Thunder Gods, Kamikaze Battles at Okinawa, 1945

From HFD:

THUNDER GODS

Kamikazes at Okinawa 1945

Thunder Gods is a group of simulations in postcard format which allows the quick play of one or a campaign game of all three!

Kamikaze tactics, the organized and planned suicide attacks by pilots of their heavily armed aircraft into enemy ships, were first used by the Japanese in Operation Sho-Go, the defense of the Philippines in October 1944. While suicide attacks occurred earlier in the war by pilots from both sides, these were spur of the moment decisions made because either the pilot was severely wounded or the plane too badly damaged to be able to return to base. The Japanese organization of “special attack” air units, essentially turning the pilot into the guidance system of an aerial missile, was unprecedented and marked the extreme decline in capability of the air arms of the Japanese navy and army. The disastrous defeat of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Philippines, the subsequent capture of Iwo Jima and devastating raids and isolation of Formosa, meant the next logical step for the American offensive against the Home Islands would be next directed against Okinawa; only 650 miles away.

Game Components:

Three postcard sized games which include rules and counters | One set of Campaign Game rules | and four page historical article