Background

In my opinion, only three parlor games have ever been invented - Chess, Poker, and Rock-Paper-Scissors (RPS). Every other game is some derivation of these three. Chess is a game of strict movement and combat rules, showing an abstract conflict between two sides. Each side possesses various pieces, each piece possessing unique qualities. Poker is a game of options accepted or declined, risk, intelligence gathering, duplicity, and, sometimes, the better hand coming up the loser. RPS is a game of circular effect: A defeats B defeats C defeats A. Bombs Away! is an even mix of RPS and Poker.

Most approaches to subject matter like this take great steps to avoid the realities of the action represented. These games focus on the interaction of hardware rather than the interaction of objectives. Exploring the interaction of objectives, even in the abstract medium of this game, was far more interesting than evaluating the firing arc coverages of various bomber formations, or gun calibres versus disparate armor deflection angles. For hardware interaction, a Chess-like game, such as SPI's Air War or Avalon Hill's Air Force are most appropriate. I wanted something different.

This game is a learning tool for the military history challenged. I would like the average sixth grader to know the difference between destroying factories that produce pianos and destroying factories that manufacture armor-piercing bullets. And I want this same person to have a tacit understanding of the utility of arson--murdering the enemy population wholesale.

In WWII, the Allied high command decided that if all of the German ball-bearing factories could be destroyed, the Wehrmacht could not manufacture vehicles or industrial machines, and the war would end. Bombers pounded ball bearing factories.

After a number of raids, no effect was seen on German production, so the idea was discarded. At the end of the war, the Allies learned that they had destroyed German ball-bearing production almost entirely, and that additional raids might have stopped the war years earlier.

Intelligence gathering in the 1940s was crude and unreliable by today's standards. It was very difficult to know, even in broad terms, how your actions affected your opponent.

Also, long wars often have technological and tactical ping-pong effects, in which one side makes a development, and the other side creates something to counter it. The first develops a counter to the counter. The other side designs a counter to defeat their counters counter. Poker and RPS are clearly the root games to tap from.

Approach

Why someone does a thing is usually a more useful piece of information than how they did it. This game is not about which airplane had bigger guns, a higher ceiling altitude, or a smaller turning radius. This game is about objectives and motivations, and has many layers where the motivations of the different sides interact.

The first layer is the Allied player's strategy. Does he plan to employ few large attacks against Military targets? many smaller attacks against Political and Economic targets? a quick kill against Political targets? a low-risk, low-payoff siege against Economic targets? or a war against poorly defended targets of opportunity?

The second layer is the Axis player's tactics. Does he stack defenses in Military and Key targets, allowing the Allied player to attack them with immunity? spread defenses and decoys evenly over all targets, scoring few Allied kills, but never letting an attack go unpunished? or concentrating defenses in some targets, and decoys in others, making the Allies suffer mercilessly, in cases where they guess poorly?

The third layer is the use of Event cards. Does one use a card immediately for as much effect as can be gained? or saved for a situation, card, or action by the enemy that may never occur? Too often for the Allied player, the cards use the player more than the player uses the cards.

Strategy

To play this game well, especially as the Axis, you must determine your opponent's motivations as soon as possible. You must also find a way to pursue a winning strategy while denying your opponent the ability to easily predict what you'll do next.

Another key to playing this game well is the proper use of surprises. Event card play and cunning decoy placement are two ways to wreck your opponent's entire turn. The Allies might try sending only fighters to a target to kill German fighters without risking bombers. Placing four decoys on Essen/Koln will usually discourage Allied aggression there, while preserving Axis forces for use elsewhere.

I suggest that the Allied player group all his Night bombers for raids against protected targets. One or two should survive to bomb the target. If the Axis player leaves targets poorly protected, sending one Night bomber against each such target is useful for scoring easy points with little risk of retaliation.

For purchasing, either buy as many bombers as you can, generally ignoring fighters and Event cards, or buy one bomber and two Event cards every turn. With the first strategy, you're going to bomb only one target per turn with your entire air force. Choose any key or Military target each turn. Hit Essen/Koln occasionally just to keep the Axis player honest.

If you choose the second strategy, save your Event cards until such time as you have three or more that complement each other. Then play them all on a single turn, adopting an attack plan that will allow you to take advantage of all of them.

For protection, the Allies will often group their planes. If they do, the Axis should buy flak; if the Allies spread their aircraft out, the Axis should buy fighters.

I suggest that the Axis purchase at least one Event card every turn, and the biggest flak upgrades possible with the remaining points. Event cards are useful to use during the game to destroy Allied bombers, buy fighters cheap, or to discard rather than lose Builds in the event of Economic Raids. It is important to have both Flak 4s on the Target Display every turn. A Flak 4 on a key target should kill or bounce 72% of all Allied aircraft at that target.

Early in the game, when you have many Decoys, cover every target with at least one card, and place the Flak 4s randomly among them. Flak 2s are cheap and vicious when placed on key targets. Purchasing smaller Flak cards allows you to puchase more Flak and fighter cards. This, in turn, permits you to keep enough cards in your Available pile to cover every target every turn. Woe is the Axis player who fails to place any defenses on three or four less important targets on a given turn.