THE BURNING BLUE 1 the BURNING BLUE the Battle of Britain, 1940
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THE BURNING BLUE 1 THE BURNING BLUE The Battle of Britain, 1940 by Lee Brimmicombe-Wood R U L E B O O K “Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few...” – Prime Minister Winston Churchill, 20 August 1940 “...and for so little.” – Pilot Officer Michael Appleby, salary 14/6d per day “He must have been thinking of our liquor bills.” – Pilot Officer Michael Constable-Maxwell Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 9 Raids 13 17 Endurance 30 2 Game Components 3 10 Command & Control 17 18 Airfields 31 3 Air Units 4 11 Detection 19 19 Weather 32 4 Organisation 6 12 Tallying 22 20 Royal Air Force 33 5 Sequence of Play 7 13 Air Combat 24 21 Luftwaffe 35 6 Starting Play 8 14 Ack-Ack 28 22 Victory 36 7 Random Events 12 15 Balloon Barrage 29 23 Campaign Games 37 8 Movement 12 16 Bombing 29 Credits & Index 38 © 2006 GMT Games, LLC RELEASE Rules Version 1.0 P.O. Box 1308, Hanford, CA 93232-1308, USA 7 Dec 05. www.GMTGames.com #0511 © GMT Games LLC, 2006 2 THE BURNING BLUE THE BURNING BLUE 3 1 INTRODUCTION The RAF player’s objective is to disrupt the Luftwaffe bombing. He can order squadrons of aircraft to take off THE BURNING BLUE is a board game of air warfare over and patrol areas of airspace or direct them to intercept the Great Britain in 1940. During the Battle of Britain, Germany’s incoming raids. Luftwaffe launched raids against England, which were beaten Prior to play, the Luftwaffe player determines his raid forces. back by the Royal Air Force’s Fighter Command. Then he plans his attack by drawing each raid’s route on the 1 . 1 P l a y e r s planning map. Two players are required, one to play the Germans (the A game turn represents five minutes. Players keep track of Luftwaffe player) and the other the British (the RAF player). time using a clock printed on the map. Each turn begins The Luftwaffe player controls bomber and fighter raids. with a dice roll for random events. Following this the RAF Success for the Luftwaffe comes from dropping bombs on player orders units to ‘scramble’—these units take off at ground targets and shooting down enemy fighters. the end of the turn. Then the Luftwaffe player forms up raids over France. Initially these raids are undetected, but as The RAF player controls the squadrons of Fighter Command. they progress the RAF player uses radar (RDF) and ground Success for the RAF results from disrupting enemy bombing, observers (Observer Corps) to determine the strength and inflicting aircraft losses and turning back raids. altitude of the raids. DESIGN NOTE: The RAF player plays the role of the fighter After Luftwaffe raids have formed up, the RAF player may controllers, directing squadrons to intercept incoming raids. The order squadrons into ‘orbits’ to defend a single location or Luftwaffe player is in the position of the Luftflotte commanders, ‘patrol lines’ that fly between two points. The Luftwaffe may planning and executing their raids. also orbit any eligible fighter Gruppen. 1 . 2 R u l e s Then the RAF player moves his squadrons, trying to direct This rulebook describes the rules of the game. The rules use them to where he anticipates the Luftwaffe will move. He may the King’s English in preference to American spelling. change a unit’s orders if it is in radio range, issuing ‘Vector’ orders to fly toward a particular location, or ‘Pancake’ orders Rules are numbered. Cross-references to other rules are listed to return to base. in [square brackets]. Design notes describe the rationale behind the rules. Some rules are optional and should be After the RAF’s movement, the Luftwaffe player moves his used only if both players agree as they add more detail and raids according to their planned orders. When a raid enters complexity. its plotted target hex, it bombs the target. If it enters a hex containing Ack-Ack or balloon barrages, the Luftwaffe player 1 . 3 S c e n a r i o s checks to see what effect these defences have on it. The scenario book gives advice on how to learn and start During movement, if a moving squadron or raid moves close playing the game. The scenario book lists five scenarios to an orbiting fighter unit, it must try to tally (visually sight) to play, each scenario representing a phase of the battle. the moving units. If it tallies it can attack. Historically, these phases were defined by shifts in the After Luftwaffe movement, any units that have a tally can Luftwaffe’s targeting and tactics. Playing a scenario recreates chase after the units they are pursuing. After all movement an hour or two of the fighting in that phase. is complete RAF units, including orbiting fighters that did 1 . 4 Summary of Play not tally during Luftwaffe movement, may try to tally enemy raids. Success means they are in pursuit and the raid is Please read this before reading the main rules! marked as being tallied. If they are close enough to a tallied The Luftwaffe player’s objective is to bomb targets in England raid they attack and intercept. Interception may result in by launching air raids. Raids are stacks of Gruppe counters combat, a surprise ‘bounce’ attack or a battle with stragglers moving together. A raid usually comprises bomber Gruppen in the defending force. The outcome of combat may include and their protecting fighter escort. However, raids containing aircraft shot down and ‘disruption’. After the RAF units have only fighters, termed Freie Jagd, sweep out ahead to clear the completed their combats, Luftwaffe Freie Jagd Gruppen may route of RAF fighters. try to tally and attack. Following all combats, scrambling units take off. Players then check whether changes must be made to the time their units A complete game of THE BURNING BLUE contains: are due to land. RAF units on the ground can rearm and 1 Map sheet refuel or prepare themselves to be ready to scramble. 3 Sheets of counters (684 counters total) At the end of the game turn the clock is moved on five minutes. 1 Rule book (40 pages) Players continue playing until all Luftwaffe raid forces have 1 Scenario book (48 pages) completed their tasks and recovered at their airfields. Then 1 Log sheet and planning sheet booklet (8 pages) victory is assessed, based on how well the Luftwaffe bombed 1 Deck of 55 detection cards its targets and how many aircraft were shot down. 2 Player aid screens 1 Squadron Tote Board display 1 . 5 S c a l e 2 Raid displays Hexes are 5 statute miles across (approx. 8 kilometres). 2 Six-sided dice Movement Points are multiples of 60 miles per hour (approx. 100 kph). Game turns are 5 minutes long. Altitude is in © GMT Games LLC, 2006 © GMT Games LLC, 2006 2 THE BURNING BLUE THE BURNING BLUE 3 Angels, which are increments of 1,000 feet (approx. 300 Sector. Each RAF Group has been divided into ‘sectors’, metres) above sea level, so Angels 4 and 12 are 4,000 and named after the sector airfield responsible for defending that 12,000 feet altitude, respectively. In the game, Angels are airspace. given in 2,000 foot intervals. Sector Airfield. An RAF aerodrome and headquarters 1 . 6 G l o s s a r y responsible for the defence of a sector. Ack-Ack. Anti-Aircraft guns, or ‘AA’. So-called after the first Squadron. An RAF formation of 12 aircraft. letter of the British phonetic alphabet. Staffel. (plural: Staffeln) A Luftwaffe formation of 8-12 Angels. Altitude in thousands of feet above sea level. aircraft. Balbo. A wing of three or more RAF squadrons. Tally. The codeword for visually sighting an enemy. CAI. Corpo Aereo Italiano. Italian air expeditionary force. Task. Tasking defines a Luftwaffe unit’s job in a scenario. Chain Home (CH, CHL). The codename for the RAF’s RDF Tote Board. A display showing the status of RAF squadrons radar early warning stations. Chain Home (CH) stations on the ground. were devoted to long range detection, and Chain Home Low Vector. An RAF order to direct a unit to a particular place. (CHL) to short range, low-level detection. Vic. An obsolescent RAF tactical formation of three aircraft, Fighter Command. The RAF organisation charged with the flying in a ‘V’. Squadrons organised into Vics were more fighter defence of Britain. vulnerable to attack. Flight. A small RAF formation, half a squadron in strength. Wing. Two or more squadrons flying together. (See Balbo.) Foul Weather. A term that describes overcast, fog or rain. Freie Jagd. ‘Free Hunt’, a formation of German fighters on a 2 GAME COMPONENTS sweep, looking for RAF fighters. 2 . 1 D i c e Geschwader. A Luftwaffe organisation normally comprising three Gruppen. All Gruppe counters in the game are The game uses six-sided dice. Some die rolls use one die and marked with a Geschwader designation, according to others use the sum of two dice to generate numbers from 2 their function. JG stands for Jagdgeschwader (Me109 to 12. Some tables require players to apply die roll modifiers. fighters). KG is Kampfgeschwader (medium bombers); These are added to or subtracted from the dice result to StG is Stukageschwader (dive bombers); and ZG is obtain a total. Zerstörergeschwader (Me110 fighters). The exception is LG 2.1.1 SECRET ROLLS or Lehrgeschwader, an experimental formation comprising At various points the Luftwaffe player is required to make several types of aircraft.