Flight Leader

About this board game

Flight Leader is a turn-based tactical air-combat game for 2–8 players, with scenarios lasting from 30 minutes to 3 hours depending on their size and the rules used. Set across “modern” aerial warfare from the Korean War through 1986, it puts players in command of individual jet fighters as they compete to establish air superiority.

Each turn represents 30 seconds, every hex covers 1 kilometer, and each counter represents a single aircraft. The game focuses on the decisions associated with fighter combat, including energy management, fuel awareness, terrain, environment, altitude, formation, radar lock-ons, visual sightings, pilot quality, and weapons systems.

Flight Leader offers more than two dozen scenarios covering conflicts including the Korean, Middle East, India-Pakistan, Vietnam, and Falklands Wars. Players can also devise their own scenarios, creating a broad range of engagements for two to eight participants, including team play.

• Over 200 different jet fighter aircraft types
• Aircraft and pilot information covering 100 nations that operate jet fighters
• Basic, advanced, and optional rules with layered complexity
• 520 die-cut counters and a 29-by-32-inch mapboard
• Aircraft status cards, a cloud card, aircrew aid cards, and a decimal die

Designed by fighter pilot Captain Gary C. Morgan for U.S. Air Force training, the game was known as Check Six when first used by the military as part of Project “WARRIOR.” Its rules let players choose the level of detail they want, from a more accessible introduction to a highly detailed depiction of aerial combat.

Released in 1986, Flight Leader supports scenarios ranging from subsonic gunnery duels to supersonic missile engagements. Whether replaying a historical air battle or creating a new matchup, players face the shifting tactical considerations of high-performance jet warfare.