A.V.G.: The Flying Tigers

A.V.G. – The Flying Tigers is a book-based solitaire (or up to three player) air war game that recalls when a ragtag group of American pilots volunteered to fly for China against the Japanese. Recruited from the reserve officer ranks of the Navy, Marines, and Army, one hundred pilots signed contracts to fight. Of those, 99 went to Burma and China. Working together under Claire Lee Chennault, together they gave the nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek an “instant air force”.

Equipped with the fast and well-armored Curtiss P-40B Tomahawk, the pilots of the American Volunteer Group (A.V.G.) held the line against a numerically superior, better-trained cadre of elite Japanese pilots, including a number of aces, who flew aircraft that were far more maneuverable.

Soon after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the A.V.G. began its combat operations. It wasn’t long before they scored their first success. On 20 December 1941, the pilots of the A.V.G. intercepted a Japanese bombing raid flying to bomb the western Chinese city of Kunming. Of the ten Japanese light bombers that were dispatched that day, the A.V.G. claimed three. A fourth bomber crashed on the way back to its base in occupied French Indochina. On Christmas Day, they flew again, this time downing 24 Japanese bombers and fighters.

It wasn’t long before TIME Magazine covered the story of the Flying Tigers, celebrating their victories against Japan. By April 1942, just five months after the Flying Tigers combat debut, Hollywood was already filming a movie about the outfit, starring John Wayne. Their fight boosted home front morale and inspired thousands to join the US Army’s expanding air force. In six and a half months, the Flying Tigers, as the A.V.G. came to be known, downed 297 Japanese aircraft at a loss of just 14 of their own.

In this game, you take on the role of the Operations Officer in charge of managing the A.V.G., its pilots, aircraft, fuel stocks, spare parts, and airfields. You will face the Japanese as they attack relentlessly, hoping to decimate your forces and bring the Chinese leadership in Chongqing to surrender to Japan’s rule. Hanging in the balance are hundreds of thousands of Japanese soldiers who are engaged in the war in China. If China were to capitulate, the bulk of those soldiers would be available to fight in New Guinea and Australia – or perhaps continue to advance to the west and attack India.

In the game, A.V.G. - The Flying Tigers, The future of the War in the Pacific hangs by a thread. Your assets are three squadrons of Curtiss P-40B fighter planes and the pilots of the Flying Tigers in your command. You must apply them well to defend China, take the fight to the Japanese, and achieve victory.

The game utilizes the roots of the same proven narrative-style system of the top-selling game, MAG-23 Guadalcanal. At the center of gameplay is your War Diary, your aircraft complement, and your pilot roster. A Chinese village-based early warning network will provide reports of incoming Japanese raids. As well, you will fly morning reconnaissance missions to identify targets on the many Japanese airfields, and then return to strafe them later in the day. Your forces will assist the British and Australian squadrons in the defense of Rangoon in Burma as well as fly to protect the Burma Road and the aerial lifeline of C-47 transport planes flying “The Hump” from India to China to bring in supplies, spare parts, fuel, ammunition, and equipment.

The Japanese will not be an easy opponent. On almost every mission, you will be outnumbered by their fighters, the Type 97 and Type 98, and face bombing runs from light and medium bombers. The Japanese will strafe your airfields, advance with their ground forces to take Burma and ultimately attempt a crossing into western China at the Salween Gorge.

A.V.G. – The Flying Tigers is a fast-playing solitaire air war game that is in the narrative-style. It is highly engaging and fun to play – and it is easy to learn. Each of the missions can be completed in less than thirty minutes. Utilizing the MAG-23 System, the game is not a simulation of air-to-air combat between individual fighter planes, nor a realistic depiction of the air war. It is an entertaining and educational air war game that allows you to experience and learn about the Second World War and its impact on China.

A.V.G. – The Flying Tigers is for experienced and novice war gamers alike. Though dice play a role, the outcomes of your missions and the campaign depends on you. The story of your time in China is as you write it. Will your pilots succeed? How many of your men will become aces? How many will be shot down? Will the Japanese defeat China? The outcome of the war in China is in your hands.

-description from designer