Skies Above The Reich

Skies Above the Reich is a solitaire game depicting a Luftwaffe squadron of Bf109s struggling to deter and destroy the relentless daylight raids over Germany during World War Two. The player’s individual aircraft, each represented by a stickered block, must confront the mighty “combat box” formation of the United States Army Air Force, a deadly terrain of B-17 Flying Fortresses. 

The game is a broad strokes depiction that presents the arc of the desperate air war. Stretching from late 1942 to early 1945, Skies Above the Reich follows that trajectory in a series of missions strung together to make a campaign. Each mission will take a half hour or more to play, while a campaign can last anywhere between 6 to 60 missions.

In the basic game your goal is to knock bombers out of formation, or destroy them outright. The advanced game adds “pursuit” where you dispatch fighters to chase after and intercept bombers knocked out of the formation. Played out on an 8.5″ x 11″ map depicting a single bomber, pursuit makes the advanced game even more challenging. 

You may also play this as a (un)cooperative game. Players each command a squadron of fighters and attack a formation of bombers together. Although players may lose together, even if they win the campaign only one of them may be declared the victor.