Cracking the Plastic – Wings of Glory Halberstadt D.III (Luftstreitkräfte)

As a long time fan of the precursor to this game, Wings of War, I was at Gen Con when the new aircraft were released and immediately got my hands on some of the new ones.  There are three miniatures of the Halberstadt D.III – this one (a dark maroon/brown Luftstreitkräfte), a camouflage green and maroon model, and Keudell’s light colored model.  

Why did I grab the Luftstreitkräfte model?  I found that the green on the camouflaged model was too bright for my tastes.  I’m sure members of the League of WWI Aviation Historians (good men all!) can tell if it is accurate or not.  I went for my model since it seemed, to my eyes, to be more authentic.  Take a look at the image and you decide. 

This model uses a P maneuver deck which was pleasing.  The maneuver decks is one of the ways that Wings of Glory makes the aircraft really stand out in terms of performance.  It can take fourteen points of damage, which is acceptable (and certainly better than the Fokker E.III which was released at the same time).  When you buy the pack you get the stand, four elevation pegs, the painted metal miniature and the maneuver deck.  

My only gripe with this kit was that the pegs were more loose than with others I’ve purchased in this series.  No big deal?  Think again.  I (and most people) move the miniature by gripping the elevation pegs.  If they are loose, you drop the base and are constantly having to put it back on.  Wings of Glory is all about fast play.  I don’t want to get my turn slowed down fidgeting with the miniature.  A little work with a match I was able to get the rouge pegs to stick better.  Bottom Line:  I want to get that enemy in my sights and get the guns blazing!   After all, that’s what this game is all about. 

Overall – this model doesn’t have a great deal of detail.  It’s generic – no insignia or detailing that give it personality.  If you’ve played Wings of War/Glory and you’ve seen some of the minis you know they can be very detailed in their paint jobs.  That’s not the case here.  Then again, this is not some ace’s airplane like some of the others portrayed in the game.  This is a “typical” airplane that I’m sure the true fans will repaint and customize as they deem necessary.  

My rating – 4.5 out of five stars.  This aircraft is a nice addition to your Wings of Glory collection.  

Cracking The Plastic on the Fokker E.III (Max Immelmann)

I was at Gen Con last week and made sure I spent some time at Ares Games.  I was hoping to pick up the new Wings of Glory aircraft and was fortunate to pick up the new releases!  I’m going to give a quick review of the ones I was able to snag, starting with Immelman’s Fokker E.III. 

For those of us that have wanted to slug out the period of the Fokker Scourge, this release was a welcome one.  The miniature is metal like the others in the series and comes with four elevation pegs, a base with the firing arc, and a set of maneuver cards. 

A few new things.  First off, this airplane uses maneuver deck T – I think this is the first one we’ve seen of this.  I’ve included a shot of the cards for you to check out.  I’m glad to see this.  For a while, the old Wings of War series seemed to be reusing a lot of the same maneuver decks.  With this release, we’re going to see some of the different performance characteristics of the aircraft which is welcome.  With a rating of eleven (11) for damage, the Fokker E.III seems to be a lightweight in the Wings of Glory series.  Still, I found that it had a good turning arc which should make for some good game play. 

The miniature itself is pretty good.  I feel that the paint color is a bit lighter than what I like.  One thing that the Wings of Glory/War aircraft seem to lack is any sort of weathering.  Most aircraft look like they rolled out of the factory  rather than having been in battle for a while.  

This mini is good and sturdy and I’m sure there are enough fans out there willing to take the time to repaint or weather their purchases. 

There are two other Fokker E.III’s in the series – Hautzmayer’s Fokker A.III and Buddecke’s Fokker E.III.  I picked up Immelman because, well, I like Immelman. 

Is the new Fokker worth picking up?  If you play or collect Wings of Glory WWI – of course.  We’ve needed planes from this era.  The single-winged aircraft is a neat sight in the skies of your next game.  But it’s not alone – this series includes a monoplane from the French too!  More on that to come in future reviews.