I played my first mission last night, to learn the rules and as a warm-up to the campaign my gaming group will be starting up shortly. A caveat here is that I have never played B-17: Queen of the Skies or Silent War, so I don't have a basis of comparison for solitaire wargame/simulation.

Before I get to the specifics, let me just say: this game is an eye-opener about the harsh realities of flying B-29 missions in 1944-45.

Components

The components are unremarkable and serviceable. The main "board" is unmounted, thin cardstock - I guess I've already given up the mounted board days of old since I've acquired more recent wargames like Paths of Glory and Combat Commander that use paper maps, so this didn't really bother me; I use a sheet of acrylic to overlay it anyway. I do think the board is well-organized, as it also includes the strategic movement track; weather, altitude and pressurization tracks; a cumulative navigation modifier track; and some other useful info.

Which brings me to one gripe I have with the rulebook. I think it is well-organized in roughly the same order you would need each section as you play a game, but there are clearly parts that could have/should have been edited before final printing. I'm talking about references to things like, "Place the appropriate altitude marker on the strategic movement track" which is from a previous build of the game; the separate altitude markers have been replaced by the aforementioned altitude track on the main board. There are several incidences of these, and although they are minor and almost trivial to figure out the new method, I do wish this kind of revision had made it into the rulebook before final printing.

The charts and tables are in their own separate rulebook-sized booklet. Thank god, because there are tons of them and it would be a nightmare trying to find them all if they were mixed in with the regular rulebook.

The log sheets that you will use/write on during actual play are on nice cardstock, separate, that is easy to copy/scan. In fact, I have done so and placed them up here on BGG, but they don't appear to have been approved yet.

The counters are good quality die-cut one-sided counters with full color art, two small sheets, and they even threw in some little baggies, which is always an appreciated touch.

You must provide your own dice (two six-siders).

Game Play

I'm going to relate the game play portion of this review as a sort of session report, because that seems the logical method to follow.

I have already named my B-29 and crewmen, in preparation for our campaign play. This was Mission 0 for the Wailin' Jenny.

I decided beforehand that I would try to use all the rules in the game. Helpfully, the rulebook (as well as history) are laid out to allow a basic game experience the first few times you play. For example, the first 10 missions (out of 35 for a full tour of duty in a B-29) are all DAY missions. The rulebook does a good job pointing out which parts of the rules are used for the first 10 missions; it uses a Greek omega-symbol at the start of each rule/paragraph to indicate advanced rules that aren't needed right away, so it is very easy to just skip right over sections you don't need if you choose the basic game.

But not me. I used to play a lot of wargames when I was younger, and I wanted the full effect of my shiny new B-29 simulation, so I used everything in there.

The first series of tables get you a target, what zone it's in, your formation and squadron position, take-off/landing times, fighter escort, and expected enemy fighter resistance. For the Wailin' Jenny's first trip out of Tinian, it was the aircraft factory in Akashi, in zone 12, in the middle of the bomber stream, low squadron, leaving in daylight and planned landing at night, without escorts, against heavy expected fighter resistance. Not having played this (or B-17) before, I was alarmed at the fighter result and the fact that I'd be going three zones deep into Japan.

Next item of concern: taking off isn't just taking off. Apparently, things didn't always go smoothly back then and there are several more tables for you to determine how well the take-off went. Fortunately, I got off the ground just fine, but glancing at the results table showed there were some grim possibilities.

And now the crux of the matter: fuel consumption. I had full turrets and a full complement of gunners, so my dice rolling consumed two fuel just on take-off. Then two fuel per zone moved while carrying bombs, and two fuel per increase in elevation... I had to move from LO to MED to HI to reach formation assembly, so that was four more fuel. By the time I got to zone 3, I had drifted off course once (more on that below) which cost a fuel to correct, and then formation assembly (more tables - I had to make a shallow dive out of formation to avoid a collision during assembly, which cost another fuel to rejoin, plus I had dropped from mid-stream to the tail end, which gave me a +1 on Japanese fighter checks for the rest of the mission...), I had already burned something like 13 fuel.

The bomber carries 38 fuel, plus optionally 4 more per auxiliary tank in the bomb bays (which I had), for a maximum of 46. I had burned 13 fuel out of 46 getting into formation at zone 3. My target was in zone 12. This was alarming, but I (foolishly, and unrealistically) didn't even bother calculating if I had enough to make it back. This was my first game, and I wanted to see some action, plus I thought, this was routine and SURELY I had enough fuel to make it back...

Which brings me to the next part of my "how did these guys survive the war" epiphany: navigation. Each zone you enter (not in formation) you have to make a navigation check. One check consists of a minimum of 5 tables/rolls. Visual check to produce a modifier; celestial check to produce a modifier; radar check to produce a modifier; dead reckoning check to produce a modifier; finally, the actual check with the cumulative modifier applied to see if you are on or off course. And let me tell you, those modifiers aren't that great, especially with a green navigator (less than 7 or 8 missions, such as Larry Walker of Plano, TX, in my case). There are bonuses for being at HI altitude on one table (easier to see the stars) and a penalty for HI altitude on another (harder to see the ground)...

I was very glad when I made formation assembly so that I (not being in the lead/middle formation) would no longer need nav checks.

Did I mention I've only made it to Zone 3 so far, out of 12 outbound, roughly 375 miles out of a total planned trip of 3000 miles...?

I was also checking weather in each zone. Fortunately, I had good weather all the way to Zone 4, where it dropped to Poor, costing me another fuel at HI altitude, and then Bad in Zone 5, for another extra fuel usage.

You only check for enemy fighters over land, i.e., Iwo Jima in Zone 6 (up until the US captures it after Mission 10) and Japan from Zone 10+. Even with Heavy expected enemy fighter resistance, I encountered nothing over Iwo Jima and continued on toward Japan under clear skies again.

I'd like to mention here one of my favorite parts of this edutainment game: the design notes and player notes scattered throughout the rulebook, and the introduction at the front. As I alluded to earlier, this game is a real eye-opener about the strategic air campaign against Japan. The introduction and notes in the rulebook really highlight the historical basis for different elements in the game; not having played B-17, I still feel like I learned a bit about that game and that theatre of operations just from reading the B-29 notes where the differences are pointed out. Organized, heavy enemy fighter attacks in Europe; disorganized, sporadic fighter defenses in Japan, due largely to the inferior training of the Japanese and the technological superiority of B-29 in terms of speed and altitude, for example. All fascinating reading. In fact, I'd even recommend anyone with a passing interest in it take a read through the B-29 rulebook - the design notes, combined with the descriptions of all the checks you make, are enlightening.

Back to Wailin' Jenny... the rest of the trip to Japan was uneventful until we saw our first (and as it turned out, only) Japanese fighter, a Frank coming down on us from 12 o'clock high. Another chart showed me that my forward and aft upper turrets could both fire on this bearing, so I had my bombardier (Hank "Smiley" Smiljanovich of Milwaukee) and my central fire controller (Brian Spierman of Trenton, NJ) open up on him. They scored one hit for damage but the fighter continued on to make a single run on us.

Sidebar: my cabin was still pressurized. See, this was standard procedure above 12000 feet (MED or HI in game terms). Also standard procedure was to depressurize when expecting combat... in the game, you must make this decision before rolling to see if a fighter appears. For whatever reason, I chose not to depressurize before my rolls and now that I was about to take gunfire, it suddenly occurred to me that rapid depressurization and/or oxygen fires might not be good...

And did I mention that this game goes in spurts of relative ease followed by sharp bursts of tension? I consulted the charts, made my rolls and found the Frank had hit me twice, once in the aft bomb bay (that doesn't sound good, tension++) and starboard wing (that doesn't sound good, tension++). Then there's the shell multiplier table (that doesn't sound good, tension++) that simulates the mixed armament on the fighters... the two hits on me turned out to be two damage rolls on my bomb-packed aft bomb bay table (tension++) and one roll on the wing table. Luckily for me, two were superficial damage for no effect and one just hit the aft life raft, meaning if I ditched at sea only 6 of the 11 crewmen would get a life raft modifier to their survival check...

But then the fighter was gone, unable to maneuver around at that altitude and match the Wailin' Jenny's speed. We made it to Akashi without further incident.

The next battery of tables and checks occurs during a bomb run. Visibility checks; clear view makes it easier to hit your target, nice! It also makes it easier for the Japanese flak to hit theirs... fortunately the flak was light and we didn't get hit, although glancing at the rules and tables, BIP (burst in plane) sounds really bad (all crewmen in that section immediately killed, for starters)...

More checks revealed we were off target and only landed 5% of our payload on target. We turned around (spend another fuel) and started back for Tinian. Oh by the way, +1 on Japanese fighter checks on the homeward leg... I guess they know you're there by that point...

Better late than never, I decided to count up my fuel. I had 12 zones to go to get home, and 10 fuel boxes left... nice.

But that poor weather on the way toward Japan returned on the way home, except this time the wind was at my back, so I gained fuel on the way home and ran out as I entered Zone 1, adjacent to the Marianas Islands. A roll on the "no fuel" table let me nurse the Wailin' Jenny one more zone, where I made a successful landing check.

The rules call this a Draw - I didn't lose my plane, but I was Off Target on my bomb run. I think Buzz Hoolihan (of Little Rock) and the rest of the Wailin' Jenny crew counted it a win.

Overall Impressions
In case it isn't clear, I quite like the game. I'm glad I pre-ordered it and look forward to flying 35 missions as part of a campaign with my gaming group. The decision-making isn't terribly deep, but I expected to that to some extent as a solitaire bomber simulation. Where the game has really surprised me is in how much I've learned about what it was like to fly those missions back then. True, I wasn't there, but with a little imagination (and a plethora of tables and charts), I feel like I can conceptualize what it was like, that they were putting their lives at very real risk every time they climbed aboard.

Going forward, I know now that fuel will always be my most pressing concern and that the tough decision to abort or not will always be present; that and the fact that I forgot about the random event roll for most of the game (and in case you were wondering, I don't think random events are ever good).

Hopefully, this review was enjoyable and/or provided enough information to decide if B-29 Superfortress is a game you would like to play. Thanks for reading!

Great read! I have the game but haven't taken it out of the box yet. I think your review has given me the kick in the pants to set it up

Very good review. I could feel the tension mounting as I read on. At least your crew made it home. I seem to like killing mine. I can't wait until we fly these babies together in the 66th Bomb Group.

I'd played six full Campaigns of B17:QotS years ago, sold it and regretted it but I was casually interested in this game. When you mentioned Tinian my interest shot up 200%. My late father was a Naval aviator and flew as Navigator and later co-pilot in PB2Y flying boats doing anti-sub patrols based out of Tinian.

Sounds like some "Good Ol' Boys" in that there flying machine

Cheers,
Bart

I had B-17, QotS years ago, and after playing several campaigns, I remember thinking "these guys must have been nuts." It was a hard game...but it was still a game. I can't imagine what the real thing would have been like, because loss and death literally could happen every mission. A stark reminder of the bravery our fathers, uncles, and grands had in order to defend us all.

Excellent review. I knew this wwas coming out soon but didn`t pre-order, because I wanted to make sure this was going to be different enough from B17:QotS. It sounds as though it is. I too had a copy of B17 and SOLD it like a jerk, but have since re-invested in a copy, though I have not played it for several years now.

Time to rummage in the game cupboard methinks. And maybe make an order.

Thanks! Have a thumbs-up!

I wish your in-laws would stop sinking the U.S.S. Oklahoma... in Zero!

Nice combination of a review and session report.

Now if I could only trade for a copy...

My question is, Where did my B-29 Superfortress game go? I preordered and prepaid and it has not landed yet. Oh, the sadness.

Maybe it ran out of fuel in Zone 4.

Ask ChemEng. He ordered one and got two.

Becuse of your review i"m getting this game. All i can say is "wow".

Thanks for the kind review. It was a bonehead move on my part for not catching the mistakes when discussing the weather, pressurization, and altitude tracks. For that I apologize.

The errata sheet corrects that and a few others until we get them all in a corrected rule and chart book. We are working on that now.

Steve Dixon
1/2 the design team for B-29
and on-line campaign co-ordinator

Excellent review. I'm definitely adding B-29 to my wish list. ( I used to love B-17: QOTS)

the fact that I forgot about the random event roll for most of the game (and in case you were wondering, I don't think random events are ever good).

Thanks to your review, I did do the random event roll each zone on my first two trial runs.
The random events are not pretty. Lost an engine, had bomb bay doors stuck in the open position.

There is something about going through all of those charts for navigation and for the random events that is very satisfying. I like to know exactly what is going on. With a more simplistic game or a computer game, one would just roll the dice once and get a result without seeing all of the myriad factors that make up the result.

I have to say that I am really hooked on these solitaire war games.
Great value as far as I am concerned.