Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain

The second of Lucasfilm Games' air combat simulations and follow-up to Battlehawks 1942, Their Finest Hour recreates the Battle of Britain during WWII in the summer of 1940. Players can fly both for the German Luftwaffe and the British Royal Air Force. On the British side, two planes are available: the Spitfire and the Hurricane. For the Germans, there is the fighter Bf 109, the heavy fighter/fighter bomber Bf 110, the infamous Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber, and the three light/medium bombers Do 17, He 111 and Ju 88. Next to training missions for every plane, there are several historical combat missions to be flown. In accordance with history, most RAF missions consist of defense assignments - intercepting and destroying German bombers. Most Luftwaffe missions are attack runs - either flying the bomber escort or the bombers themselves. In the heavier planes, not only can the pilot of the plane be controlled, but also the gunner(s), and, in the bombers, the bombardier. The special Campaign Mode allows one to actually change the historical outcome of the Battle of Britain. On a strategic map, planes must be organized into groups and assigned to missions, one of which must be flown. The outcome of that mission affects those of all others and also the status of the overall campaign. The British side wins by simply surviving for a certain time or by destroying enough German aircraft. The German side wins by destroying enough RAF fighters, either in the air or on the ground. Also included in the game is a mission builder for designing custom missions, and a film playback option for reviewing recorded flight footage.