I've always enjoyed watching a good baseball or football game on TV but enjoy it more when I can play a good wargame at the same time either against a live opponent or solo using a solitaire system. Avalon Hill's B-17 Queen of the Skies is just such a system. Excellent for a relaxing afternoon or evening's entertainment either alone or with a good ball game.
B-17 covers the US 8th Air Force strategic bombing offensive over the skies of occupied Europe during the period November, 1942 through May, 1943. This was the period that the concept of daylight bombing and the B-17 Flying Fortress had to prove itself against the highly touted German Luftwaffe. Allied fighters of the period could only cover trips to targets in a portion of nearby France, beyond that the Flying Fortress was on it's own and the crew didn't have some rock to hide behind when the German fighters arrived.
In this game you command one B-17, you are the aircraft commander. Your crew, each a specialist, plays a critical part in the success or failure of your mission, that of bombing the Reich. Your Co-Pilot sits to your right in the cockpit, the Flying Fortress is a large plane and takes two men to handle her. The Flight Engineer is behind you keeping everything right and manning the important top turret with twin 50-caliber machine guns. In the nose sits the Bombadier, the man you count on to get the cargo on target. In his spare time he uses the nose MG to defend his front office. The Navigator covers the cheek MG's and is an awfully handy individual to have around if you are forced out of formation; he's the one with the road map.
Behind the bomb bay is the Radio Room and Operator that will signal Air Sea Rescue if needed and covers the Radio Room MG that points skyward. Next the Ball Turret gunner is the only man that can cover the entire belly of the plane, rolled up in his turret he can make life difficult for fighters sneaking up from below. Standing in an open compartment with electrically heated suits are the waist gunners, one per side. Each has a single 50 caliber to cover the aircraft mid-section and keep her whole. Last, but never least, is the Tail Gunner. He sits all the way at the back of the bus with twin 50s to ward off the bad guys.
An impressive group to be sure and combined with some fighter cover and other B-17's it should be a snap to get there, hit the target and get home. Well, not really; German fighters come in waves, not just by themselves, Put two to six fighters coming from all angles and the defensive fire just isn't near as big a deal, even if you hit which is never a sure thing; add in a loose formation, a gun that freezes due to the cold, a couple wounded crewmen, ammunition running low and life becomes ever so much more complex.
The game plays rather simply, the target is selected by dice roll, You then move your aircraft across zones up to eight for a trip to Kiel and the U-Boat works. At each zone, dice determine the number of waves of enemy fighters and the composition of those waves, Friendly aircraft might drive off the enemy out to Zone Four but beyond that you can only hope for just a few of !em. The incoming fighters are subject to defensive fire from the B-17 first and then they proceed with their combat. Those who miss fly into other bombers, those that hit get to return up to two more times for some fun with your crew. Many of the hits that the Me 109's, FW 190's, and ME 110's cause are merely superficial and don't affect the plane, but wound a couple of crew, KO an engine, suit heaters, oxygen or any of the complex systems that make the airplane get to target and back and you've got a problem.
I have enjoyed the game since I first played it some three years ago. I believe it to be as realistic as a boxed game can be and yet it is simple enough to play while watching a sporting event on TV. I have recommended it to many of my customers and have not had one come back and tell me that they didn't believe they received their money's worth.
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© Copyright 1986 Hal Thinglum
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