A Retrospective of RAF

“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” -Winston Churchill

By Patrick S. Baker

RAF August 1940: The Battle of Britian (1986)

The first edition of RAF August 1940: The Battle of Britain, designed by the award-winning gamer designer John Butterfield, was published by West End Games in 1986.  Butterfield is best known for his solo designs.  His designs are appreciated for their straightforward rules and immersive game play.

His best known games are the D-Day series (D-Day at Omaha Beach and D-Day at Tarawa) . Further, Butterfield is the designer that introduced the use of cards, rather than dice, to control the action in solo games.  RAF is among the first, maybe the first, solo game to be largely card, versus dice, driven.

In the game, the solo player is put in charge of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Battle of Britain.

After the Germans defeated France and drove the British Expeditionary Force off the Continent in the Battle of France in June 1940, the United Kingdom (UK) stood alone against the might of the German Wehrmacht.

The Nazi high command quickly developed a plan to invade the British home island named Operation Sea Lion (German: Unternehmen Seelöwe). But before the invasion could be launched, Germany had to establish air and naval superiority over the English Channel and the landing beaches.

To gain this required air superiority, the German Air Force, or Luftwaffe, launched “Operation Eagle” (Unternehmen Adler), sometimes called “Operation Eagle Attack” (Unternehmen Adlerangriff), to destroy the RAF. This series of air actions over the UK was the Battle of Britain, the first major military campaign in history fought entirely by air forces.

Cards

The game focuses on operation in the South of England, along the coast, and above the Home Counties, the Thames Valley and the West Country. The player must deploy their scarce, dare I say “few”, British forces against the much larger Luftwaffe. Throughout the battle the Axis held the initiative and the RAF could only react to Luftwaffe raids.

Further, the player does not have sufficient information, or forces, to defend against every attack, so they must pick and choose with care where to confront the German bombers. Further, attrition is the name of the game for British. No single climatic battle, or day would decide the outcome. Instead, the RAF must grind down the Germans and preserve their forces as much as possible to fight again another day.

Different types of cards regulate the action:

Target Cards reveal where the next German raid is headed and which RAF patrol sectors can respond to the attack, depending on the amount of warning and various intelligence conditions.

Strategy Cards dictate the size and composition of the raiding force.

Event Cards describe events that occur while the raid is en route, and over the target, for example clouds may obscure the target and the raid will turn back or divert. The length of the time of the raid in hours is also determined on the card.

The Day Cards are used once the day is over to determine how many days will elapse before the next raid and how many reinforcements each side receives.

Sequence

There are three phases in each turn:

1. Daily Upkeep phase: which determines the weather for the day and the attack strength of the Germans and reinforcements.

2. Raid phase: The player places their fighters on patrol in the various numbered sectors and wait for the Germans to make their moves and react to it. This is the main phase of the game.

3. End of day phase: The player places the units’ markers where they belong, like under repair, and advance the day marker.

The game comes with three campaigns: The Hardest Days, The Thin Blue Line, and The Battle of Britain. The Hardest Days is eight days long and takes some three hours to play. The Battle of Britain is the complete campaign of 52 days and can take up to eight hours to play.

Winning the game is determined by victory points (VPs). The player, the RAF, earns VPs by surviving and shooting down enemy planes. The game, the Luftwaffe, earns VPs by successfully bombing targets and shooting down British planes. At the end of the campaign, the player adds up the VPs and determines the outcome: A major or minor victory or a major or minor defeat.

The game sold well enough that West End Games produced a second edition in 1988.

RAF: The Battle of Britian 1940 – Deluxe Edition (2009)

West End Games filed for bankruptcy in 1998. The company failed primarily due to a combination of market challenges, mismanagement, and the financial strain of maintaining multiple licensed properties, including their highly successful Star Wars Role-Playing game line. The bankruptcy led to the company’s assets, including intellectual property (IP) rights, being sold or licensed to other companies.

Three in One with Enhancements and Improvements

By 2009, Decision Games had taken over the IP for RAF. Working with the designer of the original, John Butterfield, they developed and released RAF: The Battle of Britain 1940 – Deluxe Edition. This new version was a revised, improved and expanded version of the classic game. The deluxe version sought to maintain the strategic depth and the immersive experience of the original, and to also add a number of enhancements and refinements.

The first and largest difference and improvement over the 1986 version was the Deluxe version offers three games in one.  The original game offered only a single-player game, where the player controlled the RAF defending Britain against the German Luftwaffe. The new version still offers this game, now called RAF: Lion. There is now a new single-player game where the player commands the Luftwaffe attacking Britain, called RAF: Eagle. Further, there is a two-player version, titled RAF, where one player commands the British and the other controls the Germans.

Decision Games improved and enhanced the graphics as well as the quality of the components. The counters were sturdier, the maps mounted and the artwork improved to add to the visual appeal of the games.

In the original game, while the rules were comprehensive, they were also sometimes a bit dense, and hard to understand. In the Deluxe Edition, the rules were revised and clarified, with better organization and additional examples. Player aids and charts were also improved for ease of reference during game play.

In the West End edition, some aspects of the game were seen as unbalanced, or overly reliant on random factors. In the Deluxe version the mechanics were refined to enhance balance and strategic depth. For example, the interception and bombing resolution processes was streamlined, and the victory conditions were fine-tuned to reflect historical realities more accurately.

Further, additional research and input from historians resulted in more historically accurate orders of battle, aircraft capabilities, and strategic options, leading to a more historically correct and immersive experience.

Sequence of Play

The sequence of play in the RAF Deluxe Version is structured to simulate the strategic and operational challenges faced during the Battle of Britain by both sides.

The Starting Sequence consists of:

Weather Determination: The weather for the day is determined, affecting both sides’ operations.

German Planning: The Luftwaffe player plans the day’s raids, selecting targets and allocating resources.

RAF Readiness Check: The RAF player checks the readiness of their fighter groups and adjusts their availability for the day.

The Raid Execution Sequence involves:

German Movement: The Luftwaffe moves its bomber and escort formations towards their targets.

RAF Interception: The RAF player intercepts incoming raids, deploying fighter squadrons to engage the enemy.

Air Combat: Resolve air combat using the combat resolution tables and modifiers. Results affect the strength and effectiveness of both sides’ forces.

Bombing Resolution: Surviving bombers reach their targets and resolve bombing attacks.

Damage is assessed and applied to strategic or tactical targets.

The End of Day Sequence includes:

Aircraft Recovery: Both sides recover and repair aircraft, preparing for the next day’s operations.

Pilot Recovery: Check the status of pilots, including those wounded or recovering from previous engagements.

Resource Allocation: Allocate resources for repairs, replacements, and reinforcements.

Victory Points Calculation: Calculate and record victory points based on the day’s outcomes.

Reviews and Community Feedback

The RAF Deluxe Version has an 8.0 out of 10 aggregate score on Boardgamegeek.com. The comments generally praise the game for its depth and replayability, particularly noting the inclusion of the Luftwaffe and two-player modes as significant improvements over the 1986 version. Also, the players like that the three rule-books are separated from each other. Most players also appreciate the aesthetic and functional upgrades of the maps and components. But many decry the hefty $140.00 price tag.

Decision Games has also developed for the personal computer Windows operating system versions of both RAF: Lion and RAF: Eagle. Both are available as digital downloads for $19.99 each. Both games direct ports of the board games and have also received good to excellent reviews.

Sources:

Boardgamegeek.com RAF: The Battle of Britain 1940 (2009)

Boardgamegeek.com (5 Aug 2021) Board Game Doctor Review: RAF – repetitive, arbitrary, flowy

Decision Games   RAF Deluxe Edition 

Grogheads.com (10 Jan 2014) RAF – Boardgame Review 

Meemplemountain.com (10 July 2020) A Brief History of Card-Driven Wargames

Youtube.com (17 Jul 2021) Raf the Battle Of Britain 1940 – Board Game Review

______ (1 Sep 2021) RAF: The Battle of Britain 1940 | Decision Games | John Butterfield

______ (3 Jan 2022) RAF Lion PC Gameplay & Content Review – Air Battle of Britain 1940

______ (11 Jan 2022) RAF Eagle – Content Review & Gameplay – Air Battle of Britain