Review: Aces of Valor

There is such a perception of romance and adventure regarding the fighting that took place in the skies over Europe in the First World War, it’s easy to forget that at the outbreak of war, heavier-than-air flight was a technology still in its infancy; the first successful powered flight had taken place only eleven years before the outbreak of hostilities. While several countries had been experimenting with arming winged aircraft, they were initially used only for reconnaissance; the first plane to shoot down by another didn't occur until October of 1914.

War is a great catalyst for technological advancement: at the beginning of the war, planes used in the roles of fighters and escorts weighed in the region of half- to three-quarters of a metric tonne with an air speed that might get near hundred kilometres per hour; by the end of hostilities, the average was around two tonnes (4,400 lbs), with a top speed approaching 240 kph (around 150 mph).

Eric Von Rossing’s Aces of Valor (Legion Wargames, 2023*) is a solitaire game depicting the air war on the Western Front. In it, the player takes command of a squadron of fighter pilots and their planes, and undertakes a variety of missions, while trying to bring the boys home, preferably with their aircraft still intact. Though clever design choices, Von Rossing manages to convey both the pace of technological advancement though the course of the war, and retain some of the romance and heroism of the airmen and the missions on which they were sent.

 

Appearance

The map for Aces of Valor presents the Initiative table for arial combat to the left and the schematic battlefield to the right, along with tracks for recording Mission and Victory Points and your campaign progress across the top portion, with a marked section for the Mission deck and current/previous missions near the centre of the chart, and useful tables duplicated in the remaining spaces. The colour palette and fonts are evocative of the early war period, and the whole map is utilised effectively. It’s a full-sized map (default industry standard 22” by 34”), so it’s a biggish footprint to start with, but nearly everything has a place on the map, so it doesn’t get too unwieldy. It might have been nice to have a marked-out place for the optional After-Mission Events cards, but I managed with them sitting over the title and credits in the top right corner (no disrespect intended to those involved.

Qualities of good design carries through to the other components as well. The plane counters are of a uniform light brown (as are the target markers and most of the other counters), the nationality represented by the appropriate insignia. Each plane is personalised by the first name of the pilot (Billy, Manfred, Eddy, etc.), and duplicated over each generation of planes for that nationality, so you can upgrade your planes while keeping your pilot roster. The Mission cards are printed on good stock and feature some very nice artwork, each illustration tied to the mission in question.

There are four player’s aid cards of varying sizes, and here again, good design takes precedence. Each is designed to present their information clearly and with an eye to functionality. The first two cards are the Campaign and Pre-/Post-Mission PACs. As it may suggest, the Campaign PAC is designed to help you set the game up with a list of steps to that end. It also offers options for randomly choosing a nationality to play and a tier of aircraft to begin with, if you can’t decide for yourself (choices can be overwhelming). The Campaign PAC is also the only place where you can find the keys for the aircraft and ground target markers as well as the map key (these don’t appear in the rule book, which threw me initially, but it actually makes more sense to have it to hand). I found myself referring to this a lot through the first couple of missions.

The Pre-/Post-Mission PAC pretty much does what it says on the label. The Pre-Mission section offers a brief, step-by-step description of how to choose and set up for a mission, establish the weather (which can affect some missions as well as sighting by enemy AA), and the ordinance capacity of the planes involved, should bombing be on the agenda. The Post-Mission section give you the same step-by-step instruction for establishing the success of the mission in term of Mission Points (You’ll get a base level of points for the mission, but may get extra points if you manage to knock out an enemy plane or two, and conversely loose points for the loss of planes or pilots). These will be recorded on a running board on the map. This PAC also details the conversion rates for MPs. Mission Points are the currency of the game; they can be converted to Victory Points, but they can also be used to repair, replace (in the case of a lost plane), or even upgrade your flight’s aircraft to a higher tier.

The Flight Phase PAC is the one you’ll probably be spending the most time with. It’s a two-panel card, designed to be read opened (thankfully all the PACs for Aces of Valor are single-sided). Each mission will require your mission task force to fly to a selected point on the battlefield map and complete the instructed operation there, and then return once more to your home base. Each time you move your Flight marker to a new gird section of the battlefield map, you must roll 2d6 to establish if an event takes place and refer to the Flight Event Check table. If your roll an event (unlikely behind your own lines, more likely over enemy territory, of course), you then refer to the Flight Event Outcome. Events range from a change in the weather or one of your pilots experiencing engine trouble, through to anti-aircraft fire and possible targets of opportunity, through to getting bounced by an enemy flight (note: the Flight Event and AA hit tables are conveniently placed on the map sheet, above the Battlefield Map. A mid-flight event could see your ranks thinned before you even get to the target, or even be forced to cancel the mission and return to base. Conversely, you may have a dream run without a single adverse event. Then, after the mission is completed, you follow the same process until the flight marker makes it to your home field. The Flight Phase PAC also has tables for dealing with aircraft that have taken damage, forced landings and pilot fatality.

With three panels, the Combat Phase PAC might seem the unruliest of the player’s aids, but here the thoughtfulness of the design choices shines through once more. The first (left) panel offers the Procedure for establishing the nationality of the encountered enemy (if playing the Germans) and determining which side has the advantage of early detection, then sets out the steps for each combat round (maximum of three). It also presents the tables necessary to complete these initial tasks, including placement of your planes, those of your antagonist, and any ground targets on the Initiative Track.

The centre panel deals with the actions available to each plane on the Initiative Track in its turn, Initiative Priority for planes sharing the same initiative space, Air-to-Air combat, Aircraft Damage and Destroyed Friendly Fighter Check tables will also be found here.

The third panel is mainly concerned with Ground Targets (often the subject of your current Mission). Most of the time you are going to be dealing with either aerial combat or ground attack/photo recon both played out on the Initiative Track. Sometimes, however, you may be bounced at the mission location, and must deal with both their stated mission and enemy fighters trying to hinder said mission. This is where the clever design the trifold PAC comes into play; the left panel has been given enough room to (snugly) fit folded behind the third panel, to allow easy access to the two necessary panels flipping between without having to open the PAC out. (Some of you may have a big enough paly area to leave all the PACs out and visible, but with the kind of space constraints I play under, I appreciate the assist.)

 

Play

The player chooses the nationality they wish to play, and randomly select a squadron of eight early, middle, or late era planes from a pool of sixteen (the pilots, all historically based, are duplicated across the three eras, and depending on the length of the campaign (Eight, twelve or sixteen missions), they may have a chance to upgrade to superior planes, should they survive). The player locates their squadron’s home airfield on the battlefield map, and after some basic housekeeping, is ready to draw their first mission. The missions are depicted on cards (54 in all) for which there are on the map places for the shuffled deck and the current (upturned) mission card. Missions vary from escorting bombers or arial recon flights to strafing mobile or static targets like tanks or infantry, to interception of incoming enemy planes. Occasionally the enemy may even get the jump on you and your pilots must scramble to get off the ground in enough time to take on an incoming flight in the air above your airfield.

Generally, a Mission Card will give you a mission and a location (e.g., scouring the skies for enemy fighters or escorting bombers or a photo-recon plane over an enemy target). You will pick the pilots for your mission from the available pool (the mission will dictate how many planes you can send on the mission, as well as any auxiliary aircraft), and move them from the Ready box the Current Flight box (above the Initiative Track).

The action is abstracted, both for operational movement and tactical fighting, but both are models of elegance in design. For each mission you have 24 fuel points (maybe slightly less if your fighters are laden with ordinance).  One of these is expended for each section of the Battlefield Map the flight passes over. With each section, you roll 2d6 to see if you run foul of an event (events are less likely to occur over friendly terrain, more likely as you move over No-Man’s-Land and into the enemy rear). Progress is recorded with a Flight marker, with the prospective target section marked with a Target marker.

When you reach the target area – or if you encounter enemy planes on the way – the action moves to the Initiative Track. Again, a 2d6 is rolled for each plane involved in the action; the plane’s performance rating, the pilot’s air combat modifier, and any other modifiers are added to that number, and the total is the numbered position at which that plane is placed on the Initiative Track. Any ground targets are placed as per their Initiative Rating (usually low single digits). Once all the planes and targets are placed on the track, the first combat round begins. Starting with the numerically highest initiative plane, each plane will have a chance to fire at the next enemy plane or target on the track. If Pierre is at position 17 and his buddy Leon is a 15, but the rascally Fritz is at 12, both French pilots will have a shot at the German, who will in turn have a chance to shoot at Rene in the ninth position (Rene rolled particularly poorly. Moreover, the distance between the firing plane and its target will increase the odds of it taking some damage; Pierre’s position five initiative ranks above Fritz will give him four dice to roll for damage, whereas Rene will get three dice on the hapless Fritz. If Fritz survives the onslaught, he will, in turn, get three attack dice on Rene. If there isn’t anyone lower than Rene on the Initiative track, Rene misses out. Two-seaters and Bombers can shoot back (there is a little backward arrow at the tail-end of their silhouettes as a reminder). If the combat runs through a third round, the flight loses another fuel point and everyone breaks off.

This description may come across as a little dry and procedural, but the play builds a strong narrative, through each successive mission. The Mission Points help to keep a tally of how the squadron is fairing overall, lending a sense of the course of the war over a discrete duration, but what you remember is how one of your rookie pilots was shot up over the enemy rear, but managed to nurse his plane back behind friendly lines, walk away from the forced landing, and hitched a ride back to your home airfield, then earned a +1 upgrade to his air and ground attack skills (a random draw on the post-mission event deck, but such a perfect fit). 

I found Aces of Valor a little clunky at first, but that was on me; about half-way through the second mission, I realised everything was just happening; I was plotting moves and making checks, taking Ack-Ack fire and surviving, chasing away smaller enemy flights and shooting down observation balloons with rockets. The process was happening, but I was seeing the narrative. This is a game that will do that if you will let it.

 

Appraisal

There is so much to like about Aces of Valor. I found it a truly immersive experience. It doesn’t give you the seat-of-your-pants experience of something like Interceptor Ace (Compass Games, 2019), but I found myself tracking the progress of the squadron through a full sixteen missions (a long campaign; I’d only set out to do twelve, but it was hard to give up), rejoicing in the squadron’s triumphs and mourning their losses (three pilots in all – quite a low attrition rate, really).

I think I may have made this all sound easy. Don’t be fooled; while the functions of the game are simple and quite straight-forward once you get the hang of them, the missions are anything but. In my first couple of outings, I had some lucky breaks with the dice, not getting entangled too often in AA fire or bounced by enemy fighters. On my third or fourth mission – a photo-recon task – the flight was jumped twice by superior fighters in superior numbers, both attacks happening before they’d even reached our side’s trench-line. I didn’t lose any pilots in that instance, but after the second attack, I was already down two planes and deeming the mission unsafe to continue, turned the remainder of the flight back to the home airfield. Every mission holds new surprises and challenges. That’s what makes this game so much fun.

To my mind, Aces of Valor is a little masterpiece. It achieves what it sets out to do – creating an immersive and thoroughly satisfying play experience – and does it with minimal fuss and bother. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, one of the aspects of this game that I appreciate most of all is the fact that, taking precautions to record what mission you’re up to and how many Mission- and Victory-Points you’ve accrued, it’s easy enough to break the game down and box it, then pull it out again when time permits and set it up without too much fuss and bother.* The lack of bookkeeping is also a boon. Everything needed is recorded on the board via tracks. No written records. No clutter. well, no clutter that the game doesn't bring itself (did I mention it has four player's aids?)

I think it took me about five or six weeks to complete my first campaign of Aces of Valor. Now I’m done, I want to start another one. I know I won’t be able to get to it for a week or two, but I’m already looking forward to it. If that’s not a recommendation for the game, I’m not quite sure what would be.

 

* At the time of writing, Aces of Valor is still available direct from the publisher, Legion Wargames, at the CPO (prepublication discount) price.

** I keep the completed missions bundled separately, and take a photo of the points status on my phone, although you could as easily write it down on a scrap of paper or a Post-It, and pop it in the box for next time.