Saipan: Conquest of the Marianas, June 1944 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates the Battle of Saipan during World War II. Saipan was originally published as one of four games in the popular collection Island War: Four Pacific Battles , but was also released as an individual game.
In 1943 and early 1944, the United States turned the tide in the war against Japan with notable victories in the Solomon Islands, the Gilbert Islands, the Marshall Islands and Papua New Guinea. Now the United States set its sights on the Japanese-occupied island of Saipan, where the airbase could be used by their Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers to attack the Japanese mainland. Japan considered Saipan to be part of its last line of defenses for the Japanese homeland, and had built coastal artillery batteries, shore defenses, and underground fortifications garrisoned by 30,000 soldiers. On 5 June 1944, the day the D-Day invasion in Europe was scheduled to begin — it was delayed by one day due to inclement weather — an American invasion fleet left Pearl Harbor. The attack on Saipan began nine days later. [1]
Saipan is a two-player board wargame where one player controls the American forces, and the other the Japanese forces. Having a small 17" x 22" hex grid map, basic rules and only 100 counters, this game is relatively short and simple.
The rules for all four games in the Island War collection are based on the system developed for Napoleon at Waterloo published by SPI in 1971, which uses a simple "I Go, You Go" system of alternating player turns:
This completes one game turn, which represents 2 days of game time. Saipan lasts 15 turns. [2]
In addition, stacking of units is prohibited, and there are no supply rules. [3] Zones of control are both "rigid" and "sticky": a unit moving adjacent to an enemy unit must stop there. Combat is mandatory, and units thus engaged cannot move away from each other except as a result of combat.
In addition, each game in the Island War collection had a number of special rules. In Saipan, the special rules included:
Saipan comes with two scenarios: the "historical" setup, where units are placed on the map or enter the map according to the actual battle; and "free placement", where both players are able to set up their forces as they wish. [2]
The victory conditions for Saipan are simple: The player that eliminates all enemy units from the board is the winner. [3]
In 1975, SPI published the "quadrigame" Blue and Gray , which contained four different American Civil War games and one set of rules in the same box. The concept proved popular, and SPI quickly produced more. Island War, designed by Kevin Zucker and Jay Nelson, with cartography and graphic design by Redmond A. Simonsen, was published later in 1975. One of the four games in the box was Saipan, which was also released as an individual "folio game", packaged in a cardstock double LP-sized folder.
In a 1976 poll conducted by SPI to determine the most popular board wargames in North America, Saipan placed 80th out of 202 games. [3]
In the inaugural issue of the British magazine The Wargamer , editor Keith Poulter found the game unbalanced in favor of the Americans, saying, "It can be a lively game, and is quite good played solo. It is usually spoilt, however, by the inevitability of the result." [4]
In the 1977 book The Comprehensive Guide to Board Wargaming , Marcus Watney called this game a "tense battle for the Island; each side must wipe out the other to win." Watney thought the game was not historically accurate and essentially unbalanced in favor of the Americans, but concluded, "Historically inaccurate and hard for Japanese to do better than draw, but exciting and often cliff-hanging to the end." [3]
In the 1980 The Best of Board Wargaming , Nick Palmer commented "To my mind, this is the nicest of the four games [in Island War], perhaps because play can take place across the whole island." Palmer concluded by giving the game an Excitement grade of 70%, saying "Sadly I have never seen a Japanese victory myself, so tend to count a draw as a Japanese moral victory. It is still a very good game." [2]
In The Guide to Simulations/Games for Education and Training, Martin Campion noted that "Artillery functions in the game quite different from other units. It is particularly flexible and therefore important." He also liked the rule allowing for Japanese banzai attacks, saying that it gave the game "A significant flavor." [5]
Terrible Swift Sword: Battle of Gettysburg Game is a grand tactical regimental level board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. A second edition was published by TSR in 1986.
Golan subtitled "Syrian-Israeli Combat in the '73 War", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates operational level ground combat between Egypt and Israel on the Golan Heights during the just completed Yom Kippur War of October 1973. Golan was originally published as part of the "quadrigame" Modern Battles: Four Contemporary Conflicts.
Blue & Gray: Four American Civil War Battles is a board wargame originally published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates four battles from the American Civil War.
Firefight: Modern U.S. and Soviet Small Unit Tactics is a tactical wargame originally published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that hypothesizes combat between small units of American and Soviet forces in West Germany in the 1970s.
Wacht am Rhein is a grand tactical monster board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1977 that simulates Germany's Battle of the Bulge offensive in late 1944 during World War II.
The American Civil Revolution: 1775–1783 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1972 that is a strategic simulation of the American Revolutionary War.
The American Civil War: 1861–1865 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1974 that is a strategic simulation of the American Civil War.
The Battle of Borodino: Napoleon in Russia 1812 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1972 that is a simulation of the Battle of Borodino during the French invasion of Russia in 1812.
Island War: Four Pacific Battles is a collection of four board wargames published in 1975 by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) that simulates various battles between American and Japanese forces during the Pacific Campaign of World War II.
Napoleon at War, subtitled "Four Battles", is a collection of four board wargames published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates various battles fought by Napoleon.
Bloody Ridge, subtitled "Turning Point on Guadalcanal, September 1942", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates the Guadalcanal Campaign during World War II. The game was originally published as part of the Island War: Four Pacific Battles "quadrigame" — a gamebox containing four games simulating four separate battles that all use the same rules. Bloody Ridge was also published as an individual "folio game."
Rocroi, subtitled "19 May 1643 – The End of Spanish Ascendancy", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the 1643 Battle of Rocroi during the Thirty Years' War. Rocroi was originally sold as one of four separate games packaged together in Thirty Years War, a "quadrigame", but it was also published as an individual game. It received mixed reviews from critics, some of whom called it a "bland tactical problem", while others declared it was the best game of the four in the Thirty Years War box.
Tsushima is a board wargame published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1975 that simulates naval battles during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Tsushima was part of a two-game collection titled The Russo-Japanese War. The second game in the box was Port Arthur, which covered the land combat during the war. The two games could either be played separately, or combined into one master game.
Bar-Lev, subtitled "The Yom-Kippur War of 1973", is a board wargame published by Conflict Games in 1974, only months after the end of the Yom Kippur War. The game simulates battles on the two major fronts of the war: the Golan Heights and the Suez Canal. The game proved very popular, and a second edition was published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1977.
Leyte: Return to the Philippines, October 1944 is a board wargame published in 1975 by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) that simulates the return of General Douglas MacArthur to the Philippines during World War II. The game was originally published as part of the four-game collection Island War: Four Pacific Battles, but was also released as an individual game. Leyte was not considered an outstanding success by critics.
Mukden: Sino-Soviet Combat in the '70s is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates a contemporary hypothetical battle between Soviet and Chinese forces near the city of Mukden. It was one of four games that were part of the "quadrigame" titled Modern Battles: Four Contemporary Conflicts, but it was also released as an individual game. In a 1976 poll, Mukden was the least popular of the four games in Modern Battles.
A Mighty Fortress, subtitled "Reformation and Counter-Reformation, 1532-1555", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1977 that simulates the political and religious wars of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation that enveloped Europe in the 16th century. The title is taken from a famous hymn by Martin Luther.
Bastogne: The Desperate Defense, December 1944 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the German attack on Bastogne during World War II's Battle of the Bulge. The game was originally part of the four-game collection Westwall: Four Battles to Germany, and was also released as a stand-alone "folio" game.
Ligny: Incomplete Victory is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the Battle of Ligny. Ligny was originally published as one of four games in the popular collection Napoleon's Last Battles, but was also released as an individual game.
Okinawa: The Last Battle, April 1945 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates the Battle of Okinawa during World War II. Okinawa was originally published as one of four games in the popular collection Island War: Four Pacific Battles, but was also released as an individual game.