Boxing Terrain Fortresses in Skies Above the Reich

RockyMountainNavy, 5 August 2024

In mid-2024, GMT Games released the Second Printing of Skies Above the Reich designed by Jerry White and Mark Aasted. First released in 2018, GMT Games notes that this second printing, “… is identical to the 1st Printing, except that any known errata has been corrected.” Given Skies Above the Reich has been available for a few years, I am not going to write a review (you can see several at the GMT Games page for the game) but instead share with you more or less my reaction to this solo-playing air combat wargame.

Skies Above the Reich is a solitaire game depicting a Luftwaffe squadron of Bf109s struggling to deter and destroy the relentless daylight raids over Germany during World War Two. The player’s individual aircraft, each represented by a stickered block, must confront the mighty “combat box” formation of the United States Army Air Force, a deadly terrain of B-17 Flying Fortresses. The game is a broad strokes depiction that presents the arc of the desperate air war. Stretching from late 1942 to early 1945, Skies Above the Reich follows that trajectory in a series of missions strung together to make a campaign. Each mission will take a half hour or more to play, while a campaign can last anywhere between 6 to 60 missions. (Skies Above the Reich, 2nd Printing, publisher’s blurb)

 

“Tell me what you know.”

Most wargamers are likely to read the publisher’s ad copy for Skies Above the Reich and envision the game as one simply of fighters versus bombers. Imagining the game that way is correct…to a point. Unlike some of the more famous bomber wargames like B-17: Queen of the Skies by Glenn Frank and Bruce Shelley from Avalon Hill in 1981, Skies Above the Reich is a solo game played not from the perspective of the bomber crew flying a B-17 over Europe but from the view of a Luftwaffe squadron (staffel) of Bf-109 single-engine day fighters battling against American B-17 bombers. What more directly sets Skies Above the Reich apart from earlier wargames is that the player doesn’t fight individual—or even squadrons of—bombers as much as they fight the “combat box.”

 

Designer Jerry White made that very observation in a Skies Above the Reich design diary blog entry for Inside GMT called, “Terrain in Skies Above the Reich” (see Inside GMT “Terrain in Skies Above the Reich” first published 7 Oct 2016):

The B-17 Flying Fortress was a menacing machine of the air, but it was positively frightening when it flew in formation. Skies Above the Reich is premised on a simple idea: the formation can be thought of as a terrain. For the Luftwaffe pilot tasked with the job of knocking those B-17s out of the sky, that terrain was lethal. (“Terrain in Skies Above the Reich”)

 

The combat box formation of B-17 bombers is depicted in Skies Above the Reich not by a data card or even a counter on a map, but by the map itself. Four maps, to be specific. As the rule book explains:

The four maps (two 17×22 and two 22×34) included with the game depict B-17 heavy bombers, the dreaded Flying Fortress, organized in a formation called a combat box. Devised in 1942 after much trial and error, the combat box was intended to make the bevy of armament carried by individual bombers even more deadly by allowing one bomber to support another with covering fire. Luftwaffe pilots that learned skills tangling with French, British, and Russian fighters and light and medium bombers, found that the combat box was a nightmarish gauntlet. Taken as a whole, the maps portray a chronological sequence of technological and organizational development. (Skies Above the Reich, Rule Book, p. 1)

For the gearhead player of Skies Above the Reich out there who just needs to know which model of B-17 is flying, “Map 1 depicts two sample experimental formations prior to the development of the combat box…The bombers in these formations can be considered to be the B-17E and B-17F, lightly armed by the standards of 1943” (Rule Book, p. 1).

 

Map 2 sees the true first introduction of the combat box for Skies Above the Reich:

Compared to Map 1, Map 2 demonstrates the effectiveness of the combat box formation. Bombers are organized into “elements” of three B-17s arranged in a flying triangle, or “vee”, each element positioned with bombers at staggered altitudes. On-board gunners command the airspace within their element and between elements. (Rule Book, pp. 1-2)

 

Skies Above the Reich Map 3 shows the “USAAF’s [United States Army Air Force] growth during 1943.” As the rule book points out, “The ‘terrain’ of the bomber formation becomes deadlier with each map because the B-17 itself was armed with more guns (even American escort pilots preferred to stay at a safe distance)” (Rule Book, p. 2).

 

 

Map 4 in Skies Above the Reich is the ultimate expression of the combat box:

As dangerous as Map 3 is, Map 4 presents a genuinely lethal terrain. The B-17G was armed with a third gun turret mounted under the nose, a “chin turret” intended to punish Luftwaffe pilots attacking head on. The formation by 1944 had become a cauldron of spraying tracers. It is worth noting, however, that the map only depicts part of a larger group of combat boxes. By 1944 a “formation” might consist of 1,000 B-17s, each capable of dropping its payload on your cities below. (Rule Book, p. 2)

 

For example, the famous (or is it infamous?) Second Schweinfurt Raid of 14 October 1943—“Black Thursday” where over 20% of the B-17s sent were lost—is shown in Skies Above the Reich terms as a Late 1943 mission played on Map 3.

“Tell me what you don’t know.”

The rule book for Skies Above the Reich includes the subtitle, “Breaking the Combat Box.” It is too bad that subtitle does not appear anywhere else in the game materials. “Breaking the Combat Box” is actually the true tactical objective of the game and the core problem presented to players in Skies Above the Reich. Players of Skies Above the Reich can search the rule books, the Situation Manual, and other printed material for an answer to the tactical question of how to break the combat box but will not find it written in the game materials. That is because Skies Above the Reich is a gamified exploration of discovering an answer.

Skies Above the Reich is a gamified exploration of discovering an answer

If players of Skies Above the Reich want to read historical accounts of how the Luftwaffe between 1942 and 1945 attempted to break the combat box for clues on better strategies, they are likely to be surprised to find that the German pilots of those days had few answers. Although the Luftwaffe had some successes (like the Second Schweinfurt Raid) even a cursory examination of historical documents shows that the Luftwaffe never sufficiently addressed the challenges of fighting the combat box and determined an adequate way to defeat it.

In 2003, author David C. Isby edited the book Fighting the Bombers: The Luftwaffe’s Struggle Against the Allied Bomber Offensive – As Seen By Its Commanders. The book collected Luftwaffe leader viewpoints of their defense against the bomber offensive. With regard to the USAAF [U.S. Army Air Force] daylight bombing campaign a common theme that runs through the German accounts is that they never got defense against the combat box right. For example, in October 1942 the Luftwaffe was described this way by the head of the Historical Section of the German Air Force High Command (OKL):

As far as German defense activities were concerned, in many respects the German fighters showed some noticeably weak spots. The USAAF bombers took advantage of their strong defensive armament and their solid structural strength, making them hardly vulnerable to gun hits. At this stage of the air war the German fighters had not yet mastered the combat tactics of launching concentrated attacks by several planes at a time. This method was very necessary to split the bomber defense fire. (Generalmajor Hans-Detlef Herhuth von Rohden. “Reich Air Defense in World War II: A strategic-tactical survey.” In Fighting the Bombers, edited by David C. Isby, Apple Books Chapter 1, Section III. Barnsley: Greenhill Books, 2015)

Take again the example of the Second Schweinfurt Raid of October 1943. In Skies Above the Reich, missions in late 1943 have some chance of escorting fighters both in- and outbound and even near the target. Historically, the Second Schweinfurt Raid had no fighter escort near the target, nor for long stretches over Germany. In Skies Above the Reich terms, this is an optimal set-up mission allowing the Luftwaffe fighters to attack the bomber without being diverted by escorts. When that situation occurred, as it did during the Second Schweinfurt Raid, the results were deadly for B-17 crews.

Randall Hansen’s book Fire and Fury: The Allied Bombing of Germany, 1942-1945 has this extended narrative of the Second Schweinfurt Raid:

On October 14, Wilbur Klint of the 303rd Bomb Group was part of the second wave of bombers that attacked Schweinfurt. His group took off from Molesworth, joined the bombing formation, and flew on to Germany. Just beyond the border, the escort fighters reached the end of their range, and pulled off. Then, as Eaker put it, “the Hun sprang his trap.” Immediately, a row of single-engine fighters flew at the bombers, firing 20mm cannon and machine guns just before they dived. Then, large formations of twin-engine fighters attacked in waves, firing rockets from underneath their wings. In the meantime, the single-engine fighters had reformed, and they attacked, this time from all sides. No sooner were they done than the twin-engine fighters re-formed, launching rockets from the front and the back and blasting a single formation until their rockets were expended. “I had no idea the Germans had so many airplanes and so many different types,” Klint later said.

American bombers were falling out of the sky left, right, and center. Once a B-17 got in trouble, the pilot—if he had any control at all—would pull off from the formation to avoid a mid-air crash. The bomber was then finished. The fighters would sweep in for the kill. From his cockpit, Klint saw two B-17s hit by rocket fire; they disintegrated. In front and below him was a sea of parachutes. The German attacks, Eaker wrote, “were perfectly timed and coordinated and skillfully executed… One of our combat wings was practically wiped out. (Hansen, R. (2008) Fire and Fury: The Allied Bombing of Germany, 1942-1945. London: Penguin Books. p. 137)

 

Many narrative elements of the Second Schweinfurt Raid are found in Skies Above the Reich:

• “Just beyond the border, the escort fighters reached the end of their range, and pulled off.” – The mission set up is No Escort.
• “Immediately, a row of single-engine fighters flew at the bombers, firing 20mm cannon and machine guns just before they dived.” – Attack from the Nose.
• “Then, large formations of twin-engine fighters attacked in waves, firing rockets from underneath their wings.” – The player’s staffel can be supported by twin-engine Bf-110, Me-410, or Ju-88 fighters; rockets are an “attachment” that can be added to aircraft.
• “Once a B-17 got in trouble, the pilot—if he had any control at all—would pull off from the formation to avoid a mid-air crash. The bomber was then finished.” – Pursuit is an Advanced Rule used to hunt down lone bombers that drop out of formation.
• “From his cockpit, Klint saw two B-17s hit by rocket fire; they disintegrated.” – Certainly a possible result in combat.

Skies Above the Reich is perhaps at its best showing the air war under perfect (for the Luftwaffe) conditions. An essential element of that perfect set up is the lack of allied escorting fighters. As already mentioned, the presence of Allied fighter escorts was a key factor in the Luftwaffe’s inability to break the combat box. As Generalleutnant Josef “Beppo” Schmid, the intelligence chief of the Luftwaffe from January 1938 to November 1942 before taking command of I. Jagdkorps, points out the best way to beat the combat box was first to take out the escorting allied fighters:

Not until summer 1944 did I myself become fully convinced that, first of all, it would have been the main task of dayfighters engaged in the Defense of the Reich to regain air supremacy over their own territory by shattering the enemy fighter forces, before taking up the battle against the enemy bombers. For this purpose, few fighters battles would had to be won in order to take up the battle against the enemy bombers. This fact was not realized at all or very late, and then only in part, but the Supreme Command of the GAF [German Air Force]. (Generalleutnant Josef “Beppo” Schmid. “German Dayfighting in the Defense of the Reich: 15 September 1943 to the End of the War.” In Fighting the Bombers, edited by David C. Isby, Apple Books Chapter 6. Barnsley: Greenhill Books, 2015)

 

“Then tell me what you think.”

Skies Above the Reich all but ignores the traditional method of learning to play a wargame. I wrote elsewhere that learning how to play Skies Above the Reich was not what I expected. To briefly recap, several wargame designs by Jerry White use a programmed tutorial approach to teaching or learning how to play the game; I expected to see the same in this game.

 

In Skies Above the Reich, the rules are not so much as learned as they are experienced. Simply put, to play Skies Above the Reich players “play” a guided setup procedure that jumps them directly into play. Instead of teaching rules before play, the rules in Skies Above the Reich are literally learned as the players are playing the game. In more than a few ways this “learn as you go” method is historically thematic. Luftwaffe pilots assigned to fight the daylight bombers did not get detailed training and mostly learned through “on the job training.” That is the same dilemma faced by players of Skies Above the Reich; the game teaches the “tactics” of how to play or fight but it doesn’t teach the “strategy” to ensure victory.

 

The experiential learning method in Skies Above the Reich works in great part because the tools (i.e rules) given to the players are scoped to keep a focus on the core “problem”—the combat box. While the tool kit of rules given to the players is narrow, the variables in the situations presented in the Missions make no two games the same. The Mission Set-Up chart calls for a die roll to decide:

• Map used.
• Mission Type – Inbound, Near Target, or Outbound.
• A variable number of Operations Points used to “purchase” fighters, support, or attachments.
• A randomly determined Escort posture (Heavy, Light, or None) for the bombers.

For example, the player decides to play a Skies Above the Reich mission in late 1943—around the time of the Second Schweinfurt Raid—to see how well they can defend the ball bearing plants. The Mission Set-Up process might see the below developed:

• A roll of [3] on the d10 for Map means Map 3 will be used.
• Rolling Mission Type, a roll of [8] on a d10 indicates the Mission occurs on the Outbound leg of the bombing track.
• Rolling [4] on a d10 for OP, or Operations Points, gives the player 18(!) points to purchase plenty of fighters or support or attachments.
  • Purchasing eight (8) Bf109 fighters costs 8 points.
  • Adding cannon to four costs 4 points (12 total spent).
  • Adding three Ju88 auxiliary fighters (+2 bonus firepower each) cost 3 points (15 total spent).
  • Adding rockets to all three Ju88 auxiliary fighters costs 3 points (18 total spent)
• To determine Escorts, the roll of the d10 shows [4] which translates to a Light Escort of P-47 Thunderbolt fighters that will arrive on Mission Turn 8.

The experiential method of learning how to play Skies Above the Reich offers a very good framework for a campaign. A Full Campaign is played using Seasons of between six or ten Missions; the player campaign ends after winning four seasons…or losing a single one.

[A real masochist could choose to play through the entire Mission Set-Up chart starting in the 1942 Season and playing six Missions before advancing to the 1943 Early Season and so on. By the time the player reached the end of the 1945 Season they would have played as many 54 Missions.]

Living history through wargame

Wargames are not simulations but models of history. Skies Above the Reich is two-dimensional model of air combat where the player takes their allotment of fighters and uses them to battle the deadly terrain of the “combat box.” Skies Above the Reich uses a unique approach to teaching the rules of the game in that the players don’t learn the rules as much as they experience them. This experiential approach to learning reinforces the historical conditions where Luftwaffe pilots were not necessarily taught how to fight the combat box. Like the players of Skies Above the Reich, Luftwaffe pilots in World War II built up experience at the same time the “combat box” evolved and became deadlier.

Taken as a whole, Skies Above the Reich is a most interesting take on the American bomber war over Europe in World War II. The changed perspective of the game, the design element which equates the “combat box” to terrain, and the different learning approach to in Skies Above the Reich make this a unique title. For these reasons Skies Above the Reich rightly deserves consideration for your collection.

 

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