Flying Circus (SPI) on eBay

Angiolillo · 2 December 2003, 05:42 AM

Hello!

I just bought a copy of Flying Circus on eBay. Paid a lot, since it was the only one that would be available out of USA. But there is at least another couple:a cheap one still unpunched

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=3160602734

and another in a set of five old SPIs

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=3160184371

If you want to try... good luck!

Bye,

Angiolillo

Shooter · 2 December 2003, 10:20 AM

In the days before CGI and PC's, games like Flying Circus were the only attempts to simulate air combat. I was a subscriber to Strategy & Tactics magazine, which was where the game originated, in 1974 when that issue hit the mailboxes.

Between the efforts of myself and two friends with five hours of devoted reading and discussion of the rules ("...but what does that really mean?") we played five dogfights. I "flew" one a/c, one of my friends the other, and the third man was arbiter of the rules (ie: umpire).

The game play was about as exciting as watching paint dry.

I wish you luck with the game, Angiolitto. Hope it did not cost you too much cash.

Shooter sends

Barker · 2 December 2003, 11:15 AM

Howdy from another old gamer:
SPI was, at the time, both lauded and hated.
They swung for the fence, often.
They missed a lot.

Many SPI games are and were unplayable.
Hence "playtesting".
Some of these offerings could not possibly be playtested...

Some were.

Some of those were jewels.

My favorite SPI offering was the Ardennes Quad.
I played that thing til I wore out the map, the cardboard and the game book.

Others?
Punch out the counters, the game into the garbage and the dog on the way back in from the gay-razh.

yikes.

h34r:

Angiolillo · 2 December 2003, 11:46 PM

You are right, guys... I played a lot of Napoleon's Last Battles, while other games were unplayable. I have a Campaign For North Africa that has probably never playtested: 250 com pf maps, 1800 counters. I played tyhe short scenario of El Alamein once in my life, and probably I'll never do it again if they do not sentence me to life and close in a cell together with 9 other game enthusiasts.

But I have collector bood in my veins. I have Dogfight, Richthofen's War, Dawn Patrol, Aces High, Red Baron, Wings, Ace of Aces, Blue Max... Just to stick to WWI. I cound not miss it. And I have a little activity of game designing, so I somehow justify myself with the fact that I need those for my job.

Anyway, I'll try to play Flying Circus too. And if somebody wants the thrill to own a little mass of card & Cardboard right from the early '70, just bid on eBay!

Bye and thanks,

Andrea

Angiolillo · 3 December 2003, 12:00 AM

>250 com pf maps

250 centimeters of maps...

5 of them, each one quite large and divided in so small hexes.

Sorry!

A.

Angiolillo · 23 January 2004, 03:54 AM

Got Flying Circus. Not played yet, but it seems based on a pretty standard system used also in Spitfire and Foxbat&Phantom (got those two too&#33

. For being the first WWI aerial simulation, it seems quite interesting anyway. Quite a good choice of plane models for several kinds of scenarios. Strange rear-gun arcs. I studied the rules and I'll try it soon.

And yesterday even Campaign for North Africa arrived... A real monstre!