F is for... Fight in the Skies

A Realistic Game Simulating WWI Aerial Combat 4th ed:
Guidon Games (1971, $4.50) 6th ed: TSR (1975, $10.00)
Designed by Michael Carr
Players 2 or more
Playing Time 30 minutes to 2 hours
Period World War I
Scale Tactical Turn 20 seconds (see Comments)
Map 100 feet
Unit individual aircraft

Components

Fourth Edition Guidon Games

12"x9" bookcase box (glossy black box cover with embossed design, cover art pasted on front of cover, title pasted on one short side of cover).

3 31"x10½" mounted mapboards 2 7 page rulebook 6 1 die-cut counters 8 sheets of uncut maneuver cards 2 sheets of uncut German aircraft cards 2 sheets of uncut Allied aircraft cards 8½"x11" sheet of tables 2 six-sided dice

Sixth Edition TSR

11"x9" thin bookcase box. 24"x24" unmounted mapsheet 36 page rulebook 125 die-cut counters 6 page Aircraft Data booklet plus five cardstock inserts 2 six-sided dice mission log pad

Counters

Fourth Edition Guidon Games

59 1" counters (26 red German planes; 31 brown Allied planes; 2 brown blanks) 2 1"x2" counters (balloons, one red and one brown)

Sixth Edition TSR

123 1" counters (48 red German planes; 61 brown Allied planes; 13 white gun counters; 1 brown blank) 2 1x2" counters (balloons, one red and one brown) Cardstock Insert Manifest: 2 folded sheets of uncut maneuver cards, 1 folder with tables, 1 folded sheet with uncut tailing cards on one half and tables on the other half. All inserts are bound into the center of the Aircraft Data booklet.

Card Manifest

Fourth Edition Guidon Games

64 maneuver cards (4 identical sets of the 16 maneuvers) 16 German aircraft data cards (including 4 blanks) 16 Allied aircraft data cards (including 1 blank)

Sixth Edition TSR

64 maneuver cards (4 identical sets of the 16 maneuvers) 16 optional tailing cards (4 identical sets of the 4 directions)

Guidon says:

“[D]esigned to recreate the exciting aerial combat of the First World War era. It uses as its historical basis the type of fighter vs fighter battles common along the Western Front in the period of 1917 and 1918 . . . rules are included for special missions such as balloon attacks, low-level bombing, and ground strafing . . . The game was first conceived in 1967 by the designer, Mike Carr . . . the motion picture The Blue Max inspired the idea of a realistic game based upon the aerial combat of World War I.”

TSR says:

“Multi-player aerial action is fast and furious in Fight in the Skies, as each individual player flies his own plane in an exciting air battle which is often to the death! With historically researched aircraft specifications, and with a host of optional rules to add realism, Fight in the Skies is a game that puts each player right in the cockpit. Do you possess the skill and daring to take on an enemy like the Red Baron or Eddie Rickenbacker? Now you can find out!”

The reviewer of the TSR edition says:

“Aircraft counters are 1inch square, printed on thin card with a silhouette of the aircraft. Data cards for 56 different types are included, covering the years 1917-1918 . . . The system for recording damage is much more detailed than in rival games such as [Richthofen’s War] and Flying Circus . . . If you don’t like dice-throwing, you will steer clear of this one. Myself, I’m prepared to put up with it for the sake of the enormous amount of historical colour which the game contains.” Jim Hind in Wargamer 5. Note: A couple of years after this review was published, WWW released Aces High, Hind’s game of World War I air combat.

Comments:

Fight in the Skies was ground breaking in a couple of respects. It was the first tactical air combat board game, beating both SPI and Avalon Hill to the punch (Flying Circus and Richthofen’s War followed soon thereafter.) It was the first air combat wargame to deal with World War I. In addition, if the notes included in the rulebook are accurate, Mike Carr’s self-published versions of the game had already attracted a devoted following even before the Guidon edition came out.

Guidon’s fourth edition is an impressive product despite the amateur quality of some of the components. The rulebook is nicely laid out and well illustrated. The basic rules are only seven pages long and the rest of rulebook offers historical notes, play examples, and optional rules.

TSR threw its hat in the ring of air combat boardgaming when it released a fifth edition of Fight in the Skies in 1976. According to the February 1976 issue of The Strategic Review, Fight in the Skies was the first board game release from the newly created TSR Games division. A sixth edition followed in 1979. Although the production values for the TSR release were good, the graphic presentation of the components didn’t show any meaningful improvement over the Guidon edition.

In 1982 the game system was reborn as the “role playing game” Dawn Patrol. As was the case with other TSR releases of the time, Dawn Patrol was a very slick production. The conversion of Fight in the Skies to a role playing game was a de minimis effort - a four page folder of role playing suggestions was added (most of which were probably already being used by long time fans of the game). The major changes were long overdue. The monochromatic counter art was replaced with colorful illustrations of the aircraft. The mapsheet was also upgraded to show colorful terrain, a welcome change from the bare square grid used previously.

One glitch in the rules (unchanged even through Dawn Patrol) is the claim that each game turn equals 20 seconds. Based on the map scale of 100 feet per square and the movement rate of one square per 10 mph of speed, the actual turn scale works out to be approximately seven seconds.

Collector’s Notes:

Like the majority of outdated air combat boardgames (in other words, virtually all of them), Fight in the Skies seems to be ignored by the masses but fervently sought after by a few. Beware TSR fanatics driving up auction prices.

Boone does not list the Guidon edition. The TSR edition has low/high/average prices of 3/15/8.08 at auction and 4/30/ 15.38 for sale.

In comparison, Dawn Patrol is listed at 2/ 14/7.40 at auction and 5/25/11.63 for sale.

Other games by this designer: Little Big Horn (TSR).

More Capsule Profiles F

Introduction
Fall of South Vietnam A Game of Combat in South Vietnam: 1973-1975
Field of Honor A Game of Jousting Knights
Fight in the Skies A Realistic Game Simulating WWI Aerial Combat 4th ed
Flying Circus Tactical Aerial Combat, 1915-1918
Foxbat & Phantom Tactical Aerial Combat in the 1970’s
Fury in the West Battle of Shiloh - April 6 & 7, 1862