Solo Scene: Pacific War 1942

 “The enemy of our games was always Japan, and the courses were so thorough that after the start of World War II, nothing that happened in the Pacific was strange or unexpected.”

— Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

I love solitaire games of all kinds across the adventure gaming hobby. I enjoy exploring World War II history through wargames. And I’ve admired many games Worthington Publishing has released over the years, notably Tarawa 1943, Hidden Strike American Revolution, Chancellorsville 1863, and the Holdfast series of block games. So when I heard Worthington launched a Kickstarter for another series of three “travel” solitaire wargames, I figured I’d revisit one from the previous campaign. Pacific War 1942 demonstrates the compact innovations of this format that engage players in a satisfying wargame experience.

Worthington’s been publishing high-quality boxed wargames for a while. Over the years I’ve added numerous titles to my collection. Many follow the format of traditional hex-board and counter-chit wargames, but more recently it’s released games using blocks (in much the way Columbia Games pioneered the form) as well as more innovative use of small blocks to track unit strength on separate boards apart from the unit’s map piece. They’re not cheap, with most carrying a price tag around $75, though the quality of the components and gameplay make it worthwhile. The company more recently started producing solitaire “bookgames” simulating famous conflicts, with maps to draw on and rules to govern moves and attacks (though I’ve used an acetate sheet and dry erase marker to preserve my books). The “travel” game concept is the company's latest innovation for solitaire wargames.

The first such games included Pacific War 1942 and War of 1812; I backed the former, since the latter falls outside my historical areas of interest. The concept of “Small Boxes with Big Games” certainly comes through on multiple levels. The sturdy box is small at 7.5x1.5x4 inches. The hard-mounted board folds out to 14x6.75 inches, with two player aid inserts the length and width of the box. All the tokens needed for play come on one double-sided counter sheet. It also includes a single six-sided die and a folded sheet of rules. Other aspects of the game seem compact, too. It doesn’t take up much table space compared with other wargames. It plays in a compact space of time, about 20-30 minutes each game. At less than $30 plus shipping (for the Kickstarter) it’s more affordable than a larger wargame. Despite it’s seemingly small size in various ways, it still packs a significant historical wargame experience.

The game set up with tokens
in their starting positions.

Pacific War 1942 distills that theater of World War II into a compact, satisfying solitaire game experience. The map shows the theater of operation, with locations marked along four separate tracks, most leading to Japan, that represent the different campaigns. The player runs Allied forces, using the rules to gain advantages in naval power and pushing Japanese forces back along the tracks to regain territory. To do this the player gets several Action Points each turn, as determined by a D6 roll; the player then takes that many actions, including making attacks on land and sea, recovering “stalled” forces, and reinforcing forces with bonuses. The Japanese act according to a randomized “bot,” with a single die roll and actions listed on a chart determining how they fight back...and inevitably complicate or even thwart the Allied advances.

For such a small game Pacific War 1942 offers many player choices and hence lots of advances and setbacks along all four front: Central and Southwest Pacific, China, and India. Although the chance of getting more Action Points each turn increases about a third through the 20-turn game, they never seem enough to do even half of what one hopes to achieve. In my games I prioritized turning the three Japanese-controlled sea areas into Allied control; the side controlling each sea area inflicts a -1 Die Roll Modifier (DRM) on opposition rolls in land combat. Some of my choices focused on recovering forces “stalled” by Japanese bot actions (such forces cannot advance until recovered). I often took an action to remove the -2 DRM on the India and China fronts caused by the European war diverting necessary resources. The choice to advance proved slow, even after reinforcing units with the ability to reroll dice.

Die rolls proved the most frustrating part of the game. With dice representing the “friction of war” they more often than not plagued me with poor rolls. And most everything depends on die rolls. In several games the roll to determine how many Action Points I got in a turn left me with only one action...far too little when managing four fronts. High rolls determine whether American naval forces reclaim sea areas from Japanese fleets and provide success when advancing along land locations, though various DRMs affected these: penalties for the European war, attacking “fortified” locations, attacking in areas where the enemy controlled the sea, and attacking after the Japanese banzai ability added another -1 DRM. The enemy “bot” essentially has 12 options, determined by a single D6 roll and whether the turn number is odd or even. Far too often I was prone to unlucky die rolls, though the odds seemed somewhat reasonable, if not outright favorable (though conditional DRMs often make one’s chances more difficult). Never having enough resources to do all the actions I wanted — all along four different fronts — and constant setbacks from the Japanese bot helped give a sense of the slow, grueling advancement across the Pacific and against the Japanese in southeast Asia.

After 20 turns the war ends and the player calculates points to determine the outcome based on advances on all four fronts. At least once I suffered an Allied defeat, with Japan remaining in control of much of Asia and the Pacific islands. Most often I came to a draw, where the US and Japan, having sustained few concrete victories, negotiated a peace. Only once did I just barely manage a compete Allied victory.

The game state at the end of a game
plagued by awful die rolls.

I enjoyed playing Pacific War 1942, despite numerous challenges and frustrations. The quick play time allows one to try different strategies to explore the historical situation as abstracted in the rules. I expect Worthington’s newest titles in this travel solitaire series will prove just as entertaining. The Kickstater campaign offers two that cater to my historical interests. Europe at War 1940 looks very much like Pacific War 1942 in its approach and rules, though the player runs the Axis forces attempting to conquer Europe and North Africa. French & Indian War claims to use a similar system to the War of 1812; although I’m not familiar with that game, my positive experience with the travel game solitaire game format encourages me to give it a try (and if you’re tempted, you can read most of the rules online). Overall this compact solo game approach delivers a challenging, satisfying historical wargame experience without a larger price, table space, or time commitment.

Pacific War 1942 for Learning

Compact games like this prove well-suited as games for learning. One might use Pacific War 1942 in a classroom for one or a small group of students to assess the situation, consider options using available Action Points, and make decisions to affect the course of the war. The abstraction of historical elements into a smaller game helps identify issues to explore: the implications of dominating sea power, well-fortified locations, Japanese banzai morale, the drain on resources to support the war in Europe, and the prosecution of war on several different fronts.

The compact nature of this game also makes it idea as a learning experience. It’s less expensive and takes up less room when playing. Fewer components make it easier to handle...and easier to replace if tokens go missing. A concise set of rules focuses on a handful of choices, actions, and effects; the player aids also help summarize procedures and remind players of important game elements. The relatively short game means more time for replays to try different strategies and approach the historical challenges in other ways...and discuss the course of the game and how it incorporates historical issues afterward.

No doubt these observations about the Pacific War 1942 travel game apply to some of the other titles in these series Worthington has and intends to release. They help demonstrate — in abstracted game terms — historical situations and allow players to immerse themselves exploring how various issues work within the larger framework, perhaps providing some insight into the complex forces exerting influence on our society and the decisions it makes to face different challenges.

“Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable.”

— General George S. Patton