Crimson Skies Clix Miniatures Game. Its the 1930s and the - TopicsExpress

Crimson Skies Clix Miniatures Game. Its the 1930s and the stresses of epidemic, prohibition and the Great War have broken the United States into many smaller, warring nations like Utah, the Empire State, Pacifica and the Nation of Hollywood. These border wars have ruined the railroads and the nascent highway system so commerce has taken to the skies. But with air shipping comes air pirates, out to loot the cargo of the lumbering zepplins. Who can stop them, but the dedicated air militias of the various nations! So now these airborne privateers battle pirates and each other for dominance of the shattered states of America high above in the crimson skies! Crimson SKies is a tabletop miniatures game for 2 or more players. It is produced by WizKids , the makers of MageKnight, HeroClix, and Mechwarrior: Darge Ages. The Rules Pack retails for $7.95, but you will need planes to play. Each of the Squad Packs runs $15.95, but you really only absolutely need one to play. Currently available are the Broadway Bombers, the Hollywood Knights, and the East meets West packs. The Rules Pack contains one rulebook, one quickstart guide, two double-sided maps (for the ground combat game), two special ability reference cards, 24 navigation cards, 48 tokens (mostly cannon-fodder characters for the Aces ground combat game), 24 manuever markers, six dice and three storage envelopes. The cardstock is of a decent quality and the planes are nicely detailed. The paint jobs are about normal for a WizKids product, that is, acceptable, but a bit sloppy in places. I like the decals though. The Squadron Packs each have 4 planes, and the Pilot Packs have two planes and their corresponding pilots (for the ground based Aces game) The Pilot Packs also have a couple of additional navigation cards, specific to the pilots. The planes are mounted on combat dials, with attached spindles. The spindles indicate the planes speed and any penalties it may cause. The dial shows your planes maximum speed, gunnery and piloting skills. Special colors denote any special abilities or equipment. All of these values change as the plane takes damage and is clicked inexorably towards its doom. Each round players roll dice to see who acts first. Each player, in order of initiative, plots their speed. Then the planes are activated in order from highest to lowest speed. Plane movemnet is plotted using navigation cards, and then acted out simultaneously using octagonal movement markers. Any collisions are resolved, and then planes are able to shoot any targets in a direct line in front (and sometimes behind) them, by rolling a number of six-sided dice equal to their gunnery skill, trying to meet or exceed the targets silhouette rating. Each success is a click of damage (ouch!). Each Rules Pack comes with enough navigation cards for two players, but if you have more sets, more can play. The gameplay is fun and fast, simpler than the old FASA game of the same setting, but with just as much strategy. However, this is a “pulp“ genre game and is not for those hung up on “realism“. The Aces game allows the pilots to fight on the ground. Its usually one pilot per side and a bunch of cardboard cronies to back them up. Theres no navigation cards, no speed spindles, and movement is acted out on a gridded map, but otherwise the gameplay is pretty similar to the Air Action game. Pilots can also use Fate points to avoid damage that might otherwise kill them, which of course is what being a hero is all about. In summary: Quality/Production Value: Good Rules/Mechanics: Good Setting/Concept: Excellent Fun/Gameplay: Extra-Good This is from an older review I found on the internet.