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War in the South Pacific

Game Mechanics

War In The South Pacific is one wargame that simulates, at the operational level, naval, air and land fighting in the Pacific Ocean mai 1942 and mars 1943 during the Second World War. The game takes place on a map representing the south of the Pacific Ocean with the west end of New Guinea, the Truk and Brisbane Islands and east of the Fiji and Makin Islands. The map is divided into 40x48 square boxes, each representing a distance of about 50 miles. Before starting a game, the player must first select one of the three proposed starting dates: May 1, 8 août or 17 octobre 1942. In the first case, the scenario does not correspond to the historical reality as the game considers that the Japanese did not commit to the invasion of the Midway Islands and that all the ships that were destroyed during the Battle of Midway are therefore still available. In the other two, the scenario focuses on the Battle of Guadalcanal. For each date, it can then choose to simulate a period between one and eight weeks, or to play the entire campaign, which ends in mars 1943. The game then takes place in turn, each round representing a duration of one or eight hours, depending on the chosen option. Each round is divided into three phases: one order phase for each player, then one action phase or his orders are executed. Generally, the order phases are ignored so that the action takes place continuously. To order its units, the player can at any time press the O key so that the game switches in the order phase. It can then give orders from six categories: detachment, aircraft carrier, airfield, port, army and engagement. Detachment orders allow to assign different types of missions to a ship. Aircraft carriers and aerodromes provide aviation orders, including escorts, reconnaissance patrols, bombings or transfers. The ports mainly allow for new detachments of ships, from those present on site, or an army from the garrison of the port. The army orders then allow to control these armies, which can move, attack or create new bases. Finally, orders of engagement allow for the purchase of replacement vessels from those available at the time in the Pacific through points received at each turn. The order menu also allows it to consult the date and time, activate or disable the sound, finish the part or see which vessels were sunk.

Four-hundred ships, of 76 different classes, are available in the game, all vessels of a size equivalent to or greater than a destroyer being represented, including submarines, petroleum ships, carriers or aircraft carriers. Only support vessels, such as hospital vessels or refuelling vessels, are thus not represented in the game. Each vessel is characterised in eight areas: main cannons, anti-aircraft battery, torpedoes, speed, flotation, shielding, transport capacity and fuel reserves. In addition, aircraft carriers are also characterized by the number of aircraft they can carry, as well as by the number of operations (sharp or landing) that they can carry in one hour.