Context: Britain's Darkest Hour (see below, "Green" Spitfires of 10, 11 and 12 Group await the Luftwaffe Fleets taking off from Northern France (Nos 2 and 3) based in France):
Eagle Day: The Luftwaffe Missions and Squadrons are assigned and RAF WAAFs waiting by plotting tables waiting ready to see Goering is disappointed (see below, the RAF Flights are assigned and scrambled as the enemy formations are picked up on the Radar Home Chain, attacked - honours even as only 50% of the Bomber Missions completed):
Another wave of German bombers is prepared. The RAF gets points for just surviving while the German Luftwaffe has to complete missions (see below, German Squadrons are being traded 1:1 with RAF Flights):
A morale boost for the RAF as the celebrity RAF Duck Display Team does a morale boosting tour of 12 Group Squadrons. The Luftwaffe are ahead on the points and the RAF have a tough turn ahead of them (see below, 12 Group have been giving 11 Group sterling support):
The air battle for London and Canterbury define the strategic campaign. Both German Missions are stopped dead in their tracks, including a sacrificial exchange by a Beaufighter Squadron bounced by Me 109s (see below, the bombing of London fails and the RAF jumps ahead with the populace appreciating the sacrifice "The Few" are making):
The Luftwaffe embark on another desperate mission to "Bomb London" but meets with the RAF "Steel Wall of Spitfires" and a "Taxi Rank of Hurricanes". The bombers were annihilated before the bombing phase (see below, this turn was damage limitation on behalf of the Luftwaffe as they were beaten across the board):
After four turns the basic game completed with an obvious RAF win. One important lesson was for the RAF not to needlessly dogfight with German Fighters (even the lame duck Me 110 "Destroyers") unless they are stacked with bombers.
Next Steps: Review the changes in dog-fighting in the advanced rules.
The original TSR Game of Board Game Geek:
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1844/battle-britain
Note: This has has two interesting reviews
The Plastic Soldier Company revamp of the TSR Battle of Britain game has an interesting review:
https://www.amazon.com/Board-
Just in case it disappears here it is in full:
Battle of Britain, from PSC Games, is a thrilling game that depicts the 1940-1941 Battle of Britain. One player plays the German Luftwaffe as it tries to bomb British cities, airfields, and radar installations, while the other player takes on the role of the British RAF as it desperately tries to defend the island from the enemy onslaught. The board is a map of England and the channel, as well as the north coast of France and a small section of Norway. The German player has Luftflotte player boards for his cards, while the British player has RAF player boards for his cards. There are different scenarios and a campaign game that players can do. A typical scenario will last four game rounds.
During the game rounds the German player will draw a number of "mission" cards and assign them to his various squadrons. On his turn he will move the various squadrons from their bases in France and Norway to over Britain. When they cross into Britain's radar cover, the British player may choose to intercept and moves one of his squadrons from up to three spaces away into the same space, however he can only engage in a total of five combats per found to reflect Britain's limited resources. The German player then moves all of his non-intercepted aircraft toward their targets, spending fuel supply as he does so. The British player can then decide to attack certain German squadrons with his own, moving up to five spaces away, and within the five battle limit.
Combat occurs differently in interception than it does in dogfighting over the German targets. In both, players roll their fighter combat number (the top right number on the card) and try to score hits by rolling the enemy's symbol on their dice, (however, they can also roll their own symbol, which acts as a friendly fire hit). In interception, however, the British player plays all three of his squadron cards at the beginning of combat, and the German player can choose any three of his six squadron cards. Each player then rolls and casualties are assigned. A single hit is enough to take down one aircraft, up to its strength level. (For instance if two aircraft are in the fight and one has a strength level of three and the other of three, and four hits are rolled, both planes become casualties. If only three hits were rolled then only would be taken.) In dogfighting, each player lays down one card simultaneously, and they battle each other. If one card is able to score two hits that squadron becomes an ace squadron. British casualties go to a damaged aircraft section of the appropriate player board, while German casualties are eliminated from the game.
The German player then attempts to bomb their target, rolling the bombing number on the card. Depending on what the target is a certain number of success must be rolled. Damage tokens are placed on successfully bombed targets, and on the British player's infrastructure track. The German player then must fly his squadrons home. If he has exhausted all or most of his fuel tokens, he must roll to see if those planes make it home safely. At the beginning of the next round the British player may attempt to repair planes and bomb damage by rolling a number of dice from uncovered cities on the infrastructure track. Successes allow him to repair planes, airfields, and radar installations, but not cities. After four rounds scoring occurs. The German players scores for things like cities destroyed, aces created, and missions completed. The British player scores for things like enemy aircraft destroyed, aces created, and incomplete German missions. Whoever has the most points wins Battle of Britain.
There is a lot more to this game but these are the basic rules. The game was created by Richard Borg, better known for his Commands and Colors games, which are fantastic light wargames. Here, each player is given several tough choices. For instance, the German player must decide which missions to risk while the British player must decide which units to intercept and which to dogfight- and which to just let through to their targets. Each player must make choices during dogfighting combat- which planes to use is very important. And the British player must carefully consider what planes or facilities to repair with his limited resources. The tough decisions make for exciting narrative gameplay. The game looks great. The board is just beautiful and the minis are a nice touch. Players fell like their in the Cabinet War Rooms with Churchill sliding units across maps. The downside is that many of the plane minis do not fit easily on their stands, and it is easy to knock them over during gameplay. Some more dice would have been nice as well. These are minor complaints, however. Generally this is a fun and exciting light wargame that fans of World War II games should really take to. Check it out.
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