Enemy Coast Ahead: The Dambuster Raid

Information from publishers game page Operation Chastise: the Dambuster Raid On the night of May 16, 1943, nineteen Lancaster bombers of 617 Squadron took off from their base near Lincoln in Great Britain and headed for the heart of German industry in the Ruhr. The squadron’s task was to destroy the dams that controlled the reservoirs feeding Germany’s war engine. In the words of aeronautical engineer Barnes Wallis, the mastermind behind the operation, “power is dependant on the supply of natural stores of energy such as coal, oil and water.... If their destruction or paralysis can be accomplished THEY OFFER A MEANS OF RENDERING THE ENEMY UTTERLY INCAPABLE OF CONTINUING TO PROSECUTE THE WAR.” The Lancasters had been modified to carry a most unusual ordnance codenamed Upkeep. It looked more like a petrol barrel than an explosive device, but the painstakingly engineered and tested outer layer cushioned a volatile mine designed by Wallis to bounce over torpedo nets and kiss the lip of the dam, its backspin carefully devised to hug the dam rather than ricochet on impact. Upkeep was supposed to plunge down along the wall like a depth-charge, detonating halfway down. The concussion would crack the structure, and the water’s mass held back by the dam would push open the crack, creating a breach in the wall. The dam would be destroyed. Eight of the Lancasters would not return that night, but the two primary targets of the Möhne and Eder dams were breached, letting loose a combined torrent that measured nearly half a million tons of water and taking the lives of over 1200 German civilians and military personnel. Measured in civilian casualties, it was the most lethal night of the bombing campaign thus far, although later missions would dwarf its casualty list. Measured in terms of industrial disruption, the raid cut the region’s electrical power for several hours and severely reduced its water reservoir. It was not a decisive blow, but it was successful nonetheless. Had at least one other dam been breached, it could have been devastating. This is your challenge: can you match 617’s success? Can you surpass it? The Game In Enemy Coast Ahead: The Dambuster Raid, you command a newly formed squadron assigned the task of breaching the dams in the Ruhr Valley. Not only are you presented with a variety of decisions, you play the invisible hand of fate as your crews endure the hazards of a dangerous night raid. Play the campaign and you get to organize and train the squadron, or play the historical scenarios. Players Play solitaire and you do it all. Play with teammates and one of you is the squadron commander giving orders to subordinates. The squadron commander wins if the dams are breached, while subordinates compete to accomplish their orders with the least casualties to the men and machines assigned to them. Only one subordinate will win. Of course, if the dams are not breached, you all lose. Scale & Detail Each Lancaster is represented by its own 1” counter. Each bomber will carry two or three 5/8” markers representing aircrew, ordnance and possibly an elite crewman. All the men awarded decorations before or during the raid are represented in this game by their own marker, each imparting a unique characteristic to its crew. Even the squadron commander’s dog gets his own marker! Ground crew are also featured in the campaign game, represented by markers rated for a variety of tasks. You will have to requisition and manage your Erks effectively while maintaining security. That’s not so easy. You may find it necessary to transfer the local barmaid or take the drastic measure of transferring 54 squadron out of Scampton airbase, or even quarantining the base altogether. Reconnaissance is crucial. In the campaign game you will need to survey the defenses of the dams and the routes to them, but too much recon and you risk tipping off the enemy. But how much is too much? You will have to target the right dams or the right combination of dams, to get the job done. Möhne and Eder are the juiciest targets, but what if they are well defended? Do you risk it, or go for the other dams hoping to breach enough of them to achieve your goal? Training is vital. In the campaign game you will requisition and then train your crew to fly at exceptionally low altitude, maintain a steady speed, locate the target in the dead of night, and release ordnance at precisely the right distance from the lip of the dam. You will only have just so much time to prepare your squadron. You might have to decide what is more important: learning to maintain the right altitude and speed while preparing to release ordnance, or the ability to find the dam? If your men don’t master these skills quickly you may have to favor one over the other. You can always impose extra training, but push your men too hard and they become fatigued, perhaps even damaging their bomber