 | |
| Designers | Richard Hamblen |
|---|---|
| Publishers | Avalon Hill |
| Publication | 1977 |
| Genres | Board wargame |
| Players | 2 |
| Age range | 12 and up |
Victory in the Pacific (VITP) is a board wargame published by the Avalon Hill game company in 1977 that simulates the War in the Pacific during World War II.
Victory in the Pacific is a two-player wargame that deals with the Pacific Theater of Operations of World War II. The rules are based on the game system first used in Avalon Hill's previously published game War at Sea (1976). The game takes 8 turns, each representing four to six months, except for the 1st turn which covers only December 1941. Games typically last about 5 hours. Playing pieces represent armies, air forces, and capital ships (aircraft carriers, battleships, battlecruisers, heavy cruisers, and light cruisers) of the United States Navy, Royal Navy, Dutch Navy, and Imperial Japanese Navy, and are given numerical ratings for gunnery, armor, speed, and airstrike power.
The board divides the Pacific Ocean into 13 sea zones. Each turn players commit their ship, air, and amphibious units to particular zones, and then (if there are opposing forces in the same area) a battle is fought in each zone, until one player retreats or is eliminated. Points of control (POC) are earned based on how many zones a player controls in that turn. Certain areas are worth more to one or both players than others. For example, the Japanese (IJN) player receives 3 POC for controlling Indonesia or the Japanese Islands, but only 1 for controlling the North Pacific. The Allied (USN) player receives only 1 POC for Indonesia, but 3 for the Hawaiian Islands.
One of the most basic strategic decisions in the game is which ships to use as "patrollers" and which to use as "raiders". Patrollers are deployed first, then land-based air, then amphibious units, and then raiders. So, saving ships for use as raiders allows a player to see a much more developed situation before committing ships, as well as allowing them to travel farther across the map. However, raiding ships do not count for "control" of an area as patrolling ships (and all land-based air flotillas) do, so some ships usually must be committed early to gain key POC—or to cut off enemy sea access because on the next turn, enemy ships will not be able to move through a controlled area although they may move into one.
Each side receives reinforcements throughout the game approximately coinciding to when the specific ships either became battle-ready in the actual war, or in the case of some Allied ships, were transferred in from the Atlantic theater. The IJN receives most of its ships at the beginning of the game, with only a few reinforcements, while the United States gets multiple additional vessels each turn. At the beginning of Turn 6 the Allied player receives massive US carrier reinforcements which shift the fleet balance dramatically and force the Japanese into a defensive posture. However, in the first 5 turns the IJN's larger fleet usually runs up a large POC advantage which even the USN's newly enlarged fleet may be hard-pressed to overcome in only 3 turns. This is somewhat mitigated because the Allied player (because the USA broke the Japanese code) gets to move second in every phase, e.g. he can wait to see where the Japanese raiders are placed before placing his own raiders, and in battle he can see the results of Japanese attacks before allocating his own fire.
This second-move advantage for the Allied is a large advantage for beginners. However, in expert play the Japanese are considered to have the advantage, because with experience players learn to use the threat of the more powerful IJN fleet very aggressively, dictating the Allied moves somewhat and offsetting much of the disadvantage of moving first. If the IJN can force a major battle, his larger fleet can more afford attrition, so Japan can afford to move into dangerous situations and trade ships 1 for 1, often even 2 for 3. Because of this, players usually bid POC for the IJN side to balance the game.
Victory in the Pacific is still played in many competitive tournaments today, including the World Boardgaming Championships, [1] PrezCon, [2] MillenniumCon, [3] VITP Midwest Open, [4] and PBEM on gameaholics [5] all for decades running, and still maintains AREA Ratings [6] for players as well.
In The Guide to Simulations/Games for Education and Training, Martin Campion called this game "very abstract but still shows a lot about the strategy of the Pacific War." Commenting on its use as an educational aid, Campion said, "Players can learn about the relationship of sea, air, and land forces in the Pacific, about the importance and the limits of land-based aircraft, about the great mobility of carrier forces. Combat is sometimes a bit tedious. In a classroom, each side ought to be played by a small committee. The abstraction of the game would make it difficult to divide up commands." [7]
In the 1980 book The Complete Book of Wargames , game designer Jon Freeman commented that the game "is an enjoyable game to play — partly because of the very pleasing, high-quality game components, and partly because the game mechanics work so well. Although hardly realistic, it is challenging." Freeman noted the slight imbalance of the game, saying "the Japanese, unless extremely lucky, will usually lose — but not by much — and this slight inequality could be corrected by giving the Japanese an extra victory point or two per turn." Freeman concluded by giving the game an Overall Evaluation of "Very Good", saying, "Despite its abstract treatment, the game is quite popular." [8]
In The Best of Board Wargaming (1980), Nick Palmer described War At Sea and its sister Victory In The Pacific as "excellent introductory fare to entice newcomers into the hobby" with the latter having a mere six pages of rules. He criticised the mechanism whereby damaged ships “sprout wings” (albeit affected by the ship’s individual speed factor) and return to port as “the most outrageous element in a pair of games with scanty claims to realism”. However, the games offer “light relief and fast movement” although they can also be played as “deadly serious contests of logic and mathematics”; the games are “primarily for beginners or statisticians, but also quite good as an occasional change from weightier things”. He gave VITP a very high rating for excitement (80%) but a very low 20% for realism. [9]
At the 1978 Origins Awards, Victory in the Pacific won the Charles S. Roberts Award in the category "Best Strategic Game of 1977". [10]
A copy of Victory in the Pacific is held in the collection of the Strong National Museum of Play (object 117.941), a gift of Darwin Bromley and Peter Bromley. [11]
Midway is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1964 that simulates the Battle of Midway during World War II.
Wooden Ships and Iron Men is a naval board wargame simulating naval combat during the Age of Sail that was published by Battleline Publications in 1974, then revised and republished by Avalon Hill the following year.
Richthofen's War, subtitled "The Air War 1916–1918", is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1973 that simulates aerial combat during World War I.
The Russian Campaign is a strategic board wargame published by Jedko Games in 1974 that simulates combat on the Eastern Front during World War II. Avalon Hill later bought the game and produced several editions.
War at Sea is a strategic board wargame depicting the naval war in the Atlantic during World War II, published by Jedko Games in 1975, and subsequently republished by Avalon Hill in 1976 and more recently by L2 Design Group in 2007.
Rise and Decline of the Third Reich or more commonly Third Reich is a grand strategy wargame covering the European theater of World War II, designed by John Prados and released in 1974 by Avalon Hill. Players take on the roles of major powers—Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States—from 1939 to 1946.
D-Day is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1961 that simulates the six months of the European Campaign of World War II from the Normandy Invasion to the crossing of the Rhine. It was the first wargame to feature the now ubiquitous hex grid map and cardboard counters, and was revised and re-released in 1962, 1965, 1971, 1977 and 1991.
Afrika Korps is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1964 and re-released in 1965 and 1978 that simulates the North Africa Campaign during World War II.
Gary Grigsby's Pacific War is a 1992 strategy wargame released by Strategic Simulations, Inc. It covers World War II in the Pacific between the Japanese Empire and the Allies, which include the United States, the British Empire, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Philippines, and China. The main map of the game stretches from north of the Aleutians to southern New Zealand and Australia, and from the eastern coast of India to the West Coast of North America. It includes aircraft carrier operations, amphibious assaults, surface bombardments/engagements, strategic bombing, kamikazes, and the submarine war against naval and merchant shipping.
Napoleon's Last Battles is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications in 1976 that simulates the last four battles fought by Napoleon. It was one of SPI's most popular games, and also received many positive reviews.
Crimea: The Dawn of Modern Warfare is a board wargame published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1975 that simulates the Crimean War.
Cromwell, subtitled "Strategic Game of the English Civil War", is a board wargame published by Simulations Design Corporation (SDC) in 1976 that simulates the English Civil War.
La Grande Armée, subtitled "The Campaigns of Napoleon in Central Europe", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1972 that simulates three campaigns of Napoleon.
Coral Sea, subtitled "Turning the Japanese Advance, 1942", is a board wargame published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1974 that simulates the Battle of the Coral Sea in the Pacific Theater of World War II.
Burma is a board wargame published by Game Designer's Workshop (GDW) in 1976 that simulates the battle between Japan and an alliance of nations for control of Burma during World War II.
Frigate: Sea War in the Age of Sail is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1974 that simulates naval combat in the 18th and 19th century Age of Sail.
Oil War: American Intervention in the Persian Gulf is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates a hypothetical invasion of oil-producing countries in the Middle East in response to the oil crisis of 1973.
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.
Sixth Fleet, subtitled "US/Soviet Naval Warfare in the Mediterranean in the 1970s", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates a hypothetical attack against NATO forces in the Mediterranean Sea by naval forces of the Soviet Union. The game did not sell well, and several critics found that the tactics used in the game more closely resembled Napoleonic land battles rather than naval warfare in the 1970s.
U.S.N.: The Game of War in the Pacific, 1941–43 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1971 that simulates two years of the Pacific Campaign during World War II.