Pyramid Review
SOPAC: The Solomons Campaign Wargame
Published by Avalanche Press
210 one-inch counters, 140 half-inch counters, two hard mounted game boards, rulebook, scenario book with 20+ scenarios; $49.95
Avalanche Press has been releasing games for its Great War at Sea for years. So far they have managed to cover the First World War in two volumes, the Russo-Japanese War, and two speculative campaigns in the Caribbean and the Pacific, between the Americans, Germans, and Japanese respectively. All of these games are strategic, in the sense that they cover specific battles, and tactical in that you can fight specific engagements within the overall battle. The games are not strategic in the sense that you are able to fight an overall campaign, with each individual battle affecting other engagements down the road.
"SOPAC: Naval Action in the South Pacific: 1942-1943" is the first game in a new series, "Second World War at Sea," and it is a doozy. The box includes 210 one inch counters (with side views on one side, and top views on the other of the ships involved), 140 1/2-inch counters (including planes, and various information counters), an 11x17 hard mounted strategic map (covering part of New Guinea, and Guadacanal), an 11x17 hard mounted tactical map, 24 pages of rules, a 28-page scenario book (10 tactical battle scenarios and 10 operational scenarios), one cardstock sheet of tables, 10 pages of ship information, two task force cards, two airbase cards, and a player's log sheet. . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: February 23, 2001
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