Ace of Aces
A Reference Guide

Introduction

© 1998 Joseph J. Scoleri III



All the excitement of a World War I dogfight wrapped up in a pair of small softbound books.

How many different versions of Ace of Aces are there?

This is a question that comes up every so often in gaming circles. The most common answer is something along the following lines: "Let's see ... you have the three World War I books, the World War II books and the Jet books. So that makes five versions. Of course, if you count the Deluxe Handy Rotary, that actually makes it six. Yeah, that's it, six!"

Or maybe not. Next time the question comes up, you will be able to give a significantly more detailed response. This article will detail more than fifteen different editions and variant editions of the popular and innovative game. However, before I get to that, a brief introduction to the game system is in order.

What is Ace of Aces?

The Ace of Aces game system was a flash of brilliance when it was first released in 1980 by Gameshop Inc. Designer Alfred Leonardi, a history teacher, crafted a completely new game mechanism which used illustrated, programmed books to recreate aerial combat. For the first time gamers could fight a dogfight using simultaneous movement without cumbersome log sheets, enormous rulebooks and many spare hours of playing time. In fact, a game of Ace of Aces played by experienced players can move so quickly that it is virtually areal time simulation.

The original Ace of Aces Handy Rotary Series came with a pair of brown game books, each slightly smaller than a paperback novel (see Figure 1.) Each book contained 223 illustrations depicting various views from the cockpit of the player's aircraft. The view on each page was oriented to show the location of the opponent's aircraft e.g., the Allies book showed the opposing Fokker as viewed from a Sopwith Camel cockpit. Conversely, the Germans book showed a view of the Camel as seen from the cockpit of a Fokker Dr. I triplane (see Figure 2.)

The secret behind the books was a built in programmed code. At the bottom of each illustrated page was a chart showing the maneuvers each plane could perform. After secretly choosing a maneuver, each player reveals to the other the page number listed with the chosen maneuver. Both players then quickly cross-referenced their maneuver using the new page numbers to get a final page number. The illustration on the resulting page would show the new position of the aircraft based on the maneuvers chosen.

It was simple, it was elegant, and it worked. It was also flexible. With extra books, more than two aircraft could dogfight at once, Furthermore the various WWI aircraft books were all compatible, allowing opposing aircraft from different sets to be flown against one another.

Once the elements of the Basic Game were grasped, players could move up to the Intermediate and Advanced Game rules. The Intermediate Game added altitude, more realistic gunfire resolution and the choice of different planes with varying statistics. The Advanced Game expanded on these improvements by imposing more restrictions and rules governing maneuver and combat. To top things off there were also guidelines for a campaign game and statistics for using famous ace pilots.

A college student named Douglas Kaufman assisted in the design of the game and, according to Leonardi, put the rules into a playable format. The brief but comprehensive rules cover an impressive range of chrome including gun jams, tailing, aces, Lewis guns, critical hits, aircraft inclination, zoom climbs, anti-aircraft fire and attacking out of the sun.

Even in its first incarnation, Ace of Aces could appeal to a wide variety of gamers and aviation enthusiasts. it is currently out of print, which is unfortuate because it is unlike any other game before or since. This in itself would seem to make it collectible, although the chief reason I collect it is because it is a blast to play.

What Ace of Aces games were released?

What follows is a descriptive listing of the various editions and variant editions of the game. Those that I have found are described in detail, and other editions which I have not personally evaluated are described in summary. Each game covered by this guide is described using the following categories:

    Title: as stated on box cover, if any, or rulebook cover.
    Product Number: manufacturer's catalog number printed on game.
    Publisher: self-explanatory.
    Date: copyright date, if any, or other date as stated.
    Price: original retail price of game.
    Box: description of game box.
    Components: description of all components included with game.
    Other features: characteristics which distinguish the box and components from similar titles in the series.
    Variant editions: variations observed in other copies of the same edition.

All information is as accurate as possible and is intended to represent the correct combination of factory components. However, there were times at Nova Game Designs when spare parts were cobbled together into original editions, so it is entirely possible that some factory new games could differ from these descriptions.

Finally, although the editions are listed in roughly chronological order, the numbering system is not meant to imply that this is the exact order in which the editions were released.

More Ace of Aces Reference Guide

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