Description
This mega-sized box set includes all three second edition volumes of Ross Mortell’s games exploring the Marianas Campaign of WWII using the Company Scale System (CSS): Tinian: The Forgotten Battle, Guam: Return to Glory, and Saipan: The Bloody Rock. With it, you can take command across seven game maps to lead your side through a grand total of 13 scenarios and 6 campaign games!
Note: No duplicate counters will be removed, so all three games can be set up and played simultaneously. Cover artwork subject to change.
Components:
- 1 Series Rulebook
- 3 Game Exclusive Rule & Scenario Books
- 7 Maps
- 6 D10 (2 per game)
- 16 Countersheets
- 1 Game Turn Record
- 2 Division Displays
- 2 TEC/CRT
- 14 PACs/Charts/Tables
- 1 Box & Lid
Read on for an introduction to each volume:
Volume 1
Saipan: The Bloody Rock
The decision to invade the Marianas (of which Saipan is a part) was not an easy one. General MacArthur still favored the more westerly route through the Philippines and had support amongst the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It took several conferences and nearly a year before the decision was made. There were several reasons that the Americans finally decided to invade the Marianas: Firstly, it was the most direct route to Japan. Secondly, they could base B29 bombers there, which could bomb Tokyo. Thirdly, Saipan would be the first piece of prewar Japanese soil taken during the war. Lastly, the American planners hoped that they could draw the Japanese fleet into a decisive engagement. With all these reasons, a battle for the Marianas was inevitable.
On 15th June 1944, 71,000 American Marines and Infantry attempted to make the plan work. 32,000 dug-in Japanese attempted to stop them.
Saipan: The Bloody Rock will be your chance to experience a full-on naval invasion as Amtracs and DUKWs head towards the emplaced forces of Imperial Japan.
The game comes with 4 scenarios and 2 campaign games:
- Dog-Day – The first day of the Invasion. It is 8 turns long and fought on a single map. An excellent introduction to both the system and the game.
- First Week in Hell – The first week of the invasion and the capture of Aslito airfield. This scenario is 56 turns long and is played on a single map. For the space but not time challenged players among you.
- Death Valley – This scenario covers a single day of the fighting and concentrates on the American attempt to capture Mount Tapotchau and the area that became know as Death Valley. 8 turns long and a single map. An excellent large battle you can play over one sitting.
- A Day in Paradise – This scenario covers a single day of the fighting and revolves around the American attempt to capture, the town of, Garapan and the area that became known, to the Americans, as Paradise Valley. 8 turns long and a single map.
- The Battle for Saipan – The full historical campaign from 15th June- 9th July (224 Turns). This game covers the full fight for Saipan in 1944, from the first invasion at Charan Kanoa in the south, through the long bloody fight in the central mountains around Mount Tapotchao and finally to the last Japanese stand in the north.
- Bloody Rock – This is a hypothetical campaign game that lets the players decide how to defend Saipan and how to invade it. The American player receives the same historical forces but now has the opportunity to devise his own landing schedule over one of 25 beaches. The Japanese player gets to prepare his own defenses; set up pillboxes, lay mines and deploy 6” naval guns etc. Can you do better than history?
- Complexity: 6
- Solitaire Suitability:8
- Time Scale: 1 turn = 2 hours
- Map Scale: 1 hex = 500 meters
- Unit Scale: Companies and below
- Players: Best with 2 players but can be played with up to 4 players as well as solitaire
- Playing Time: 2-35 hours
- Game Designer: Ross Mortell
- Artist: Antonio Pinar Peña
An article on Saipan from The Players Aid: Unboxing Saipan The Bloody Rock The Marianas Campaign: Volume One from Compass Games
Full-sized map sample – South section – 4MB
Full-sized map sample – North section – 4MB
Volume 2
Guam: Return to Glory
On the 8th December 1941, American soil was invaded for the first time in the war, the small American and Guamanian garrison was overrun, and 2 days later the Governor surrendered the Island to the Japanese. On 21st July 1944, the Americans would return to retake the island and drive the Japanese invaders off; a day that is still celebrated as ‘Liberation Day’.
There were many reasons why the Americans decided to invade Guam, not least of which was the fact that the station of the trans-Pacific cable and the naval radio station at Agana made it a focal point of the communication network in the Pacific. It also had the best anchorage in the Marianas, 2 airstrips, and, of course, it was an American Protectorate.
The only beaches suitable for an invasion are located on the south-western side of the island. The Japanese knew this as well and had prepared accordingly. Another thing unique to the planning was that the 2 landing beaches chosen would be 7 miles apart. It was unprecedented for two landing forces to land with such a wide separation.
The game will come with 6 scenarios and 1 campaign game:
- W-Day – Fortune favors the bold – This is the first day of the Invasion on the northern beaches. 3rd Marine Division must land against Japanese defenders dug-in on a ridge overlooking the beaches. Single map and 8 turns long.
- W-Day – Send in the Fire Brigade – This is the first day of the Invasion on the southern beaches. The 1st Provisional Marine Brigade must land and fight their way north towards Orote Peninsular to join up the to beachheads. Single map and 8 turns long.
- W-DAY – This is the first day of the Invasion on the both beaches. The 1st Provisional Marine Brigade must land and fight their way north, whilst the 3rd Marines fight their way south and the two forces try to join up the two beachheads near Orote Peninsular. Two maps and 8 turns long.
- Orote Peninsular – The first 8 days of the fighting saw the Americans expand their beachheads and join up so as to cut off the Orote peninsular with it’s important airfield. Once it was cut off, the Americans, then, had to force their way into the heaviest defended area on Guam not knowing that the Japanese were preparing a Sake fueled Banzai charge. Two maps and 72 turns long.
- Into the Jungle – This scenario covers 3rd Marine Division’s drive north of the beachheads to take the town of Agana and the airfield at Tiyan. One map and 27 turns long.
- Santa Rosa – This scenario covers 77th Infantry Division’s attack to isolate the area around Mount Santa Rosa . One map and 27 turns long.
- The Battle for Guam – The full historical campaign from 21st July- 10th August (188 Turns). This game covers the full fight for Guam in 1944, from the first invasion at Asan, in the north, and Agat, in the south through the vicious fighting in the thick vegetation at the south end of the island and the final Japanese stand in the north.
- Complexity: 6
- Solitaire Suitability:8
- Time Scale: 1 turn = 2 hours
- Map Scale: 1 hex = 500 meters
- Unit Scale: Companies and below
- Players: Best with 2 players, but can be played with up to 4 players as well as solitaire
- Playing Time: 2-35 hours
- Game Designer: Ross Mortell
- Artist: Antonio Pinar Peña
Want to learn more about this game? Check out the videos below!
Volume 3
Tinian: The Forgotten Battle
Most people have never heard of the Battle of Tinian. Overshadowed by the Battle of Saipan to the north and the Invasion of Guam to the south, Tinian seems like a small side show that had no real impact on the war. Some people may hear the name and remember that the B-29s, the ones that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan, flew from there but for the rest it has become a minor part of military history – a forgotten battle.
And yet Admiral Raymond A. Spruance said of the invasion of Tinian:
“In my opinion, the Tinian operation was probably the most brilliantly conceived and executed amphibious operation in World War II.”
Tinian: The Forgotten Battle will be Volume 3 in the Marianas Campaign and is a perfect introduction to Adam Starkweather’s Company Scale System (CSS). Played on a single map it will include 3 scenarios and 3 campaign games.
- ‘Jig-Day’ A short, single-day scenario covering the initial American Landings
- ‘Lasso’ A 2-day scenario covering the Americans’ securing of the north end of the
island down as far as Mount Lasso. - ‘Final Round-up’ A 3-day scenario covering the last 3 days of the battle and the final
subjugation of the island. - Historical Campaign: The full 9 days from the American Landings in the North until the final Japanese surrender
- Hypothetical Campaign. The Americans, originally, feinted at the southern beaches near Tinian Town before landing in the north. This campaign game lets you see what would have happened if it weren’t a feint and the Americans landed exactly where the Japanese were expecting them to.
- Free-set up Campaign, your chance to defend or assault a Pacific island – total control over defences or landing schedules
Includes rules for:
Caves, Beach Landings, Naval Support, Air Support, Sealing Caves, Mines, Japanese Tenacity, Inter-service Rivalry, Banzai Charges, Japanese Naval guns, Flamethrowers, Napalm, Under water demolition Teams, Aerial Reconnaissance, Tropical Storms, Japanese Knee Mortars, and drunken Japanese Admirals. There are also rules for additional Japanese troops that could have been on the island if you wish to make it tougher on the Americans.
Product Information:
- Complexity: 6 out of 10
- Solitaire Suitability: 8 out of 10
- Time Scale: 2 hour turns
- Players: 1-2
- Playing Time: 2 – 35 hours
- Designer: Ross Mortell
- Graphic Artist: Antonio Pinar
Learn more about Tinian: The Forgotten Battle by viewing the following videos.
