The War: The Pacific, 1941-1945 (“TWP”) simulates the military, naval, economic, diplomatic and political aspects of World War II in the Asia and the Pacific theatres. It may be played on its own or may be combined with The War: Europe 1939-1945 (“TWE”) to recreate the entire Second World War. In conjunction with The War’s Expansion Kit, gamers can now enjoy the complete TW franchise. The game includes TW: Global rules linking the Asia/Pacific and European theaters.

The War: The Pacific, 1941-1945 borrows many concepts from TWE, so experienced TWE gamers will readily adapt to TWP’s game system. However, TWP doesn’t just port European Theater rules to the Pacific and hope for the best. The game features sophisticated carrier-warfare rules that capture the unique features of the Allied naval struggle against Japan. Further, TWP isn’t just a naval strategy contest. Unlike some WWII strategy games, Nationalist China plays an active role in TWP, and a player’s diplomatic strategy in China may be as important as his military strategy.

As in TWE, there are numerous optional rules and variants, from the Doolittle raid to Japanese Fleet suicide missions. Scenarios include Changsha (Nationalist China vs. Japan, Fall 1939); Guadalcanal; Coral Sea; Midway; the Eastern Solomons; Leyte; Okinawa, 1941-1945 Pacific War Campaign; 1942-1943 Turning Point; and TW-Global, combining TWP and TWE into one monster campaign game.

Playing times range from less an hour for the smallest scenarios up to 40-50 hours for the full campaign. For those who want to run the full Europe-Pacific campaign, joining both games together, you’ll need about 80 hours to recreate all of World War Two.