Last updated 24th January 2012
"Strike Hard, Strike Sure"
- Bomber Command Motto
BOMBER
COMMAND is a game of the night war in the skies
over the Reich in World War II.
March 1944. More than 700 British bombers are dispatched to the distant city of Nürnberg. As the bomber stream crawls across the German Reich, it is set upon by swarms of nightfighters. Following the bombers' contrails the fighters infiltrate the stream in great numbers and before the moon can set they start to pick off bomber after bomber. The mauled stream makes a desultory attack on the target city, scattering much of their payload harmlessly into the surrounding countryside. Then the raid struggles back towards England while fresh nightfighters snap and bite at the retreating formation. More than ninety bombers fail to make it home safely. Soon after, the C-in-C of Bomber Command, Arthur 'Bomber' Harris, calls off the Battle of Berlin.
Bomber Command is a 2-player game of the night war
over the German Reich. It recreates the great Royal Air Force
bombing raids against Germany and the bitter defence mounted by
the Luftwaffe nightfighter arm. As the British player you battle
past flak and fighters to find the Reich's industrial cities and
set them ablaze. As the German player you are engaged in a
desperate struggle to stop these 'Terror Fliers'.
Bomber Command details the techniques of night
fighting, including flak, Himmelbett zones, Wild Boars and Tame
Boars. The British Main Force raids may be accompanied by
Mosquito bomber diversions, sea mining operations and the decoy
aircraft of 100 Group (Bomber Support). A deck of 110 cards is
used to resolve the complex interactions of electronic
countermeasures, radars and communications, along with other
operations such as Mahmoud patrols, Flower raids, and Beleuchter
illumination units. A detailed bombing resolution system depicts
the challenges of attacking targets at night and the evolution
of precision bombing in darkness.
There are two scenarios: 'Berlin' covers raiding from the Battle of Hamburg up to the great defeat over Nürnberg. 'Downfall' recreates the period from the Summer of 1944 to the end of the war, during which time the nightfighter arm is in decline. Easy to pick up and fast to play, games can be played in 90 to 150 minutes.
Bomber Command is published by GMT Games and can ordered HERE. It is designed by Lee Brimmicombe-Wood.
ILLUSTRATION: The 22 x 34" playtest map for the Berlin scenario.
ILLUSTRATION: The front of the 5/8" countersheet.
ILLUSTRATION: The front of the 1/2 " countersheet.
ILLUSTRATION: One of the city maps used to resolve bombing. This map divides the city into City Centre, Residential, Industrial and Transportation areas. Areas outside this are fields and countryside where bombs fall with no effect.
Update 24th January 2012
The final book and graphics files for Bomber Command have been delivered to GMT Games to be sent off for printing.
Update 25th March 2010
Bomber Command is designed to be able to be played with Nightfighter. Both games can be played as stand-alone titles. However Bomber Command playthroughs can be used to generate scenarios resolved by playing Nightfighter.
All questions and enquiries should be directed to the designer Lee Brimmicombe-Wood at: leebwood at googlemail dot com (Note that this address has been modified to protect against web spiders and other malware.)
Bomber Command copyright © Lee Brimmicombe-Wood, 2004-2012. All rights reserved.