European wargame practitioner Phillip Sabin’s book, Simulating War: Studying Conflict Through Simulation Games (Bloomsbury Academic, 2012) is one of three books I consider a seminal wargaming text. So it was with some more-than-mild interest that I downloaded a new free game design by Dr. Sabin offered through WargameVault. Here is the ad copy for Fighter Duel Lite:
This is a simple hex-based game of combats between flights of 2 to 4 WW2 fighters. It models altitude, energy and differences in pilot quality in just 2 pages of rules including examples and design notes. The game may be played with counters or aircraft models, and the complete absence of luck except during deployment makes it a challenging chess-like contest requiring superior skill in applying real formation tactics.
WargameVault
The introduction expands on that description a bit:
My Fighter Duel Deluxe total conversion for GMT’s Wing Leader takes a while to play despite having only 6 pages of rules, so I decided to create this Lite spin-off which boils the system down to its barest essentials. As in my Dogfight Lite and Angels One Five designs, the game focuses on generic single seat piston-engined monoplane fighters – you may use any specific types you prefer. No Wing Leader components are needed for this Lite version. Unlike in the main game, there is no luck except during deployment, so the game is a chess-like contest in which player skill in applying real formation tactics determines which flight will prevail.
Introduction, Fighter Duel Lite
I have to hand it to Phillip Sabin—when he calls a game “lite” he really means it.
There are no die rolls with tangled lists of modifiers, and the flight rules are so simple that players should soon be able to fly each fighter almost in real time. The leapfrog Igo-Ugo system of short overlapping player rounds gives a better reflection of reality than simultaneous movement plotting as used in games like Check Your 6!. The lack of distinction between plane types makes Fighter Duel Lite rather generic in character, but its simplicity offers an accessible introduction to my more detailed Canvas Aces, Dogfight, Fighter Duel and Jet Duel conversions.
Design Notes, Fighter Duel Lite
Fighter Duel Lite is certainly 1) a lite wargame with, 2) a theme of dueling fighters. There is no false advertising here—yet I cannot get excited about this game. Fighter Duel Lite comes off in execution playing like a design created to see just how simple one could make a generic, loosely World War II-themed, air combat boardgame. It’s free so you can take a look for yourself, but I’m not sure I will ever revisit this title again once played.
Feature screengrab by RMN
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