Received my 2 copies on 4-12-08.

I'll go from the bad to the good

I am a little disappointed in the quality. The game board is a fairly thin sheet of paper. The instructions and counters seem to be OK. However, it did bother me when I opened the box and it was only half full. The box is only 11" x 9" x 2", so there really isn't much here for $40+ including shipping.

(Edit) You do have to make copies of 3 charts, so the extra room in the box is for these copies as well as the unpunched counters. (Edit)

The game play definitely makes up for the lack of components. I played my first game on 04-12-08 and I must say that this game is pretty fun. Even though my crew died a fiery death over Akashi Japan, I still had a lot of fun playing this one. I can't wait to play it with a squadron.

This game is entirely luck based. You roll either one or two six sided dice (supplied by you) and consult a multitude of charts for results. A turn goes something like this: Move airplane; Check off fuel consumed; Check Weather Conditions; Check for Random Events (Engine Malfunction, Instrument Malfunction, Loss of Cabin Pressure; etc.); Check for enemy fighters; if so, resolve attack(s); Drop Bombs; etc.

There is probably 50 charts to this game, so there is a lot of flipping through the charts book. I am sure that some of the charts will be memorized pretty quickly, while others will not come up often enough to memorize them.

At any rate, this game delivers when it comes to simulating a B-29 Bombing mission. I really felt for my team that blew up over Akashi, but another team will take their place because Japan must be stopped!

I was considering picking this up, but am a little concerned about your comment that it is 'entirely luck based'. Does the player make meaningful decisions, or are you just along for the ride?

Geoff

"Just along for the ride."

Great expression for the luck element.
Will add that to my gaming vocab.

So what your're saying is that there's room to store all the counters once you've punched them all out?

I was hoping for something more than just B-17 with more charts, but that's what it sounds like. Can anyone who has played both comment?

I can't yet vouch for play of the game, but from some early KP comments on the design and a play demonstration, it sounds like there are some decisions to make about what altitude to maintain with damage or fuel considerations, whether to press on or abort, and the like.

There will certainly be a lot of mechanical considerations and random determinations; the '29 was a very advanced machine for its time and had a LOT of teething and early operational problems, but that's to be expected if the game is truly modeling a B-29 in action.

Given that these aircraft operated in formations with preplanned objectives, I'm not sure how many decisions a game on this topic could provide the solo player.

I've thought for a long time that a game featuring a B-52 penetrating a number of different environments, from North Vietnam to the USSR, on conventional and nuclear-strike missions would be very interesting, particularly if the game covered a wide span of the BUFF's career from high-altitude nuclear strikes to individual Nap-of-earth nuclear penetration to conventional formation bombing. In such a game upgrades in engines, avionics, weapons and tactics could all be reflected and player decisions would multiply accordingly.

By the way, you're lucky, my preordered copy hasn't landed yet.

"Just along for the ride."

Say it ain't so! I also bought this game, but have not yet received it. Solo wargames have a huge appeal to me as I have nobody to play with now (perhaps with my son in 10-12 years).

The main reason that I didn't pick up Compass Games' Silent War was that I got the impression that you only rolled dice and had no direct control over what happened. For a 30 min diversion, it may be ok, but for a 20 hours stretch, I'd rather invest my time in something else.

Nice to the point review. Thanks Kevin. I look forward to flying squadron missions as well!

If B-29 is anything like B-17, you may be disappointed. B-17 is a great experiential simulation (I greatly enjoy the game) but there are few choices to make.

There are a few decisions to be made, such as: Altitude; Cabin Pressurization; When to bail out; Targeting; etc. However, I would still call it a luck based game.

There is a lot of die rolling in Silent War, but there are also a fair few decisions. It is an operational simulation, but there is alot of choice how to run your operation. And also, you need to pick your targets, choose when to risk a re-attack, how to divide your spreads etc... Many more choices than B-17 (which I also own).

Oh yeah, and what to do when your @!#$%ing torpedo is a dud (AGAIN!!!)

I can't even imagine the frustration of the real submariners with those bum torpedoes. Not to mention you just gave your position away for nothing...

Anyhoo, done hijacking. Back to B-29.