I have been playing air combat simulation board games since 1982. I started with old Avalon Hill classics such as Luftwaffe and Air Force/Dauntless. My friends never caught on to flight sims, so they won't play AH (too hard for them to fly), but they still love to play Air Force/Dauntless, which uses performance data cards based on real-world data to make a simple model for fighting at a scale of 1 aircraft per counter in a 3-dimensional environment. Unlike most of my other games, this one is easily playable by anyone that can handle looking up numbers on color codes charts and writing down movement codes in a log.
I never have found anyone among people I know that would play Over the Reich/Achtung Spitfire or the jet equivalent, Speed of Heat. Even now, a new jet sim board game is about to be released that is super accurate. Most people don't have the patience to learn the math to model 3-d movement correctly, even with the help of play aids.
Computers generally do a better job. But in terms of strategy-tactics, AH seems like quake compared to a boargame which can be played more like a slow careful chess match during which 30 seconds of game time might take a 2 or more hours to simulate. For those that don't have the hand-eye co-ordination or spatial orientation to play flight sims, board games provide an interesting and challenging way to re-create and study air combat tactics and maneuvering.
Regrettably, I barely get to play AH and most certainly don't have the time to play any of my closet full of wargames beyond the occasional game of Air Force/Dauntless.
If anyone is actually interested in playing board game simulations, the OTR/AS previously mentioned is very accurate, but also time consuming. AF/D is a nice compromise between playability and realism. My friends and I used the term "vulching" long before there were online sims to descibe someone in a free-for-all scenario who circled off to the side waiting for other people to get damaged before getting into the fight. Funny that Phil, the principal "vulture", always flew the F4U-1C
Anyone seriously interested in any aspect of wargaming, feel free to contact me. I never got into the Napoleanic minitiares stuff, but I have dabbled in and still own just about everything else from land/air/sea warfare with scales ranging from 1:1 to grand tactical.
