I'm on this like stank on a pig

I'm a big fan of WINGS OF WAR, the world war one dogfighting game and have posted on the subject many times in this blog. Click the link to read prior enthusiastic gushery from your intrepid correspondent. If you don't have the time, then suffice to say that WoW is a great little card based system that has echoes of Nova's ACE OF ACES and GDW's BLUE MAX. Maneuvering is preplotted in three segments using a series of reusable cards. The great bit about this system is the unpredictability of where you will be after three segments are done-- that's what sells the game, that simple element of blind guessing. The combat should be (and is) simple and almost superfluous once you achieve that mechanism.


One point I've come back to consistently is how great the game would be if there were miniatures for it. It wouldn't add one jot to the mechanics, mind you, but since the game has such a miniatures game feel to it already, why not take the extra step and add the eye candy? I've bought a few 1:72 scale kits to try to make this happen for my games-- alas, not every plane in the series is available in 1:72, so I've slowed down in my acquisitions.

Now Nexus is announcing the release of WINGS OF WAR: MINIATURES. Wazoo! Somebody's thinking! Sad to say, they are smallish (in the 1/144 scale, which is used extensively for WW2 aerial games using BLUE SKY rules). I'm not as crazy about the 1/144 scale, as I know they are pretty tiny and don't depict a lot of detail even with the best sculpts.

The mass production process will probably mean injection molding using plastic which probably will cut down on the detail significantly.

Still, the product description indicates they will come prepainted:

Wings of War: Miniatures will be available in two formats: complete sets with 4 planes, maneuver cards, control boards; or single-plane blisters, each containing one 1/144 model plane, assembled and painted, its deck of maneuver cards, and decals to customize the plane.
The boxed sets are an ideal introductory set or a gift, while previous owners of Wings of War may directly go and get the single- blisters to enhance their gaming experience and create a unique collection! The first series will include some of the most popular planes
WW1: the Fokker DR.I, the Sopwith Camel, the Albatros and thenSPASD XIII, each in multiple versions with different color schemes.

The description really points at plastic models, but the idea of multiple prepainted paint schemes will make it worthwhile for me-- no muss, no fuss, and probably affordable.