Thunder Gods: Kamikazes Over Okinawa (Second Edition)

Thunder Gods: Kamikazes at Okinawa portrays the massive Kikusui offensive by waves of hundreds of suicide attacks against the Allied invasion fleet off of Okinawa. The game is composed of three mini-games, one on the US destroyer “picket line”, another on the carrier fleet, and a third on the invasion support fleet, that can be played separately or combined. Players use a standard deck of playing cards to activate their aircraft and ships’ Anti-aircraft batteries as well as resolve combats.

Rules include Operation Ten Go, the Japanese fleet’s final mission of the battleship Yamato and her escorts in a one-way sortie to attack the American invasion fleet, Kaityn suicide submarine attacks, as well as variable deployments of ships and CAP (combat air patrol). Each copy of Thunder Gods has three maps, 51 double-sided, un-mounted counters, 5 pages of rules, and 4 pages of historical commentary and bibliography. The game is designed by Paul Rohrbaugh with graphics by Bruce Yearian.

Part 1 of the game was originally published in issue #5 of Panzer Digest. This edition features the other two unpublished modules/games, new graphics by Bruce Yearian, linking "campaign game" rules and 4 pages of historical commentary/designer notes.