The Marines' War in the Pacific

[KG Erwin]

I've often wondered why the USMC campaigns in WWII receive such little attention from gamers. Their battles, arguably, were amongst the toughest of the war, and certainly were bloody affairs. In SPWaW, they are featured prominently, but there's little else to choose from in the tactical sense. One reason, I suppose, is that apart from Guadalcanal and New Britain, there was little room for grand strategic maneuvers. In most of the island invasions, it was simply a bloody slugfest, in which the Marines and Army literally had to kill every last Japanese defender. It turned into a medieval type war of hatred and total destruction using then-modern weapons. Does this factor turn off some gamers? Maybe.

[planner 3]

KC (Gunny): I dare say you answered your own question. I agree with your premise that the island combat was/were a slugfest. That said I take nothing away from the US Marines, who did the JOB.

[Hanal]

Do not forget John Tiller's Campaign Series and Norm Kroger's Operational Art of War III for some very good Pacific scenarios...

[sprior]

ASL's Gung Ho! was/is an entire ASL module dedicated to the USMC. There was a HASL module/game too I believe.

[KG Erwin]

I gotta hand it to legendary scenario designer Bill Wilder, whose Pacific War scenarios for SPWaW really got me interested in USMC history. He helped me meet some folks, and that's how I got involved in the gaming community, as an assistant article writer for SPWaW's "Screaming Eagles" megacampaign, and as an OOB assistant for earlier versions of SPWaW. This was before Alby & Co came into the picture, and before programmer Michael Wood came back to actually make several needed changes to SPWaW.

Since that time I've bought dozens of Pacific War books, became friends with webmaster Mark Flowers of WWII Gyrene, and still having a great experience in studying the Marines of WWII.

It was my interest in all this, some 8 years ago, that earned me the honorific title of "Gunny", which a few old buddies still refer to me as.

[Titanwarrior89]

I wish some developer whould make a war in the pacific game.....as the same scale and set up as Combat Mission: Normandy.  I would be a happy camper.[;)]

[jomni]

I guess it is more enjoyable playing PTO at the strategic level like Pacific War or at the tactial level.  Difficult to make a good operaitonal level game when action involves small islands and hostile terrain.

For tactical, the Squad Battles series has two titles that fit the bill.
"Prowd and the Few" (specific focus on USMC)
"Pacific War" (involves all the other countries)
Very nice games if you can get over the old-school graphics.

[Anonymous]

[Deleted by Admins]

[bairdlander2]

For me I have no interest as my grandfathers fought in Europe.If they had fought in the Pacific I would be interested.

[carnifex]

Marines? Pacific War? Yeah, good times....

[rhondabrwn]

ORIGINAL: carnifex

Marines? Pacific War? Yeah, good times....

What a coincidence... I've been going through my old wargaming magazines and that ad was on the back page of an old S&T. I was thinking about starting a thread with old gaming ads scanned in from 20 years ago. Just for old times sake! I've got old catalogs from the SPI years and it's a walk down memory lane to see the ads.

This image was going to be my first one to post!

What do you think guys? Would this make an interesting thread?

[ilovestrategy]

I would love it Rhonda!

[shenzhuzhubin]

good

Coach Purses
 

Coach outlet


Coach Factory Outlet

[Hanal]

Another spammer needing to be snared!

[Josh]

"What do you think guys? Would this make an interesting thread?"
 
[&o]
 
And to think I've thrown the old mags away years ago. Foolish-foolish-foolish.

[rhondabrwn]

ORIGINAL: Josh

"What do you think guys? Would this make an interesting thread?"

[&o]

And to think I've thrown the old mags away years ago. Foolish-foolish-foolish.

I'm a packrat, I've got boxes and boxes of AH Generals, Fire & Movement, S&T, MOVES, and a varied assortment of a few lesser known magazines. I've been strolling down memory lane as I look through them... I especially enjoy reading old S&T's from the 1970's that include speculation about the "future of warfare"! No one even speculated on remote controlled armed drone aircraft.

What is especially interesting are a couple of old SPI product catalogs that I still have... I am still amazed at how many games they produced! They changed the entire hobby from a "one game a year" from Avalon Hill to the multitudinous output in both board and computer games that exists today.

I will start scanning some interesting ads and get a "Memory Lane" thread going [:)]

[Josh]

Thx Rhonda.
All I've got left are some Airfix catalogues from the 70's, the rest is gone /sigh. Memory lane indeed, quite suprising really how fast you get old. [:D]
edit; I was purely talking about me ofcourse.

[rhondabrwn]

ORIGINAL: Josh

Thx Rhonda.
All I've got left are some Airfix catalogues from the 70's, the rest is gone /sigh. Memory lane indeed, quite suprising really how fast you get old. [:D]
edit; I was purely talking about me ofcourse.

Well, as I look at these old magazines and see dates from the 1970's I start thinking... OMG - it's been 40 years since I bought these! How time flies!!! These mags are ANTIQUES!

And in really great shape too... most of them mint condition. Don't know if I want to sell them though. I think I'll read them all again before I do that.

[KG Erwin]

Back to the subject at hand, I post a brief video biography of one of the Marines portrayed in HBO's "The Pacific": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GHjgKvl25s

[KG Erwin]

One of the things that haunts me about the Pacific War is that one of my uncles, now deceased, served with the army on Okinawa. I was too young to know how to ask him the right questions, so there is an empty section in my memory. Uncle Dennis passed away without sharing many of his stories with me. This is part of the reason I am fascinated by the Pacific War, and why I ask questions of another uncle, who is still alive, who served in Vietnam. Uncle Harry has shared some stuff with me, which I'll keep to myself, as it is still painful to him.

As a wargamer, I don't take the typical "gamer's" POV in playing out these battles. Sure, I play to win, but it is out of respect to these family members that I keep in mind that each virtual man that I lose is someone's son or husband or brother. Some gamers have ridiculed me for my attitude, but they just don't understand. Minimizing my casualties and maximizing my use of weapons isn't out of any innate "bloodlust", but out of my respect for the veterans. Make of this what you will, but I hate war and I play these games with an element of seriousness -- it is a mission to be achieved, a job to get done, and to bring my men home. I keep this in mind whenever I play -- it is an unfortunate but necessary evil, and I want to be the best commander I can be in order to achieve those ends.