Plague! Player laid low on eve of this week 's project

 It appears that the Friday old guys are to be the Council of Two for the game today. Lousy luck, Roger's flu bout means Greg and I are to square off in one of Roger 's favorite genre,  WW2 naval. 

I obtained a variant on the AH board game Midway,  patterned after the Coral Sea battles.  Camelot Games ( US)  is the vendor and has other variations on the original game. A useful map and grand looking counters for air and ship assets make up the packet. 

This purchase was made in response to the Flattop game bought well over a year ago proving cumbersome to be the engine for our Friday meetings. Something simpler was needed and the rendition of the Solomons was the deciding factor.  

Much like Midway, the Coral Sea plays a lot like the game of Battleship. The simple yet fetching calling out of search areas provides entertainment and tension.  Once you find the enemy units and you have air groups in range, the nitty-gritty of the combat takes place. 

Fast and bloody, in combat with air against ships the attacker must hope to put enough force into strikes to cause harm,  but accepting losses is painful. 

Like wise, attacks on bases can be brutal,  CAP fighters will not only hit escorting fighters but also the bombers if the escorting fighters are under strength compared to the CAP.  Bombers must come in enough strength to cause damage to the base.  One or two large strikes in the early game may reduce the base and be helpful in reducing search options or even enemy reaction raids, niggling attacks do seem pointless. 

 Our game went well technically, we are through the first campaign day. The Japanese fleet is down a large carrier  but it was costly in US air assets. An attack on Lae provided small results for the strength of the attempt, the attritional side of the campaigns becomes clear.