Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 10:03:56 EST From: Dave Townsend Subject: Down In Flames/Rise of the Luftwaffe (long) ROTL is GMT's oft-delayed 2+ player card game covering the air war in Europe, 1939-1942. It's finally out and I've even played it a few times, so I thought I'd post some comments. The game includes: rulebook 76 action cards (playing-card size) ~30 Axis plane cards (Bf-109e & f, Fw-190a, Ju-87, Ju-88, He-111, Do-17) ~30 Allied planes cards (Pz.11c, M.S.408?, Hurricane, Spitfire I & V, Blenheim, P-38, P-40, B-26, Mig-3?, IL-28?) 3 campaign cards (full size, one campaign/side = 6 total) ~6 target cards (full size, one target/size = ~12 total) ~50 counters (altitude, damage, pilots) No dice are included, nor are any needed. The rules are divided into a basic game, which is a simple fighters-only slugfest, and an advanced game which introduces the bombers and uses the campaign cards to provide a linked series of matches. Fighters are grouped into "Elements", each consisting of a Leader and a Wingman flying the same type of plane. Leaders are rated for Performance, Bursts, Horsepower, Gunners, Damage, and Bombs. Wingmen only have Offensive, Defensive, and Damage Ratings. Each Element will have its own hand of cards, so it's easy to accomodate multiple players. The plane characteristics regulate the size (Performance) and draw capacity (Horsepower) of the Element's hand, similar to the nationality differences in UP FRONT. The basic game scenarios are strictly DYO, based on provided point scores of the planes. I would have liked to have seen some examples of "real" scenarios here. I played 109s vs Spitfires, early and late models, which is an even match according to the points given in the rulebook. The performance advantage of the 109 is balanced by the Spitfire's greater ability to take damage. ROTL recreates the manuever of air combat via simple altitude and positioning mechanics. There are three altitude levels (Low, Medium, High) and five positions (Tailed, Disadvantaged, Neutral, Advantaged, and Tailing). Altitude affects horsepower, hand size (temporarily), and bombing (in the advanced game). Players can always change altitude, but must have the proper cards to gain position on an enemy, which increases your Burst rating and limits his/her ability to fire back. The action cards which make up the Element's hands are color coded into attack cards (red), response cards (blue), and "either" cards (white) which can be used as attacks or responses. During your turn, you use attack cards to manuever against an enemy leader (Half Loop, Manuever) and to inflict damage (Burst, Out of the Sun). Your position relative to the leader and your plane's Burst rating limit the number of damage cards cards that you can play. For each attack card, the enemy can respond using an appropriate defense card (Barrel Roll, Vertical Loop, Ace Pilot, Tight Turn). You can counter, (s)he can counter your counter, and so on. The last one to play a card wins, so if the attacker plays the last card the attack card takes effect; if the defender plays the last card the attack card fails. Wingmen don't use their Element's hand. Instead, they draw "mini-hands" as needed based on their offensive and defensive ratings. Each Element gets a player turn; after everyone has gone six times, the dogfight is over. Simple dogfights with one Element each are easily finished in 20 minutes. The Advanced Game is a linked series of missions nominally covering Poland, France, Crete, Britain, Army Group North (USSR), and North Africa in 1942. Each campaign lasts a given number of Missions (4 in Poland, 7 in Britain), at the end of which Victory Points are totalled. For each mission, you randomly determine the objective and the attacking forces. Then each side chooses one from a list of options, which add extra elements, ace pilots, extra flak, or other goodies. Some options are more powerful than others, so a key game decision is deciding when to use the big ones. Most of the missions involve bombing, so the Advanced Game adds rules for Level, Dive, and Saturation bombing, and how bombers interact with fighters. In the course of five hours, I taught my father the rules for the basic and advanced games, we played two dogfights, and the entire Polish campaign (four missions). We both had a lot of fun, with the Poles (Dad) winning the campaign even though few of their planes survived. I don't think AIR WAR players are going to be impressed with this game. But it succeeds in creating the feel of air combat, given the broad design strokes with which it's working. It's got much the same variety as UP FRONT, without bogging down in detail as that game does. And it's got enough history to avoid the bland multinational fleets of MODERN NAVAL BATTLES/ENEMY IN SIGHT/NAVAL WAR. Both a Pacific and a 1943-1945 Europe expansion are planned. Minor irritants: The rules aren't numbered, so there's no easy way to refer to parts of them. No index, either. Targeting (which plane can fire at which enemy under what circumstances) is split over several rules sections. No Italian aircraft. If you'd even consider playing a card game, I recommend this one. --Dave T