Playtesting B-17 Flying Fortress Leader
Until recently, Dan Verssen’s “Leader” game line has concentrated on various air war subjects. Given that my shelves are primarily filled with fantasy novels or books about pre 10th century eras I didn’t find them initially intriguing no matter my growing interest in solitaire board games, but Marco Arnaudo’s enthusiastic review of Hornet Leader won me over.
Even after I snagged a copy I didn’t take to Hornet Leader immediately, though. There were so many different armaments and so many different planes that I remarked to my friend Dean Brown that I felt like I was playing “Armament Leader” because I had to spend so much time choosing which kinds of bombs to put on my aircraft. I gather that happens to some players. I decided it wasn’t really for me, but for people who really liked knowing minute details about planes and bombs, and traded it away, but then, talking with Dean, I got to wondering if I’d really given it a fair shot. I decided to trade for a new copy last winter. After I played again and took more time with it I was hooked, and enjoyed several campaigns from December to March. And that left me in good shape to understand what a Leader game was all about, probably a good thing for a playtester for the upcoming B-17 Flying Fortress Leader game…