The Battle of Britain 2
By Andrew Miller

Although at first glance you might take Rene Vidmer's <I>The Battle of Britain</I> for just another World War II flight-simulation game, this is a thinking person's game. It pits your military skill against the Mac's in a simulation of one of the critical battles of World War II. If you're in the market for an entertaining, easy-to-play military strategy game - one that forces you to act and react quickly to sudden attacks - look no further.

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The Battle of Britain\ opens to a map of southern England and eastern France on August 10, 1940. For the next month, the German Luftwaffe launches a relentless air attack on the British homeland. From your post at the underground Operations Theatre at Uxbridge, you take command of the Royal Air Force and its defenses. Using intelligence reports, radar, and a map table similar to the one that was used in 1940, your job is to turn back the Luftwaffe and save England.

For each raid you turn back and for each day you survive you gain points. The Germans score points for putting British squadrons out of action, launching bombing raids, and disabling air bases. If by September 10 you've amassed more points than the opposition, you win. A 50-point win qualifies as a major victory.

It's a good idea to read through all the reports and then determine just how many squadrons to send on patrol. Although you can patrol all the squadrons, it's more prudent to conserve your fighters. The reports don't tell exactly which targets the Germans will attack, but they do offer a good indication of their intentions for any given day of the campaign.

As they were historically, the British are badly outnumbered, so you should rely heavily on intelligence reports and detection - the Radio Direction Finder (RDF), England's early radar, and the Observer Corps (OC), both authentically re-created for the <I>Battle of Britain</I>. At the beginning of each day, check the Ultra reports at the top of the map. Reports from the RDF and OC may flash on screen at any time. It's better to get the RDF reports first because they give you enough lead time to get standby squadrons in the air and to move patrols to intercept the oncoming attack. You can move any squadron 20 miles in any direction by clicking on it and moving it with the mouse. Unfortunately, sometimes the OC's warnings are the first you receive, and then you're in trouble because by that time the Germans are already over land, and it's too late to move any patrols.

The Battle of Britain</I> fills only about three-quarters of my Mac LC's screen - a minor quibble, but it was sometimes annoying. Nevertheless, even though the graphics and sound on The Battle of Britain are not spectacular, I recommend the game. What it lacks in aesthetics it makes up for in strategy, historical insight, and entertainment.

Historical-Simulation Game

The Battle of Britain 2
Pros: Easy to play; entertaining format; educational.
Cons: Takes to long to complete game.
Company: Deadly Games (516/471-5700)
Mac Minimum Requirements: Mac Plus; 2.5 MB of RAM; System 6.0.5
Windows Minimum Requirements: Windows 3.1 or higher, 4 Megs RAM, Hard Drive