Section 2 Introduction
Shortly after the fall of France in 1940, Germany’s mighty Luftwaffe, under the direction of Hermann Goering, began a bombing campaign against Britain that became one of the most dramatic air battles in history. In an attempt to gain air superiority and soften the island nation for invasion (code-named Operation Sea Lion), the Luftwaffe pounded British airfields, industries, and urban centers for months, but to no avail. Britain and its Royal Air Force (RAF) rose to meet the challenge and fought back Hitler’s mighty air force that streamed over the English Channel day in and day out. The Battle of Britain was the first major defeat Germany suffered in World War Two, and it would help to turn the tide of the war.
As the war wore on and air superiority shifted inexorably to the Allies’ favor, Germany was more and more on the defensive, protecting its valuable industry from Allied bombers. At first, the Allied bombing campaign was a dicey thing, sustaining heavy losses to veteran Luftwaffe fighter pilots. Time became the great equalizer, however, as Allied pilots gained experience and new Allied fighters, including the long-ranged P-51 Mustang entered service. Allied industrial superiority began to be felt in earnest and German industry took hammer blows from the bombing campaign. It was all the Luftwaffe could do to attempt to hold them off, but eventually their efforts failed as Allied armies swept into Germany in 1945.
Gary Grigsby’s Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich simulates these great clashes. Through careful strategic planning, you can lead the German Luftwaffe to victory. Or, as commander of the Allied air forces, you can savage Hitler’s bomber and fighter formations with such famous aircraft as the Supermarine Spitfire and the B-17 Flying Fortress. Choose your targets carefully, husband your forces, unleash bombs to cripple their war-making efforts, and protect your airfields. It’s all up to you.
In the Eagle Day game, you can play either the official 1940 battle which lasts for three months, or you can play the added hypothetical “what-if” campaign of 1941, which prompts the question “If Hitler had to do it all over again, what would he have done differently?” In Bombing the Reich, the table’s turned and you can command fleets of Allied bombers pulverizing the Reich into rubble. Or, you can choose to command the Luftwaffe and attempt to change history by making the Allied air fleets pay dearly for each bomb dropped on German soil. This Player’s Guide explains in detail all the features and functions of the game. Read it carefully. Read through the entire manual first to set you along the path of plotting raids. And don’t forget to read the historical information near the end of the guide.
For simplicity, the pronoun “he” is used where appropriate. The words “raid” and “mission” are interchangeable. The words “unit” and “air unit” are interchangeable. The words “primary airfields” and “primary sector airfields” are interchangeable. The word “squadron” is used to represent both RAF units and Luftwaffe Gruppes. The term “British” is used to represent the RAF and its Commonwealth allies. And finally, items underlined in the guide (e.g., “Select Bomber Missions”) represent steps that the player should take to complete certain tasks. Other text accompanying the underlined steps is for informational purposes and should be read to ensure full understanding of all game functions.