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The first time I saw Crimson Skies, I hated it. FASA was running a demo at GenCon and I assumed that this was the game that they had decided to develop instead of Earthdawn. First impressions are important but I reserved total judgement until I played a demo and, if you hadn't already guessed, the game impressed me. If it hadn't, I wouldn't have dropped 35 bucks to review it for you fine people.

Crimson Skies is set in an alternate universe where the Great Depression has caused the US to break apart. The nation has fractured into several little countries ranging from the Empire State arising in New York to the Communist People's Collective of the Great Plains states. The tried and true methods of shipping things over land has fallen away due to the effects of this balkanization of America so everything has literally taken to the air. This America's love affair is with the airplane and not the automobile. So take to the skies as a dashing air milita pilot and defend your country...or become a vicious air pirate and cut a path of swath through the former land of the free and home of the brave.

If it sounds like I'm quoting from the game, it should. I've totally fallen for the background the guys at FASA have come up with. The last time I was wowed at a concept for a game was Pinnacle's Deadlands and I hope FASA does as good of a job with this game as Pinnacle has with that one. People have a lready been calling for a RPG based on this miniatures game and I must agree. The game comes with three rulebooks, die-cut 3-D counters, three double sided hexmaps, and a d10.

The first rulebook details the combat system and movement rules. This system borrows heavily from FASA's Renegade Legion system where damage is resovled by coloring in boxes on a damage monitor depending on with what type of weapon the craft is hit with. Movement is done simultaneously by preplotting moves on your plane's sheet and then moving them during the phase at the same time. This makes the unpredictable feel of dogfighting even more evident as the pilot you thought you had a lock on, swirls out of your way and gets behind your wingman. This is a pulply cinematic combat system. There are no altitude rules and the rule of the day is landing on a wing and a prayer instead of worrying about turn radii and climb ratings. And there is some stange visceral enjoyment of seeing your weapons graphically do damage to a craft than merely chewing away 'armor points'.

The second book lists 14 aircraft in the Crimson skies world and includes an aircraft construction system. The aircraft vary from small maneuverable fighters to heavier but more protected fighter-bombers. There are two things that strike me as odd in this book. First, there are fouteen craft provided but only 12 are represented by the counters included with the game. Secondly, all the aircraft have 8 slots for missles, bombs, etc. I understand this was done for simplicity's sake but it makes more sense for the smaller fighters not to be able to carry the same amount as a heavy fighter.

The third book handles most of the history and details some of the more famous aces of the Crimson Skies world along with some scenarios to jump in and start playing. The secnearios are all good and the pilots are compelling whether you're talking about 'Gengis' Kahn, the corporate raider turned air pirate, to "Easter" Whitaker, the old cropduster turned ace defender of the People's Collective. My only complaint with this area is a lack of details about the countries themselves. The books are written in a pulp magazine style and sort of assumed you are already familiar with the world. Unfortunately, with this being the flagship release, we aren't. Some sort of 'newspaper clipping collection' or something would really have helped.

The weakest part of the game, surprisingly, are the 3-D cardbaord miniatures. As previously mentioned, only 12 planes are represented, and even then, only two of each plane is given. When you consider that each player always controls two planes (his 'hero' and his hero's trusty wingman), this makes for a serious shortage of peices when wanting to do big air combats. In addition, the planes are not easy to assemble. Be sure to get out the x-acto knife and glue to get these puppies to stay airborne. I implore fasa to release another sheet or two of counters and if this game makes it to a second edition to eather use hex markers, plastic minis, or the old 2d sandwich board minis.

If you can make it through the mini construction, Crimson Skies really is a neat game. There is a lot of value for the $35.00 box sex, considering a main rulebook will run you around $30. It's a good beer and pretzel mini game with the potential to become more if FASA supports it with the quality materials it is known for. So throttle up and check you six. FASA has found a wonderful way for you to waste time you could be using on your studies.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Crimson Skies
Author: Jordan Category: miniature Company/Publisher: FASA Cost: $35.00 Page count: 3 48-page digests Capsule Review by Rob Wieland on 12/29/98. Genre tags: Fantasy Historical	The first time I saw Crimson Skies, I hated it. FASA was running a demo at GenCon and I assumed that this was the game that they had decided to develop instead of Earthdawn. First impressions are important but I reserved total judgement until I played a demo and, if you hadn't already guessed, the game impressed me. If it hadn't, I wouldn't have dropped 35 bucks to review it for you fine people. Crimson Skies is set in an alternate universe where the Great Depression has caused the US to break apart. The nation has fractured into several little countries ranging from the Empire State arising in New York to the Communist People's Collective of the Great Plains states. The tried and true methods of shipping things over land has fallen away due to the effects of this balkanization of America so everything has literally taken to the air. This America's love affair is with the airplane and not the automobile. So take to the skies as a dashing air milita pilot and defend your country...or become a vicious air pirate and cut a path of swath through the former land of the free and home of the brave. If it sounds like I'm quoting from the game, it should. I've totally fallen for the background the guys at FASA have come up with. The last time I was wowed at a concept for a game was Pinnacle's Deadlands and I hope FASA does as good of a job with this game as Pinnacle has with that one. People have a lready been calling for a RPG based on this miniatures game and I must agree. The game comes with three rulebooks, die-cut 3-D counters, three double sided hexmaps, and a d10. The first rulebook details the combat system and movement rules. This system borrows heavily from FASA's Renegade Legion system where damage is resovled by coloring in boxes on a damage monitor depending on with what type of weapon the craft is hit with. Movement is done simultaneously by preplotting moves on your plane's sheet and then moving them during the phase at the same time. This makes the unpredictable feel of dogfighting even more evident as the pilot you thought you had a lock on, swirls out of your way and gets behind your wingman. This is a pulply cinematic combat system. There are no altitude rules and the rule of the day is landing on a wing and a prayer instead of worrying about turn radii and climb ratings. And there is some stange visceral enjoyment of seeing your weapons graphically do damage to a craft than merely chewing away 'armor points'. The second book lists 14 aircraft in the Crimson skies world and includes an aircraft construction system. The aircraft vary from small maneuverable fighters to heavier but more protected fighter-bombers. There are two things that strike me as odd in this book. First, there are fouteen craft provided but only 12 are represented by the counters included with the game. Secondly, all the aircraft have 8 slots for missles, bombs, etc. I understand this was done for simplicity's sake but it makes more sense for the smaller fighters not to be able to carry the same amount as a heavy fighter. The third book handles most of the history and details some of the more famous aces of the Crimson Skies world along with some scenarios to jump in and start playing. The secnearios are all good and the pilots are compelling whether you're talking about 'Gengis' Kahn, the corporate raider turned air pirate, to "Easter" Whitaker, the old cropduster turned ace defender of the People's Collective. My only complaint with this area is a lack of details about the countries themselves. The books are written in a pulp magazine style and sort of assumed you are already familiar with the world. Unfortunately, with this being the flagship release, we aren't. Some sort of 'newspaper clipping collection' or something would really have helped. The weakest part of the game, surprisingly, are the 3-D cardbaord miniatures. As previously mentioned, only 12 planes are represented, and even then, only two of each plane is given. When you consider that each player always controls two planes (his 'hero' and his hero's trusty wingman), this makes for a serious shortage of peices when wanting to do big air combats. In addition, the planes are not easy to assemble. Be sure to get out the x-acto knife and glue to get these puppies to stay airborne. I implore fasa to release another sheet or two of counters and if this game makes it to a second edition to eather use hex markers, plastic minis, or the old 2d sandwich board minis. If you can make it through the mini construction, Crimson Skies really is a neat game. There is a lot of value for the $35.00 box sex, considering a main rulebook will run you around $30. It's a good beer and pretzel mini game with the potential to become more if FASA supports it with the quality materials it is known for. So throttle up and check you six. FASA has found a wonderful way for you to waste time you could be using on your studies. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 3 (Average)