War in the Pacific (video game)
War in the Pacific is a 2004 two-player turn-based computer war game published by Matrix games. It is a very large, complex, and detailed simulation of the Pacific Theatre of World War II, at both the operational and strategic level.
An updated version (War in the Pacific — Admiral's Edition) was released on July 27, 2009.
Overview
The game is intended to be played solitaire, against the game's built-in artificial intelligence, or against a human opponent by e–mail. Players assume the role of the Allies (the United States, the British Empire and Commonwealth, the Netherlands, China, the USSR (if activated), and some smaller nations) or Japan (with some associated smaller nations). Players gain victory points for various actions (such as sinking enemy ships) and these are used to determine the winner.
Playing surface
The game is played on a map covering a considerable portion of the earth's surface, from eastern Africa in the west to the Panama Canal in the east and from Nome, Alaska in the north to Tasmania in the south. The map is divided into hexagonal spaces, and players move military units on these spaces and engage in simulated combat. Each hex (hexagonal space) represents 60 nautical miles (the 2009 Admiral's Edition update uses 40–mile hexes). The map uses cartographic distortion to ensure that all hexes represent the same distance. The map is centered near the Caroline Islands and distortion increases with distance from these.
Units
Combat units in the game are varied and extensive. Strength of military units is calculated at the level of individual ships, airplanes, vehicles, guns, and squads. Naval forces range from battleships and aircraft carriers to PT boats and subchasers. Land combat units range from corps down to companies. Air unit sizes range from single whole air groups of 72 aircraft down to individual aircraft assigned to ships.
Logistics and production
Players must handle logistics on a detailed level to ensure that their forces are supplied. New military units are created during the course of the game; Allied units are created by a set script which cannot be modified, while the Japanese player has full control over creation of new units.