Scratch one flat top!

Newcomer Jonathan set up a rousing game of Blood Red Skies for the club - a ruleset we haven’t played before. On two separate boards, the finest naval aviators of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States Navy in gorgeously painted 1/200 scale planes fought the Battle of the Coral Sea, the first engagement in naval history where the involved ships never sighted each other during the battle.

One table saw the combined air wings of the Lexington and Yorktown attacking the Japanese light carrier Shoho, defended by it’s Combat Air Patrol of Claudes and Zeros, whereas the on the other table the Lexington’s Combat Air Patrol of Wildcats was attempting to fend off the all-out attack by the Shokaku and Zuikaku’s force of Val dive bombers, Kate torpedo bombers, and their Zero escorts.

For the Lexington’s planes, it quickly became a rat’s nest of swerving, diving, and climbing fighters, while the Vals and Kates plunged forward, laden with their deadly cargo. Though several were downed, three each made it through the CAP, the dive bombers executing an intricate maneuver by scorching past the Lexington, then reverse rolling and dropping their deadly Type 99 250 pound bombs on the Lady Lex. Unfortunately, all they did was douse the flight deck crews with sea water as the bombs missed their target. The Kates, however, were far more successful, as their Type 91 torpedoes scored devastating critical hits on the Lexington. Despite the valiant attempt of the Wildcat crews to save the day, the Lex’s crew was forced to slide down the sides into the water and await rescue by a nearby destroyer.

On the other table, the Dauntless dive bombers and much maligned Devastator torpedo bombers closed with Shoho. Zeros sped to its defense, eager to add to their list of kills for the war. The Wildcats proved a match, however, for the nimble Zeros, driving the first flight away so the first wave of Lexington’s bombers could make their attack runs, scoring three hits, before heading home. The second flight of Zeros went after the second wave of Yorktown’s bombers, downing one bomber. Two bombers from VB-5, however, made it through the CAP and the SBDs proved their nickname of “Slow but Deadly” by dropping their bombs on Shoho, destroying her in the water.

So, it was a deadly day both in the air and on the water, and a very entertaining and pretty easy set of rules to play through. Thanks, Jonathan, hopefully we’re going to see some more Blood Red Skies on the tables in the future!