Friday, November 1, 2024

Two Spitfire-related board games

One of my other interests, besides Spitfires, is the history of chess and other board games. I have a collection of chess sets, either bought or made myself, as well as a similar, but smaller, collection of hnefatafl sets. Guess it was inevitable that those two interests would overlap at some point!

First of all, Aviation chess was invented in 1913, and played during WW I. In most aspects, this chess variant is identical to the form of chess that most people are familiar with, but there is one difference: the pawns on the b-file and g-file are replaced by 'aviators'. These 'aviators' fly diagonally, over any number of pieces, to either an empty square, or a square occupied by an enemy piece (which is then captured and replaced). I decided to adapt Aviation chess slightly by having Spitfires as 'aviators'!

Off eBay, I got a full set of 32 laser cut chess pieces (of course, I don't need four of the pawns) as well as four laser cut Spitfire shapes. They smell really nice as a result of the laser-cutting process!


Then I used two colours of wood stain ('pine' and 'mahogany', respectively) to create the 'white' and 'black' pieces.


I decided to use the board of my Kyrgyz set, as it had the right size squares and also looks relatively old.

So there we go: a Spitfire-inspired set for Aviation chess!




I said two board games, didn't I? Second one is a board game actually called Spitfire! which I stumbled across on eBay.

Totally different game from chess! It's a pretty complex strategy game, partly determined by the roll of dice, and with simultaneous moves.


The action takes place on a map:
 

And there are 'counters' representing aircraft from five countries: Britain (of course,  including Spitfires), France, Poland, Germany and Italy. Other counters represent things like bridges, trains, ships, bombs, flak, clouds, etc. 



Each of the aircraft has certain characteristics ...


... and the outcome of dogfights, damage to the aircraft, likelihood of fire, effect of bombs and many more aspects is determined by those characteristics as well as the roll of dice, in conjunction with a host of different tables. All explained in two rule books!

I don't think I'll ever actually play the game; too complex and intricate for me. Also, I prefer to keep the game 'mint', as it is now.

Two Spitfire-related board games

One of my other interests, besides Spitfires, is the history of chess and other board games. I have a collection of chess sets , either boug...