Carriers

Seven battles. You pick a side. The map is thirteen by eight. North is the top.

The desk

Play fills the screen. A loading plate comes up, then the title. Battles is the list. Escape leaves the desk and keeps the battle where you left it.

Orders

Click one of your ships. Click a ship you can see to arm a strike. Click a gold dot to set a move. Hold planes clears the strike. Stay clears the move. Commit sends the turn. Return does that too.

Fighters stay with their own ship. They thin out a strike aimed at that ship. Guns on the ship, and on a friend in the next square, thin it further. A ship you cannot see cannot be struck. A faded counter is the last place you saw them.

A carrier that is still afloat gets a few planes back at the end of the turn.

The battles

Coral Sea, 8 May 1942. Lexington and Yorktown against Shokaku and Zuikaku, with the Port Moresby convoy on the map. Sink the convoy, or sink one of those two carriers. Lose a carrier, or let the convoy reach the coast, and the invasion goes through.

Midway, 4 June 1942. Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown, plus the island. Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu are coming from the northwest. Sink three of the four. If the island falls, or all three American decks do, the defense has failed.

Eastern Solomons, 24 August 1942. Enterprise and Saratoga. Ryujo is the light carrier in front of Shokaku and Zuikaku. Sink Ryujo and keep a deck. Lose both American decks and the watch on Guadalcanal fails.

Santa Cruz, 26 October 1942. Hornet and Enterprise against Shokaku, Zuikaku, and Zuiho. Sink two of the three and keep a deck.

Philippine Sea, 19 June 1944. Four American carriers against Taiho, Shokaku, Zuikaku, and Junyo. The American fighters are the better arm. Sink two Japanese carriers. On the American side, one submarine can be sent at a carrier you can see. It fires once.

Cape Engaño, 25 October 1944. Zuikaku and three light carriers are the bait to the north. The beach is the south edge. An American carrier has to stay on the southern rows or the landing loses its cover. Sink Zuikaku and keep that cover. Sink her and abandon the beach, and the decoy has done its work.

Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. Arizona, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Nevada stand for the row. The Pacific Fleet’s carriers were not in the harbor. Enterprise is at sea and can arrive late. Japan has Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku, and Zuikaku. Sink three battleships, and the raid has done its job. Sink a Japanese carrier, and it has not.

After

The plate at the end names the ships. Another battle goes back to the list. R does that too. Leave closes the desk.