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David Cox
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Pacific War


Grand Strategic World War II Game for Two Players
Designed by Mark Herman
Published by Victory Games (1985)


I purchased this game when it first came out in 1985 and have spent many hours looking at the components and attempting to make sense of the rules. I have had a long-term interest in playing World War II games that have a Pacific Theatre focus. While I have played tactical games such as Banzai and operational games such as Midway and Flat Top my real interest has been strategic games and I have played Victory in the Pacific, Fire in the Sky, WWII: PTO, Empire of the Sun and World in Flames. I have had, and in some cases still own, other games such as A World At War, War in the Pacific, Pearl Harbour and Empire of the Rising Sun which I have never played. Pacific War is still in the later group, despite recent efforts on my part to make it through the rules so as to be able to play the game before writing this review – but it just hasn’t happened.


My initial and overwhelming reaction to the game for 23 years has been that there is so much to it that I haven’t really known where to start. The rules, themselves, I find overwhelming. I normally quite enjoy reading the rules of games and most times will finish the rule-book with some idea of how the game works. It hasn’t happened that way with Pacific War.

Let me tell you what comes in the box:
1 Rules Booklet (56 pages)
2 Scenario Booklets (20 pages each)
2 Map-sheets (only 5 scenarios require the use of both maps)
9 Counter-sheets (2340 counters)
2 large Player Display Sheets
2 large Chart & Table Screens
1 Operation Display Sheet
8 Force Displays
1 Record Sheet Pad
1 Ten-sided Die
1 Counter Tray (I actually use three counter trays and everything except the die fits into the box perfectly).


The game comes with 21 scenarios which can be divided into Engagement, Battle, Campaign and Strategic scenarios. The Engagement games (5) each take about 15 minutes to play and are solitaire games specifically designed to make it easy to learn the game, one subsystem at a time. The Battle games (8) add a game concept called an “Operation”. Each battle scenario is One Operation – one player will be the Operation Player and their opponent will be the Reaction Player. The third level is the Campaign game (6). At this level you have 2 or more operations conducted sequentially – the Campaign will use all of the rules but Command Points are predetermined by the scenario instructions. The Strategic game (2) uses all the rules and allows you to fight the entire war – the number of Command Points will vary depending upon many factors, some of which you may have some control over.

The Rule Booklet
The first 31 pages are devoted specifically to the Engagement and Battle games – 9 of these pages are devoted to examples of play. The final 23 pages are devoted to the Campaign and Strategic games.

Engagements & Battles
These types of scenarios use an abbreviated sequence of play – it is outlined on a single page of the rules. The full sequence of play used in the Campaign and Strategic games takes up two full pages of the rule booklet.

Activation & Linking
In the Campaign and Strategic games you must spend Command Points to activate units to do almost anything and units must be linked to a command source. In the Engagements and Battles all units are considered activated and linked at the start of the scenario.

Game Play
The central focus of the game is Naval/Air Operations. One player moves his units, slowly, one-hex-at-a-time and so giving his opponent the opportunity to search for the enemy in every hex that they enter. This continues until either the task force is sighted or the active player decides to stop. Then inactive player then has the same number of moves as the previously active player. There is a lot of dice-rolling regarding searching. The game certainly has the feel of wanting to locate the enemy and hit them before they can locate and hit you. Even during your opponents turn there will be no down-time as you need to be watching everything they do and reacting as much as you will be allowed by the rules and the current situation.


All of the previous information I have gleaned from the rules book. It really is very detailed (maybe too detailed). It has plenty of examples – I feel that I actually probably have a reasonable idea of how the game does work, but the way the rules are presented just does not fill me with a desire to rush to the gaming table and start playing. Often times, after reading a rules-book, I just can’t wait to start playing the game. I don’t really know what it is about Pacific War that has had it sitting, unplayed, on my shelves since 1985.

I’m sure that there must be a good game in there – I just can’t find it. I like Mark Herman’s other designs and I like the quality of Victory Games. I find the subject matter fascinating. The physical size of the game is no greater than some other games I have played and really enjoyed.

I think what I really need is for someone who knows how to play the game to invite me over to their place so that they can teach me how to play. As I have stated already, I am quite happy to sit and read rule-books but I just don’t enjoy this particular set of rules and it continues to leave me with no interest in sitting down and playing the game solitaire.



:arrrh: "Dead Men Tell No Tales - Nor Do They Read Rule-books!"


Last edited on 2008-03-05 16:39:42 CST (Total Number of Edits: 1)
bill Lawson
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This is my favorite Pacific theatre war game.Love to play it with you but Vermont's along way from Australia!
David Cox
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billyboy wrote:
This is my favorite Pacific theatre war game.Love to play it with you but Vermont's along way from Australia!


Billyboy, what a kind offer. Next time I'm passing by I might just take you up on that.
:arrrh:
Last edited on 2008-03-05 22:54:31 CST (Total Number of Edits: 1)
Jan van der Laan
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Since a long time (over 20 years!) I own a still unpunched copy of this humongous game. I've never played it. It has scared me since the day I purchased it because of the gigantic map(s) and the enormous amount of counters (they fit in one countertray???). Reading this post made me decide to give "Pacific War" a try this year!

edit: typo
Last edited on 2008-03-05 18:16:21 CST (Total Number of Edits: 1)
David Cox
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Jan van der Laan wrote:
and the enormous amount of counters (they fit in one countertray???). Reading this post made me decide to give "Pacific War" a try this year!

edit: typo


They fit into THREE counter trays.

Please let me know when you have played the game - I would like to know what you think of it. You may even inspire me to have another go at it.
:arrrh:
Tony B
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There is a new Vassal Module that was just released for Pacific War: http://www.vassalengine.org/community/index.php?option=com_v...

It might open up some opportunities for coaching or long distance play.
Steve Herron
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07
It is interesting how after Pacific War and The Civil War were published Mark Herman designed a more user friendy line of simulations like Empire of the Sun and For the People which are not that simple rule wise but a lot less of a time investment. Who knows what will be developed next? Fire in the Sky is about my speed. Well done review
Jan van der Laan
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da pyrate wrote:
They fit into THREE counter trays.


Wow! Over 2300 counters into THREE countertrays? Unbelievable! I'm using standard GMT countertrays, which countertrays do you use?
Steve G
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Great review...I have tried some of the smaller scenarios and it really does require time to sit down and patiently work thru..there is a kind of player aid flow chart thingy that you need to work thru to make sure you are getting the phases right. But when you master it, it is like Dean Essig's OCS system in view of the intricacy, interaction and tension.
Hans Korting
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Never bought the game when it came out but had it in hand several times, back on the shelf, in hand again taking another look, reading the backside of the box, admiring the boxtop, back on the shelf again. I guess we all went throught this routine at least once.

Through eBay I got hold of a copy about two years ago and I'm stil planning to play this monster one day.

There is talk on Consimworld to redo the game and I'm sure the rulebook can be improved upon.

In the meantime...

Hans
Darrell Hanning
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After The Next War (which was a Dunnigan idea, but really a Mark Herman creation), there was just no way I was going to pass up on Pacific War. Bought it when it first came out, and played it 4 times (3 times solo) over the next couple of years. I still have it, and still hope to play it again, some day.

This is an awesome game. It is amazing to me just how well this system works with all of this detail, but it works like a Swiss watch.

This is not a game to just drag out and drool over. This is a game to learn, to dive and swim in.

Start out with the tactical system rules (as the rules suggest), and run through the Pearl Harbor scenario. Then move on to a scenario including ground troops.

After mastering those, I went through one operational scenario, and then straight on to the campaign game. If you can find it, there was a Fire and Movement magazine with a first-turn analysis of this game by one of their more accomplished, regular contributors (Issue #48 - Fred Helfferich). It will give you a good feel of how to go about such a large-scale strategy.

No game has ever awed me with the scope and depth of strategy like this game has. When you visualize a specific operation in this game, such as seizing a particular island, you have to weigh which assets are going to be used for that, when the operation should kick off, and when you should expect it to be finished (so you can re-utilize said assets). Japan's first turns in the game are just stuffed with a deluge of such considerations, and they all really do need to come together in some kind of coherent, overall strategy. And it is a thing of beauty when you come close to competence in this.

The searching you mentioned does not slow the game down so much as you might think - there is usually a lot going on where one side or the other actually lacks the capability (or sufficient range with their assets), and it does become easier and quicker as you get familiar with process.

Don't just talk about it - take the plunge. It's an investment, I know, but you won't regret it.

*Edited - remembered article author.

Last edited on 2008-03-06 08:40:12 CST (Total Number of Edits: 2)
Darrell Hanning
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HansK wrote:
Never bought the game when it came out but had it in hand several times, back on the shelf, in hand again taking another look, reading the backside of the box, admiring the boxtop, back on the shelf again. I guess we all went throught this routine at least once.

Through eBay I got hold of a copy about two years ago and I'm stil planning to play this monster one day.

There is talk on Consimworld to redo the game and I'm sure the rulebook can be improved upon.

In the meantime...

Hans


You're very mistaken about the rule book. I've learned dozens of monster games over the last thirty years, and this is by far the best organized, and easiest to follow rulebook of any of them.

There's just a whole helluva lot to go over, and you have to be willing to get off your mental butt, so to speak, and invest yourself in it.

The rules are every bit as good as the game system. After learning the entire thing and playing the first year of the war, I think I had 5 questions for Mark Herman, and I think for all but one of those I was pretty darn sure what the answer was, before I even heard it.

Now, the organization of any rules system is going to be oriented to either favor structured learning or reference, and this system does favor structured learning, but it also has an index for all the things you need to refer back to.
M Stumptner
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I agree with Darren, the rule is specifically organised towards learning, and this is one of the easiest monster games to get into, if you do it in the gradual way that the rulebook leads you to.

However, it also needs to be pointed out that those who mention how long "the game" takes to play are actually missing the point. This is absolutely not a monster game designed with the philosophy of having to play the big one to have fun. The game system was intentionally designed wrapped around the smaller scenarios.

Do not approach this as a monster. Approach it as a game that has dozens of scenarios playable in an evening or perhaps a few. Then, eventually, if you want, you can go for the whole enchilada but will not need to get your money's worth out of that humongous set of components. Pacific War is just as well played as an operational game with a load of 2-hour scenarios and even more that are playable in 4-20 hours than as the big strategic campaign game. The campaign is included for completeness, but certainly not because you need to play the big one to have loads of fun.

When I bought this game, 18 years ago, I bought it based on the fascinating-sounding description I read on the back of the box. And this probably the only game ever where, upon playing, I found every sentence of that description to be literally true. No hype. It is that good.