die rolling for things such as damage and hit location.

This was a great game that could be played across great distances before the internet made that the default.

Ace of Aces eventually had several sets, and branched out from WWI into WWII, and even more modern aerial engagements. Games of fantasy man-to-man combat (Lost Worlds) and mecha combat (Battletech) were created using its engine. There was even a Star Wars themed "Lightsaber Battle" game.

As someone who's been a fan of games (mainly RPGs, but other types as well) and WWI aviation since I was a kid, I've loved Ace of Aces for decades.

Here is a link to the Kickstarter, for anyone interested:

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...CHkYc1Fl8bR_eeon0YQDkfP09UAolwf7sSTJ5dhDT4VUs

And a link to the boardgamegeek page for Ace of Aces, and other games by Alfred Leonardi, its creator:

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/591/alfred-leonardi/linkeditems/boardgamedesigner

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

There was even a Star Wars themed "Lightsaber Battle" game.

As well as a starfighter set with an X-Wing vs. a TIE Interceptor that came out from West End, and the extremely odd Dragonriders of Pern set where you're trying to fight falling Thread rather than each other. Also an Old West gunfight set, which is pretty obscure - I've only heard of it, never seen one in person.

I wouldn't call the Lost Worlds series the same game engine (despite having the same original designer) but they're certainly part of the same subgenre, as were the Joe Dever Combat Heroes books. AoA started off quite a popular niche back in the 80s, and Lost Worlds kept slowly growing for decades thereafter, probably contributing significantly to Flying Buffao's bottom line. There was even a set of dinosaur books.