BATTLE OF BRITAIN TALONSOFT +1Clk Windows 11 10 8 7 Vista XP Install

Actual Game

"Never, in the field of human conflict, has so much, been owed by so many, to so few."

Always one for a brilliant quote that could sum up a situation, Churchill's words followed the Royal Air Force's victory over the German Luftwaffe in a massive struggle that goes down as one of history's turning points.

Outnumbered, outgunned, almost out on their feet, the pilots and ground crews of the RAF battled heroically to fend off a battle-hardened enemy who was bombing the tripe out of Britain in the summer of 1940. If they lost then the Nazis stood a very good chance of world conquest.

Some 700 RAF planes lined up against up to 3000 Luftwaffe aircraft and set about cutting the bully boys down to size. Of course, the British had home-ground advantage and so crucial fighter cover for the German bombers was limited, and of course the RAF had Hurricanes (the most successful fighter of the battle) and Spitfires to help their cause.

Still, it was touch and go for almost all of the period of the Battle of Britain until the Luftwaffe losses proved too great to continue suffering and Germany halted the campaign.

Now you can refight the air campaign on a strategic level with Talonsoft's Battle of Britain. Your task is to coordinate either the RAF or the Luftwaffe in the campaign and ensure victory for your side.

If you go the RAF you are given only minutes notice of incoming raids and, because we are talking in the early stages of radar here, the info is not always first rate. You will get the number of aircraft in a raid, but whether they be fighters or bombers you won't know until you catch them.

There are a lot of German raids and the British need to keep planes flying patrols to reduce flight scrambling time. The air battles are treated in a texty way, which gives you how many aircraft were damaged or destroyed. Some damaged ones will crash later as they try to get back to base.

Playing the Luftwaffe commander gives you extra choices in the game - picking targets like radar, airfields and working out the best way to stretch limited enemy planes to the maximum.

Battle of Britain is not easy and it is not a flight sim, but it does take an increasingly strong hold on you as you play your way through the campaigns offered.