I most recently finished The War Below, by James Scott. It follows the patrols of USS Drum, Silversides, and Tang against the backdrop of the overall war in the Pacific. I found it quite enriching and enjoyable!
Prior to that it was With Wings Like Eagles, by Michael Korda. Learning about the preparations during the inter-war years by Dowding, conflicting strategies during the battle, all intertwined with individual dogfight reminiscences came together as quite a rich story.
I've used them for FLAC with my group before - it basically marries AAAF with an X-Wing-esque maneuver dial. Result is pretty fun, if not slow to introduce to new players. I found the rule set on BoardGameGeek a few years back.
I like the detail in both the V1 and V2 minis. My personal preference is for the larger V2s because I like how they scale to the soldiers. That said, I still use V1s when they are the only option (Elefant, SU-152, etc.). Planes don't make it to the table with my gaming group - we prefer AAAF or Wings of War when we take to the skies.
Your affinity for France and Barbarossa are both solid scenarios - lots to go on with both!
Rarest: I'd say my EF Panther was the toughest to track down (several years) Sculpts: M10 Wolverine, M7 Priest, Japanese Bicycle Troops (in that order); 3" gun (aka beached squid) doesn't make the cut Scale: KV-2 is a chuckle to roll out (hills not withstanding) Belle of the Ball by nation (let's dance!): US- M18 TD to shoot 'n' scoot; UK- can't take the sky from the Firefly; USSR- Veteran IS-2, "for is not for Germans to be having all fun with tanki;" Germany- Veteran Tiger (but using regular '39-'45 sculpt because she's prettier than her sister); Japan- please don't make me bring tanks...I mean...I guess a Te-Ke tankette, so at least I have a conversation starter
I bring my set in for my high schoolers to play after school, so anything to get them to say " *gulp* what is THAT?" during setup is fun (even if a unit is impractical)
Hi! I have a ton of planes if you'd like (for all the nationalities you list, too). I got them from several eBay lots. The one quirk is that the prior owner glues the planes onto the flight pegs. If that's not a deal-breaker, let me know and we'll go from there.
I'm new to kickstarter also. The game developers have been very involved and helpful in answering all sorts of questions along the way, and they seem like good ones to do business with. I'm excited for it!
Hopefully it'll scale well for solo play. XCom: the Board game requires the app to play the alien invaders but doesn't scale well because there is so much to do with a timer.
Yes I think you're right. After a second thought it looks like the work load would be too much for one person.
I believe they're going to release a video game as well as the board game. If they do that would be best for a solo player :-(
I still haven't backed it yet, I'm not sure of how many times I'll get it onto the table.
The kickstarter page has playthrough videos of solo and two player games. Each player is able to set their own difficulty level (independent of other players), so solo players were advised to go it on easy mode when managing the four roles (I think Rahdo did a solo runthrough this way).