Red Strike: Air, Land & Naval combat in Central Europe 1989
The game is highly interactive, with detection and interception systems enabling simultaneous actions and reactions for both sides. Players must constantly monitor the battlefield, reducing downtime and creating a fluid “What if” scenario of a Cold War gone hot. Though the mechanisms may seem complex at first, they soon become intuitive.
This interactivity makes Red Strike ideal for team play. Responsibilities can be split between air, ground, and naval forces, with ground operations divided by army/front or corps. The crucial naval and air war over the North Atlantic can also be played as a standalone game or as part of the campaign, with outcomes directly influencing the battlefield in Germany by affecting supply convoys and reinforcements.
The game reflects both the Soviet “Depth-Three-Dimensional” combat theory of the 1980s and the U.S. Army’s “Air-Land Battle” doctrine. With an operational scale, counters represent divisions, regiments, and brigades, along with some battalions. Complete orders of battle for dozens of nations allow each conflict to play out unpredictably.
The map stretches from southern Norway to the Alps, and from East Germany to the English Channel, with each hex representing 28 km.
Red Strike won the 2023 Charles S. Roberts Awards in the categories:
- Best Operational Game
- Best Hypothetical Game
- Award for Outstanding Presentation (Pablo Bazerque)
Yves Rettel also won the Chad Jensen Memorial Breakthrough Designer Award.
Components:
- 24 counter sheets (2112 counters, 18mm)
- 82 cards (58x88mm)
- 2 track sheets
- 2 map sheets (operation map, combined size 1185x870mm)
- 1 map sheet (strategic map, 696x390mm)
- 24 setup sheets (A4 size)
- 2 player aid booklets (16 pages, A4 size)
- 10 air base sheets (A4 size)
- 5 scenario sheets
- Rulebook (56 pages, A4 size)
- Scenario book (48 pages, A4 size)
- ADH sheet block (16 pages, A5 size)
- 2 D10 dice
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