Corsairs and Hellcats

About this expansion

Corsairs & Hellcats is a two-player World War II air-combat card game for sessions of about 90 minutes, covering the Pacific from mid-1942 through early 1945. It is Volume IV in the Down in Flames series and requires Zero! to play.

Allied players can fly the F4U-1 Corsair, F6F Hellcat, British Firefly, P-47N, and P-61 Black Widow. Japanese forces include two late-war Zero models, the Ki-84 Frank, N1K1 George, and J2M Jack. New bombers include the TBF Avenger, B-29 Superfortress, and Ki-49 Helen, while attack bombers can both strafe and bomb.

• Seven campaigns: Eastern Solomons, Santa Cruz, Solomon Islands, Philippines 1944, Okinawa, Guadalcanal, and B-29s in China.
• Expanded operations: carrier campaigns, land campaigns, a drawn-out Guadalcanal air campaign, and a solitaire B-29 campaign.
• New wartime elements: kamikazes, supply drops, submarines, mine laying, skilled pilots, and new target and ordnance types.

Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz use carrier-campaign rules. Solomon Islands, Philippines 1944, and Okinawa follow the land-campaign structure, while Guadalcanal has players assign aircraft to two missions each week to force an opponent’s withdrawal. Results from the carrier campaigns can also feed back into the Guadalcanal campaign.

In B-29s in China, players manage three Superfortresses, balancing training, supply missions, repairs, and bombing raids. With 124 playing cards, 88 counters, campaign materials, and a resource sheet, Corsairs & Hellcats expands the series with late-war aircraft and varied campaign play.