Blue Max
is a multi-player board game

Board game

A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...

 of 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...

 aerial combat over the Western Front

Western Front (World War I)

Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...

 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

Dogfight

A dogfight, or dog fight, is a form of aerial combat between fighter aircraft; in particular, combat of maneuver at short range, where each side is aware of the other's presence. Dogfighting first appeared during World War I, shortly after the invention of the airplane...

, in which players try to shoot down as many enemy planes as possible without being shot down themselves. There is no limit to the number of players in a single game.
It was first published by Game Designers Workshop (GDW), in 1983. The game is named after the prestigious German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 order

Order (decoration)

An order or order of merit is a visible honour, awarded by a government, dynastic house or international organization to an individual, usually in recognition of distinguished service to a nation or to humanity. The distinction between orders and decorations is somewhat vague, except that most...

 Pour le Mérite

Pour le Mérite

The Pour le Mérite, known informally as the Blue Max , was the Kingdom of Prussia's highest military order for German soldiers until the end of World War I....

, informally known as Blue Max.

In this game, you are a pilot of World War I, fighting over France in the 1917 and 1918 years. Using your airplane you must try to shoot down as many enemy planes as possible without being shot down. The game is played on an hexagonal board, using a maneuver chart from which, every turn, you decide which move your plane will do. After every player have decided their move, all the planes are moved simultaneously on the map. You can fire at another plane only if it is directly in front of your plane and at a maximum distance of 3 hexes.

The rules are simple and most of the them are contained in the components used during play and reference to the rule manual is rarely necessary. After playing some games, you can start use the campaign rules, which add another level of fun to the game.

Blue Max was designed by Phil Hall and originally released in 1983. A reprint of the boxed version was released in 1992. An updated miniatures version was released in 1995 that included early war aircraft.The miniatures version did not include the aircraft counters or map of the boxed versions. Blue Max was selected as one of the best one hundred games by Games Magazine

GAMES Magazine

Games magazine is a United States magazine devoted to games and puzzles, and is published by Games Publications, a division of Kappa Publishing Group.-History:...

 in 1993 and won the GAMA award for graphics in the same year. Canvas Eagles, an upgraded version of Blue Max, was designed by Eric Hotz

Eric Hotz

-Early life and education:He was born in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada and studied at Simon Fraser University, Langara College, and Capilano College, mainly studying archaeology, art history, fine arts and commercial art.-Career:...

and released free on the web.

External links

• You Play It - you can play this game online for free at www.YouPlay.It.
• Eagles-Max - Download the rules and start playing!