Coral Sea:
Fancy Carrier Cards
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
January 2020

During the early design stages of the game system that became Second World War at Sea, I wanted each aircraft carrier to have a fairly detailed card including a picture of the carrier. On the card, the player would move aircraft pieces between the hangar and the flight deck and then on to their missions. I just thought it would be cool to “process” the aircraft on a deck view of the carrier.

Before the game could be completed, I was food poisoned at the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas. I damn near died, and Brian Knipple forged a very fine game out of the abandoned mess. But my vision of moving airplanes on a picture of the aircraft carrier was lost in translation.

Down below is my kind of rough version of what these cards looked like in my brain, for the five aircraft carriers of Second World War at Sea: Coral Sea. They’re in color, with the aircraft carrier basing boxes (use them just like the plain ones included in the game) plus the ship data from the hit records. You can mark off hits with counters or coins, or slip the card into a sleeve and mark on it with a grease pencil just like a real staff officer. Lexington’s light hull armor is in green because I liked that better than the standard hatch pattern, otherwise the symbols are just like the standard ship data sheets.

Shoho Carrier Card

Shokaku Carrier Card

Zuikaku Carrier Card

Lexington Carrier Card

Yorktown Carrier Card

You can order Coral Sea (Playbook edition) right here.

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Mike Bennighof is president of Avalanche Press and holds a doctorate in history from Emory University. A Fulbright Scholar and award-winning journalist, he has published over 100 books, games and articles on historical subjects. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife, three children and his dog, Leopold.