Avalon Hill - Luftwaffe - What's Inside!

In this video I take a look at Avalon Hill's Luftwaffe and what you should expect to get in the box if you should purchase one used. I also talk about how I use to play this game back in the late 70's. Enjoy.

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[DigbyOdel-etxx]

My first AH game. I enjoyed playing Luftwaffe. Still have the game I got back in 1980 from my parents. Have not played it in years. Back when, my Best Friend and high school buddy played it with me a few times.

These AH games are cool and fun but not many people want to play them. I would play Luftwaffe vs. Myself a few times. It was still fun, playing both sides.

[StukaJoe]

My first wargame, together with France 1940. Nice vid!

[charleslatora]

Good score with the slip case. Both mine are regular boxes

[dphalanx]

Nice coverage! Would hope that you might look into reviewing the *update* for this game. In 2007, Joe Miranda (of S&T fame), with Lou Zocchi's permission, revised and updated the _Luftwaffe_ game; adding more units, rebalancing the scenarios, modifying the map, and revising certain rules. The biggest visible change was the dropping of the circular counters for classic square ones <sigh>.The new _Luftwaffe_ was published by Decision Games.

[HissyCat]

This brings back many memories. Thank you for showcasing it. =)

[charleslatora]

Still have my copy from last century, us another that was in a game bundle.

[davidcook]

Luftwaffe was one of my first games. It is a good but flawed classic. Recently, I bought an unpunched 1971 slipcase to replace my long lost copy. The box top chart can get worn by repeated opening and closing, so use it with care. I also have a 1970 PanzerBlitz slipcase too. It is interesting to see the game extras of slipcase and plastic dice tray that AH had before the Oil Crisis and 70s inflation. My older brother had the early 70s slipcase wonders while I got the later plain versions after 1975. I am still looking to switch out my plain Richthofen's War for a slipcase version.

[SharkHustler]

Great review of this old classic! ... Yeah, it's been years since I've last played this, but despite not being what I'd call a great game (highly abstracted and therefore, considerably unrealistic, given the [limited] parameters of quarterly-play involved), still, I can recall having fond (if not slightly vague) memories of the varying levels of play (such as the particular optional variant where the German-player gets early use of swarms of the vaunted Me 262), even if it meant play-balance often favored the American-player in the end.

Having played *Decision Games* [2007] version of _Luftwaffe_ – though not offering much different than *Avalon Hill* 's original (disappointedly so!) – I must confess that either game (namely, *Decision Games* take on their much flawed *Advanced Game* [or rather, simulation] version), is a rather unrealizable scenario in what an air-war campaign should represent (on a gaming perspective). I think it would be very difficult (for any designer) to not only convincingly construct such in a realizable (playable) format, but as well, simultaneously offering scope and dimension towards negating abstract envisioned elements within the limits of time and spatial boundaries towards actual play.

And as such, this is what the gamer (unrealized or not) 'experiences' within a [three-month] quarterly-play time-frame in _Luftwaffe;_ i.e. several dozen units [unrealistically] facing-off against one-another at once (just to name off one such instance), which – however one appeals to that [abstract] picture, as exciting as it may [initially] appear – in my view, doesn't quite come across as being faithfully true (regardless of playability's, or simplicity's sake) to what actually occurred over the skies over Nazi-held Germany.

However one views/plays either version of _Luftwaffe, _ I believe the game deserves at least some merit as a wargame classic in its own, if not flawed, historicity, despite its vain attempt to strategize a [playable] platform within an untenable dimensional perspective ... Just be 'smugly content' on losing (not too badly) – at least fifty percent of the time – being the German-player in most scenarios.

[TigerClawTV]

Ordered a copy based off this video. Ever play one of these old school physical games via email?

[GrumblingGrognard]

Apple stock?!? ...you forget; we did not have Apple back when you played this by mail! :) Seriously! lol :) Great game and great to see someone that remembers how pbm was done "back in the day".

[simovoutilainen]

Just checked - 16 dollars in 1971 is 118 dollars in todays money. So not so cheap;).

[Jezza_One]

Great box shame the game wasn't as good.

[davidharrison]

i have 2 versions of this..shame i cant solo it

[jayglithero]

The map was terrible. Names of some German cities were misspelled, or spelled in other languages. The map has Breslau and Silesia as part of Czechoslovakia instead of Germany. The P-47 combat factor should be 4 instead of 3. The highest scoring U.S. fighter group in Europe flew P-47s. I still have my game, and play it solo. Lots of bookkeeping for bombing missions. Thanks for your nostalgic video.