The Fires of Midway: The Carrier Battles of 1942

About this board game

The Fires of Midway: The Carrier Battles of 1942 is a 1–4-player board game of carrier warfare, with a listed play time of 60 minutes. Set during the decisive carrier engagements of the Pacific War, it challenges players to locate enemy fleets and destroy them through careful timing, strategy, and fortune.

Players make the strategic decisions behind each mission, scrambling fighters and organizing Strike Groups for dangerous attacks. Squadrons must face enemy anti-aircraft fire and vicious engagements with the opposing CAP, while also crossing the wide, empty expanses of the ocean.

Every strike carries risks beyond the attack itself. Survivors need enough fuel to return to their fleet, and the journey home can be as perilous as the mission. The game focuses on the uncertainty of carrier operations, where even a successful attack may leave forces lost forever to the misfortunes of war.

The Fires of Midway includes separate scenarios covering four major carrier battles of 1942:

• Coral Sea
• Midway Island
• Eastern Solomons
• Santa Cruz

A campaign links these battles together. Players must husband their resources without knowing which engagement, if any, will produce the decisive result and turn the tide of the war, as the historical Battle of Midway did.

Scenario length varies from as little as one hour for Coral Sea to up to 2.5 hours for the Midway battle. The game includes 200 playing cards, a sheet of counters, 18 Carrier Cards, three play mats, dice in two colors, and both a 16-page Flight Manual with core rules and a 24-page Operations Manual with advanced rules.