When it comes to shilling, not only am I not in the same league as Lee Brimmicombe-Wood, I don’t even play the same sport! But despite the lack of news, there has been substantial progress on Wild Blue Yonder during the past few years. A major proportion of the project has been designing and testing the campaigns to ensure that the right mix of aircraft cards is included in the game. That process is far enough along that we can now show you a final list of the aircraft that will be included.
Unlike in Rise of the Luftwaffe and 8th Air Force, the Poles and French are absent, as are the P-51D Mustangs and Me262 Schwalben of 1944-45. Even with GMT generously allowing us 300 (!) aircraft cards, there is no way we can include the early war campaigns and still do justice to the critical contests of 1941-43. And after the Battles of Berlin conclude in Spring 1944, any sort of competitive historical campaigns become pretty tough to devise. Expect expansions to remedy these omissions, but in the meantime you have a lot more Soviet and Italian planes to keep you busy.
You’ll notice that in several cases, rather than a generic type, we’re differentiating between pure fighter and fighter-bomber aircraft models. This happens where one or more campaigns call for multiple Elements of that type. Rather than include three identical Elements, we split them to show the difference (and make life a little easier for campaign designers who sometimes have to limit when aircraft may or may not carry bombs).
We’re also trying to show on the cards themselves which subtypes/models are functionally identical within the granularity of the Down in Flames system. This isn’t necessary for game play. But when you’re designing a dogfight or campaign of your own and want to know, say, which card to use to represent the P-47 D-15 models your source tells you were flown, the card will now have that information. If you have sources that suggest something different from what is listed, please contact me directly via e-mail (drklahn@earthlink.net) and present your case.
Although there will be some additional information on the cards, they will be the same size as those included in the previous games in the series, 2.25 x 3.5 inches. And the new cards will be fully compatible with previously published campaigns, just as you will be able to use the previously published aircraft cards with the WBY rules. The only thing no longer included is Norden Bombsight notations and rules, which proved superfluous.
Next time I’ll address the few differences in the Basic Dogfight game from what you’ve seen in the past
– Chris
Next Article in the Series: Into the Wild Blue Yonder (Part Two): Dogfight Rules and Action Decks
Author: Chris Janiec
It’s great to hear there is progress on the project. I hope we will see WBY published in 2017.
Great to hear that the project is still in the works! I’m totally looking forward to a new edition and hope for many new and improved campaigns!
Cheers!
Chris,
I’m a bit behind times but I have a question. Especially because you are not including many of our old favorite aircraft in the new edition of the game, will it be compatible with those old aircraft from our previous sets?
Take care
Peter
Poor Man’s Solution for the storage and card issues with WILD BLUE YONDER by Tom Gummo
(Note: pictures didn’t make it)
I like several reviewers, found the cards at the bottom were hard to remove. My fat fingers just didn’t have the room to reach the last several cards in the supplied storage tray. I compounded the problem by installing sleeves on the cards and now the piles were much too high to fit properly too. My first solution was to use a small pocket knife blade to reach down and help rotate the bottom cards in a way so that my fingers could remove them (this saved me from turning over the box like several other reviewers had to do.).
Then I got an idea. I removed the tray and using said pocket knife, I cut the bottoms of the card slot off the tray, while leaving the “counter slots” untouched (picture to the right). Then I put the cards back into the slots but on their sides instead of flat (picture below). For the purist out there, the sleeved cards were about a half of an inch taller than the tray.
I saved the bottoms pieces as I thought that they would make nice holders for counters, sorted for game play (picture below).
I then looked for a way to keep the removed bottoms in the box. However, the box was not now closing properly. As I sorted the cards into only five of the six slots. I found that I could put the tray bottoms (stacked tightly together) back into the remaining slot (picture below).
The counters stored in plastic zip-lock bags easily fit on top of the unused slots and about the same height as the cards on their sides. I found and placed all the manuals, charts, and extra stuff I downloaded into the box to see about closing issues. Again for the purists out there, the box doesn’t close completely.
As the picture to the right shows, the box lid is about a half an inch from closing completely. With a box as tall as this, I feel that it is not too big of an issue for me. As always, your mileage may vary. After a forty year break from gaming, I am trying to get my feet under me again. As a retired Major, USAF Fighter Pilot, Wild Weasel F-4G Phantom Instructor Pilot, I can say that no board game I have seen can totally simulate Air to Air Combat, however, Wild Blue Yonder puts a smile on my face as I play the “IN MY SIGHTS” card. With a last name of Gummo and a body style a little on the round and short side, I became “GummiBear” and that has been my call-sign for the last forty years or so.