From: hcmeyer@uci.edu (Hank Meyer)
Subject: RAF (West End) Errata/Addenda

RAF - Making Things Even Tougher for Britain (by Ken Hole)
Canadian Wargamers Journal, Issue 20 (Dec 89/Jan 90)

...After a couple of playings through I found out that it had a failing
common to most solitaire games. Once you found out the tricks to the system
it was easy to win.

The raids became predictable at the end of each deck as there is a finite
set of target cards. It soon became apparent that some raids were not too
worrisome and better left alone for long term gain. It became easy to ignore
port, city, and even industry attacks in some cases.

I play with the following rules to change the predictability and costliness
of raids, so as to increase the decision pressure on the British (solo
player). I have included my justification (no matter how stretched) after
each suggestion.

1) If you do nothing else, I strongly suggest adding a reshuffle card to
the raid deck (the blank card provided is perfect). It allows for a much
more "random" raid selection with repeat raids more likely.

(To me this is a simple and effective alteration that should be applied to
any game with a deck of cards to hurt the card counter. It works for Vegas,
right?).

2) Adjust the bombing damage for the following targets:

a. Airfield Damage - Planes from the affected squadron may also receive
damage points if they are in the Rest Box or Damage Box. Planes must take
damage points to satisfy all losses including to the point of elimination
(the player decides how to distribute his losses).

b. Radar Targets - Damage is additive should it be damaged before it is
repaired.

(Airfield and Radar targets hurt the British a lot and had them on the
ropes in fact. But in the game often no planes are eligible to take the
damage. It is easy in the game yet unrealistic in my opinion to let
unhindered bombing of airfields).

c. Industry Damage - Affects non-used replacements from date of bombing if
no planes are available to receive the damage. This can be shown by means
of a blank counter indicating that replacements up to a certain date equal
to the number of damage points will be fatigued even if none are available
to be received presently.

d. Port Damage - In addition to victory points damage is applied to industry
as below:

1-3 damage pts = 1 industry pt
4,5 damage pts = 2 industry pts
6+  damage pts = 3 industry pts

e. City Damage - In addition to victory points damage is applied to industry
as per the following:

1   damage pt  = 0 industry pts
2-4 damage pts = 1 industry pt
5+  damage pts = 2 industry pts

f. Replacements - If there are unbombed replacements available to be used
but no planes to replace then they may be applied to planes in the Rest Box.
First to planes of that type and then to a different type if not applicable
to the intended plane.

(A bit chromy but there is now a reason to at least make an effort to defend
industry especially, and ports and cities to a lesser extent. My justification
for industry point damage for ports and cities is to reflect a loss of
resources which would have to be diverted from elsewhere to repair the damage.
I do not believe that the current victory point penalty is sufficient to
entice realistic choices on which raids to ignore).

3) Night Raids - If using this rule then also use the following:

a. If a storm occurs then no night raids are made. Any bombers in the night
raid box are returned to their particular Luftflotte to be available for
the next day raid.

b. He-111's are the primary night bomber therefore they should see less duty
during day raids. When selecting bombers for a particular day raid roll a
ten-sided die when a He-111 is supposed to be chosen, to see if there is a
substitute bomber instead:

Yesterday's Effort:    Light   Normal   All Out   Storm
Substitute %:          30%     20%      10%       na

If it is Luftflotte 3 substitute a Ju-88 and if it is Luftflotte 2 substitute
a Do-17.

(If night raids are used all you need is more fluff, right? My point is that
if you are going to use them they should not impact adversely on the day
portion of the game).

There are not many changes that RAF requires to its play balance. I have
found the above work well and have a realistic approach to make for a more
challenging game.