The Pacific War: From Pearl Harbor to the Philippine Sea

It Starts at Pearl Harbor

The Pacific is mostly water. Everything that matters is a handful of islands, and both sides know which ones.

Take the Imperial Japanese Navy, or the Americans, British, Australians and Dutch trying to stop it, from December 1941 to June 1944.

The Japanese player opens with everything and has to make it count, seizing ports and islands while the Allies are still reacting. The Allied player starts behind and wins by not losing badly enough, then turns logistics, production and air power into a tide that only goes one way. Carriers, battleships, cruisers and land-based aircraft, and amphibious invasions that either take the island or leave men in the water.

You Cannot Do Everything

A resource card system limits what you can commit each turn. Every card spent attacking is one not spent defending or moving supplies, and the Pacific is large enough that being strong in the wrong place is the same as being weak.

Simple Rules, Hard Decisions

The system is deliberately low complexity, so the difficulty is in what you choose rather than in remembering how to do it. Scenarios follow the history closely enough to be recognisable and loosely enough that it can come out differently.

Everything you need is in the box. The Pacific War is a complete two-player strategic game and no other product is required to play it.