Pyramid: Pyramid Pick: Crimson Skies

Pyramid Pick

Crimson Skies

Published by FASA

Designed by Jordan Weisman

Developed by L. Ross Babcock III

$35.00
Let me start by saying that I have never been a huge fan of aviation. It's a great way to travel, but I've never felt any more awe for airplanes than I do for the bus that stops at the end of the block every hour.
Even with that built-in prejudice, I can declare that I thoroughly enjoy Crimson Skies, FASA's new board game of aerial combat. The combination of a unique game world and fast play have given me a new perspective about what everyone has been so keen on all this time.
Crimson Skies, like many games released over the past few years, finds its setting in an alternate history. The year is 1937. After a series of catastrophes, North America has splintered into various independent countries, including the Nation of Hollywood, the Republic of Texas, and The People's Collective (a nation of Communist Christian Farmers). Most of these new countries are hostile to one another, rendering ground trade impossible. So, commerce has literally taken wing.
Giant zeppelins carry cargo across the continent, escorted by fighter planes for protection against marauding air pirates. Every nation has air militias to handle the pirates and conduct gunboat diplomacy with each other. Because the world has its eyes on the skies, the aviation industry has evolved to an almost absurd (and non-aerodynamic) point. To quote the back of the box, "In this world, the planes are faster, . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.

Article publication date: January 1, 1999

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