Target Germany!

I don't seem to have enough hours in the day at the moment, no sooner have I finished two large map projects than I get hit with two more, one being 24 maps and I have not really checked out the other but it is a continuation of a history of the Luftwaffe (third volume) and will be round about the 25 mark if it goes the same way as the other two volumes. The colonial game I have been looking forward to will be next week, so this week I took along a boardgame which Kevin kindly gave me as I professed an interest, Duel in the Dark, set during the RAF's bombing offensive on Germany.

I was very impressed by the games production, a hefty box with a lovely fold up board, none of your card rubbish here along with all sorts of playing pieces, typical German product, which seems a bit strange when you consider the subject. Can we now bring up the war?

The British player gets to see the weather over the continent, then has to choose his target and plot a course to and from his choice, once this is done the German player places his night fighter squadrons and defences i.e. searchlights, flak, radar etc. To help him get to his target the British player has a Pathfinder Mosquito which can run interference for the bomber stream along with lighting up the target in order to get more victory points, it can also attack the defences along the path. Each side gains victory points as the game progresses, attacks by the defenders or defences while the British can engage these and of course successfully bomb the target, these are easy, medium and hard depending on how close to the UK they are. Hit Berlin and call Goering 'Meyer' and you get a whopping 33. You can play the bog standard game or add on all sorts of extras which enhance the whole experience, we played bog standard.

Bomber's Moon.

Simon took the British first and set out for a medium target, Leipzig, I had slipped up here and he choose a city which was defended by, wait for it, a searchlight! I also had trouble intercepting his bomber as my squadrons had to land for fuel quite a bit, I did not expect him to go for a medium target so by the time he landed back in Blighty for ham and eggs he had an excellent score of around twenty something. The first game had taken about an hour and a half after set up. Then it was my turn, I choose Frankfurt as I calculated we had about an hour of play left so I wanted to finish on time, but I also thought a quick raid and back for breakfast. The night fighters this time around were much better and we traded victory points on the way to the target, I managed to bomb successfully but lost a lot of the points due to the heavy defences. The game was much closer this time and Simon won with about five victory points.

One thing I have found out with playing boardgames over the last few months is that it takes two or three games to get a grasp of the depth which all these games promise, I suspect you would have to play them until you got fed up to get the best out of them. I don't mean this in a bad way, but a lot of thought and effort goes into these games and you have to put the time in if you want to do them justice. I am just not sure I am that kind of player as I have many other interests and am still a 'wee sojer' fan at the end of the day.

I have now rebased and flocked all my skirmishers, ever wish you had never started something, but the thought had entered my brain and it had to be done. I could not get the Dark Age guys off their bases and was just about to give up when I hit on the idea of soaking their feet in a tray of water. Sure enough after a couple of hours the MDF had softened as had the PVA glue, sorted, job done. Big game tomorrow, Seleucids vs Republican Romans, looking forward to it.

Before.

After.