Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain (German: Luftschlacht um England, literally "Air battle for England") is the name given to the Second World War defence of the United Kingdom by the Royal Air Force (RAF) against an onslaught by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) which began at the end of June 1940. In Britain, the officially recognised dates are 10 July – 31 October 1940, overlapping with the period of large-scale night attacks known as The Blitz. German historians do not accept this subdivision, and regard the Luftschlacht um England as a campaign lasting from July 1940 to June 1941. The Battle of Britain has been described as the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces.

The objective of the Nazi German forces was to increase pressure on Britain to agree to a negotiated peace settlement. An air and sea blockade began in July 1940, with coastal shipping convoys, ports and shipping centres such as Portsmouth the main targets of the Luftwaffe. A direction issued on 1 August for the Luftwaffe's Adlertag campaign to achieve air superiority over the Royal Air Force (RAF) with the aim of incapacitating RAF Fighter Command, and shifted attacks to RAF airfields and infrastructure. As the battle progressed, the Luftwaffe also targeted factories involved in World War II aircraft production and ground infrastructure. Eventually the Luftwaffe resorted to attacking areas of political significance and using terror bombing strategy.

Battle of Britain (video game)

Battle of Britain is a turn-based strategy video game developed and published by Personal Software Services for the Commodore 64 in 1987. It was also ported to the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum later that year. It is the seventh instalment to the Strategic Wargames series. The game is set during the Battle of Britain campaign of the Second World War and revolves around Britain's defence and prevention against a Nazi invasion. In the game, the player commands the Royal Air Force as they must defend key cities against the Luftwaffe.

The game contains elements of first-person shooting; during some sequences the game requires a certain number of aircraft to be shot down. Battle of Britain received mixed to positive reviews from critics upon release. Critics praised the fast pace of the gameplay and features, however, one reviewer was divided over the historical accuracy of the battle.

Gameplay

The game is a turn-based strategy and focuses on air battles during the Battle of Britain campaign of the Second World War. The player commands squadrons of the Royal Air Force and the main objective of the game is to defend key cities and radar installations from the Luftwaffe. Unlike previous games in the series, Battle of Britain is the first to include cursor movement, a scrolling interface and elements of first-person shooter gameplay. At the start of the game, the player is given the option of how many RAF squadrons they wish to allocate for offensive and defensive purposes; a proportionate amount must be sent to attack Luftwaffe squadrons whilst the others will be left to defend key cities from air raids.

Battle of Britain (disambiguation)

The Battle of Britain was a Second World War campaign in which the German Luftwaffe and British Royal Air Force fought for air superiority.

The term may also refer to:

Video games

See also

Wings of Victory

Wings of Victory is the fiftieth album by American singer/guitarist Glen Campbell, released in 1992 (see 1992 in music).

Track listing

Personnel

Battle of Britain II: Wings of Victory

Battle of Britain II: Wings of Victory is a Windows-based flight simulation created by Shockwave Productions, Inc. (currently known as A2A Simulations) and released in 2005. It is a remake of Rowan's Battle of Britain combat flight simulation by Empire Interactive. The aerial combat is drawn from the Battle of Britain during the Second World War and features the British RAF versus the German Luftwaffe. Due to its emphasis on historical accuracy, Wings of Victory remains very popular among serious PC historical World War II flight sim enthusiasts. The release was met with many favorable reviews, and won several awards including the SimHQ Best of 2006 award.

Battle of Britain II can be played either as a flight simulator or as a strategy game, or both combined. It allows the player to assume the role of pilot in the flight simulator, and/or the Commander of the Air Force - managing tactics in the strategy game. The player can choose either side, the RAF or the Luftwaffe. Changes from Rowan's original BoB title include an extensive graphics overhaul, gameplay tweaks and numerous new features. Its broad scope includes hundreds of warplanes and huge aerial raids and battles in the air. The simulation has realistic AA fire, radio traffic, and in-game ambiance that includes military forces on the ground. The 3D terrain of northern France and southern Britain is 740 km on a side, extending from Liverpool to Reims. Due to the high level of detail and historical accuracy, the flight sim developers term Battle of Britain II: Wings of Victory their "time machine". The flight simulation engine (code) used in this product is called the "Merlin" engine, which is an advanced proprietary Air-Combat computer game engine designed by A2A Simulations and first released in their Battle of Britain II: Wings of Victory title.