Crimson Skies

 Ahhh, the Crimson Skies. Blood and guts and heroism. Crimson Skies is best known as a video game released on Xbox back in Aught Zero. Which means that these games probably won't play on any system that is currently operational, having been for the original X-Box. If you're a nostalgia guy and have avoided the Crimson Ring of Death, you can still play this 1937s era plane-to-plane combat game set in a funky alternative universe.

Crimson Skies actually began its life as a PC game called "Corsairs!" which never saw the light of day. FASA (Of Star Trek RPG fame) merged with the company developing Corsairs, and FASA employees then developed the Crimson Skies Board Game. This was the first iteration that saw reality. A fast paced board game, they also released a series of books that expanded the rules and gave insight into the universe.

The Board Game - Crimson Skies: A Game of Aerial Combat

Board Game Books

• Crimson Skies: Wings Over Manhattan
• Crimson Skies: Pride of the Republic
• Crimson Skies: Aircraft Manual
• Crimson Skies: Blake Aviation Security
• Crimson Skies: Behind the Crimson Veil

Then Microsoft picked up FASA, and commenced to create the video games and other spinoffs.

If you're a PC type, you might be able to run the PC version on an emulator.






So like every good video game franchise, Crimson Skies also branched out and released novels. The first one, "Crimson Skies", was released as part of the lead-up to the sequel title game "Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge".

This is not the Indiana Jones lookalike you are looking for...

There were also a handful of other novels released. They had intended to make 2 trilogies, and the first one "Wings of Justice" was completed. But only two books were published in English in these series - Rogue Flyer and Pirate's Gold. The other two in Justice were published in German, and the other two in Fortune were never published.

Wings of Justice
Book 1 - Crimson Skies: Wings of Justice: Rogue Flyer
Book 2 - Crimson Skies: Wings of Justice: Ghost Squadron (No English version)
Book 3 - Crimson Skies: Wings of Justice: Falcon's Prey (No English version)

Wings of Fortune
Book 1 - Crimson Skies: Wings of Fortune: Pirate's Gold
Book 2 - Crimson Skies: Wings of Glory: Devil's Flight (Planned, never released)
Book 3 - Crimson Skies: Wings of Fortune: Honor Among Thieves (Planned, never released)

In addition to the Video Game and the novels, WizKids put out a miniatures game based on Crimson Skies.
Crimson Skies Rules Pack

Minatures Packs:



Overall, Crimson Skies has had a patchwork legacy and is currently not being developed. But there may be enough fans of the Universe where someone may start producing it again. After all, if you run out of idea for new games or movies, what do you do? Recycle something that already exists! Here's hoping that day comes for Crimson Skies.