Overflight!

Overflight! is a solitaire aerial reconnaissance wargame about the CIA’s TOP SECRET U-2 spy plane. It is set in the Cold War from 1956 to 1960. This is the second book of the Special Mission Series from Historic Wings, a publisher whose mission is to publish aviation games that are true to history. Not only will you learn about the CIA's covert air force and the U-2, you will have the chance to see how you would have fared had you been in charge.

The importance of the U-2 program to the US and Allied intelligence communities cannot be overstated. U-2 overflights provided 90% of all intelligence regarding the Soviet military during one of the most critical periods of the Cold War. The program was indispensable to US national security.

In the game, you play both in the role of the CIA’s U-2 Program Director -- historically, Richard Bissell -- and, when you fly missions, you take on the role of the pilots themselves as you navigate over Soviet-controlled territory to photograph your targets and, if all goes well, return safely. All of the pilots in your CIA Pilot Roster are recruited from the US Air Force and “sheep-dipped” – thus, they’re “officially civilians”. Two other pilots are drawn from the ranks of the Royal Air Force (RAF), just as in history.

In 1956, your missions will seem easy. The Soviets have little chance of intercepting your U-2s as they soar beyond the reach of even the highest-flying Soviet interceptors. However, with each passing year, the Soviets will deploy newer, better aircraft like the MiG-21 and Su-9. Ultimately, you will face SA-2 “Guideline” Surface to Air Missiles (SAMs), the very missile that shot down Francis Gary Powers on his U-2 flight on May 1, 1960, an event that ended CIA’s overflights of the Soviet Union.

Among your assignments will be photographing important targets, such as Tyuratam, where the Soviets tested Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) and the facilities at Aralsk-7, a secret Soviet biological weapons research site, and more.

Be prepared to sweat out your missions -- will you succeed or will one of your pilots die trying?

The game was developed from declassified TOP SECRET and SECRET documents sourced from the CIA. It is a narrative-style game with extensive decision-making and features a mid-sized tabletop footprint and easy-to-learn rules.