Squadrons
WWII Air Combat Rules


Squadrons is a set of air combat miniatures rules designed for mass combat with 1/300 miniatures. One model represents one airplane; one hex (the games played on a hexfield)is about 100 feet across (and 500 feet deep), and a turn represents a bit under two seconds. The game consists of a 48 page magazine-sized rulebook, two identical play-aid cards, and seven cut-out hex overlays depicting urban areas.

Production values are high throughout. John Stanoch, the author, wrote the rules in a clear, narrative style, liberally sprinkled with illustrated examples. The rulebook also includes nine scenarios, a section on painting and mounting small-scale aircraft, a bibliography, and an index (!). The play-aid cards contain the basic game charts, as well as basic aircraft data for 16 British and German aircraft from the Battle of Britain organized into logical cards. This may not sound like much, but does cover all major participating aircraft except for the Italians...

Squadrons purpose is mass combat. Players don't think in terms of single aircraft, but of schwarms or Vics of fighters, or flights of bombers. Games such as TAHGCs Airforce or Clash of Arms Games Over the Reich put you in a single planes pilots seat. Squadrons puts you in charge of an entire bombing raid, or of the interceptor squadrons sent up to stop it. To this end, movement and combat are very simple. Bombers move first, followed by the players alternating moving escort (both close escorts and hunters - wider ranging escorts) and interceptor flights. The formation (flight/vic/schwarm) is the basic manoeuver element. Climbs reduce movement and dives increase it.

Manoeuvers consist of turns, slips, half-rolls and half-loops, all of which impose movement constraints. After movement, fire combat takes place. Aircraft cast dice equal to their fire factor (1 - 3) on lD10 (a few under-armed aircraft cast 1D6), trying to roll equal to or above the range to their target to score hits. Target size modifiers mitigate this; altitude differences and aircraft attitudes (upside down versus right side up) make it worse. Doubles on hitting dice cause critical hits that range from increased damage to a dead pilot. Otherwise, hits score damage points; after a certain number of them (specific to each aircraft type), aircraft go down...

Bombing rules are similarly simple. I had the chance to play Squadrons twice at ColdWars 94. In recognition of my air combat skills, I got the Ju87s with their Bf110 escort on a bombing raid! Considering the number of aircraft on the tabletop (something in excess of 110...) and the number of novice players (including me), the game went very well.

The game's orientation was to show the progress of a bombing raid involving lots of aircraft, not the progress of a dogfight between two aircraft. It succeeded very well. I still play Airforce or Over the Reich when I want to settle a personal score with a gaming buddy, but when I want to bomb London (or, in my case, Plymouth), I'll play Squadrons.

Available from your local game shop for $18.95, or if unavailable there, directly from Blue Sky Enterprises, 6 Brookfield Way, Robbinsville, NJ 08691-9570.

Other Reviews

Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #65
© Copyright 1994 by The Courier Publishing Company.

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com