Bomber Command | First Look | New Wargame

It's your job to step into the shoes as the commander of what would become the mightiest aerial fighting force ever assembled. Take command of the American air forces gathering in England to smash the German war machine. Go up against a foe that is smart, determined, experienced, and getting stronger by the day. You have a wide range of challenges facing you just as your real-world counterparts did in 1943. They built their air forces into a might juggernaut to cripple the enemy industry. Can you do it, too? Or can you even do better?

-Plan your missions with historically accurate units at historically accurate bases. All the airfields and units are based on actual historical counterparts.

-You can control the bombsight on actual missions to influence the outcome of different raids. Feel the pressure of putting the bomb in the pickle-barrel as hundreds of planes bomb along based on your accuracy. If you fail, they fail.

-Pick a strategy that will cripple the German war effort as quickly as possible. Will you drain their oil reserves? Destroy their aircraft manufacturers? Eliminate their aircrews? Demolish their ball bearings or engine factories? Or something else? It's up to you. But don't forget about the U-Boat threat. If you let the U-Boats run rampant in the Atlantic, you won't be able to get your own supplies.

-Over 200 German-controlled installations based on actual sites that were bombed in WWII. Meticulous research has recreated German installations all over Europe that were the most vital to the German war effort.

-Use helpful overlays on the planning map to see where the worst concentrations of flak and fighters are. Pick a route that will keep your bombers as safe as possible. Or maybe you want to pick a fight and have your bomber stream draw up the Luftwaffe for an all-out brawl with your fighters. It's up to you, commander.

-Watch your missions unfold in real time. Sweat it out just as a real commander would. Keep track of your bombers and fighters as they make their way through flak fields and hordes of enemy fighters.

-An intricate German economy that is linked from facility to facility. Realistic input and output metrics for factories directly affect the German war machine and, consequently, its ability to defend against your forces.

-German research is ongoing and looking into new and terrifying weapons that could turn the tide of the war. It's up to you to cripple their research and abilities. Can you prevent them from getting jet aircraft? Or rocket aircraft? Vengeance weapons? If you fail, could Hitler end up with the atomic bomb before anyone else?

-A smart German economy responds to your actions. Redeployment of fighters to crucial areas means that there won't be any easy gains for your strategy. And a German factory system that tries to mitigate damage as much as possible means you have to keep hitting them. Just as in WWII, there is no easy path to victory.

-Juggle the competing demands of other theaters and commanders. In WWII every different commander was demanding all the supplies and materiel that they could get. You're no different. You have to show that your forces are worth the equipment that is being supplied. Failure on your part means you get the least. Success on your part means you get more.

-Success in the air translates into success on the ground. Well-flown missions increase the skill and morale of your crews which means they're more likely to perform well in the future. But be careful, because the opposite is also true.

-Weather systems, combined with a historically accurate inability to predict the weather means your plans will be ever-changing. Just as in WWII, the weather was just as much of an enemy.

[dennissvitak]

I was an Air Force meteorologist for several decades. Don't underestimate the utility of knowing what the weather is going to be. As weather generally moves west to east, the Allies' knowledge of impending weather was crucial..up to and including the weather expected on D-Day. The Allies nailed it..and the German weather guessers guessed that the weather would be too rough for the invasion landings.

[wp]

I played Bombing The Reich back in 99 when Talon Soft released it. On your fight sweeps I wondered if your heavy losses were because they were beyond the combat range of endurance.

[dalkapur]

I think some names on the map would have given the game some historical flavour.

[anddemar]

Reminds me of a veeery old game, Battle of Britain, 1982, ZX Spectrum. Better Bigger Faster, of course

[MarcCelisKuss]

They should redo an lucasarts style Secret Weapons of Luftwaffe / Battle of Britain where you would plan strategic level bombing and actually play some raids in a simu

[zaynevanday]

B-17 the mighty eighth VR, B-17 Flying Fortress the Bloody 100th & B-17 the Mighty eighth REDUX, and Bomber 3 all from Microprose are being released on Steam soon 🔥 🔥 🔥

[jochenheiden]

I love retro games and I can appreciate the concept, but this level of graphics in 2023 is just too bad for me. I feel like they could have tried a little harder here.

[fellington]

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I've always wanted to play an air wargame that was just alittle less complicated than Bombing the Reich. Think your alittle harsh on this one, obviously its very indie.

[jameslanning]

The "Mighty 8th, " is the 8th Air Force, from the US in WWII.
They were like, the BIG bomber group there.

[gunraptor]

To explain the damage percentages over 100%, anything above 100% means no functionality, with the surplus being additional damage that must be repaired before any functionality is regained.

[smudger]

Might be remembering with rose tinted glasses here but i seem to recall playing USAAF on my Commodore 64 several (ahem) years ago and it seemed a bit more in depth than this.
Hopefully, like you said, patches will improve it.

[roberthultz]

The fighter/bomber strengths are reversed. A three squadron USAAF fighter group would field 48 aircraft { 3x16} and a four squadron group of heavy bombers would put up 28 aircraft { 4x7 } but it seems that one squadron was always held back as a "Maximum Effort" was 21 planes Also; the P47 was not available in 1942 but the P38 was as at least two groups { of 48 } of Lightings came across the Atlantic in Operation Bolero with the B17s.

[Getoffmycloud]

17:49 if you add a bomb sight you also need to have targets that correspond with the mission.
This alone probably disqualifies Bomber Command in my eyes, because it would irritate the hell out of me in actual gameplay.
Shame…

EDIT: the unrealistic losses on both sides - for 1942 - also irks the history nastie in me.

[ATrainGames]

Interesting if not simple from a graphics standpoint. I would suggest that your bombing of the sub pens DID have a positive effect, since after 1 week the tonnage sunk was just over 10% of what the previous month's loss. Thanks for sharing.

[Silverhks]

This doesn't look like a bad effort. A little simplified for my tastes but its nice to see a new effort in the genre.

What this really shows is we need a new Gary Grigsby. I thought the guy doing Warplan had a chance but his stuff is still a little to esoteric for me. I've also heard rumblings 2by3 is working on something else.

[johnvanantwerp]

August 17, 1942 was the first offensive mission against the rail yards at Rouen. There were no US fighter groups available, so escort was provided by 9 squadrons of RAF Spitfires. 2 of the squadrons were Eagle Squadrons, so American fighter pilots were involved.

[outlet]

I'm assuming aircraft sent to England are the current models being produced and available when a mission is planned. Later improved models will be sent to England after they are built. We need to support these independent game makers. The AAA game developers always track how well these games are being bought.

[LordHughfusJarted]

Having grown up next to an old B17 base in the South East of England, I'm instantely drawn to it.

[oriolebird]

This made me want to go back and watch some of your older content on Bomber Crew.

[ssmith]

This looks like an almost identical copy of the grigsby´s bombing the reich....would be interesting to hear comparisons from you on the two games if you play this one longer.