B-17 Queen of the Skies - Solitaire Avalon Hill Wargame

A large heavy bomber passes outward bound from England over the French Coast through the thin, cold air at 21,000 feet.  Inside, the ten men of the crew finger their guns, listen to the roar of the engines, and scan the sky for the small black dots which will bring battle.  It is late fall 1942.  The plane is a B-17 Flying Fortress, known to those who fly her, defend her, and depend upon her, as the Queen of the Skies.

B-17: Queen of the Skies is the Avalon Hill Game Company's strategy game which re-creates the bombing mission and aerial combat of the B-17 (model F) bombers of the U.S. Eighth Air Force over Europe between November 1942 and May 1943.  This was the critical initial period for the American heavy bombers, when the green crews had to quickly learn their jobs and prove the feasibility of daylight bombing.

B-17 is designed primarily as a solitaire game, pitting you and your crew against the German air defences. A second player may optionally control the enemy fighters.  Your goal is to complete 25 missions and earn that ticket home.

Each mission begins by selecting the target city.  The B-17 marker is then moved across the strategic map board, zone by zone, from England to the target and back.  In each zone, however, there is the chance that enemy fighters will appear.  Die rolls determine the number, type, and position of the fighters.  You must allocate defensive machine gun fire, hoping to knock down the fighters or spoil their aim.  After the bomber fires, the fighters get their chance.  Charts are consulted to determine if hits are made, where the damage is, and how serious. The Queen is an incredibly tough plane and can take a lot of punishment, but there is always the chance of that lucky hit that will bring her down.  As the mission grinds on, you start to sweat - wounded crewmen, low ammunition, burned out engines, oil leaks, and more enemy fighters.

Playing time: 15 minutes to 1 hour.
Complexity Rating (from 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest): 3

A great solitaire game to have in your collection for the times when you can't find any opponents. 

Components: (100% complete)
11"x 16" mounted game board
88 die cut markers (punched and sorted into ziplock bags)
Enemy Fighter Cards (in a ziplock bag)
Mission Record Sheet Pad
Crew Placement Cart
Strategic Movement Board
Charts
Rulebook
2 dice

Components in very good condition.
Apologies for the flash in the picture.

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