Simulating the Weight of Responsibility in Combat
The reality of war is the burden of loss of life. Even when you do "everything right" a life can be lost in seconds. It is often unavoidable on the battlefield. A blindly fired bullet or a well planned artillery round can equally undo the benefits of proper training and the right tactics. This is just as true for an infantryman in combat in 2025 as it was for a Royal Air Force squadron leader in 1940. Scramble: Battle of Britain by Slitherine Games captures the weight of death and responsibility in combat in ways similar flight games do not.
As the upcoming documentary series about Scramble begins on March 31st, 2025, we look at how the early access game portrays the reality of war thus far:
Balancing Death and Destruction,
A question that we were not able to add in time for the launch day interview with Scramble's lead developer, Jon Coughlin, was about the potential of adversely impacting the player's experience by simulating what could be considered 'perma death' type characteristics. The idea of a flight game that models realistic damage and changes in flight control is fun in theory, but the reality of incorporating these game mechanics is that it can be a risk for players that are not prepared for it.
While a combat aircraft with battle damage sounds like it would be visually appealing from a Hollywood aesthetics standpoint, in reality a single well placed cannon shell could be enough to cause massive damage to an aircraft or instant death to its pilot. Even taking a bit of damage is quite the risk.
How a game incorporates these mechanics can be a make or break feature for its overall reception. A game where high stakes mechanics like perma death can feel unplayable if the worst case scenario consequences happen too frequently and too easily. I am sure we can all think of a few games where we have been stuck at a bad checkpoint in a scenario where failure is almost guaranteed each time the game boots up. That or sudden game over states because of an all to easy to achieve "lucky shot" that instantly ends the life of the player's character with a high frequency.
If a sustained Very Positive review on Steam since October 30th, 2024 is anything to go off of, something was clearly done correctly.
Squadron Leader
If there was a single word to describe The Battle of Britain, it would be "attrition: "the action or process of gradually reducing the strength or effectiveness of someone or something through sustained attack or pressure." With the potential invasion of the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany being halted primarily through aerial combat, the outnumbered Royal Air Force (RAF) had to inflict consistent and extensive damage to the Luftwaffe - German Air Force. The numerically smaller RAF was hard pressed to halt the Luftwaffe air campaign to weaken the United Kingdom's defenses in 1940 to make way for a potential amphibious invasion.
Squadron Leader (SQL) is the best game mode in Scramble: Battle of Britain to experience the mindset and conditions of The Battle of Britain. According to the game description on the Steam page, Squadron Leader is designed as "the proving ground for current and future mechanics that will form the foundation of the full Channel Defense Campaign." The aforementioned campaign mode being the ultimate game mode of what the development team is trying to achieve. But have no doubt that SQL is currently more than able to have players experience the strategies and perils of the RAF effort to deter the Luftwaffe.
In Squadron Leader players are in command of an RAF fighter squadron flying in defense of the United Kingdom. They are challenged to manage a squadron of 12 pilots flying in two sections of three aircraft per section. Alpha Section flies with Supermarine Spitfires with Bravo Section flying Hawker Hurricanes.
The progress in SQL is persistent which is great for long-term play. Players can jump into SQL, play one full in game day and move onto their next game if they wanted to stretch out the experience. But this is also where the true test begins. Upon launching with a new squadron at the start of a campaign, every action in and out of combat is recorded and irreversible. The only option to reset data being a completely new campaign starting from Day 1.
At the start of each day players will select pilots from their roster. Players assign the pilots to each section by using a mouse to drag and drop them from the roster into their flight positions.
Each pilot has their own unique blend of traits. For this article, let us categorize these as personal traits, wingman traits and section leader traits.
A personal trait mainly effects the pilot as an individual, for example the 'Rabbit Hunter' trait gives pilots a damage buff when they are attacking an enemy aircraft from close range.
What could be considered a wingman trait is effected by the presence or death of allies while in flight. Like the 'Claustrophobic' trait that reduces a pilot's control if an ally is flying in close proximity to them.
A Section Leader trait effects all pilots in a section when a pilot is set as the leader of a section. Like the 'Sea Spotter' trait that increases the rate at which bailed out pilots are rescued and brought back to the squadron to continue the fight.
Four times of day must pass until a day is considered complete - 0800 hours, 1100 hours, 1400 hours and 1700 hours. During those times it is possible for combat to occur. With these being randomized encounters, there is no telling if a day would pass with no action or if a RAF fighter section would be pressed into four engagements.
During combat any mix of Luftwaffe aircraft is possible. One engagement may be an evenly matched battle with two to four ME-109s up against three RAF fighters or an ideal interception of six unescorted bombers or a scenario of being outnumbered by fighters and heavy fighters with a narrow margin of victory. While certain Section Leader skills can help prevent hard situations like having enemy forces attacking from behind and above from the start of the sortie, the reality that taking every battle head on as though it is a one and done sortie is the exact mindset that can make a SQL campaign fail fairly early.
Learning how to pick and choose battles, avoid disadvantageous situations and flying efficiently to maintain pilot stamina are the ingredients for a successful long-term campaign.
After combat, the results of the engagement are shown at a mission ending screen with categories like Aircraft Destroyed, Fighters Destroyed, Survived Pilots, Dead Pilots etc. with a mission rating. A screen for victory and loss rate of the squadron is provided and the day moves on with next time slot for potential air combat.
At the end of an entire day, pilots that did not bail out or were forced back to base because of aircraft damage can be switched between the Casualty list (shot down or injured during combat and made it back safely), On Leave (stamina recovery) and Active Duty (ready for combat). Players must manage their stamina from day to day to ensure that exhausted pilots are not constantly pressed into combat where more well rested enemies may have the advantage over them.
It is a rather good type of personnel management system that fits in with a combat flight simulator like turn by turn game without reaching the level of having to manage even more minutiae.
Example: Stuka Bounce
Let us take a look at one engagement in particular to demonstrate the intricacies of this game mode. In this perfect bomber intercept situation, three Hurricanes catch six JU 87 Stukas laden with bomb load and without fighter escort. While this seems like a straightforward engagement there are many factors here to consider.
First, despite being slightly above the Luftwaffe attackers, the Hurricanes are within range of the Stuka tail gunners - all six of them. Aggressively diving and turning left will bring the Hurricanes into the firing arcs of all six tail gunners for an extended period of time. That volume of fire could cause considerable damage to the RAF fighters.
By diving right and extending, the Hurricanes are able to escape the tail gunner's range, dive below the firing arcs of their machine guns, then re-engage using the superior speed of the Hurricanes to catch up to the Stuka formation and attack with all advantage.
Second, this is the first flight of the day for the pilots of this RAF section. They will need their stamina in case other dogfights occur. Opting to continuously pull hard G maneuvers and push them to black out frequently could drain them for the rest of the day. Making even slightly contested battles later in the day much harder. In this lower threat engagement, the RAF Hurricane pilots use low G, long sweeping turns to calmly reposition themselves with minimal physical strain.
Third, ammunition is a consideration. Letting one aircraft expend all its ammunition could have repercussions later where low ammo could be a problem. Allowing all aircraft in the flight to engage helps conserve ammo for the entire section.
Fourth, remember that stopping attackers and bombers from reaching the United Kingdom is the ultimate goal of the Battle of Britain. As far as flight games go, this traditionally means that all enemy aircraft must be shot down during every sortie. However, Scramble differs in a way that mimics reality. While shooting down all aircraft in the Stuka formation would be ideal, causing enough damage to force their air crews to give up on their mission is an effective mission kill. Scramble counts deterred aircraft as a positive gain of points under the category "Bombers Diverted".
While deterring a bomber does not give as many points as shooting down an aircraft, in the grand scheme of things stopping the bombs from dropping is positive. In our Stuka Bounce example, two JU 87s are destroyed with the remaining four forced to return because of battle damage.
Fifth, as the engagement comes to a close one of the RAF Hurricanes flies into debris from one of the last retreating aircraft. This causes significant damage to the aircraft's engine. With the remaining Stukas leaving the airspace, we elect to have all three RAF aircraft to retreat from the battle to save the damaged Hurricane rather than risk pressing it towards mechanical failure and risking the life of the pilot. While the pilot could bail out of the aircraft with ease if needed, there is no guarantee that they would survive their time in the cold waters of the British Channel. No need to risk it. Even in this one-sided victory a last second mistake could have led to a fatal incident, but it did bring down the overall mission score in the end.
Fortunately that was the last engagement of the day with all aircraft and pilots from both Sections back at base safely with minimal fatigue. The entire squadron is fresh and ready for combat the next day.
Does It Work?
I have been having a great time with the Squadron Leader game mode as the signature Channel Defense Campaign continues to be developed by the team at Slitherine Games. I find myself playing SQL more than the other game modes.
Perma-death in games is something that is especially hard hitting in long-form games like role playing games and strategy games. Genres where a beloved character may die many hours into a playthrough. The similar high risk game mechanics that appear in Scramble: Battle of Britain work well as they remain in the context of the actual air war that happened with players focused on managing pilots and aircraft, but not overreaching outside of the scope of that.
Even in the scenarios where it seems like player controlled pilots are all but doomed, quick thinking to give them the best chances of escape from the situation or bailing out of the aircraft at safe altitudes can greatly increase their chances of survival. In the end, forward thinking players can greatly reduce their losses.
Squadron Leader is a good exercise in remembering that when it comes to winning a realistic air war success in combat is equally as important as surviving to fight another day.
Connect with 'Scramble: Battle of Britain'
About the Writer
Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. After founding Electrosphere.info, the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating flight game-related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He explores past and present flight games and simulators with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. Read Staff Profile.
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