Description

Skystrike is a World War 2 Pacific Theater of Operations Nautical wargame cited by the designer as very suitable for novices in that genre.

The game is based on the crucial battle for Midway Island on the 4th June 1942. To win, the Japanese player has to sink the United State's aircraft carriers and thus capturing Midway Island. The American player wins by preventing the Japanese taking the island and inflicting more losses on the Japanese forces than his own suffer.

Each player has their own board and the game thus uses a blind/search system. Only when the enemy is found can combat occur. Each turn represents 8 hours, so three turns per day are the limit. The searching rule owes a debt to dear old Battleships and the board is overlaid with squares so that movement is by square to square.

Once combat starts, results are determined by a die roll. I think there could be very quick combat rounds "Roll a 6 and the enemy carrier is sunk", that sort of thing (it is intended for beginners after all). When it comes to invading the island, the Japanese player gets only one attempt per game so the player must be pretty sure he has timed it correctly.

There are variants - a quick game and an advanced game, plus rules for designating your aircraft as fighters and/or bombers.