"B-17: Queen of the Skies" Emulator

Introduction

In the beginning ...

There was cardboard, and dice, and Avalon Hill saw that it was good.

"B-17: Queen of the Skies" (B17QotS) was released by Avalon Hill in the early 1980's, during the heyday of the classical board wargame, with parts you could actually touch (or spill soda on). B17QotS simulated the World War II Allied strategic bombing campaign over Germany, 1942-1945 Unlike other games on the theme, which were Bomber Command or 8th Air Force-level simulations, B17QotS featured a single B-17F 'Flying Fortress' bomber.

Though the rules said it could be played by two players (the second of whom would have been severely bored), it was really meant for solo play. German fighters were automata, and many of the player's "decisions" were the result of die rolls. Really, the player's lone choice was the allocation of which machineguns should fire at which German fighters.

The attraction of the game was, and is, its role-playing aspect: The B-17's crew had names, and accumulated skill, and if they were very lucky, surviving 25 missions, they rotated home to sell war bonds. (Like the crew of the Memphis Belle.) You really sweated the last few missions before SGT Hank Carlson, your ace tail gunner, got his 25.

As is always the case, a number of variants and optional rules quickly cropped up. (And continue to do so.) Still, you only got to decide which guns to fire at which enemy. And the paperwork was still a pain in the butt.

Board wargames are still being published, many of them better designed than the 'classics'. (And with much more attractive components.) But no matter how popular a modern board wargame is, it will never come even remotely close to outselling "PanzerBlitz".

Board wargames were mainstream, even having shelf space at Toys'R'Us. By the late 80's they were gone, replaced by computer wargames. The early computer wargames were also mainstream best-sellers. And they really were war games, good faith attempts to recreate history.

By the mid 90's, computer wargames had also become a niche product, replaced by fantasy games, empire building games, sports games, and first-person shooters. But board wargames never completely went away. Face it, there's a lot more satisfaction in watching your friend's reaction when your paratroopers smash his carefully planned blitzkrieg, then there is in sending him an e-mail about it.

By now, the kids that grew up on board wargames are middle-aged adults with disposable income and nostalgia for the good old days. And they have programming skills.

Around 2001, Mike Pranno mocked up a prototype computer game of B17QotS. I met Mike through a play by e-mail B17QotS campaign. Mike posted the prototype on the campaign's message board. One of our fellow players had done some mods of Mike's prototype, but didn't have the time to continue working on the project. I got laid off at the end of 2002, and with software development jobs being hard to come by, picked up the slack while looking for a paying programming job. (Plus, it helped keep my skills sharp.)

Summary of Features

And the best part of all? No paperwork.

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© Copyright 2002, 2010 by Preston V. McMurry III, http://www.prestonm.com