Red Storm: Air War Over Central Germany, 1987

Red Storm is a standalone game that utilizes the Downtown game system to depict a hypothetical air war in May/June 1987 over the central portion of the NATO/Warsaw Pact front in central Germany. Like Downtown and Elusive Victory before it, Red Storm is an “operational” level air warfare game where players manage large strike packages and numerous combat air patrols in an effort to strike enemy targets, protect their own ground troops, and secure control of the air over the land battle raging below. Both sides have highly advanced all-weather aircraft, long-range missiles, precision bombs, sophisticated electronic warfare assets, and dense air defense networks of surface-to-air missiles and radar-guided AAA. The game features aircraft from the United States, United Kingdom, West Germany, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Soviet Union, and East Germany.

During a scenario, players go through a sequence of phases each turn where they conduct electronic warfare, use various means to detect and track enemy flights, and move and fight with their flights while potentially being attacked from the ground. The heart of game is the movement phase where players use a chit-draw system that allows players to alternate moving one to five flights at a time.

The war depicted in Red Storm is a short one, with just six weeks between the start of the air war and a fateful initiation of nuclear warfare by both sides. More than 20 scenarios feature a mix of day and night operational missions for both sides, including missions to directly support frontline ground troops as well as many missions that “go deep” behind enemy lines to strike enemy airfields, logistics, and air defense networks. These range in size from smaller, partial-map ones that can be played in an afternoon to very large, full-map scenarios that might take a couple of days to complete. There are also scenarios depicting reconnaissance missions, airborne drops, helicopter assaults, special forces insertions, cruise missile strikes, and delivery of nuclear weapons.

Components
Two 22” x 34” maps
1,260 die cut counters
One Rules Booklet
One Scenario Booklet
One Appendices Booklet
Five Full-Color Player Aid Cards
Three Full-Color Aircraft Data Cards
Two 10-sided dice
NATO and Warsaw Pact log sheets