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I downloaded the rulebook for Blood Red Skies for free from the Warlord site. I had been pointed to these rules as I was working on the rules for Glittering Void at the time. One of my readers thought that my struggles with altitude bands in a space mecha game could benefit from reading these rules and seeing what I learned about air combat rules and how they applied to Space Mecha. Perhaps they were trolling me because they thought my rules sucked! Who knows? I guess I got the last laugh because I downloaded them and have read them. He who laughs last laughs best!

When I was a wee lad, I used to love to watch a TV show on the Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) called Piece of Cake. It was a show imported from the BBC to the states and consequently had strange viewing slots, so I often would only catch bits and pieces of it. The movie was about a British Spitfire Squadron during the Battle of Britain. I wish I could still find it on YouTube or somewhere as I would gladly watch it again. I have never been able to see it again so if you know of it, have a link, etc. please leave me a comment!

Piece of Cake kindled an interest in World War II, and the air war in particular. The jargon, the tactics, the personalities, and of course the amazing planes. Granted, it is not a topic that I have exhaustive knowledge on, but it is an area of interest to me.

Anyway, this game was written by the (in)famous Andy Chambers. You may remember him for writing the rules for the Starship Troopers game.... and maybe some other smaller game systems here and there. He was/is a pretty well known name in the wargame industry and fits pretty well with the stable of ex-Games Workshop writers that freelance with Warlord from time-to-time.

I am a huge fan of Warwick Kinrade's Aeronautica Imperialis rules that were put out by Forgeworld. He was a near contemporary with Andy at GW. It is also a fighter plane game, but one using 40K universe aircraft. Everyone knows that 40K aircraft are basically WWII fighters and bombers... IN SPACE!.... so it will be an interesting contrast. I am also familiar with Check Your 6, X-wing, and Wings of War to contrast the rules with.

I only have the core 16 page rulebook and not all the fighter stats and pilot stats. However, after reading and absorbing the game, I think I have a pretty good feel for the rules and how it plays.

Let's clear the runway and get up and at 'em then! Piece of Cake!


https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2020/06/review-blood-red-skies-warlord-games.html

That was I that suggested them to you, guess it was a miss as to your response to the advantage mechanics.

No, i think the mechanics work really well, but not for what I personally was looking for. That is my bias and others will/may feel differently.

However, I did like (and steal) some of the ideas around Deflection Shots and Tailing for some other game systems I am toying with.

Always adding tools to the toolbox and I am really glad I gave these a read!

 Easy E wrote:
When I was a wee lad, I used to love to watch a TV show on the Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) called Piece of Cake. It was a show imported from the BBC to the states and consequently had strange viewing slots, so I often would only catch bits and pieces of it. The movie was about a British Spitfire Squadron during the Battle of Britain. I wish I could still find it on YouTube or somewhere as I would gladly watch it again. I have never been able to see it again so if you know of it, have a link, etc. please leave me a comment!

I think I remember that - Wiki says it was ITV rather than BBC, and it's on YouTube:

Oh boy! Thanks Beast!

We use Blood Red Skies as sort of a shorter, filler game for our local Warlord WW2 group. The action itself lends itself to short games and one is capable of having roughly 4 or 5 games in the time one can have a 1,250 point Bolt Action game.

The maneuvers are funny and when you factor in cloud cover and other special maneuvers you can have some silly moments.

The best part that makes it also short is the morale bonus. A lot of cheap planes boost your morale, but they take boom chits or are shot down faster.

Not a game to make a tournament out of, but a good game to play between games I think.

Thanks to the links provided in this thread, I recently rewatched Piece of Cake.

A fine show indeed. I am glad I did not live during those times.