RULES OF PLAY TARGET FOR TONIGHT 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction 5.12 Heat Out and Frostbite 1.1 Game Rules 5.13 Oxygen Fires 1.2 Game Equipment 5.14 Loss of Oxygen and its Effects 1.3 Dice 1.4 Counter Identification 6.0. In the Target Zone 1.5 Game Forms and Boards 6.1 Bombing the Target 1.6 The Operational Tour of Duty 6.2 Low Altitude Bombing 1.7 Designer’s Note: The Anatomy of A Bombing Mission 6.3 (Optional Rule) Thermal Turbulence - Fire Bombing and Firestorms 2.0 Pre-Mission Steps 6.4 Pathfinders and the “Master Bomber” 2.1 Set-Up 6.5 The Turn Around - Heading Home 2.2 How to Win 2.3 The Twelve Campaigns Offered in Target for Tonight 7.0. Ending the Mission 2.4 Target Selection 7.1 Landing at Your Base 2.5 Selecting Your Bomber Type 7.2 Ditching (Landing) In Water 2.6 The Bomber Command Flight Log Gazetteer 7.3 Landing in Europe 2.7 The Electronics War 7.4 Bailing Out 2.8 The Bomber’s Crew Members 7.5 (Optional Rule) Awards 2.9 Crew Placement Board and Battle Board 7.6 (Optional Rule) Confirmation of German Fighters 2.10 Determine the Phase of The Moon Claimed Shot down By Your Gunners. 3.0 Starting the Mission 8.0 Post Mission Debriefing 3.1 Take-Off Procedure 9.0. Additional German Aircraft Rules 4.0 The Zones 9.1 (Optional Rule) The Vickers Wellington Bomber 4.1 Movement Defined 9.2 (Optional Rule) German Me-262 Jet Night Fighter 4.2 Weather in the Zone 9.3 (Optional Rule) Ta-154 A-0 Night Fighter. 4.3 Checking for Mission Recall 9.4 (Optional Rule) Italian Do-217J1 Night Fighter 4.4 Check for Mechanical Failure 4.5 Aborting the Mission 10.0 The Optional Rules 4.6 Contrails 10.1 (Optional Rule) Alternate Landing Options 4.7 Detection of your Bomber by the Luftwaffe’s “Kammhu- 10.2 (Optional Rules) Mobile Barges And “Heavy Flak ber” Air Defense Line. Ships” 4.8 Decoy Mission or “Spoof Raid” 10.3 (Optional Rule) Additional Crew Positions 4.9 Navigation 10.4 (Optional Rule) The Bomber Squadron Game 4.10 Possible Collision 10.5 (Optional Rule) Aerial Mine laying Missions 10.6 (Optional Rule) Operation Chastise and The Dam- 5.0 German Night Fighter and AAA Gun Combat Procedures buster’s Raid - May 1943 5.1 Searchlight/AAA Gun Spotting Procedure 10.7 (Optional Rule) “What-If” American Night Bombing 5.2 AAA Gun Combat 5.3 Night Fighter Spotting and Combat Procedure 11.0 Making Bombers Compatible in the Target for 5.4 “Schräge Musik” Combat Tonight, Target for Today, and B-29 Superfortress 5.5 The Bomber’s Defensive Fire Games. 5.6 Bomber Evasive Action - The Corkscrew Maneuver 11.1 Some Considerations - Target for Tonight 5.7 Bomber Guns/Turrets 11.2 Some Considerations - Target for Today 5.8 Night Fighter Successive Rounds of Combat 11.3 Some Considerations - B-29 Superfortress Game 5.9 Mid-Air Collisions 5.10 Engines Out 12.0 Sources 5.11 Wounded Crewmen Credits 2 TARGET FOR TONIGHT 1.0 INTRODUCTION When war finally came in 1939, initial bombing raids by British bombers suffered excessively high losses. The pre- “The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish de- war doctrine was proving to be false. With the fall of France lusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and in 1940 Britain was on the defensive on every front. Some nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, offensive nighttime raids were conducted into occupied Warsaw, and half a dozen other places, they put their rather France and Germany, mainly against naval bases and coastal naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now targets. they are going to reap the whirlwind.” —Arthur “Bomber” Harris, head of Bomber Command. Britain found that in order to avoid unacceptable losses from the German air defense, Strategic main force bombers A “Bomber’s Moon” describes a particularly bright full had to bomb at night. This presented a major problem for moon. During World War II, bombers were used, in large the RAF as precise night navigation and target location were numbers, to fly over enemy targets and deliver their payload beyond the technology of the times. The RAF was not able of bombs. Night navigation technology hadn’t advanced as to send a bombing force several hundred miles into enemy fast as aircraft and bombing technology in the years preced- territory and strike an industrial or military target with any ing World War II. Pilots still had to find their targets by visual degree of precision or reliability. It was not uncommon in observation, which was hard to do at night. Of tremendous early night raid for the bombing force to scatter their bombs “help” in nighttime navigation and bombing was the light of over several MILES of countryside. Sometimes bombers a very bright moon – a “Bomber’s Moon.” missed their targets completely or bombed the wrong loca- tion. But that same moon that helped the bomber find its target also carried terror for the bomber. The light from that same Unlike the Americans who decided to continue with daylight “Bomber’s Moon” gave those manning the anti-aircraft strategic bombing against point targets where percentage guns and those flying the night fighters that hunted the of bombs on target was measured within a 1000-foot radius bomber an edge too. The same bright moon that allowed circle, the British decided to switch to night area bombing. crews to see the ground so clearly from the air also made their aircraft clearly visible as a target for antiaircraft fire By late 1942, Bomber Command had formed a special force and the night fighters. of bombers called “Pathfinders” to locate the target area and mark it for the following main force bombers. This But these bright moons also held terror for civilians as well. wasn’t ideal but by mid-1943 they were beginning to have A bright “Bomber’s Moon” marked a night of fear and dread some success. for civilian populations in areas regularly targeted for bomb- The RAF’s night aerial bombing campaign became a seesaw ing. At these target sites, bombing raids were most likely battle for both the German Luftwaffe and the British RAF. and most deadly on nights with a very bright “Bomber’s Advances in electronic technology favored one side and moon.” then the other as the nightly air battles raged over the con- So, the “Bomber’s Moon” was a mixed blessing for the tinent. bomber crews, a blessing for the anti-aircraft crews, and a curse for the civilian population living on the ground in the ABOUT THE GAME areas regularly targeted for bombing. And what a curse it Target for Tonight is a solitaire game that recreates Britain’s would be. Strategic Bombing Campaign against Nazi Occupied Europe during the Second World War. The game covers the period HOW NIGHT AREA BOMBING CAME ABOUT from 1942 thru 1945 when the British decided to use night On 13 June 1917 a German force of 14 Gotha Bombers, area bombing against German target cities and the Ger- made a daylight attack against London. They dropped 118 mans developed a cutting-edge night fighter defense sys- bombs and killed 160 people. Nearly 100 British Fighters tem. There were numerous advances in electronic warfare tried to ward off the attack, but they were unable to shoot by both sides and these will be covered in the game. down any of the bombers who all returned to their base Considerable research has been done on how both sides safely. This highly successful attack led to a number of great conducted the air war campaign and we have attempted to military planners proclaiming that a well-armed bomber make Target for Tonight function as closely as possible to force unescorted by fighters could always fight its way to reality. target in an enemy’s homeland, bomb it and return safely. This led to the idea that Strategic bombing by unescorted Target for Tonight is designed to provide YOU, the player bombers striking critical industrial and military targets could with the ultimate gaming experience depicting the same bring the enemy to their knees. During the interwar years types of events and decision-making processes experienced this became doctrine. by RAF pilots who flew the real-life night bombing missions. TARGET FOR TONIGHT 3 Now, YOU are in command of an individual RAF four-engine tems. After getting comfortable with the basic mission rules, bomber on an individual NIGHT MISSION over Hitler’s Third the player can add optional rules that will raise the realism Reich. The player can choose to fly the Avro Lancaster, the level in the game system. Short Stirling or the Handley-Page Halifax heavy bomber during the mission. Note that certain rules are marked Optional. This means that beginners (or anyone interested in a quicker game) A series of individual missions are strung together in the should feel free to skip that section if desired and ignore its campaign game to form the player’s operational tour of provisions during play. duty. Just as it was in real life, the objective of the game for the player is to survive their Operational Tour of Duty with the RAF. 1.2 GAME EQUIPMENT The following items are contained in your game box: • This Rules of Play Manual 1.1 GAME RULES • Game Tables Manual • Gazetteer Manual The Target for Tonight game design closely follows that of • Battle Board Legion Wargames’ Target for Today game, which covers • Squadron Game Mission Sheet the American Strategic Daylight Bombing Campaign over • Composite Mission Record Europe.