• These games about air battles will let you conduct your own aerial war.International Air show 2007 ( Kecskemet, Hungary) image by Kavita from Fotolia.com
  
  Aerial warfare has had a romantic draw to it ever since aces like the Red Baron started taking to the skies in World War I, and plenty of games have sought to capture that thrill. Some games stand out from the crowd by allowing players to direct entire aerial battles strategically instead of from the cockpit.
  
  

SteamBirds

• SteamBirds, from Armor Games, is an alternate history of the first and second World Wars in which a technology for producing low-temperature fusion is discovered in the early 1830s. Planes are driven by fusion powered steam, and players must guide them through aerial dogfights to defeat the German air forces.
  
  Players take their turn by giving all the planes in their air force instructions about what maneuvers to take in the next few seconds of combat. Each plane has its own maneuvers, which range from 180-degree loops to firing heat-seeking missiles. The objective is to down all the enemy aircraft while suffering as little damage as possible to your plane.
  
  

Total Air War

• Total Air War gives you command of an entire aerial campaign in a fictional war. You direct your squadrons of F-22 fighters on a variety of missions in order to take control of the skies and support the ground war. At any point during the action, you can instantly jump into the cockpit of one of the F-22s under your command and perform the dogfighting and bombing runs yourself.
  
  Game review site GameSpot.com named the game an "editor's choice" and praised it as "one of the most addictive, entertaining, and approaching" of all air battle games.
  
  

Hornet Leader

• Hornet Leader, published by Matrix Games, is a bit drier and more serious than either Steambirds or Total Air War. There are no 3D graphics. Players are given realistic objectives and must decide how to deploy their squadron of F/A-18 Hornet fighters to achieve the objectives. They must make decisions about which pilots to send, what weapon load-outs to give them, and what, if any, missions to send to pave the way against the enemy's defenses.
  
  The outcome of each missions affects enemy abilities in future missions.
  
  

Battle of Britain

• Battle of Britain is a strategy game by war-game designer Gary Grigsby in which you take full command of either the British Royal Air Force or the Nazi Luftwaffe. Each player must decide how to use his forces. For example, if the British player sends too many planes out on patrol early in the day, then his pilots may be exhausted should a massive German bombing run occur late in the day. However, having planes in the air and ready for a German attack before it starts can be a huge advantage at the start of the battle. On the other side of the Channel, the German player must decide what to bomb, when and where in order to catch the British player off guard and pave the way for a future invasion.