Quick Look:
Designer: <PERSON>
Artist: N/A
Publisher: Dan Verssen Games
Year Published: 2017
No. of Players: 1
Ages: 12+
Playing Time: 30-120 minutes
The air exploded with flashes of light and sound as the 4th Fighter Group intercepted a swarm of German bandits. The bombers were close to their target, an airfield in France that acted as a staging ground for a host of the German Luftwaffe, including these fighters now engaged in combat with the Spitfires. Destroying the airfield meant eliminated at least one more squadron of German air support.
<PERSON> flew his B-17 bomber through the sky, unwavering against the exploding flak all around him. Fear was something for new recruits, and had since been driven out of his system after a handful of missions. The fighters skirmished nearby, but at least the Spitfires were keeping the Germans busy. <PERSON> had a payload to deliver, and it wouldn't do to be shot down before he could release his explosive gifts. His aircraft shook as a shell exploded too close for comfort.
Almost there, he thought as he gritted his teeth.
Approaching the target, he checked in with his crew. A few moments later, the bombardier let loose their bombs. The aircraft jolted with the newfound relief of losing all that weight, but <PERSON> kept her steady. As soon as the bombs were off, he turned his flying fortress around to head back to their base in the UK. As he banked his aircraft around, he looked down at his target and was rewarded with a large fireball that erupted from the airfield.
<PERSON> smiled for a brief moment, then readied his mind for the return trip home.
Review:
In B-17 Flying Fortress Leader, you take the role of Deputy Director of Operations for the Eighth Air Force, and are therefore responsible for reducing Germany’s ability to wage war.
B-17 Flying Fortress Leader is a strategic bombing solitaire game which, you will find upon reading my review, is a stellar simulation of what the war-torn skies of Europe might have been like. 470
Because there is a lot going on in this game, the rules, setup, and gameplay sections are rather lengthy, so if you want to skip down to my actual thoughts, I won’t be offended. However, the rules, setup, and gameplay sections will help you on your journey as you learn how to play the game.
With that said, strap yourself in and get ready for an in-depth look at this wonderful strategy game!
Rules and Setup:
Your board should look similar to this once setup is complete.
To being, select the campaign you want to play and place the campaign sheet on the table in front of you. (The rulebook recommends using the Short: U-Boat Focus (August 1942) campaign to get the hang of things before jumping in to the big campaigns. I also recommend doing this.)
The Air War Begins campaign is another good one to start with.
From there, the campaign sheet will tell you specifics about set up, including any special rules, allied technology available (if any), and how many Luftwaffe squadrons to place initially.
Place the Year, Month, and Week counters on their respective year, month, and week on the game board (as indicated on the campaign sheet). The number of weeks depends on which month you’re in, and will say underneath the month on the board.
The campaign sheet will say how many initial Luftwaffe squadrons you place. Take that many Luftwaffe squadron markers and place them on the map (i.e. Display Sheet made of hexes). For each Luftwaffe squadron, roll two d10 dice and add up the values. Place the Luftwaffe squadron on that hex. Do this for all remaining Luftwaffe squadrons.
8 Luftwaffe squadrons were placed here.
Place the USSR and Mediterranean war theater tokens on their respective starting location in each war theater zone on the main board. Your bombers do not get sent to these locations, but these war theaters will affect the probability of how many additional Luftwaffe squadrons will be deployed there instead of in your flight paths.
Place bandit tokens (Bandit, No Bandit, and Flak) in a cup, bag, hat, etc. from which to draw during the game.
Next it’s time to buy your bombers using your initial Special Operation (SO) points (as shown on the campaign sheet), That number is found on the left side of the bomber and fighter cards (i.e. “Memphis Belle” of the 91st Bomber Group has an SO cost of 12). 993