Flat Top is a board wargame of high complexity that covers the battles of the Solomon Seas between the United States and Japan in 1942. It is very well researched and covers all aspects of naval and air combat as it existed in 1942. The system depicts weather, air searches, air combat, surface combat, carrier operations, submarines, air bases, supplies, and much more. The game requires intense planning and searching since movement is covert and the map is huge.
The units are individual ships and submarines with each air point representing three aircraft. Hexes are twenty miles, and each turn represents one hour.
The game includes thirteen hundred counters, 4 maps to create a 44" x 28" map of the South Pacific, four Allied/Japanese operations cards, three player aid cards and two log sheets.
First edition Battle Line has two counter card sheets containing 800 counters.
- Game system looks interesting
- Purchased an unpunched copy for a good deal
- Out of print and expensive
- Long playtime
- Doesn't work well solitaire
- Requires multiple players
- Carrier combat
- World War II
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- So, that one I'm looking at, this is not this though. But the other game that keeps coming up in people's comments on that Avalon Hill video, top 10, Flattop now.
- But the game system looks really, really interesting. And I'm very interested for a number of reasons in carrier combat in World War II from just a game design perspective.
- So, um, this one surprised me. I'm looking forward to our true topics here. These are more half topics, I think, than a full topic.
- Do you match the dice in your war games with the belligerance?
- 61% of you of us, I guess I should put me in it, too, because yeah, that's I just got a bunch of dice. Said yes, that you actually changed the dice colors for the belligerents.
- Excluding digital versions like those on Vassel or Board Game Arena or Tabletop Simulator, etc. How many different board games or war games do you think you play each month?
- 70% of viewers say they play one to two different games each month.
- The rule is to have fun. That's really what we want to concentrate on.
- We have Rich Spilkey. Let's check to see if Rich has all the answers correct. I'm happy to say that Rich went three for three and he is the winner of a $100 store credit to Noble Knight Games.