Diving out of the sun right onto your better hobby store shelves comes Volume 2 of GMT’s “Down in Flames” series of air combat card games: Eighth Air Force. This is the expansion to their Rise of the Luftwaffe card game of the European air war during 1939-42, which must be owned in order to play Eighth Air Force because it doesn’t come with its own set of action cards. What 8AF does come with is a vast aerial armada of late war aircraft, not only from America’s 8th Air Force but also from Great Britain, Nazi Germany, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The main are covered by 8AF is the Anglo-American bombing campaign over France, Germany, and the Low Countries. This is accomplished by performing the year’s daylight (American) or night (British) bombing campaigns of 1942, ‘43, and ‘44. There are also small operations that may be flown, such as the Schweinfurt Raids (the ball-bearing/busting blasting mission), Blue Monday (hunt for V-rocket launch sites), and Dam Busters. The East Front gets only one operation, the Stalingrad Airlift, which is a shame since it is the most fun of the batch. Rounding out the scenarios is a 1940 North Sea campaign. Doubtless, more scenarios and cards will be included in GMT’s house magazine, “C3i”. Unfortunately, this fine publication is intermittently released on no defined schedule. Obviously, they’re taking publishing tips from Pacific Rim. Of course, most gamers will only play the campaigns on occasion because the dogfight game is so appealing … and the “Down in Flames” series doesn’t disappoint here. Card games are popular because of their striking graphics and fast and unpredictable play. 8AF does not buck this trend. Play is like dream blind-date: fast, entertaining, well developed, and visually appealing, even though the cards aren’t as colorful as the industry standard today (the 1” counters in Avalon Hill’s Mustangs module were far more graphically striking). At least GMT improved the look of the box cover...their Rise of the Luftwaffe box sported a picture of a German flier who is known as the “Creepy Guy” in my gaming circle. (Ed. And considering Scott’s gaming circle, that says a lot.) However, while the 8AF cover is a fine-looking MacGowan rendering of B-17s and P-51s flying through the wild blue yonder, I would’ve preferred a picture of the Allied bombing mavens, Curtis LeMay and Sir Arthur Harris, arguing over which German city to eradicate off the face of the globe. The best graphics in the game are found on the counters, especially the pilot counters, where each nationality has it’s own generic counter. I would’ve been really impressed if each counter actually had the portrait of the pilot, and I also would’ve liked it if Lily Litvak, one of the Soviet Union’s female aces who flew over Stalingrad, was included in the countermix. Play of Eighth Air Force is much like Rise of the Luftwaffe - see David Fox’s review in BROG - except that this, being a late-war version of that game, is flown with aircraft that are pure murder, which makes for brief games. The major bonus to the series system is the well-handled addition of rocket planes and jets (yay!). I could find very few things wrong with this game (probably because Air Pontiff, J.D. Webster, collaborated), except that the Soviet IL-2 Sturmoviks over Stalingrad are the early-model, single-seat types instead of the improved tail-gunner equipped models. The Shweinfurt Raid operation sheet has some important information missing, such as what type and how many Allied Bombers are in the damn raids. Hopefully, errata will be published in C3i … and hopefully C3i will come out before the next century CAPSULE COMMENTS: Graphic Presentation: Good, but somewhat bland. Playability: Easy to get into, but not simplistic. Fun to play, competitive and innovative. Replayability: The large amount of aircraft and the different campaigns (some are solitaire) make this a plus. Wristage: Absolutely none. Creativity: High, typical Dan Verssen stuff. Historicity: Card games don’t usually offer much insight, but 8AF is on the higher end of the card game historicity scale. Comparisons: Wild West’s 12 O’clock High and Game Fix’s Bombs Away both pale in derisive insignificance. My favorite bomber game is still Avalon Hill’s old B-17, and Nova’s Ace of Aces is my favorite dogfight game. Those looking for a wealth of detail should get Clash of Arms’ Over the Reich. Overall: A good, fast, entertaining game. from GMT 132 playing cards; 96 counters; 18 campaign and target display sheets; rules booklet; campaign booklet. Boxed, from GMT, POB 1308, Hanford, CA. 93232. $32. Back to Berg's Review of Games Vol. II # 19 Table of Contents Back to Berg's Review of Games List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1994 by Richard Berg This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com