Air wargaming, like naval wargaming

Naval wargaming

Naval wargaming is a branch of the wider hobby of miniature wargaming. Generally less popular than wargames set on land, naval wargaming nevertheless enjoys a degree of support around the world...

, is a niche specialism within the wider miniatures wargaming hobby. Due to the relatively short time over which aerial combat has developed air wargaming periods tend to break down into three broad periods:

• World War I
  World War I
  World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
  
   - from the earliest air combat to the 1920s
• World War II
  World War II
  World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
  
  - 1930s to the early 1950s
• "Modern" - the missile age

To this can be added science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 and "alternate history" such as the various incarnations of Crimson Skies

Crimson Skies

Crimson Skies is a media franchise and fictional universe created by Jordan Weisman and Dave McCoy. The series' intellectual property is currently owned by Microsoft Game Studios , although Weisman's new company, Smith & Tinker Inc., has announced that it has licensed the electronic entertainment...

or Victorian

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 Science Fiction such as Aeronefs.

Air wargaming is served by a specialist wargames society, AirWarSoc, which was formed by Steve Blease (founder of the Society of Fantasy and Science Fiction Wargamers

Society of Fantasy and Science Fiction Wargamers

The Society of Fantasy and Science Fiction Wargamers is an international body established in the early 1990s to promote the fantasy and science fiction genre within the table top wargaming hobby and also to promote the hobby in general...

); AirWarSoc currently exists as an online entity. The development of military flight occurred during the period covered by the Society of Twentieth-Century Wargamers and air wargaming articles appear frequently in its quarterly Journal.

Board Games

• Achtung Spitfire
• Air Force and the Dauntless expansion pack (Avalon Hill)
• Air Superiority (GDW)
• Air War (Simulations Publications Inc.
  Simulations Publications
  Simulations Publications, Inc. was an influential American publisher of board wargames and related magazines, particularly its flagship Strategy & Tactics, in the 1970s and early 1980s...
  
  )
• Blue Max
  Blue Max (board game)
  Blue Maxis a multi-player board game of World War I aerial combat over the Western Front during 1917 and 1918. Each player is a fighter pilot of the British, French, American, or German air service. Each game is a single dogfight, in which players try to shoot down as many enemy planes as possible...
  
  
• Dawn Patrol (TSR)
• Down in Flames (GMT)
• Downtown (GMT)
• Elusive Victory (GMT)
• Flight Leader (Avalon Hill
  Avalon Hill
  Avalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contained its initials "AH", and it was often referred to by this abbreviation. It also published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game, and had a popular line of sports simulations...
  
  )
• Knights of the Air (Avalon Hill)
• Richthofen's War
  Richthofen's War
  Richthofen's War was Avalon Hill's board wargame treatment of the air war over France during World War I. It was published in 1972.The First World War marked the dawn of modern warfare and the first use of airplanes in combat. Richthofen's War was also one of the relatively few World War I...
  
  (Avalon Hill)
• The Speed of Heat (Clash of Arms)
• Wings (Yaquinto, Excalibre)
• Wings of War
  Wings of War
  Wings of War, by Andrea Angiolino and Pier Giorgio Paglia, is a modular boardgame collection published by Nexus Editrice and dedicated to air combat.A new edition is announced by Ares Games as Wings of Glory....
  
  : Famous Aces (Fantasy Flight Games
  Fantasy Flight Games
  Fantasy Flight Games is a Roseville, Minnesota-based game company that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games. Fantasy Flight Publishing was founded in 1995 by its CEO, Christian T. Petersen. Since the release of its first game product in 1997, the company has been doing...
  
  )
• Wings of War: Dawn of War (Fantasy Flight Games)

WW1

• Air War 1918 (Wessex Games)
• Algernon Pulls It Off (TooFatLardies)
• Stringbags (A&A Game Engineering)
• Wings of War Miniatures (Fantasy Flight Games)

WW2

• Bag the Hun (TooFatLardies)
• Blue Sky series (Blue Sky Enterprises) - currently four modules, Red Sun (Early Far East), Red Star (Eastern Front), White Star (US Daylight Raids), Blue Sea (Mediterranean), and a fifth, Black Cross (Early Western Europe), is in production.
• Check Your 6! (Scott Fisher)
• Duel of Eagles (QRF)
• Instant Bandits! (Nigel Lancaster)
• Mustangs and Messerschmitts (Rocky Russo)-- dogfights in 3D using 1/72 scale model aircraft.
• Scramble! and the Angels 15 supplement (A&A Game Engineering)
• Sturmovik Commander (Marcin Gerkowicz) - free ruleset, inspired by Forgeworld's Aeronautica Imperialis
  Aeronautica Imperialis
  Aeronautica Imperialis is a tabletop miniature wargame set within the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The game focuses on aerial combat between the different races of the Warhammer 40,000 universe...
  
  . It has modular construction, which allows to expand it by optional rules or squadron lists.

Modern

• Air War C21 (Wessex Games)
• Bandits! (Sunray42 - Private Rule set contact either Vandering Press in UK, or sunray42 at live.com)
• Birds of prey
  Birds of Prey (BoP)
  Birds of Prey is a wargame currently published by Ad Astra Games that focuses on dogfighting in the jet age.The game simulates combat using aircraft from the Korean War era to the early 90's. The game spans several generations of Fighter aircraft and features an extremely accurate flight model...
  
  (Ad Astra Games
  Ad Astra Games
  Ad Astra Games is a company that produces boardgames, miniatures wargames and role-playing games. It was founded in 2004 by Ken Burnside. The chief operating officer is former West End Games founder Daniel Scott Palter, and the office manager is Sam Pray, husband of horror and gothic romance...
  
  )
• Clash of Sabres (QRF)
• Fox Two (A&A Game Engineering)
• Fox Two Reheat (A & A Game Engineering)
• Instant Thunder! (Nigel Lancaster)
• Mig Killers (Gamescience 1977 - Out of Print)

Science fiction and fantasy

• Aeronautica Imperialis
  Aeronautica Imperialis
  Aeronautica Imperialis is a tabletop miniature wargame set within the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The game focuses on aerial combat between the different races of the Warhammer 40,000 universe...
  
  (Forge World) Warhammer 40k themed aerial combat
• Aeronef (Wessex Games) Victorian Science Fiction
• Crimson Skies (Fasa) alternate history air combat in a fragment America
• Hard Vacuum (Fat Messiah) World War II rocket combat
• Interceptor (Fasa) Far Future fighter level combat in the Renegade legion setting
• Leviathan (Fasa) Far Future capital ship combat in the Renegade legion setting
• Star Wars: Silent Death (Online rules) "Silent Death" rules for the Star Wars universe.

Online Rules

As with most wargaming genres and periods there are a large number of free air wargaming rules available on the internet. Some of these can be found on the Air Wargames Online website.