The Battle of Britain 2

"A" Musings from Deadly games

By Alan Emrick

"Upon this battle (of Britain) depends the survival of the Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war .... Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say: "This was their finest hour."

When France surrendered less than six weeks after the Germans rolled over her eastern border on May 15, 1940 - England stood alone, and defiant. The preceding quotation for Winston Churchill's famous speech to the House of Commons set the stage for the great aerial campaign launched by Hitler's Luftwaffe against the island nation of Great Britain. The hinge of destiny turned upon this battle.

This page in the annals of military history was made for wargaming. Many flight simulators, the most notable being Their Finest Hour from LucasArts, already exists. Now, however, there is a simple, intriguing strategy game from Deadly Games.



"ladies.jpg"

Eagle Day
Battle of Britain 2 takes players out of the cockpit and places them 50 feet below the ground in the war room at Uxbridge. As best visualized in the film <I>The Battle of Britain</I>, one must picture that war room with the giant tote board on the wall and a huge table-map of south-east England. Servicewomen would maneuver models of both side's air forces on the map grid while the air marshals looked down from the balconies above it to constantly visualize the ever changing situation. From a computer recreation of this "vantage point," reports arrive to the player, who must order the squadrons of the 11th Group RAF to defend their island.

On August 10, 1940, the Germans launched their great air offensive, code named "Eagle Day." A map of the southeast portion of England is displayed as the main screen graphic. It is divided into seven air zones, each of which is centered around a major air base. Each day begins by checking on the button for the ULTRA (secret intelligence) reports of expected enemy activity. They guesstimate either light, medium, or heavy activity from the Luftwaffe. With that, fighter groups are put on patrol and placed somewhere in their operational radius, hopefully protecting rich targets.

Once initial assets are airborne for the day, clicking on the clock advances time, followed by a teletype report. This could read anything from all's quiet" through an early warning from one's radar stations to an announcement that a given target is presently being bombed. The player's careful reaction to these snippets of information and reports represents the excitement of decision making in The Battle of Britain 2  Fighter squadron status is shown on reproductions of the tote boards used by the RAF (Royal Air Force) at that time. Actually, the "feel" of the period is excellently portrayed in The Battle of Britain 2

"They'll Never Bomb This Place..."
"or my name is Meyer," said Herman Goering when asked about the safety of Berlin from British attack during the height of the Battle of Britain. When the British succeeded in conducting a daring, sneak raid by night over the German capitol, Hitler issued a new directive. Even as the British were desperately losing the battle because the Germans were pounding their radar stations and air fields in preparation for invasion, Hitler wanted to answer back for the raid on Berlin with a "terror bombing" campaign of London, claiming that for every hundred kilograms of bombs dropped on Berlin, he would answer with a thousand on London. Known as "the Blitz," it was a great military blunder and one which the game's AI may, in fact, recreate during play.

Although the documentation in The Battle of Britain 2 is superb, it is also remarkably brief. In fact, I read it from cover-to-cover in less than 10 minutes and felt very familiar with the game by the end of a half-hour with it. Frankly, the game is easier to learn than Chess and, in many ways more absorbing.

In addition to the documentation, there is a reprint, in booklet form, of the Royal Air Force War Manual (Part 1. Operations). Created by the Air Ministry in August 1940, it is not only a page out of history, but a mini-manifesto for smart play. Each battle ends with a report, and each day is capped off by reading the headlines in an attractive looking graphic of the <I>London Daily Mail</I>. The campaign lasts a month, punctuated by respites provided by rainy weather. Simple and charming, the "command perspective" gave this game tremendous playability.

Playing The Battle of Britain has me very much inspired and wanting to see the movie of the same name again. It is easy to see this game as an almost stereotypical piece of macintosh entertainment software: compact, absorbing an full of replay value. In the words of Winston Churchill: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." Don't miss out on The Battle of Britain 2 if you want a gaming distraction that is, at once, enjoyable, pleasant, easily learned, historical and "lite."

Title: The Battle of Britain 2
System: Macintosh and Windows
Price:19.95
Designer: Rene Vidmer
Publisher: Deadly Games