In "Blue Max", each player pilots a World War I airplane in a dogfight. This wargame can be played as a campaign, with new planes becoming available as time passes, and with surviving pilots getting better at what they do.
Each plane has a maneuver sheet showing which ones it is allowed to do -- some maneuvers can only be executed by ace pilots, and other maneuvers are "restricted" in the sense that they can't be repeated from one turn to the next (the plane would stall).
If you "tail" another plane, its pilot must show you whether he's going right, left or straight ahead. You get to shoot ahead of your plane, unless you have a bomber with an observer/gunner in the back (swivel-mounted guns). Damage is rolled on a table that determines severity in terms of blue and red hits; you then draw the indicated number of coloued chits from a cup. Hits are taken to the wings, tail, engine, etc. There's a chance the pilot is killed, or that the plane catches fire.
Fuel eventually runs out and the pilots fly off to meet another day --if they survived.
This is a lot of fun with massive numbers of players; you can put the 20-odd planes on the map at once, balancing the better airplanes with weaker pilots.
The second edition introduced crude altitude rules, and in 1995 GDW put out full-blown miniatures rules.
The 2014 edition of Blue Max had substantial changes, and can be found with its own game page HERE.
- Well known in the war game community.
- Host doesn't know much about the game.
- Aerial Combat
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — You're flying World War I aircraft around each other.
- Simultaneous Play — I remember I had a friend once who was like in 10 games of Blue Max simultaneously.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- So, we're going to jump right into these here. I'm going to take a look at them and tell you what I think about them.
- This game is now 20 years old.
- It's not nearly as good as made by the people who made War of the Ring.
- This is my favorite because all the pieces move like rooks sort of and you're trying to take over other people's pieces and each one has a special power and I like the theming of it.
- Layers expansions bring it up to a nine. Layers is amazing.
- I think the base game is fine, but when you I mean it's it's very it's enjoyable, but when you add the expansion it's fantastic.
- Nothing here I think is amazing.
References (from this video)
- Engaging viewer participation in strategy
- Tense gameplay loop of tracking and evasion
- Interesting equipment like proximity mines
- Can be confusing to track player positions and past moves
- Risk of losing track of the agent
- Potential for critical mistakes in movement
- tracking down a target
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Line of Sight — Visibility between characters is a key mechanic, influencing movement, detection, and attack opportunities.
- postcognition — An ability that allows a player to recall past locations, though its usefulness is questioned in the transcript.
- proximity mine — An equipment item that can stun hunters if they are within a certain range.
- quadrupedal movement — A movement ability allowing for longer distances, used by one of the hunter characters.
- sniffing — A sensory ability used to detect the presence of the target, even without direct line of sight.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I'm really getting into the role of my character
- I have to say I think that is the better move
- Luke's going to have to mark a hit against the blue jay
- it was really great seeing all the collaboration between the viewers
- I'm starting to lose track of where I was before when I was making certain assumptions about where Luke was
- so so what yeah I know I'm confusing myself
- well don't worry it was a great move because only one of your Hunters are going to get stunned