With cold nights drawing in, we’re looking to bring some sun into our lives – lets head for the North African coast with Blood Red Skies: Sandstorm!
Welcome to the Western Desert! It’s November 1942, the Afrika Korps is in full retreat after the decisive battle of El Alamein. Ahead of the pursuing 8th Army the RAF’s Desert Airforce seek to pound the Axis forces from the air as they flee towards the Libyan-Tunisian border.
A desperate struggle for air superiority rages as RAF Spitfires and Tomahawks confront predatory Luftwaffe Bf109s and the deadly Fw190 only just arriving in the desert theatre.
Sandstorm is a two-player campaign system for Blood Red Skies, pitching you headfirst into the swirling furball over the Egyptian and Libyan deserts. You’ll take the role of a British & Commonwealth wing commander, or a German Oberstleutnant, managing your squadrons of pilots as they soar across the desert sands! Pilots will grow in stature over the course of the campaign, starting out as untested rookies and hopefully ending as battle-hardened aces.
Every single engagement, however large or small will give your pilots the chance to make a name for themselves. This campaign system is designed to work alongside the brand new Air Strike! supplement, using several of the new scenarios and the rules for attacking ground targets to great effect.
The Swirling Sandstorm!
Warlorder Tom has been taking the squadron creation rules in Sandstorm for a spin – here’s what he came up with!
I’m going to step backwards in time a little bit, creating a Fleet Air Arm squadron operating in late 1941. My force is going to be composed of Hawker Sea Hurricane Mk IBs and Grumman Martlet Mk IIs. Both of these aircraft types have the Robust special rule, giving my squadron decent survivability, while the mix of Hurricanes and Martlets allows me to choose between a firepower or agility focus depending on the mission.
I’m going to max out my squadron and take a full complement of 12 aircraft – 8 Martlets and 4 Hurricanes. I get 8 pilots to start with but before we take a look at those, we better check the quality of my starting aircraft.
The majority were Well-Oiled – thankfully no additional effects. Five were unfettled, which will give them the Sluggish trait. It turns out one aircraft was Clapped Out, imposing the Poor Quality trait on it for the remainder of the campaign.
After rolling for the starting skill level of my pilots, I ended up with one at Pilot Skill 4, two at Pilot Skill 3 and five at Pilot Skill 2.
I’ll probably go back and detail all the pilots in my squadron, but for now, I’m just going to look at my Pilot Skill 4 pilot.
Prior to the war, Flight Lieutenant Rufus Braddock was an Officer Cadet. His personality turned out to be Charming, Genuine and Earnest – a true British pilot to the core. He flies with Bugs Bunny painted on the nose of his Martlet.
Join the Fight!
Inspired to join the battle for North Africa? Make sure you grab your copy of Sandstorm from the webstore! While you’re there, take the opportunity to expand your airforce with some of our fantastic aircraft sets.
Dan Hewitson
