Down in Flames: Guns Blazing Review

Down in Flames: Guns Blazing is a World War II air combat game designed and published by Dan Verssen in 2010.  It's half of the current printing of a series that has its root back at GMT Games 20 years ago.  The other half of the current printing is Down in Flames: Aces High, which I have not played, but which has identical rules.

I discovered Down in Flames one evening when I wandered into my local gaming shop.  These two older grognards were playing the original GMT version and appeared to be having a great time.  They were also the only people not playing Magic, so I asked them if I could watch.  They took the time to introduce me to the game, and answer a few of my questions. It looked like a lot of fun, so I went home and looked to see what the current availability of it was.

I have no clue what happened, but some poor guy must have messed up their order to a distributor.  Because one retailer was selling copies of Down in Flames: Guns Blazing for $4 on Amazon.  Turns out that retailer was sitting on over 100 copies of it, where as most retailers might stock 2 or 3.  Sure, it wasn't the GMT version I saw being played, but for $4 who was I to say no?