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You, as the player, in this solitaire game, will step into the shoes of the USMC commander leading the invasion of Iwo Jima, a pivotal battle in World War II. The game system, driven by cards, will simulate the strategies of the Japanese defenders, often referred to as the Japanese AI, adding a layer of historical authenticity to your gaming experience.
Iwo Jima was the only island assault during the Pacific war that the attacking US forces would suffer worse casualties than the Japanese defenders.
On February 19, 1945 the USMC would land 30,000 marines on the island against a Japanese defensive force that numbered roughly 21,000 Japanese soldiers. Facing a Japanese commander who had learned valuable lessons from the losses on other Japanese islands, the USMC would eventually land over 70,000 marines and suffer over 25,000 casualties during the 36 day campaign.
If you have played Tarawa 1943 you will be familiar with the system. Key changes to Iwo Jima 1945 are as follows:
Iwo Jimas play deck is larger than Tarawas.
There are mountain positions on the island where the attacking USMC will roll 1 less attack dice.
The USMC player is allowed to play any number of the cards from their hand during their turn.
The other rules are almost all the same, and you can begin playing with just a brief read of them.
- Fun game
- Plays well under an hour
- Packs a huge punch
- Simple but fun
- The island of Iwo Jima in 1945, representing Marine Corps or Japanese forces.
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Block wargame — You've got the blocks that represent the either the Marine Corps or the Japanese forces on the island, the different Marine Corps regiments.
- Card Play — You get cards that can help you. But the Japanese also every between every turn, they are playing a card um that can devastate you.
- Dice rolls — I love the the dice system here where you you know, you're trying to roll doubles, you're trying to get dice to match.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Manila: The Savage Streets 1945. This is kind of a sister game to Stalingrad.
- I thought the Manila game was just a little smoother, a little sweeter. Um and it just worked a lot better.
- Pavlov's House is such a great solitaire war game.
- It was part of a well orchestrated plan to keep them there. And they were well supported by AA guns and communications and supplies.
- Castle Itter is kind of one of the weirdest battles of the war.
- And the game is super intense.
- When I think of a good solitaire war game that I could just pick up and and play with with with minimal difficulty and really invest in it, this is it.
- Vae Victis Emperor by Blue Panther. This is, of course, the Battle of Waterloo.
- he just did such a great great job of abstracting the the basics of the battle, but making them come alive in such a fun way.
- This one is so much fun. It is a great great solitaire war game.