Combined Arms

[KG Erwin]

One of the coolest things about playing as the USMC is in the amphibious assaults. Here you can use a combination of naval gunfire, airpower and your ground troops in taking these fortified Japanese-held islands in the long campaign starting in 1943. Beginning in August 1942, you are fighting in the jungles of Guadalcanal. In 1943-44 you move to the Central Pacific. In 1945 the campaign culminates in the volcanic black sands of Iwo Jima and finally at Okinawa.

In the USMC long campaign you use every facet of combined arms in action. This demonstrates the full capability of the game as World at War, and also the American industrial might in producing all of the war machinery that conquered the Japanese Empire.

PS: to fully enjoy the long campaign, one must use JEB Davis' campaign settings for "Low Carnage". It helps the poor bloody infantry and increases the need for using maximum firepower to win battles. It also shows that, at least in the Pacific, the armor/infantry combo is the way to reduce and destroy Japanese fortifications. In terms of raw violence, the Pacific War has few equals in the history of modern warfare.