Hi all, I suppose it's possible that somewhere on CONSIM-L there exist some folks who have never heard of or played this game! Originally published in 1971, this is the most bought and sold game at auctions. What follows is a brief description of the game that I originally sent to Scott Schul in response to his query. This was done off the top of my head early in the morning, the usual disclaimers apply. Most grognards who have been gaming longer than 10 years or so probably have at least one Luftwaffe anecdote so I invite them to chime in to correct details or provide Scott with some of the flavour of the game. Please post to CONSIM-L, we could use the Game-Related posts :/ TEXT IMPORT BEGIN ================= Hi Scott, I've played Luftwaffe many times, before this PBEM game, the last was probably 15 years ago! Same for my opponent David Richtmeyer. Ok, a more complete description. Let's see, the map covers France and the Low Countries west to Poland, south to Italy and north to Russia. Can't tell you the scale off hand. Of primary importance are the cities, which are indicated by a green dot and may have certain industry symbols such as Oil, Industry, Aircraft Factory and Rail Center associated with it. Also prominently marked on the map are the Luftwaffe air fields. The counters feature American bombers (B-17, B-24) and in the Advanced Game (included) there are B-26, A-26 and other medium bombers. American fighers included are the P-38, P-40, P-47, P-51, Spitfire, not all used in the Basic Game. Each counter represents 2 factors with a flip-side representing 1 air factor. There are pads provided with the game listing all the American bomber units. I'll walk you through a Basic Game which should be sufficient for you to get a feel for the game. The Basic Game represents a single quarter of a year and is comprised of 20 turns. The German player places his fighters on airfields around the map. The American may enter from Recovery Lines (R-Lines) located in France and Italy so the German must cover both fronts. The American takes the pad of bombers and cities and preassigns targets for his forces (i.e. plans the bombing raid). Play then begins with Turn1. The American player moves first and places any planes entering that turn behind the R-Line where they will appear. The German player moves second but can not attack American planes until they cross the R-Line. Combat occurs when two counters of the opposing nationality occupy the same hex. For Fighter vs Fighter combat, the fighters are given 'E' (Evaluation) ratings. P-51s and FW-190s are 4, Me109 and P-47s are 3 and so on. Fighters going against fighters with a higher E rating are given a disadvantaged die roll. The number of factors attacking is cross-referenced with a die roll and number of factors damage is taken. For Fighter vs Bomber, E ratings are ignored and the damage is computed directly. For bombers all bombers in a stack must be flipped to their 1 factor side before eliminating any. Assuming the bombers survive the gauntlet of German fighters, they may reach their target assigned on the Mission Pad and bomb it. Flak over the target is abstractly represented by a die roll. A '6' kills 1 factor but it only takes 1 factor to successfully bomb the target. Gets really tense when those 1 factor flipped units reach their targets! (Will they be eliminated or get through). After completing their mission, the fighters and bombers must fly back and cross their R-Lines before the Turn 20 deadline. Movement rates are 3 hexes/turn for bombers, 7 hexes (or 6 in some cases) for fighters so careful calculation must be done since successfully bombed cities are "given back" if bomber and fighter factors fail to recross the R-Line before the deadline. Shooting units down after they have hit their targets is of little use in the Basic Game but becomes more important in the Tournament Game which consists of a series of quarters. How to Win! The American player must successfully bomb as many Aircraft Factory cities as possible. If he bombs more than 12 or 13 he wins, if less the German wins. Variant Basic games allow the targets planned to be the Oil Factories or Industrial Complexes or Rail Centers. Other chrome includes Sneak Raids from the Baltic & Russia, bombers assigned to bomb airfields (to eliminate unwary German fighters caught on the ground) and Close Escort designation for fighters. Hope this gives you a little better feel for the game. Bear in mind that this was typed off the top of my head at 7am in the morning with only one cup of coffee in me so some details may be a little shaky. Hopefully, the flavour of the game will come through. The take-home message is: this is a strategic game not a game of tactical air combat. It's a game of planning and executing bombing raids over Europe and seeking to stop them and shoot down the bombers before they hit their targets. Eric TEXT IMPORT END =============== Eric W. Pass (epass@nyx10.cs.du.edu) | "Bother", said Pooh, as his lit http://nyx10.cs.du.edu:8001/~epass/home.html | cigarette ignited the flag. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- All sorts of game stuff for sale on my Web page, follow the URL above!!