The historic B-52 strikes against North Vietnam that brought (temporary) peace and brought the American prisoners of war home. A fascinating air campaign simulation! 134 minis including aircraft, SAMs, AAA - 22x34 campaign map - mission planning, event cards, attack wave layouts, SAM engagement board, airbase cards, rulebook, dice, roundels, chips and more.
Here's the latest article from "The Player's Aid" with details: https://theplayersaid.com/2023/01/04/interview-with-kevin-talley-developer-for-december-1972-linebacker-ii-the-historic-b-52-strikes-against-north-vietnam-from-cadet-games-currently-on-gamefound/
The basic design features a main aviation chart map that includes a number of target boxes, covering the area involved in the historical campaign. Players use miniature aircraft, SAMs, AAA batteries, chips and counters to simulate the historical raids, one wave at a time. The NVA player sets up their air defense, then the US player puts together their raid wave plan layouts indicating how many bombers will attack which targets (and routes, altitudes, TOT, etc.).
The actual combat system is simple, realistic and fun. ECM and chaff support aircraft, F-111s, escorts, MiGCAP and Weasel/Iron Hand flights each have their own separate rules for engagements vs. the North Vietnamese AD system - including air combat - and Aardvarks have their own bombing effectiveness table. But the heart of the system is the attack vector board and the SAM Engagement Track!
This is where the BUFFs go up against the SAM crews. There is a mission card and an AD card (they are both blind draws off the top of their respective decks). Each player places a card for that cell (3 B-52s) of bombers being engaged. Then the players simply follow the instructions to determine the "hit" number. Odds for a SAM hit range from 2.78% to 16.66% and depend on the dice. Bombers in their Post Target Turns (PTT) without cell integrity hitting repeat targets by the same routes are more likely to get hit. It can be even worse if they are G-model planes without ALT-22 ECM packages or bombers outside of a Chaff screen - or if the missile crews fire two SAMs at the same target! The system is fun, suspenseful, realistic and quick. The cards make each engagement unique and add historical flavor to the battle - since they are based on actual people and events that took place during the campaign.
The game has 134 minis - all the aircraft, MiGs, AAA Guns and SAMs you need to simulate the historic campaign right down to the last EB-66. Also, there are cool basing layouts so you can park your aircraft between raid waves in style (and keep track of which have already sortied, and which are available for the next wave of attacks).
