Eastern Fleet:
Fancy Carrier Cards
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
July 2014

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.

Down below is my kind of rough version of what these cards looked like in my brain, for the aircraft carriers of SWWAS: Eastern Fleet. 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. Akagi and Kaga have their light hull and tertiary armor in green and British carriers have theirs in blue because I liked that better than the standard hatch pattern, otherwise the symbols are just like the standard ship data sheets.

Akagi Carrier Card

Hiryu Carrier Card

Ryujo Carrier Card

Shokaku Carrier Card

Soryu Carrier Card

Zuikaku Carrier Card

Formidable Carrier Card

Hermes Carrier Card

Illustrious Carrier Card

Indomitable Carrier Card

Put these cards to use! Order Eastern Fleet right now!

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.