Island War (2006)

Island War is a game of skirmishes in the Pacific Theater of the Second World War. You control Squads of Japanese and
Americans, machine guns, flamethrowers, and Leaders as you fight battle on Iwo Jima, and other islands.

Each Island War hex represents 25-40 meters of terrain, and the turns depict from a few seconds to several minutes of action. The counters represent single characters (Leaders), Squads of men, Weapon Teams, Support Weapons and various administrative markers.

Squads have three figures on the front of the counter and two on their back/reduced side. Leaders have a face on both the front and the back of the marker, and weapons teams have 2-3 men and the weapon’s nomenclature, such as Type 92, on a larger, 3/4" counter. Collectively, Squads, Leaders, and Weapon Teams are called units. A unit’s reduced side is indicated by lighter color. There are also administrative markers, labeled Move, Fire, etc, used to assist in playing, and finally markers that represent Support Weapons, such as the USMC’s BAR, (that must be crewed by Squads).

This game is a free download from the November 2006 Armchair General. You need a download key found in the magazine to access the PDF file that contains the rules, counters, and two map sheets. The game comes with two scenarios, both from the Iwo Jima campaign. Designed by Mark H Walker, best known for his Lock 'n Load series of games.