War Plan Pacific

Watch a video showing WPP in action

Overview

Usenet Silver Award, 2008 Wargame of the Year War Plan Pacific is a Grand Strategic wargame covering naval battles in the Pacific Theater of WWII. Garnering critical acclaim, War Plan Pacific, or WPP for short, is one of the must-have games of the year for any strategy gamer, war gamer, or WWII naval buff. It runs under Windows XP and Vista.

History of the Pacific War

Admiral Isoroko Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet, came up with the audacious, and to the Americans, treacherous, surprise raid on Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands was the US Navy's main Pacific Base. On the morning of December 7th, 1941, planes from the Japanese Kido Butai, or Striking Force, composed of the large carriers Akagi, Kaga, Zuikaku, Shokaku, Soryu, and Hiryu, found the battleships of the US Pacific fleet asleep at anchor. Surprise was complete, and within minutes, the ships the US Navy had expected to be its main offensive weapons were burning wrecks sinking into the harbor mud.

On the other side of the Pacific, Japanese ships and troops quickly overwhelmed the meager Allied naval forces, and began landings to secure the strategic resources denied them by the embargo. Within weeks, Borneo, Java, Singapore and the Philippines had fallen. Imperial forces captured and reinforced a string of defensive outposts including Wake, Tarawa, Rabaul and Hollandia. The Striking Force raided deep into the Indian Ocean, hitting Ceylon and Port Darwin.

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In the wake of Pearl Harbor, with the Pacific Fleet a shambles and the Far East falling one domino after another to Imperial Japan, you take the helm. Instead of Nimitz, FDR taps you to lead the Allied comeback. Or, step into Yamamoto's place, leading the Combined Fleet against the sleeping giant you have just awakened. You must secure the vital Southern Resources Area before the Allied fleet grows too large to resist. In either role, survey a vast map of the Pacific Theater, from the US West Coast to Singapore, from the Aleutians to Australia. A few dozen key bases dot that map, mostly isolated islands connected only by the vital sea lanes. Your Navy, so vast in port, seems to shrink as you spread the ships across the Pacific on all the vital missions needed for victory. GameShark Editor's Choice Award

Turn-based, fast-paced, and historical, this is a game you can play in an evening, and replay for many evenings to come.

Style of Play

In War Plan Pacific, you assemble your ships - real, historical ships - into task forces and send them on missions to patrol, raid, or invade the 29 bases selected to represent the actual strategic considerations of the Pacific Theater of Operations. Control of these bases is vital whether securing oil for Imperial Japan, or strategic bomber bases for the Allies. Battles are fast paced, with carriers sending out strike groups and battlewagons thundering away at one another. Abstractions have been carefully chosen to enhance game play without sacrificing the feel of a historical strategy game. If you are a WWII Pacific Theater buff, this is a game you will enjoy many times over.

Reading List

WPP Designer John Hawkins has a WPP Reading List on Amazon.com. If you're looking for suggestions to get started reading about the Pacific war, check it out.

The Critics Weigh In

Flash Of Steel:

Best Wargame: TIE Gary Grigsby's War Between the States and War Plan Pacific: I couldn't choose. Both are very different and appeal to different sides of my personality.

Out Of Eight PC Game Reviews:

Rated 7 out of 8. War Plan Pacific has surprising variety because of the multiple victory conditions... Harassing the enemy by raiding major bases (causing them to devote a large number of ships for four-month defensive operations), capturing key chokepoints, and fulfilling objectives makes playing War Plan Pacific a blast. In addition, games are very quick: a couple of hours at most, depending on how good you are...A lot of the tedium and frankly unnecessary complexity found in similar games is removed while still keeping a satisfying level of depth. War Plan Pacific is easy to manage, with great unit organization and simple mission assignment. The multiple victory conditions are fantastic and reduce the amount of repetition seen in subsequent matches.

Jim Zabek, The Wargamer:

War Plan Pacific is a debut title from KE Studios, and credit needs to be given here up front. It is uncommon to see games that master simplicity, elegance, historical accuracy, and fast gameplay. War Plan Pacific finds that sweet spot and hits it perfectly.

GameShark:

This is the light wargame that so many people have been waiting for. Still, light is not the same as casual. This is an appetizer for meatier fare, of course, but it has a flavor and value of its own, independent of its entry level status...War Plan Pacific is simply the latest wargame to demonstrate that the genre has moved well beyond the grognard mainstays of hexes and combat resolution tables. It is a quick playing and transparent game with an elegance that puts a lot of larger budget games to shame.

Current Status

War Plan Pacific began shipping on Dec 16th, 2008. It is available for purchase from Shrapnel Games. For more information, including screenshots and a link to order, please visit the official product page at:

https://www.shrapnelgames.com/KE_Studios/WPP/WPP_page.html.

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