''Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe'' is a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

air-combat

combat flight simulation game Combat flight simulators are vehicle simulation games, amateur flight simulation computer programs used to simulate military aircraft and their operations. These are distinct from dedicated flight simulators used for professional pilot and mil ...

first released in August 1991 by

Lucasfilm Games Lucasfilm Games (known as LucasArts between 1990 and 2021) is an American video game licensor, former video game developer and publisher, and a subsidiary of Lucasfilm. It was founded in May 1982 by George Lucas as a video game development grou ...

. It was the last of a trilogy of World War II titles by

, the others being '' Battlehawks 1942'' (1988) and '' Their Finest Hour'' (1989). It enabled the player to fly aircraft of the

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces S ...

and the German ''

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

'', including some experimental aircraft that did not see operational service during World War II. The game was initially released with a code wheel and a 225-page manual, detailing the air war over Western Europe between 1943 and 1945. The game also featured a campaign mode, similar to that found in ''Their Finest Hour'', where the player had to make the strategic decisions on which targets were to be attacked (as USAAF 8th Air Force) or defended (by the German Luftwaffe). Four

expansion pack An expansion pack, expansion set, supplement, or simply expansion, is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game, video game, collectible card game or Miniature wargaming, miniature wargame. An expansion may introduce new rules ...

s were released: ''P-38 Lightning'' (1991), ''P-80 Shooting Star'' (1991), ''Do 335 Pfeil'' (1992) and ''He 162 Volksjäger'' (1992).

Setting

The game focuses battles between the

and the Luftwaffe challenge during World War II, especially the American

strategic bombing Strategic bombing is a systematically organized and executed military attack from the air which can utilize strategic bombers, long- or medium-range missiles, or nuclear-armed fighter-bomber aircraft to attack targets deemed vital to the enemy' ...

offensive against Germany, from August 1943 towards the end of war in 1945. It is focused more on action than on realistic simulation. The game sets up German secret weapons, with fast jet propulsion and a variety of missiles and bombs, against slower but more numerous American piston-engined airplanes. There are a number of ways to play the game, covering full tours of duty, historical missions, campaign battles as well as a custom mission builder.

Tours of Duty

In Tours of Duty, the player creates their own pilot (or crew, for B-17 Flying Fortress) and fights in the air war for a limited number of missions (from 25 to 55, according to the historical Squadrons). The pilot/crew gain experience points, ranks and decorations; and if they manage to survive their assigned Tours of Duty, they can start another, without time limitations. The same pilot/crew can be deployed by the player in Campaign Battles, or in Historical Missions or Custom Missions.

Historical Missions

The game features a numerous set of prebuilt, historically-oriented missions in which the player is free to choose their own pilot and/or crew.

Mission Builder

The Mission Builder allows the user to create missions. The Waves function allows the player to automatically replicate, up to nine times, any planned non-bombing flight; so that it is possible to simulate, for example, several waves of enemy interceptors against a bomber formation, planning a single flight of interceptors and setting the Waves option as desired.

Campaign Battles

Campaign Battles allow the player to plan missions inside the Campaign Battles, using the mission builder. This feature allows the player plan their own way to fight the air war, without any limitations. Success or defeat are determined by several overall winning/losing conditions.

Reception

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...

'' in 1991 and 1993 gave the game four and a half stars out of five, stating that it "is a welcome addition to Lucasfilm's World War II aerial oeuvre. Graphically rich, stylistically complex and user-accessible, it succeeds on three levels (tactical, operational and strategic)". The magazine gave the expansion disks four stars. In 1992 the magazine named it one of the year's best simulation games.

Reviews

*''

Fire & Movement ''Fire & Movement: The Forum of Conflict Simulation'' was a magazine devoted to wargames, both traditional board wargames and computer wargames. It was founded by Rodger MacGowan in 1975, and began publication the following year. In February 1 ...

'' #76https://spotlightongames.com/list/reviews.html

References

External links

* {{moby game, id=/secret-weapons-of-the-luftwaffe, name=''Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe'' 1991 video games Classic Mac OS games DOS games LucasArts games Single-player video games U.S. Gold games Video games developed in the United States Video games scored by Michael Land World War II flight simulation video games