Stats:
No. of players: 1
Amount of time to play: 30-60 min (depending on the campaign you play)
Age requirements: 12+
Set-up time: 15 min

Phantom Leader Deluxe is a solitaire air strategy game. You fly missions from Vietnam and must build your squadron and eliminate your targets.

Phantom Leader Deluxe Rules Description:

Phantom Leader Deluxe is similar to the other games in the Leader Series. You choose you campaign, pick era-appropriate aircraft and outfit them with air-to-ground and air-to-air weapons.
Then you fly missions and try to destroy your targets.

Of the games in the Leader Series, Phantom Leader Deluxe is most like Hornet Leader. In fact if you read my overview and review of Hornet Leader you will have a basic understanding of how this game works. The rest of this post will focus on the elements added or different in Phantom Leader Deluxe.

There are two versions of four campaigns. One uses air force planes and the other uses navy planes. This means there are a bunch of planes to choose from. Some are not as good as others but give Special Option Points that can buy you special weapons or other items that can help you complete your mission.

To simulate the fighting in Vietnam you must Attack Angle counters for each Site in Approach Areas. These counters show you which directions the Site can attack and be attacked in. Some are wide open while others may only be attacked from the North.

When you place your aircraft counters on the Tactical Display in Phantom Leader you give them a Flight Path. Each aircraft must have one Flight Path counter where they begin and the corresponding Flight Path counter is placed in the opposite Pre-Approach area. When exiting, your aircraft must leave via that area or an adjacent one.

There is also a Politics Track in this game. Each target you choose has a Politics value. You may only choose a Target with a Politics value equal to or lower the value showing on the Politics Track. And you move the counter based on the Target you choose. This limits your Targets for later missions. If you are unable to choose any of your current Targets because of the Politics track you cannot fly a mission this turn.

I have not played the original Phantom Leader but here is a list of the differences between it and the deluxe version of the game.

Increase the cards from 165 to 330
– All pilots get all 6 experience levels
– Add new aircraft: Air Force F-5, Air Force A-7, Navy A-5
– Add more pilots for all aircraft types
– Add more Target cards
– Add more Special Event cards
– Revise the 6 original Campaigns to include the new Targets and Aircraft
Add Air Force and Navy Campaigns for the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
Upgrade to a mounted 11″x17″ Tactical Display

Quick Review of Phantom Leader Deluxe:

Phantom Leader Deluxe is another fun, solitaire strategy game. It adds some nice small tweaks to Hornet Leader to increase the difficulty and number of things you need to consider when planning and playing. Yet there are not many additional rules to learn.

The components for this game are in line with the other games in the Leader Series. The art is good and the rules are easy to read and follow. And there are tons of cards and a bunch of counters. I do wish there were baggies in the box to better organize all the counters though.

The number of aircraft in this game gives it a high degree of replay value. With the different versions of campaigns that give you access to Air Force or Navy aircraft. These different aircraft may only be outfitted with certain munitions. And that may cause you to alter your strategy.

Like Hornet Leader your decisions and planning really matter in Phantom Leader, but more so. This game is less forgiving than Hornet Leader. You need to pick your munitions wisely to be successful in this game.

The Flight Paths and Attack Angles also increase the difficulty. You need to ensure you can avoid Sites or target them while still eliminating the center Target and exit via your Flight Path. Again this affects your tactics and planning.

Creating your squadron and choosing your munitions matters a lot. But it can be a learning process to know what to use given your mission. This and the amount of options can be overwhelming to new players. If you don’t enjoy managing and tracking these types of details this game could be cumbersome for you.

Phantom Leader Deluxe is a good solo game for you if you enjoy the other games in the Leader Series. If you have Hornet Leader you may want to try Phantom Leader if you want a harder challenge. If you have not tried and games in the Leader Series I’d pick up Thunderbolt Apache as it is my favorite. However if you enjoy fighter comber to helicopter combat this game is a great place to start.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction N/A
Replay Value 6 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6